Unity: The Official Athens 2004 Olympic Games Album

Various Artists (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 27, 2004)
• Original Release Date: July 27, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B0002H2WSE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #188,528 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

By now, most of us have come to grudgingly accept a certain woodenness in artists-coming-together-for-a-cause CDs. Normally, the higher the collective star wattage, the more somber the tone. Not so with Unity, which dives deep into the genre pool and skims the talent off the top, leaving the wet blankets out to dry. Brian Eno follows Alice Cooper, who follows Macy Gray and Neneh Cherry, who follow Sting, Destiny's Child, and Avril Lavigne, all of them sounding kick-it ready despite the seriousness of their goal (which is to promote participation, friendship, and peace at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games). Best of all, these musical cheerleaders for unity mix it up among themselves: Roots Manuva bounces off the old-school beats of Earth, Wind & Fire ("Love Together"); Timbaland waves his production wand over Utada and Kiley Dean ("By Your Side"); Lenny Kravitz lights a revolutionary fire alongside Kadim Al Sahir ("We Want Peace"); and--in what may be the best pairing of all--Moby and Public Enemy put their hands in the air, proclaiming power to the people ("MKLFKWR"). It's purposeful without the whiff of preachiness, worthy of its own kind of torch-passing ceremony. --Tammy La Gorce

Product Description

The Official Athens 2004 Olympic Games Album. An eclectic mix of top international artists appears on UNITY, hailing from 15 different countries across four continents. Artists include Lenny Kravitz, Sting, Destiny's Child, Avril Lavigne, Tarkan, and Kadim Al Sahir. With an underlying theme of harmony and peace, most of the 16 tracks on UNITY are exclusive to this album.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Why not the real McCoy?, December 11, 2004

By	Jet Jock "Avee8tor" (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

As another reviewer noted, this is NOT the music used at the games! Why couldn't they put together a CD with the music used at the opening and closing ceremonies? Why not a DVD of those ceremonies (this time WITHOUT NBC's annoying commentary and constant commercial interruption!)? Those ceremonies, as are all Olympic Ceremonies, are carefully choreographed and usually magnificent occasions worthy of preservation on DVD. Somehow, it all just gets trashed and forgotten. After the tremendous expense involved, that seems incredibly wasteful. The drum beats at the beginning of the opening ceremony sent chills down my spine! Oh, to see and hear them again!

We can hear these dumb pop stars anytime. This CD is a pathetic peice of self-promotion. Avoid it.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pop Stars Promote Peace, World Unity, July 29, 2004

By	Jed Shlackman (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This album was a pleasant surprise. It enlists a variety of musicians to provide an upbeat assortment of tracks to accompany the theme of unity promoted by the Olympics events. The album starts with Avril Lavigne's cover of Knocking on Heaven's Door, a mellow, pleasant track. Then a few R&B tracks by current popular artists get things revved up, following by a revitalized Sting tune. Dancehall reggae, hip-hop, rock, and world music rhythms all get thrown into the proceeding mix with artists such as Beres Hammond, Mr. G, Lenny Kravitz, Moby, Alice Cooper, Public Enemy, Macy Gray, Brian Eno, Cheb Mami, and others adding their talents. The Moby/P.E. track picks up where Fight The Power left off, saying Power To The People... the People Want Peace. Alice Cooper & Xzibit make a solid collaboration, reminding the listener to Stand up for something or you'll fall for anything. All in all this is a very groove-oriented album that plays on anti-war sentiments. It has some new material from the contributing artists and seems rather club-oriented instead of relying on pop ballads for radio hits like prior Olympics compilations have.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good collection of funky toons..., August 5, 2004

By	N. Livadas (Between Europe and the US) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Police it may not be as a previous reviewer mentioned, but as far a collection of voice s and tunes coming together for a cause, this one sounds better than most collections out there. It tends to be of the funky, beat-driven side, and does have recognizeable voices doing off the beaten path tracks (yes includind Sting). It is closer to world-pop-music (lots of european, african, and middle eastern sounding pop derivations) so folks who are not willing to listen to anything other than American-generated pop may not like this set of performances. I do not think this album is the least anti-American, unless one thinks that peace and the ultimate goal of the Olympics (which is peace and recognition through peaceful competition) is anti American. If you are a war-monger, then obviously this album is anti-war. Last I checked at least 50% of out country are not war-mongers...