Here are some customer reviews of
Rise
: The first time I listened to Anoushka Shankar was when I bought the "Live at Carnegie Hall" CD. That music to me was very inspiring and moved me in a very delightful way. The next one I listened to was "Anourag" and that too left me in awe. But I couldn't find the purity and inspiration of her earlier works in "Rise".
The items I like in "Rise" are "Prayer in passing" and "Voice of the Moon", but I found the rest to be very average, in a relative way.
Art affects people in different ways, depending on ones receptivity and consciousness also, so you may feel differently about it. I hope she creates something in the future that moves me the way her earlier CDs did.
 I am an independent filmmaker and I was in Delhi in February of 2005 where I had an opportunity to see Anoushka work in the studio on "Rise." A professional skeptic, I was not prepared to see the level of detail that went on to the recordings. Anoushka was in the studio seemingly day and night and controlled every element of the recording. She hunted down the musicians, wrote every piece, played her heart out, meticulously listened to and controlled every note, was there at every moment of the mix. As someone once said, she became the music. This apparently went on for months. Her father had no input. He was lucky if she'd let him listen to a single track. This was Anoushka's baby. I made a short video that shows a bit of her studio work on a couple of the tracks. The record company eventually put it on her website. I wish it could have been a lot longer.
Although the sitar is not always a dominant instrument on the album, when it is there, its simply majestic. The album's structure has the feeling of a sweep of raga's starting with Track one "Prayer in Passing" with its freshness of a morning raga, the "in your face" power of "Mahadeva," the sheer beauty of "Solea," and ending up with the Track nine's incredibly mature and evocative, "Ancient Love." In my estimate, that track alone is worth the price of the CD. I have seen and heard Anoushka play in concerts since she was 16, and the music here at first sounded to me like a departure that went too far, but after a couple of listenings, I was stung, I realized it WAS a natural, and a necessary evolution. The tracks in Rise evoke and tug in a manner that's just as effective and mature as in her classical CD's, just different - the ultimate improvisation! Only a first class, classically trained musician could have the depth of musical knowledge to make this work. Its an amazing piece of work and a wonderful gift to world music.
Its both sad and funny to read some of the snide comments about the "publicity machine" that's supposed to be pushing Anoushka's career. As one who knows the inside situation a little, I also know that the Shankar family publicity budget is, and always was, zero. In fact, lucky is the reporter who even gets a short interview with any of them. Its the music, dummy!
From cover to cover and track to track.....This girl does not let you go. Seductive is the word that came to mind and I was by the last track...thouroughly seduced..... It is a wonder that such n enchanting sound can come from the hands and the mind of such a beautifull woman.....You go girl.....
I saw this poster in New York and bought this album. Its the first time that I really want to listen to it with speakers and not on my computer. I love it. I wish there was a little less electronic as the music stands on its own. I hope Rise will be released in India soon. People will love it.
Anoushka Shankar's Rise, like the Indian cuisine, is rich with a variety of flavors. Prayer in Passing has me at once on the banks of the river Ganges and the Amazon river. Magical.
Anu Jayanth
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