| | |  | Vinyl | Home » » Youth [Vinyl] | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | The thumbnail description of Matisyahu: File under Hasidic Beatbox Reggae. Despite having markings of novelty, it's really nothing of the sort. Fronted by a man named Matisyahu (born Matthew Miller), they are truly a band. Two independently released CDs brought them a rapid and well-deserved ascent, making their signing with a major label a logical step. Youth benefits from a more expansive sound and production by the fantastic Bill Laswell (Golden Palominos, Laurie Anderson, the Last Poets). Matisyahu's singing and the substance of his songs (spiritual living, self-awareness, the value of knowledge and learning, kindness to others) are presented with a loving sincerity, and buoyed by tremendous musicianship. In particular, drummer Jonah David and guitarist Aaron Dugan bring a wider set of influences and interests to their playing than the reggae tag the band often gets. Free of any proselytizing, this melding of Talmudic teachings and Jamaican rhythms flows so naturally that it underscores the shared roots of the two cultures. --David Greenberger More from Matisyahu 
Live At Stubbs | 
Matisyahu's Music You Should Hear | 
The So Called Seder: A Hip Hop Haggadah |
| | | Product Details: | | | Vinyl Release Date:
| March 07, 2006 | | Studio:
| Sony | | Number Of Discs:
| 2 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 119 reviews |
| | | Track Listing: | | | 1. | Fire of Heaven/Altar of Earth | | 2. | Youth | | 3. | Time of Your Song | | 4. | Dispatch the Troops | | 5. | Indestructible | | 6. | What I'm Fighting For | | 7. | Jerusalem | | 8. | WP | | 9. | Shalom/Saalam | | 10. | Late Night in Zion | | 11. | Unique Is My Dove | | 12. | Ancient Lullaby | | 13. | King Without a Crown | |
| | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 119 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 31 found the following review helpful:
The Ultimate Cross-OverApr 22, 2006
By Amanda Richards
Next time you’re strolling through Crown Heights, Brooklyn and happen to see a tall, bespectacled young man wearing the garb of the Hasidic Jewish community coming towards you, try humming a few bars of Bob Marley’s “Exodus” and see if he smiles at you and joins in.
Matthew Paul Miller (Matisyahu) spreads his messages of faith and “consciousness” through the reggae medium, and although this sounds strange to say the least, he’s getting his message across, particularly to the young people. As he sings on title track and second single “Youth”:
“Take a stand
Fan a fire for the flame of the youth
Got the freedom to choose
You better make the right move
Young man, the power's in your hand”
His style borrows heavily from the vintage reggae of Marley and the spiritual messages of singers like Luciano rather than the popular dance hall music of Sean Paul, but you can also hear other influences such as The Police in “Despatch the Troops”, and Matthew Wilder in “Jerusalem”, as well as rap and hip hop.
Matisyahu gives his all in his live performances, as can be seen in the video for “King Without a Crown”, his first single that made the world sit up and pay attention. If it takes a gimmick to get the message of peace and harmony to young people than I’m all for it.
Maybe not the best reggae album in the world, or the most spiritually uplifting, but certainly fun, catchy and with no need for Parental Advisory warnings.
Amanda Richards, April 22, 2006
39 of 50 found the following review helpful:
begging for airplayMar 07, 2006
By J. Duncan
this is a partial departure from Matis' (sadly) out of print debut album "Shake Off the Dust... Arise." whereas the first album was a delightful combination of reggae, hip-hop, gypsy and powerful spiritual rhymes, "youth" modifies the sound with strong elements of indie rock (especially the title track), folk ("what i'm fighting for"), electronica and even - eegads - vocoder. guitar solos most closely associated with rock are prominently featured, especially on the "king without a crown" remake and the title track (coincidentally my least favorite tracks.) some of the songs would fit quite nicely on a red hot chili peppers album.
that said, songs like "jerusalem" and "unique is my dove" deliver enough of the original matisyahu to keep current fans happy. the gamble is that the attempt for greater popular airplay will score a few hits while not losing too many existing fans. my guess is the indie-rock space is too crowded already and that this album won't lose too many fans. however, another album of this sort would probably take the shine off of this otherwise bright star without the hoped for benefit of a hit.
