Beware, this is not Rai

Khaled has done so much good Rai that I was surprised to hear this. This is not the kind of music that inspired me to dance like the music of Sahra. Khaled should stick to what he does best.

CD was way ahead of my expectations:

I was completely blown away by this particular CD from Khaled. It brought a new knowledge of "Arabic/French" to my collection of Arabic music. The recordings were very articulate and clean, making the whole CD very listenable. The use of horns in a particular manner on a particular piece was especially vibrant. It brought me to think of the old "Chicago", "Steely Dan" horn arrangments, which were very uplifting themselves. All in all, i'm glad i made this purchase.

Middle of the road party music

Khaled is the Algerian version of Abba. Good time party music, happy danceable tunes but little depth. Personally I was a little bit disappointed because I was expecting something a bit less poppy (so many people whose taste I respected had recommended it to me). This is not something I would listen to outside of a party context. If you like the Arabic sound and want something with a little more depth and orignality then I recommend the following artists: Idir, Souad Massi and Rachid Taha.