Customer Reviews
Very very good! - By: AD, 15 Oct 2007 
This is the sound of the 21st century. This is the sound of globalisation (and proof that that needn't necessarily be a dirty word!) This is the sound you'll want to hear again & again & again. If you like your music safe & formulaic, steer clear of this. But if you want to hear something fresh, then this may be just what you're looking for...
v cool album - By: Minty_peas, 01 Oct 2007 
Listen, why bother criticising an artist like that? One person says the 'good but beats are wrong', then one says 'good but the vocals are wrong'. Just take it as it is, & review it as it is. It's a great album in its own way (it seems to get a lot of hassle as it can't be boxed in with one genre or another). Undoubtably sounds like a debut album & MIA's new album is a bit different to this, but this still sounds fresh, interesting & pretty damn fine to me.
Keep the vocals, put some attitude in the beats - By: Captain H, 06 Feb 2007 
Some seem to like the beats on this album but not the vocals, I am the opposite. While I reallly like her delivery, the beats seem reallly wet to me. If this had some traditional drum & bass percussion it would be awesome. I would love to hear her vocals against the kind of soundscape Asian Dub Foundation produce. (and I'm not saying that because they're another South Asian group).
Another thing worth mentioning is that she is better when rapping about herself than trying to be political.
All in alll an OK debut, but she could do with some outside input if it didnt negate her individual charm.
Innovative and Interesting - By: anju, 18 Jan 2007 [...]--there's reallly no reason to attack the woman's accent because you find it too "upper middle class," for example. I will agree that her vocals & her delivery are reallly a matter of taste. She's definitely from the Gwen Stefani school of sharp sopranos, & she sometimes throws out phrases like she's trying her very hardest to keep you from fallling asleep at the wheel. But that's the point in a lot of ways: this is an aggressive record, with aggressive sounds, an aggressive set of messages, & aggresive delivery. But it's also a fantasticallly global album, with a truly global sound--in this way, M.I.A may be more like Shakira than Missy Elliot, perfectly comfortable throwing together Brazilian, South Asian, & rap influences together in a way that doesn't suit everyone, but is very appealing if you like the sound of her voice & her repetitive, percussive, firecracker songcraft.
freshest record of 2005 - By: pj manchester, 24 Sep 2006 OK, so taste is taste, but i'm amazed at alll the negative reviews for one of the freshest, most original, & goddammit brilliant records of recent years. If you like the sound of a Missy Elliot without the #@!&$ balllads & a London emigre slant then this is for you. Arular is, quite frankly, the Nuts!
