Tracks
- Jumpin' Jack Flash
- Snow Flower
- Light My Fire
- Mamata (Affection)
- Metamorphosis
- Sagar (The Ocean)
- Dance Indra
- Raghupati
Ananda Shankar is a progressive album. The music is Indian classical music heavily influenced by Western music. In fact, Anandar Shankar covers the Rolling Stones' Jumpin' Jack Flash and the Doors' Light My Fire. They have a psychedelic quality to them. The remainder of the songs are his own works. Everything except for Sagar has a more Western 4/4 rhythm (at least to my untrained ears) and very little droning. Sagar is the only piece that doesn't seem to have any essential Western qualities, although the eerie keyboards in the background might be less Indian and more Western.
I prefer the Ananda's original material over the covers. The covers are well done, but they seem like out-of-place novelties on an otherwise serious album.
I enjoyed listening to this album and I think anyone who does listen to it will enjoy it, too. However, this album has no place on the 1001 Albums list for the simple fact that less than 1% of the albums on the list are either non-Western or can't trace their roots back to rock and roll. I can't say whether it's essential to listen to or not since I have very little experience with Indian music.
All of the songs are excellent. The two that really impressed me were Sagar and Raghupati.
★★★★★★★★★☆
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