Customer Reviews

Youth

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Next time you’re strolling through Crown Heights, Brooklyn and happen to see a tall, bespectacled young man wearing the garb of the Hasidic Jewish community coming towards you, try humming a few bars of Bob Marley’s “Exodus” and see if he smiles at you and joins in.

Matthew Paul Miller (Matisyahu) spreads his messages of faith and “consciousness” through the reggae medium, and although this sounds strange to say the least, he’s getting his message across, particularly to the young people. As he sings on title track and second single “Youth”:

“Take a stand
Fan a fire for the flame of the youth
Got the freedom to choose
You better make the right move
Young man, the power's in your hand”

His style borrows heavily from the vintage reggae of Marley and the spiritual messages of singers like Luciano rather than the popular dance hall music of Sean Paul, but you can also hear other influences such as The Police in “Despatch the Troops”, and Matthew Wilder in “Jerusalem”, as well as rap and hip hop.

Matisyahu gives his all in his live performances, as can be seen in the video for “King Without a Crown”, his first single that made the world sit up and pay attention. If it takes a gimmick to get the message of peace and harmony to young people than I’m all for it.

Maybe not the best reggae album in the world, or the most spiritually uplifting, but certainly fun, catchy and with no need for Parental Advisory warnings.


Amanda Richards, April 22, 2006

The perfect customer to buy this CD is a Hasidic Jew who has enjoyed the sounds of Sublime, 311, No Doubt, and maybe a little Phish, Grateful Dead and Bob Marley. While characterized as reggae, Matisyahu's music isn't really packaged into a genre. If you are Jewish don't expect Carlebach, and if you are into reggae, don't expect anything Jamaican.

Overall, the CD is good, but the sound departs from Matis' earlier work. If you liked 'Refuge' on Live at Stubbs,' or 'Shake off the dust ... Arise,' you will really like this album. If you thought he was a bit too reggae before, but liked his music nonetheless, you will really like this album. This album is a bit more rock, but generally slower. You will still find some beat-box, some double-time rhymes, and some jump-up-in-the-air music, but it is not 'King Without a Crown' remixed into 12 new songs.

I've always like Matis' music and I still do. I always thought it was because I am Jewish, but once I pulled out my old 311, Sublime and Bob Marley albums, I realized why I like Matisyahu. He combines those sounds with a positive message. If you are not familiar with Judaism, some of the lyrics will be lost on you, but the same could be said of a lot of secular Jews. Admittedly, in order for me to get all the lyrics I had to get out my Hebrew Bible and Google a few things ... the bottom line is that even if you are secular, you probably won't object too much to Matisyahu's message. His most religious messages should be easier for the most secular listener to tolerate than the misogyny one can hear in similar sounding music.

this is a partial departure from Matis' (sadly) out of print debut album "Shake Off the Dust... Arise." whereas the first album was a delightful combination of reggae, hip-hop, gypsy and powerful spiritual rhymes, "youth" modifies the sound with strong elements of indie rock (especially the title track), folk ("what i'm fighting for"), electronica and even - eegads - vocoder. guitar solos most closely associated with rock are prominently featured, especially on the "king without a crown" remake and the title track (coincidentally my least favorite tracks.) some of the songs would fit quite nicely on a red hot chili peppers album.

that said, songs like "jerusalem" and "unique is my dove" deliver enough of the original matisyahu to keep current fans happy. the gamble is that the attempt for greater popular airplay will score a few hits while not losing too many existing fans. my guess is the indie-rock space is too crowded already and that this album won't lose too many fans. however, another album of this sort would probably take the shine off of this otherwise bright star without the hoped for benefit of a hit.

put another way, an essential part of matisyahu's appeal was the spiritual aspect which added a sincerity that made him standout from the constant bombardment of commercial acts. another CD like this would be all but certain to destroy that image and i'm afraid matis would digress into a clown act.

after a few listens i've pretty much abandoned "youth" and reverted back to matis' earlier stuff. normally i would have given this music 3 stars but out of respect for matisyhau i gave it 4.

Recently saw the video for "King Without a Crown" on VH1 and I knew I had to buy this CD, I'm glad I did, this guy is an amazing talent...Best Tracks..1,3,5,7 and 13

I generally go for virtuoso instrumentalists. Reggae is an occasional diversion, and hip-hop is low on my list. But one sample of Matisyahu's music and I was oddly hooked. I just got this CD, and already listened to it countless times.

There are several musical influences here, but the reggae/hip-hop that Matisyahu is known for appealingly dominates. I'm unable to narrow down my favorite songs to less than 4: "Jerusalem", "Unique Is My Dove", "Ancient Lullaby" and "King Without a Crown". The folksy "What I'm Fighting For" is nice for contrast, except for the awkward end. Some of the rock guitar riffs here and there are distracting. A few times, I thought I detected a soulful chassidic chant lurking in Matisyahu's throat, and I found myself wishing he'd let it rip.

I have to mention his brilliant poetry, too. Some of the lyrics are in the CD notes - I wish they all were.

Matisyahu makes Jewish orthodoxy look cool. But more to the point, the spiritual longing he expresses is universal. He is a work in progress, both musically and spiritually, and I'm glad he's taking us along on his journey.

Many people already familiar with this artist seem to think former pot-smoking/Phish-head turned devout hasidic jew Matisyahu Miller has changed his sound for more popularity and airplay, I can't agree with this statement at all. Comparison to Live @ Stubbs is moot - it's a live album, and for someone with a lot of hip hop influence in his music, live and studio albums are going to sound pretty different.

