Jewish Music Album Review: Yacov Young: Yogati

Sameach Music was nice enough to furnish me with a copy of Yacov Young’s debut album entitled Yogati to review on this blog. I will be critical as a musician about this album so some of you may disagree with my findings. My suggestion is to check out the clips before you buy it.

Here we go:

1) Gal Gal by Yitzchak Rosenthal: The first song on the album is a rock/disco. You can tell they were trying very hard to come up with a great first song intro to wow you, as first impressions are always important. This one falls a bit short in my opinon. The song is not all that bad,
it just lacks some drive.

Rating: 6.5 (1= horrible, 5= avg, 10= awesome)

2)Shir Hamalos by Yitzchak Rosenthal:

The best slow song on the album and arguably the best song on the album period.
The intro seriously lacks imagination but this is a real winner in my opinion and might become a hit.

Rating: 9

3)Yogati by Yossi Green:

This Hora/disco song has to be difficult for many to sing since the key is pretty high. It has some interesting hooks but it’s no “shomati”. The intro is not bad but I’m not sure it will be all that popular

Rating: 7

4) P’sach by Yitzy Waldner:

Another Ballad some interesting notes, nice to listen to but not a blockbuster.

Rating: 6.5

5) Torah by Yitzy Waldner:

Although yogati is the title song and perhaps the one they thought would be the next
big hit this rock tune has the drive that yogati is missing. The piano really jams and the groove is much better here. This may not be a huge hit but I like it better than yogati.

Rating: 7.5

6) Nachem by Elimelech Blumstein:

A ballad nothing particularly noteworthy.

Rating: 5

7) Ashira by Yitzchak Rosenthal:

Very odd choices of steel drums in this intro in this hora. The sons sounds very feminine
As if it was written for women dances.

Rating:5.5

8) M’chalkeil by Yitzchak Rosenthal:

This is a “Shiru Lamelech” oompah set song. Not quite as good but I like the retro sound.

Rating:7

9) Shomra by Yitzchak Rosenthal:

A ballad with a child soloist. It’s nice but not the most memorable.

Rating: 6

10) Yechadshaihi by Pinki Weber:

Yiddish frielach song perhaps they were looking for a “yeri anaini”(shweky).
This is surprisingly a good solid song and might get some serious wedding play.


Rating: 8

Synopsis: Yacov is a great vocalist and I’m not sure this album does him real justice.
There are some good songs but not as many as one would like perhaps. I think the mix is not as good as some other albums but certainly not the worst I’ve heard. If you would like to listen to some clips before picking up this album click here.