Two Worlds One Heart | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1990 | |||
Genre | Isicathamiya [1] | |||
Label | Warner Bros. [2] | |||
Ladysmith Black Mambazo chronology | ||||
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Two Worlds One Heart is an album by the South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, released in 1990. [3] [4] The first single was "Township Jive", which the group had performed on the Graceland tour. [5] [6]
The album peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's World Albums chart. [7] The group supported the album with a North American tour. [8]
Several songs contain instrumental backing, a first for a Ladysmith album. [9] Ray Phiri wrote two of the album's songs. [10] Marvin Winans produced " Leaning on the Everlasting Arm", on which the Winans sang; group leader Joseph Shabalala was inspired to record the song after hearing Sweet Honey in the Rock. [5] [11] [12] George Clinton cowrote and produced "Scatter the Fire". [13] Anton Fig played drums on the album. [14]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [15] |
Calgary Herald | B [16] |
Chicago Tribune | [6] |
Robert Christgau | A− [17] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [18] |
Los Angeles Times | [19] |
MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide | [20] |
Orlando Sentinel | [14] |
Ottawa Citizen | [11] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [21] |
Robert Christgau wrote that Shabalala "has the lineaments of a pop visionary, and here he arrives at a crossover that does the style proud, moving gracefully from Zulu to English within and between songs and pumping the a cappella rhythms with instruments on three cuts." [17] The Austin American-Statesman concluded that "the most intriguing musical meeting of minds ... is undoubtedly 'Scatter the Fire', a song that melds Zulu dance and American mutant funk." [13]
The Calgary Herald deemed the album "another haunting collection of spirituals, ballads, and Zulu traditionals." [16] The Los Angeles Times determined that "much of LBM's music is based on hypnotic, not-quite-mainstream-sounding harmonies sung by voices so beautiful as to be not quite of this world... No one is making music more heartfelt than this." [19] The Houston Chronicle praised the "dreamlike, a cappella harmonies and uplifting messages of faith and hope." [22]
AllMusic wrote that "this is one of the most ambitious albums Ladysmith has ever done, and its risk-taking pays off handsomely." [15]
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Township Jive" | |
2. | "Ofana Naye (Nobody Like Him)" | |
3. | "Bala Ubhale (Count and Write)" | |
4. | "Love Your Neighbor" | |
5. | " Leaning on the Everlasting Arm" | |
6. | "Rejoice" | |
7. | "Hayi Ngalesiskhathi (Not Right Now)" | |
8. | "Emhlabeni (In This World)" | |
9. | "Isikhathi Siyimali (Time Is Money)" | |
10. | "Ngomnyango (By the Door)" | |
11. | "Scatter the Fire" | |
12. | "Cothoza Mfana (Tip Toes Guy)" |