Bellydance Superstars Babelesque
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
This 12 track cd runs for roughly 50 minutes. Some of the artists included are Oojami, Pentaphobe, and Asena. These songs form the bases of the touring showing. Most tracks are less than six minutes in length. A twist is given to the traditional Middle Eastern rhythms in order to make the music more accessible to Western audiences. I was disappointed in the liner notes for the CD as the only information included about the songs is what is found on the back cover. Inside the CD there is only information on other CDs sold through the Bellydance Superstars as well as their DVDs. I also would have liked a wider variety of artists as 3 of the 12 tracks are by Asena. Don't get me wrong I like Asena's songs, but I've come to expect more variety from the Superstars CDs and I use them as a way to find out about new artists. I also felt like Asena's songs were too similar to have been back to back on the CD. Song stylings include cabaret, tribal fusion, and polynesian. The songs included on this CD are great because they have a lot of thematic changes in them which I think will also help Western audiences to not become bored with them. One things for sure if you love the music used in the Bellydance Superstars stage show than you must get this CD.