Customer Reviews

Surprise

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a satidfactory debut album. She is very unique which makes her interesting to listen to. Highlights here include "She's Homeless", "Surprise", "Makin' Happy" & "Good Lovin'". The remaining tracks are pleasant. A worthwhile album by a intensely creative artist that should be highly regarded like Madonna. The besy introduction to Crystal Waters is her more accessable 1997 self-tittled release.

Length:: 1:46 Mins

When I first moved to NYC, Gypsy Woman was playing all over the place in the early summer of 1991. You couldn't escape.
Hot97 used to be a dance music station in NYC, and it played Gypsy Woman 50 times a day. The Puerto Rican boys blasted it out of their cars. I didn't go to clubs then, so I guess I was missing a big deal of Crystal Waters, but the song got me anyways. It was a HOT summer and Gypsy Woman reminds me of that summer forever.

This Lady's stuff is awesome house music which can be listened to. A lot of those who despise this were angered by its domination while thier favourites fell. Its still the best of its kind, and its current price in UK shows, still selling at twice the price of many of today's music. If only she had not changed her style and stuck to this stuff. I am saving money to get one even in this new era.
KC

I first found out about Crystal Waters when I first started downloading midis from the Web a number of years ago - I downloaded "Gypsy Woman". I liked the catchy rhythm, jazzy, bluesy harmony, and the 3 versus 4 rhythm that dominates much of the piece. I bought the album to see if her other songs have the same good attributes. Sure enough, I find that I liked "Surprise" and "Good Lovin"; the latter had a relaxing and rhythmical feel, and "Surprise" features numerous discords (e.g., an E sitting atop an E maj7 chord, conflicting with the D#) and notes sung flat or sharp - I feel these make the piece INTERESTING! My main fault with the album is that some of the tunes go on and on an on with the same motif, making them boring. I feel that her voice is adequate. If this is not one of her strong points, she still makes the most of what she has. For good dance music, I would heartily recommend this album.

Crystal, was very interesting from the start.
Like NYC is the birth place of Hip Hop.
Chicago is the birth place of House music!
When Chicagoans got word on Crystal and her material, we were confused, she was like 6yrs too late. Seriously, when (CW) hit in 1991 House music had packed up and went overseas. HipHop was the new trump in Chi!
(CW) hit the town hard, with her odd sing along, however, message in a bottle style.
This artist ran the Town crazy, we had never heard anything like it.
Gypsy woman, Chicago, wanted to hate this record, we couldn't, it was very deep, and it was a smash, Surprise was another. There are so many cuts on this project, it is a must have.
This album can easily hold an entire party on its own. No, mixing, no DJing, just press PLAY!

You either really love this album or hate it. This album was a true testament to how House music was begining to gain some respect coming from the underground in the early 90's. Crystal was not the best singer but her idiosyncratic vocals, the seriousness of her songwriting, and the stripped down house production(with a touch of jazz) was a winning combination. Whether musing on the abandonment of a child(Small Cry), the freakiness of sex(Makin' Happy), spouse abuse(Surprise, Deepest of Hearts), or the observance of the homeless(Gypsy Woman) it's club music with a consience. I actually thought this was better than her follow-up "Storyteller".

After the hype and over-hype of "Gypsy Woman" dies down we still have a good album in "Surprise". This has an interesting mixture of House and R&B tracks which makes it a strong album. The fact that Basement Boys produced it helps out as well -- Basement Boys is now a world-wide phenom! Baltimore was very well represented.

"Gypsy Woman (la da dee)" has haunted all radio listeners from the beginning. It was on everywhere: in restaurants, on your home stereo, in your car... you couldn't go anywhere or hear Miss Waters singing her repititive things. And indeed, "Gypsy Woman" was a cracking tune: nice lyrics, good beat and an unforgettable chorus. Okay, she didn't have much of a voice but the song was great anyway. But what did we need this poor effort for? This record was obviously recorded in a hurry because it really is dreadful. The lyrics are less than a-not-very-good nursery rhyme, the vocals are often horrible and the track listing and production disastrous. "Deepest Of Hearts" must be the most ridiculous song ever recorded and attempts to recreate the dance fever of "La da dee", such as "Surprise" and "Good Lovin" give you nothing but a headache. This worthless debut is almost an insult to music lovers in the world. Why on earth did nobody stop this album from being released? Rubbish!