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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
SHE'S RUNNING ALL THE WAY..., October 2, 2000
Ofra Haza's distinctive, pure voice may be gone, but there are countless albums available. Listening to Haza's albums, even upbeat, dance albums like this one, is a mourning exercise for me these days (even though it is October, 2000) and she has been gone for many months. Nevertheless, the intensity of her voice continued to amaze and surprise me, even when many of the songs echo the same sort of dance beat in the background. Her voice soars over all the other noise. Definitely underappreciated in the U.S. she was elevated to pop diva status in the Middle East and elsewhere. If you are searching for a strong-voiced female vocalist, Haza is a wonderful choice (and for those who have never heard of her, you may have heard her vocals in the film Prince of Egypt; she sang the part of Moses's birth mother as she is setting him adrift on the river). Finding fans in the U.S. now that she is gone might seem ironic, but you definitely would not regret this vocal journey. Of particular note are "Fatamorgana" and "Kaddish", although this entire album is splendid.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Israel's desert angel dances to a higher beat, June 20, 2002
The followup to Ofra Haza's landmark Shaday is a solid effort by Israel's late and great desert angel.The darbuka which made Shaday's "Im Nin Alu" so exotic is done to great effect in "Ya Ba Ye." The mid-paced "I Want To Fly" has the same sound without the darbuka. The best song by far and the most painfully relevant is "Middle East." Terrorism and fanaticism plague her beloved homeland, and the fanaticism runs rampant on both faiths (e.g. the groups Hamas and Hezbollah on one hand, Meir Kahane and Baruch Goldstein on the other). She truly wishes for peace between the two races, which unfortunately at this date, is like the song's two parallel lines that are destined never meet. This is a dance tune, by the way, and a catchy one at that. More leaning towards the Israelis are the plight of Jews in Ethiopia and Yemen who cannot emigrate to Israel and too often are forced to convert to Islam by the people there. That is the topic of "Mm'mma." Being allowed to leave to practice one's faith is one thing, but being prevented to do that, that's something else. The songs are more danceable here than on Shaday, such as "In Ta" and "Wish Me Luck." The latter song is an optimistic note on what the morrow will bring, happiness or sorrow. Her soaring melodic voices are at their best in the ballads, such as the mournfully beautiful "Kaddish" and "Slave Dream." As explained in the notes before the song lyrics, the kaddish is a prayer said on someone's death. The desert trek songs "Fata Morgana" and "Da'asa" are also showcases for her voice. The trek from Yemen to Israel was after all, what defined her family's life and as such, remain special to Ofra Haza. Even her mother makes a guest vocal appearance on the former song. In closing, a kaddish to the victims of the current Middle East violence, both Israeli and Arab, and a special one to Ofra Haza, who made two truly great albums, this one and Shaday.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
World-beat pop masterpiece, June 20, 2003
I'll never forget the day I first heard this on cassette. My wife came home from shopping and put it on. I said "WOW, who is this??" And she said "I don't know who she is, they were playing her at the music store and I asked who it was and bought it. I think she's Arab." Then I saw Ofra Haza's picture on the cover and had to say "WOW" again. As we soon learned, she was a Yemenite Israeli, already world-famous (except in America) back then in 1990. We saw her in concert later that year and of course learned much more about her and her earlier music, particularly her groundbreaking "Fifty Gates of Wisdom (Yemenite Songs)".Following "Fifty Gates" in 1987, Ofra Haza turned to a dance beat in "Shadday" (1988), an album, in my opinion, of derivative western dance-track sounds and only two stand-out songs. Then, a year later, she turns out "Desert Wind", this stunning, hook-laden, beat-driven, authentically Middle-Eastern album of passionate, meaningful songs, juxtaposing Hebrew and English verses, almost all written or co-written by her. Best are the danceable "Ya Ba Ye", "Middle East", "I Want to Fly" and "Taw Shi", and the gorgeous "Fatamorgana", "Da'asa" and "Kaddish". That's a lot of favorites for one album, but that's the kind of album this is. "Slave Dream" and "In Ta" take some getting used to, but even they turn into winners once you've managed to absorb them. "Kaddish" left hardly a dry eye in the house when she performed this in concert. "Middle East" has ironically the least middle-eastern melody of the dance tunes (i.e. it's in a major key), and it is a rousing song of hope for peace - even a love offering to the Palestinians. Ofra seems to put one such song on every album. Tragically, Ofra is gone, and we're all still waiting to hear popular songs of peace from the Palestinian side. Ofra would probably say keep hoping.
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by Ofra Haza 
