Devotional Songs

This was a rewarding listen, even if it’s not something I’d naturally reach for. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s voice is undeniably powerful, and the performances carry a sense of purpose and intensity that’s easy to respect. There’s a real feeling of being transported somewhere else entirely. This album functions almost like a cultural portal, pulling me into a musical tradition far outside my usual frame of reference.

That said, it’s not my thing in a personal, day-to-day listening sense. The repetition and long-form structure are clearly intentional and central to the experience, but they also keep me at a certain distance. I’m more aware of the artistry than emotionally swept up by it.

I’m glad I spent time with this record. It broadened my perspective and reminded me how many different ways music can function beyond entertainment or songcraft. I won’t be adding it to my regular rotation, but I recognize the mastery and the depth of tradition behind it.

A solid three stars for me: impressive, culturally rich, and worthwhile to hear, even if it doesn’t become part of my musical life going forward.

I think it sounded ok, but it kept on disappearing into the background while i did other things and didnt grab my attention very well. Ali Msula was the only exception

Lovely to know this exists. Can't say that I'll ever seek it out. That's my fault, not the music's.

I love qawwali music, so I was really pleased (and surprised) when this one came up. I knew a couple of tracks already from another Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan record that I've got that I think is a comp, not sure because it's been ages since I played it! Must do that more often.

4/5 because while I wouldn't play it all the time, it's really wonderful and mesmerizing music.

𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 works as a powerful introduction to Qawwali: long, unfolding performances built on call-and-response vocals, harmonium drones and steady hand-clap rhythms. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s voice is the center of gravity — urgent, elastic and spiritually charged — and the ensemble’s repetitions are meant to build intensity rather than variety. That structure can feel repetitive over time, but when it hits, it creates a deep, meditative pull that’s unlike almost anything in Western music. As an entry point into the tradition, the album shows why Nusrat’s presence was so transformative, even if the extended cycles demand patience.

I love getting exposure to different kinds of music, and this is my first experience of Qawwali, but this collection of songs doesn't really work as an album. First, this is a very difficult album to find (even the name of the album seems to be different from what is on the list), so I had to dig around to find all the songs. Second each song is much too long for what it offers. Third, the album itself is 90 minutes, which is absurdly too long. Overall, I understand why this album is on the list, but it's disappointing.

2.0/5.0: Disappointing

the songs are way too long but i enjoyed what they had to offer for a few minutes.

As always, a pretty difficult listen. There was some nice parts, but overall kind of hard to listen to with western ears

Beautiful guitars and of course power vocalist- just as a western trained listener hard to really know/fully enjoy sounds like Qawwali.

I’m sure sitting in my apartment is the wrong way to listen to this. And I’m sure music like this would be a lot better listening with others or in a live setting. I just didn’t really like it. Felt almost exhausting to listen to and the songs just kept going.

Today I learned that this exists.

As with most world music that is completely new and foreign to me, I was expecting I'd enjoy the experience of listening to the album more than I enjoy the music itself, but that absolutely wasn't the case here. The rhythms and chanting are absolutely hypnotic and I was immediately drawn in to the songs.

I could only find the combined Love & Devotion album that includes the album Love Songs on the first half and Devotional Songs on the second. I figured I'd start with Devotional Songs first since it's the album on the list, but enjoyed it so much that I went back and listened to Love Songs too.

Then reading through his Wiki, I saw mention of more experimental, fusion work like Mustt Mustt and knew I had to give that a shot as well. I've got to say, Mustt Mustt absolutely deserves to be on this list too. It's an incredibly cool East meets West fusion that works surprisingly well. The same hypnotic singing and rhythms, but with some jazzy guitar and bass. That said, I wouldn't replace Love & Devotion on the list with Mustt Mustt as I think the more traditional side of Love & Devotion should be acknowledged as well.

Honestly, this has been a great rabbit hole to explore! I'm going on to listen to Night Song next! I'm giving this entry on the list at least 4 stars based on this rabbit hole exploration alone!

Also, aside from the music, the album covers for Love & Devotion, Mustt Mustt, and Night Song are amazing!

Transcendiferous!!!

I assume this is the Pakistani Cliff?
Every track starts really promisingly. But then becomes dreadfully wailey dreadfully quickly (with the exception of "Allah Who?" and "Ali Dum Dum" which have cracking singalong choruses). All the tracks are also overly long.

But then this is not my culture so I have nothing to relate it to.

However, I'm certain that if I gave Cliff Richard's 'Cliff at Christmas' to the Taliban to review, then it would be returned very promptly with a "Meh" and 1 star.

I like to think I'm better and more gracious than the Taliban.

Even as a British person, I’m sick of listening to British albums each day so this was quite a nice switch up. However, it doesn’t mean it was AMAZING…

I have no idea if this is good or not. I listened to less than 30 seconds. Extremely not my jam. Is it important? Probably, maybe. But I'm not gonna find out. I wish I could be more open minded about this but it's not where my head is right now.

It sounds like someone doing Jeff Buckley impressions. Seriously though, nice melodies and Indian instrumentation.

I quite enjoyed a few songs. But it was a bit long and repetitive. Ok on the whole

3 ⭐️

Such a change from my usual music, but interesting enough to get 3

Favorite songs: Ali Maula Ali Maula Ali Dam Dam, Woh Hata Rahe Hain Pardah, Allah Hoo Allah Hoo

Least favorite songs: Mast Nazron Se Allah Bachae

3/5