Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Greatest Hits of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

When this revered Pakistani qawwal (a singer of qawwali, an improvised Sufi devotional music) died in 1997, one of the world's most beautiful voices was stilled forever. Supported by his "party," a group of skilled and highly intuitive musicians and backup singers, Nusrat's fleet, soaring tenor took his devotees far away from daily realties into a state of helpless, trusting bliss with no past or future; his audiences existed entirely in the moment. As his reputation reached the West, he attracted a coterie of admiring pop stars and graced such film soundtracks as The Last Temptation of Christ and Dead Man Walking. So many of his recordings are still in print that a curious beginner might well wonder where to start, but these four tracks (qawwali is often sung for a half-hour without stopping) are a perfect introduction to the works of an incomparable, much-missed musical genius. --Christina Roden Amazon.com

Shahenshah Lives

Greatest Hits as the album cover is a trifle disingenuous. I shudder to think of future compiliations titled Greatest Hits XVIII or something like that. For the first time buyer, The title might be tempting.Quawwal is the sort of Rock N'Roll more like the southern gospel music, it intends to transport the listener in to the state of rapture. Nusrat as an introduction to this form of spiritual experience is a great idea. Just type "Nusrat" on wikipedia and you will see how quawwali is laid out and the songs extol the virtues of God and the sacrifices of imam so just feel the words as extolling your God and let go... As porn can stimulate the sexual arousal in some at the other end of the spectrum Quawwal can induce rapture in many ...(ok ok I know I am bordering on sacrilege). I also recommend Saabri brothers. They may lack the explosive quality of the Shahenshah "king of kings" but are divine. December 25, 2006

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YA ALI MADAD TO ALL OF YOU I AM A ONE OF THE GRATE FAN OF NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN.I SAY,S THAT HE IS THE GRATEST QAWWAL OF THE WORLD.NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN IS HAIDERY MALANG.I LIKE ALI ALI IN HIS QAWWALI,S. February 4, 2004

Know more.....

Nusrat is the greatest. he's the 2pac of qawwali....... he's one of the only two wonderful things pakistan has given to this world..other one being Ghulam ali, is second to nusrat in my ratings.... i'm a passionate collector of music. Though i hate to rate this Nusrat CD less than 5 stars but i did it because this is still not the best you can get from Nusrat. I am an Indian Hindu, i understand most of his qawwalis as hindi is quite similar to urdu when heard. To know more outstanding tracks from nusrat or any other, ask me for suggestions. deejay_uppercut@yahoo.com November 30, 2003

Deceptive Marketing

This is actually not a bad CD. What really bugs me about this is the way it is marketed. This, like just about all of Nusrat's CDs, is full of magnificent qawwali music. This is sacred Pakistani sufi music. It is inspiring, and even mesmerizing. You would't have a CD of "Top 10 Prayers", so, having this sacred CD of religious music being marketed as a "greatest hits" CD is preposterous. This record company should be ashamed of themselves. Further, this CD isn't really a collection of "famous Nusrat songs". Yes the songs on here are good, but, basically, all the record company (Shanachie) did was license an old tape of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's from Pakistan, and called it "Greatest Hits" to fool American buyers.

If you want one of his best traditional qawwali recordings, go for REAL WORLD'S CD, SHAHEN SHAH, or the Live Boxed Set on OCORA. If you want Nusrat's hits (he had some great pop-remixes done), then maybe MUSST MUSST is for you. January 9, 2003

This man's music is legendary

Nusret Fateh Ali Khan is without a doubt the Elvis Presley of Qawali.He has a golden voice that encapsulates any,and I mean any audience combined with some brilliant Oriental Pakistani music from an excellent band of musicians.He adds a different dimension to the music industry and if any of you have wondered what the unique brand of music called Qawali sounded like,I highly recommend that you purchase this wonderful collection by this great musician.Many do not understand the language it is sung in,but in this album a song like Mangte Hain Karam(my favourite) with the man's sublime voice and the excellent melody of music by his band means that this cd and the vol.2 cd are a must have in any album collection. February 27, 2001

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