Customer Reviews

Woman's Gotta Have It

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is Cornershop's best album -- much tighter than "7th time," none of that album's doodling around and wasting studio time. The blend of Indian music, hip-hop, and rock really works, and there are some great songs ("Jullander Shere" on the ethnic/world end, "Roof Rack" on the rock end). Nothing as catchy as "Brimful of Asha," but not everyone wants that phrase etched into their brain stems anyway. If you liked "7th Time" but thought of the phrase "ego trip" while listening, this album doesn't present that problem; it's original and it rocks.

Tjinder Singh admitted in an interview in 1997 that it'll probably take 10 years to get "Woman's Gotta Have It." He continued to state that "When I Was Born for the 7th Time" is a bit more "accessible." I agree with him, although it hasn't been 10 years before I bought "Woman's Gotta Have It."

Cornershop's sophomore stab at "Woman's Gotta Have It" was one of the most innovative and original albums released at the time. Kula Shaker simply cannot be compared to the uniqueness of Cornershop. Their seamless concoction of pop-rock, funk, DJ culture, and Punjabi folk music put them well ahead of Europe's flirtations with the South Asian music prevalent today. Unfortunately, they have also been erroneously lumped in with this broad movement known as the Asian Underground.

The group's songs range from traditional Indian music backed by the sitar, dholki and tabla, to guitar-based rock sung in English. However, their best songs combine the two varied influences: "Camp Orange" with its tribal chanting and break-beats (similar to that in "When I Was Born ..."), "Wog" with superb guitar strumming, chanting and lyrics in Hindi and English, and "Jansimram King" with its groovy bass-line meddled with Indian lyrics. This album is a great predecessor to their more "accessible" Brimful of Asha-album.

Released two years before When I Was Born for the 7th Time, but destined to remain forever in its shadow, Cornershop's 1995 release, Woman's Gotta Have It, is their best release. Instead of the urban weed-head instrumentals that padded 7th Time, this album actually has real songs. There is droning Velvet Underground-inspired beauty in the form of "Looking For A Way In" and the two versions of "Jullandar Shere" that bookend the record. In addition, Cornershop dally in garage rock ("Hong Kong Book of Kong Fu" and "Call All Destroyer"), lo-fi ("Rook Rack"), Bollywood ("My Dancing Days Are Done"), hip-hop ("Camp Orange") and summery acoustic singalong ("Wog"). If 7th Time left you thinking that this band was a bit one-dimensional, this radiant record will be more to your liking.

It's fun to discover an artist or group, like I did Cornershop, as a result of a deluge of publicity, then go back to discover they did great things before the publicity. I like When I Was Born for the Seventh Time. When I read a review of one of their concerts, and the reviewer said he thought 6 A. M Juallandar Shere, which they performed, was their best song, I had to go find it. Turns out it's the first song on this CD. I don't thin it's their best song, but I do think this CD is even better than When I Was Born.

They call it "Bollywood". It's the Indian cinema industry. India, in case you didn't know, is the single most productive movie maker in the world. You must have seen how those movies look like: ridiculous costumes, essentially the same plot in all of them, and above all -- that choreography and music. Oriental melodies over disco beats. The recording -- as well as the cinematography -- is unintentionally faulty, 'cuz hey -- that's the best equipment they have. Now replace the disco beats with an indie noise band a-la Pavement, replace the professionally trained but poorly recorded indian singer with a self trained (but intentionally poorly recorded) British-Pakistani rocker -- and you've got Cornershop.

This is not some "mixed-culture phenomenon", "world music" or "ethnic rock" mockup. This is a kicking rock band with an attitude. They've got the grit of Velvet Underground. Their guitar noise experiments remind of the best moments of Sonic Youth, while their sitar and percussion parts are truly authentic and go far beyond those of, say, the Beatles. This is not a 50-50 album. It's 100% rock and another 100% ethnic. Easily Cornershop's best.

This is my first 'Cornershop' album. Great blend of classical Indian music, Bhangra and Alternative music. Finally Punjabi comes mainstream (or close to it). Favorate tracks: Jullandar Shere and Jansimran King.

I bought this album because I loved When I Was Born For the 7th Time. This one is way different. It's more rock and roll. Louder guitars. More vocals. More depressing (but smart) lyrics. The difference between the two honestly...makes this album good. I listen to music for tons of different reasons. This CD satisfies all the ones When I Was Born for the 7th Time does not.

When I saw there was only one review on this CD, I had to do something... Cornershop is above all a great rock group who still manages to keep that basement garage sound that I like (Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu, Call All Destroyer). And then there is that indian influence that catches you off guard (6AM and Jansimran King) and the sound fills the room. It is really a thrill, more so than their last CD. You will not regret the buy!

I've listened to woman's gotta have it for a few times now and it seems that it takes a while to get used to, but after a while the album begins to grow on you and you realize how good the album is. Cornershop really produced an interesting album, I really haven't heard anything else like it. It's really good for people who want to try something new.