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Coming Home (Yungchen Lhamo album)

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Coming Home
Studio album by
Yungchen Lhamo
Released1998
StudioReal World
Length52:04
LabelReal World
ProducerHector Zazou
Yungchen Lhamo chronology
Tibet, Tibet
(1996) 		Coming Home
(1998) 		Ama
(2006)

Coming Home is an album by the Tibetan musician Yungchen Lhamo, released in 1998 on Real World Records.[1][2][3] It was her first album to be released in the United States; she had broken through to American audiences after playing the 1997 Lilith Fair and appearing on the soundtrack to Seven Years in Tibet.[4][5][6] Lhamo supported the album by playing a 1998 benefit for Tibet House US as well as the WOMAD festival.[7][8] Coming Home was banned in Tibet.[9]

Production

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Recorded at Real World Studios, the album was produced by Hector Zazou, who also helped to arrange the songs.[10][11][5] Zazou employed vocal effects and looped samples.[12] David Rhodes played guitar on Coming Home; Peter Gabriel and Hossam Ramzy also contributed.[7][13] Coming Home was Lhamo's first album where the majority of the songs were not performed a cappella.[14] Lhamo wrote all of the songs, many of which are about the sadness of exile.[15][16] "Ngak Pai Metog" is dedicated to the Dalai Lama.[13]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[17]
The Daily Telegraph7.5/10[14]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[7]
Los Angeles Daily News[18]
MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide[12]

The Independent determined that, "while its themes—loneliness, hope, compassion and resolve—remain constant, it's a surprisingly experimental effort, mixing guitars, violins, drones and electronics in with Yungchen Lhamo's ethereal vocals."[19] JazzTimes wrote: "The project's best moments have to do with her voice, plaintive and glorious, as with the thickly layered vocal matrix of 'Ngak Pai Metog' and the melancholic enigma of her swooping lines in 'Dream'."[20] The Courier-Mail concluded that "cynics who don't understand what the fascination in the West with Tibet is all about should close their eyes and listen to Yungchen Lhamo... She has a voice that is straight from heaven."[21]

The Observer noted that "the sense of stillness and endurance is profound."[22] The Los Angeles Daily News opined that "Lhamo's voice is as clear and cool as glacial ice, as quiet and lonely as a shepherd in a mountainside meadow."[18] The New York Times stated that, "whether singing in English or wordlessly shouting, Ms. Lhamo keeps her focus on the essentially Tibetan themes of compassion and liberation."[23]

AllMusic wrote that Lhamo "has some musical accompaniment, mostly soft and acoustic... Her sweet and gentle soprano is still the main attraction."[17]

Track listing

[edit]
Coming Home track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Happiness Is..."5:06
2."Sky"5:48
3."Heart"7:36
4."Per Rig Chog Sum"4:46
5."Khyab Sangye"6:23
6."Ngak Pai Metog"3:06
7."Dream"4:29
8."Defiance"6:49
9."Coming Home"8:01
Total length:52:04

Charts

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Chart performance for Coming Home
Chart (1999) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[24] 91

References

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  1. ^ Gyatso, Janet; Havnevik, Hanna (August 6, 2005). Women in Tibet. Columbia University Press.
  2. ^ Lee, Jonathan H. X.; Nadeau, Kathleen (December 21, 2010). Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife. ABC-CLIO.
  3. ^ Mayhew, Bradley; Kelly, Robert (February 1, 2015). Lonely Planet Tibet. Lonely Planet.
  4. ^ Snyder, Rachel (22 Mar 1998). "A Voice for Freedom: Yungchen Lhamo's Songs Reflect the Hardships of Her Native Tibet". Arts & Entertainment. Chicago Tribune. p. 11.
  5. ^ a b Fitzpatrick, Eileen; Pride, Dominic (Oct 17, 1998). "Yungchen Lhamo expands sonic 'Home'". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 42. pp. 15, 20.
  6. ^ Widner, Ellis (December 28, 1998). "Around the world in 365 days". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. p. E1.
  7. ^ a b c Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. p. 220.
  8. ^ Stout, Gene (March 12, 1998). "Marymoor Park Will Go Global with Fest's N. American Debut". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. E1.
  9. ^ Lloyd, Tim (January 16, 1999). "The woman who won't let us forget Tibet". The Advertiser. Adelaide. p. 56.
  10. ^ Barber, Lynden (November 22, 1999). "Pick of the CDs". Features. The Australian. p. 20.
  11. ^ "New World". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 56, no. 594. Nov 2, 1998. p. 73.
  12. ^ a b MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 2000. p. 430.
  13. ^ a b Varga, George (December 31, 1998). "Aural trip to Armenia, Tibet — even Chicago". Entertainment. The San Diego Union-Tribune. p. 23.
  14. ^ a b Lalor, Peter (August 6, 1998). "Spins". Features. The Daily Telegraph. p. 56.
  15. ^ Buckley, Daniel (January 21, 1999). "Yungchen Lhamo raises her voice for Tibet". Tucson Citizen. p. 3L.
  16. ^ Kava, Brad (January 20, 1999). "Tibetan Singer's New Album Is a Mesmerizing Surprise". The Mercury News. p. 1E.
  17. ^ a b "Yungchen Lhamo Coming Home". AllMusic.
  18. ^ a b Bloom, David (30 Oct 1998). "Yungchen Lhamo/'Coming Home'". Los Angeles Daily News. p. L24.
  19. ^ Cornwell, Jane (22 May 1998). "The beautiful sound of freedom". Features. The Independent. p. 16.
  20. ^ Woodard, Josef. "Yungchen Lhamo: Coming Home". JazzTimes.
  21. ^ Brown, Phil (December 5, 1998). "Coming Home, Yungchen Lhamo". Weekend. The Courier-Mail. p. 15.
  22. ^ Spencer, Neil (7 June 1998). "Yungchen Lhamo Coming Home". The Observer Review Page. The Observer. p. 10.
  23. ^ Powers, Ann (21 July 2000). "Album of the Week". The New York Times. p. E24.
  24. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 165.
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