I recently heard Youssou N'dour on an NPR broadcast of a recorded live performace at Carnegie Hall. I was like wow. This man and his band are great. Great vocals, and great percusssion, and just super. So imagine my disappointment with this album, which completely lacks the qualities which drew me to the N'dour sound. My chief complaint is that the tracks are highly synthesized, lacking naturalness. He has orchestral segments (again synthesized) that are in disharmony with the Senegalese sound. The music is almost always on high volume and often at high speed. And I'm sorry to say there are moments when N'dours voice grates. What this guy needs to do is capture that Carnegie performance on disc. If you're in search of a more natural Sengalese sound with smooth vocals, try Cheik Lo's "Ne La Thiass" (produced by N'dour). I rate "Ne La Thiass" 4.5 out of 5 stars.