Customer Reviews

Temptations

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

 

 

This Rock/Pop album is one of the very
best from the 1980's, even though it was
never released in the United States, and
was not available until recently as an
import. "Temptations" has more good songs
than any of four Abba albums I have heard,
and it is at least on a par with the best
albums from Stevie Nicks. "Temptations"
combines superior rock/pop compositions
with Ofra's powerful, crystal clear voice,
and the result is very satisfying and
entertaining. This is mainstream rock/pop,
easy for the western listener to enjoy
even upon a first listening. With the
possible exception of "Summer", the songs are
much more influenced by western rock/pop than by
middle eastern music. Most of the songs sound as
good as the best songs of Abba but without being
an imitation. All ten songs on this album are solid
and satisfying. The songs are so good, it is not
important that the lyrics are not in English. The
album was a smash hit overseas in the 1980's. It
deserves to be discovered by the American rock/pop
audience. If you like Abba or Stevie Nicks, or
Fleetwood Mac you will love Ofra Haza's "Temptations".
"Temptations" is a GEM.

This is just a word to the wise, to listen to samples of this, prior to purchasing...so you can avoid ending up unhappy, like some of the reviewers here. If you pay a visit to israel-music.com you can listen to samples from all the songs on this CD, and a lot of other Ofra Haza titles that are offered here on Amazon, without samples

If you like Ofra's pop, with the kind of seventyish-eightyish background music, you will love this CD, but if you don't feel the same way about her pop, that you feel about her world dance titles....well, there is no crime in wanting to know what you are getting!!!! So, listen to samples...and let all of Ofra's fans be forever happy!!

After several listenings I realized that Temptations is a
very very good female vocal pop/rock CD. If you like
good mainstream pop/rock songs, catchy melodies and superior female vocals you will like Temptations. In other words it is easy for the mainstream listener to like. With so many other CD's having just one or two good tunes, there is not a single bad song on Temptations. They are all good, and you will like them even more with repeated listenings. The melodies are very pleasing, the songs are well constructed by Bezalel Aloni and the quality of the singing is far better than Stevie Nicks, and better even than Madonna. Ofra Haza's powerful, clean, clear, beautifully soaring voice graces every selection. This is mostly an upbeat, energetic album, and some of the songs are especially good: "Hello Happiness," "Summer," "Gavriel," "Magic Queen," and the mood setting slower paced "Cry Over the Flower." Be aware though that unlike most of Haza's other albums several tunes on Temptations including the Title track "rock" with substantial electric guitar work, but it is all tastefully arranged by master songwriter Bezalel Aloni, and is not overdone. Overall great stuff.

I love Haza's voice, so it surprised me when this CD disappointed me. I think of it as "cotton candy" music--it's nice and sweet, but there's no substance.
The problem here is that the material isn't good enough to support Haza's ability. Some of her songs, such as "Take Me to Paradise", off Shaday, reach inside me and grab on. Nothing on Temptations even comes close to that. Maybe Haza had contractual obligations....
If you must have this CD, try to get a used one for a reduced price.

I most of Ofra Haza's other albums, and like them quite a bit. My dislike of this album rises from the cheesy sounding, tinny music. I like older pop, like Abba, as some reviewers compared this album to, but this thing sounds primitive by comparison. I was seriously disappointed and no longer am surprised that this CD didn't make it to the U.S.