CD Reviews

In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2

Shout! Factory

By JEFF TAMARKIN | March 25, 2008

3.0 Stars

His good intentions and best efforts notwithstanding, economists are divided as to how effective Bono’s campaigning on behalf of Africa’s poor, diseased, and disenfranchised has been. But that doesn’t stop the artists here — among the continent’s most popular and cutting-edge — from turning out interpretations that are fiery, righteous, and reverential. Tony Allen’s beat-crazy, horn-happy “Where the Streets Have No Name” recasts the tune as post-Fela soul, Vieux Farka Touré blasts seething guitar into “Bullet the Blue Sky,” and the Soweto Gospel Choir’s mega a cappella “Pride (In the Name of Love)” should give U2 something to be proud of. Angélique Kidjo’s opening “Mysterious Ways” is grand and celebratory, and Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars didn’t really need Aerosmith’s Joe Perry to give their “Seconds” extra muscle, but he does anyway.

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Topics: CD Reviews , U2, Aerosmith, Joe Perry, More

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