Vieux Farka Toure

It's so obvious we're surprised no one's done it before: inviting African musicians to cover U2, whose Bono is easily music's most Africa-centric activist. It takes a few listens to shake off the ghost of the originals, but once you do, there's a lot to like here. Ba Cissoko, an innovative young kora group, gives "Sunday Bloody Sunday" a sparkling makeover, and Vieux Farka Toure's eerie take on "Bullet the Blue Sky" adds a gravitas that the years had stolen from the song. U2's social messages also gain new meaning in African mouths: The Soweto Gospel Choir's "Pride" gives goosebumps.

Bono deserves props for global stumping on Africa's behalf. So it's good that this tribute is a
rootsy thank-you, not a world-music cheesefest. Guinea's Ba Cissoko reinvents "Sunday
Bloody Sunday" with kora-harp ripples, guitarist Vieux Farka Touré turns "Bullet the Blue
Sky" into a dusty Malian blues, and Cheikh Lô makes "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking
For" into a chattering Afro-flamenco workout. Great songwriting makes translati... More >