put another way, an essential part of matisyahu's appeal was the spiritual aspect which added a sincerity that made him standout from the constant bombardment of commercial acts. another CD like this would be all but certain to destroy that image and i'm afraid matis would digress into a clown act.
after a few listens i've pretty much abandoned "youth" and reverted back to matis' earlier stuff. normally i would have given this music 3 stars but out of respect for matisyhau i gave it 4.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 The Jewish Bob MarleyMar 17, 2006
By Patrick Link
Recently saw the video for "King Without a Crown" on VH1 and I knew I had to buy this CD, I'm glad I did, this guy is an amazing talent...Best Tracks..1,3,5,7 and 13
8 of 9 found the following review helpful:
IrresistibleJan 28, 2007
By Louise Marquis
I generally go for virtuoso instrumentalists. Reggae is an occasional diversion, and hip-hop is low on my list. But one sample of Matisyahu's music and I was oddly hooked. I just got this CD, and already listened to it countless times.
There are several musical influences here, but the reggae/hip-hop that Matisyahu is known for appealingly dominates. I'm unable to narrow down my favorite songs to less than 4: "Jerusalem", "Unique Is My Dove", "Ancient Lullaby" and "King Without a Crown". The folksy "What I'm Fighting For" is nice for contrast, except for the awkward end. Some of the rock guitar riffs here and there are distracting. A few times, I thought I detected a soulful chassidic chant lurking in Matisyahu's throat, and I found myself wishing he'd let it rip.
I have to mention his brilliant poetry, too. Some of the lyrics are in the CD notes - I wish they all were.
Matisyahu makes Jewish orthodoxy look cool. But more to the point, the spiritual longing he expresses is universal. He is a work in progress, both musically and spiritually, and I'm glad he's taking us along on his journey.
10 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Different @ first glance, but still the same old MatisyahuMar 09, 2006
By scotty p
Many people already familiar with this artist seem to think former pot-smoking/Phish-head turned devout hasidic jew Matisyahu Miller has changed his sound for more popularity and airplay, I can't agree with this statement at all. Comparison to Live @ Stubbs is moot - it's a live album, and for someone with a lot of hip hop influence in his music, live and studio albums are going to sound pretty different.
Matisyahu has not changed his sound, he's merely expanded it. On this album, you hear songs with some more rock (title track "Youth"), some redemption song-esque folk("what im fighting for"), some calypso and afro-cuban ("ancient lullaby"), and some songs more focused on hip hop ("WP", "Indestructable"), but all these songs and the rest of the album still stand firm in the genre of reggae, which is what has gotten Matis to where is he today.
After seeing him perform "Jerusalem" last night on Jimmy Kimmel, a song with pretty strong hip hop beats on the actual album, it's even more apparent live that Matisyahu has stayed true to his sound - songs that have strong hip hop influence/beats on the album or sound "overproduced" still sound like vintage Matisyahu live.
I have long been someone who reads reviews on amazon for music and movies, but never actually written one. I feel this album and Matisyahu truly deserve the recognition that seems to be exponentially coming their way, and I felt compelled to give this album my first review - I think this album/musician is that good, original, and worth getting. I would actually give this album 4.5 stars, but in Matisyahu's case, I think his refreshing music and sound deserve a 5 instead of a 4. His lyrics are as strong and powerful as ever, and his music (not to overlook his band members either) has expanded to new levels while still being recognizable to previous efforts. The whole album, in my opinion, has no weak points, but standout tracks include: "fire of heaven/altar of earth", "time of your song", "dispatch the troops", "late night in zion", "jerusalem", "ancient lullaby", and the previously recorded but changed "king without a crown" (which is over half the album, and I could list more good songs).
All in all, if you're already a Matisyahu fan, pick this album up - you won't be disappointed unless your expecting the same exact thing as Live at Stubb's. If you've just heard of him or are interested in hearing more, I highly recommend picking this album (or Live at Stubbs) up. After all, you could do a lot worse with the music being released these days, as like Matisyahu or not, its still music more enlightening and original than 90% of other music coming out.
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