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Liberté (album)

Liberté
Studio album by Khaled
Released March 30, 2009 (2009-03-30)
Genre Raï
Length 73:43
Label Wrasse Records, AZ Records
Producer Martin Meissonnier
Khaled chronology
'Best Of Khaled'
(2007)
Liberté
(2009)
'C'est la vie'
(2012)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4.5/5 stars
The Guardian 4/5 stars
The Daily Telegraph 4/5 stars

Liberté is a 2009 studio album by Khaled. The album is Khaled's first studio album to feature original material following a five-year hiatus. The album marks a shift to a more acoustic Raï orientated sound. However, in contrast to his previous work, the album incorporates elements of Gnawa music, as seen on the track "Gnaoui. It also features Egyptian string performances recorded in Cairo. The album was recorded in the studio under live conditions to replicate the energy of his live performances.

The meaning of the title track "Liberté" has been described by the artist as the attainment of freedom at the cost of ones innocence. Khaled describes "Sidi Rabbi" as a prayer for repentance for any pain he has caused to his parents. The album features two covers two songs by the Algerian artist Blaoui Houari; "Zabana" and "Papa". Zabana is a tribute to Ahmed Zabana, the first man to be executed by the French in Oran during the Algerian revolution, whereas "Papa" is a tribute to the memory of his father."Papa" is a song's written by a French talented musician :Philippe Gouadin

The Guardian, Friday 8 May 2009, in reviewing the CD, commenced with the comment that "Khaled, the "king of Rai", became a celebrity across Europe and the Middle East in the early 1990s, provoking scenes worthy of Beatlemania..." and noted that the new CD continued his "growing interest in acoustic styles".

On November 21, 2009, Khaled performed tracks from the album at the MGM Grand Las Vegas.

The booklet of the French release on AZ contains French translations, but not the Arabic sung texts.


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