Matisyahu has not changed his sound, he's merely expanded it. On this album, you hear songs with some more rock (title track "Youth"), some redemption song-esque folk("what im fighting for"), some calypso and afro-cuban ("ancient lullaby"), and some songs more focused on hip hop ("WP", "Indestructable"), but all these songs and the rest of the album still stand firm in the genre of reggae, which is what has gotten Matis to where is he today.

After seeing him perform "Jerusalem" last night on Jimmy Kimmel, a song with pretty strong hip hop beats on the actual album, it's even more apparent live that Matisyahu has stayed true to his sound - songs that have strong hip hop influence/beats on the album or sound "overproduced" still sound like vintage Matisyahu live.

I have long been someone who reads reviews on amazon for music and movies, but never actually written one. I feel this album and Matisyahu truly deserve the recognition that seems to be exponentially coming their way, and I felt compelled to give this album my first review - I think this album/musician is that good, original, and worth getting. I would actually give this album 4.5 stars, but in Matisyahu's case, I think his refreshing music and sound deserve a 5 instead of a 4. His lyrics are as strong and powerful as ever, and his music (not to overlook his band members either) has expanded to new levels while still being recognizable to previous efforts. The whole album, in my opinion, has no weak points, but standout tracks include: "fire of heaven/altar of earth", "time of your song", "dispatch the troops", "late night in zion", "jerusalem", "ancient lullaby", and the previously recorded but changed "king without a crown" (which is over half the album, and I could list more good songs).

All in all, if you're already a Matisyahu fan, pick this album up - you won't be disappointed unless your expecting the same exact thing as Live at Stubb's. If you've just heard of him or are interested in hearing more, I highly recommend picking this album (or Live at Stubbs) up. After all, you could do a lot worse with the music being released these days, as like Matisyahu or not, its still music more enlightening and original than 90% of other music coming out.

The new lion from zion does not dissappoint.

I noticed that MTV started playing his videos. Too bad. It means you get teenyboppers looking for Ryan Seacrest's newest fave. The most imporant thing to know about this album and his albums in general are that this is not the "Jewish" Bob Marley, traditional reggae (is there such a thing), or Sean Paul feat. Beyonce. It's enjoyable and spiritual: the man creates great music, has great charisma and a great message. Back to my original point, it is a different reggae-- Bob Marley, Shaggy, Sean Paul and (say what?) Sublime (some posts mentioned these) are just a few popular manifestations of a diaspora of beats that have notably conquered the world--South Africa and Brazil are great examples of reggae hubs. So why not Crown Heights already? In the tradition of the greatest reggae master Jimmy Cliff, he gives props and plenty of freedom of expression to his band. And yeah.. he's Chassidic. BFD. He could be an Eskimo and his music would still feel good!

Gabriel Elias

words cant describe how good this album is, just a solid reggae album. buy it.

The first time I heard "Youth" I walked away humming a few of the songs and couldn't wait to hear it again. Although I could never sing along with all the lyrics (how DOES he sing/talk so fast?), I wish I could because the songs are truly addicting and catchy and the lyrics are awesome and profound.

Matisyahu is a BRILLIANT artist; he has the right blend of talent and originality that will take him far. He is such a breath of fresh air in a music industry where pretty much anyone can put out an album (ie- Paris Hilton, Ashley Simpson, etc) and talented musicians rarely become famous.

I HIGHLY recommend listening to this album at least once- you won't stop thinking about the songs and humming the tunes. I also recommend seeing him in concert if he's ever in your area; I just saw him live and he puts on a DYNAMITE show!

I'm not sure what song he said that in, but I think it's pretty accurate. And I'm not surprised that the words came out of the mouth of an Hasidic jew. I agree totally. I think he said that on his "Live from Stubbs" cd. Anyway, I have both cds, but I bought this one first.

I couldn't stop playing these songs over and over when I first got "Youth". I, of course, love his classic "King without a crown", but my favorite song is "Time of your song". I also love "What I'm fighting for" which segues nicely into "Jerusalem" which comes from Psalm 137:5,6, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem...let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I believe not Jerusalem my chief joy." I believe, if I'm not mistaken, that these verses are spoken in jewish marriage ceremonies. I love what he says in these verses: 'Don't you see, it's not about the land or the sea, but the country of the dwelling of His Majesty.' Before those words he describes the jewish predicament in the holy land: 'We've been traveling from state to state, and dem don't understand the words they say. Three thousand years with no place to be and dem want me to give up my milk and honey.' I love also "Indestructible", particularly the chorus: 'Fear nobody but His Majesty/my spirit/you retrieved/for You I wait silently/It seems You believe in me'. I also love the chorus of "Time of your song": 'Moonlight illuminate my night and my days sunray make the people say/And a vision something's missing so they're screaming out loud/Keep my feet on the ground and my head in the clouds.' I can't help but think of the Exodus with G-d leading the Israelites with a cloud by day and a fire by night and also the story of the little boy Samuel who became a priest and annointed David, Israel's most famous king. Before Samuel's day, there was no frequent vision, I Samuel 3:1.

Anyway, if you love pop music, especially with a little carribean flavor, NYC style, and spiritual messages woven within, then these tunes are for you. I love "Youth". Although, there are jews (4, Matisyahu and his 3 friends who call themselves the Roots Tonic), herein, there's no JuJu, and absolutely no VooDoo.