Wikipedia

Eyes Open (Youssou N'Dour album)

Eyes Open is an album by the Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour, released in 1992 via Spike Lee's 40 Acres and a Mule Musicworks label.[2][3][4] A video was shot for "Africa Remembers".[5] N'Dour supported the album with a North American tour.[6] Eyes Open was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best World Music Album".[7]

Eyes Open
Studio album by
Youssou N'Dour
Released1992
StudioXippi
GenreMbalax[1]
Label40 Acres and a Mule Musicworks/Columbia
ProducerYoussou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour chronology
Set
(1990) 		Eyes Open
(1992) 		Special Noël
(1993)

Production

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Recorded at N'Dour's studio in Dakar, Senegal, the album was produced by the musician.[5][8] The majority of the songs were sung in Wolof.[9] N'Dour contributed liner notes that described the references in his songs.[10] "Hope" is a paean to N'Dour's grandmother.[11] "Country Boy" is about leaving rural life for an urban existence.[12] Assane Thiam contributed on talking drum.[13]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [1]
Calgary HeraldB+[14]
Robert ChristgauB+[15]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music     [16]
MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide     [17]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide     [18]

Newsday deemed the album "an annoying yet informative dispatch, a disappointing example of the new cultural multinationalism hovering on the upmarket fringes of so-called world music (so-called, because the marketing term smacks of a western ethnocentrism that assumes we are not the world)."[19] Stereo Review wrote that "N'Dour continues to pump out a propulsive sound that's dazzling in its rich combination of rhythms and irresistible in its melodic urgency."[20] The Christian Science Monitor noted that "N'Dour continues to temper his artful confabulation of African sensibility and American funk."[21]

The Calgary Herald determined that "his band's lopingly propulsive rhythms will remind newcomers to soukous more of reggae's hypnotic sway than rock's straight-ahead rush."[14] Trouser Press stated that "the percussion is downplayed in favor of swooping fretless bass and rock-influenced guitars."[22] Robert Christgau opined that the "mbalax commitments mitigate any conceptual link to studio-rock."[15]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."New Africa" 
2."Live Television" 
3."No More" 
4."Country Boy" 
5."Hope" 
6."Africa Remembers" 
7."Couple's Choice" 
8."Yo Lé Lé (Fulani Groove)" 
9."Survie" 
10."Am Am" 
11."Marie-Madeleine la Saint-Louisienne" 
12."Useless Weapons" 
13."The Same" 
14."Things Unspoken" 

References

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  1. ^ a b "Eyes Open Review by Bob Tarte". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  2. ^ Andrews, Jon (July 1992). "Record & CD Reviews — Eyes Open by Youssou N'Dour". DownBeat. Vol. 59, no. 7. p. 46.
  3. ^ Garbarini, Vic (June 1992). "Music — Eyes Open by Youssou N'Dour and Super Etoile". Playboy. Vol. 39, no. 6. p. 21.
  4. ^ Gonzalez, Fernando (12 July 1992). "Out of Africa New Visions of Pop Possibilities". The Boston Globe. p. B25.
  5. ^ a b Rule, Sheila (5 September 1992). "An African Superstar Sings Out to the World". The New York Times. p. 1.11.
  6. ^ Feist, Daniel (6 November 1992). "N'Dour brings worldbeat vision to the Spectrum". The Gazette. Montreal. p. D8.
  7. ^ "Youssou N'Dour". Recording Academy. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Album Reviews — Eyes Open by Youssou N'Dour". Billboard. Vol. 104, no. 26. 27 June 1992. p. 46.
  9. ^ Randall, Neil (16 July 1992). "Eyes Open Youssou N'Dour". The Kitchener-Waterloo Record. p. C17.
  10. ^ Harrison, Tom (27 November 1992). "Duty, pop in balance: The music of Senegal". The Province. p. C24.
  11. ^ Jennings, Nicholas (5 November 1992). "N'Dour set to take on world". Toronto Star. p. E9.
  12. ^ Pareles, Jon (9 November 1992). "A Singer from Senegal by Way of the World". The New York Times. p. C11.
  13. ^ Birnbaum, Larry (May 1992). "Spins". Spin. Vol. 8, no. 2. p. 83.
  14. ^ a b Tremblay, Mark (28 June 1992). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald. p. D4.
  15. ^ a b "Youssou N'Dour". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  16. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 6. MUZE. p. 134.
  17. ^ MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 2000. p. 554.
  18. ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 497, 498.
  19. ^ Gehr, Richard (31 May 1992). "N'Dour and the New World Music Order". Fanfare. Newsday. p. 15.
  20. ^ "Popular Music — Eyes Open by Youssou N'Dour". Stereo Review. Vol. 57, no. 6. June 1992. p. 88.
  21. ^ Wheeler, Drew (22 June 1992). "Youssou N'Dour Eyes Open". The Arts. The Christian Science Monitor. p. 12.
  22. ^ "Youssou N'Dour". Trouser Press. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
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