Two Worlds One Heart is an album by the South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, released in 1990.[3][4] The first single was "Township Jive", which the group had performed on the Graceland tour.[5][6]

The album peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's World Albums chart.[7] The group supported the album with a North American tour.[8]

Production

Several songs contain instrumental backing, a first for a Ladysmith album.[9] Ray Phiri wrote two of the album's songs.[10] Marvin Winans produced "Leaning on the Everlasting Arm", on which the Winans sang; group leader Joseph Shabalala was inspired to record the song after hearing Sweet Honey in the Rock.[5][11][12] George Clinton cowrote and produced "Scatter the Fire".[13] Anton Fig played drums on the album.[14]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[15]
Calgary Herald	B[16]
Chicago Tribune	[6]
Robert Christgau	A–[17]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[18]
Los Angeles Times	[19]
MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide	[20]
Orlando Sentinel	[14]
Ottawa Citizen	[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[21]

Robert Christgau wrote that Shabalala "has the lineaments of a pop visionary, and here he arrives at a crossover that does the style proud, moving gracefully from Zulu to English within and between songs and pumping the a cappella rhythms with instruments on three cuts."[17] The Austin American-Statesman concluded that "the most intriguing musical meeting of minds ... is undoubtedly 'Scatter the Fire', a song that melds Zulu dance and American mutant funk."[13]

The Calgary Herald deemed the album "another haunting collection of spirituals, ballads, and Zulu traditionals."[16] The Los Angeles Times determined that "much of LBM's music is based on hypnotic, not-quite-mainstream-sounding harmonies sung by voices so beautiful as to be not quite of this world ... No one is making music more heartfelt than this."[19] The Houston Chronicle praised the "dreamlike, a cappella harmonies and uplifting messages of faith and hope."[22]

AllMusic wrote that "this is one of the most ambitious albums Ladysmith has ever done, and its risk-taking pays off handsomely."[15]

Track listing

References