Big Earl Sellar wrote this review.
Ummmmmmmmmmmm… Oh wait, that’s supposed to read “Om.”
Wah! is a California based singer who writes and records music inspired by and for the New Age yoga movement. These two discs show two of her sides, one an attempt at more mainstream music and another of interpretations on the universal “chant” theme. Two sides that still don’t offer up enough.
The liner notes in Transformation state, “Find yourself in a blissful revolution of alternative rock consciousness.” Right. What we have is more a disc of tepid mid-80’s college rock, mixed with elements of reggae, and some harmonium. Oh, and some truly wretched lyrics, the sort of lyrical religious drivel that drives people away with hands on their ears. To quote “Bliss:”
“I am the one seeking bliss
I am the one searching for fragrance
I am the one who loves to kiss
The one who is willing to open…
Bliss, bliss/Kiss the fragrance
No Fear, no fear/Here’s the chance to merge forever”
Er, yeah. It goes on like this for almost an hour. In her attempt to spread 
her message of spirituality, she invokes every cliché that a teen-age poet would undertake. Drivel set to music.
Because most of the lyrics on CD Krishna are traditional, they fare better. There is a more interesting groove to this disc, more of an Indian flavour to the songs, extra (and badly needed) percussion, and a little less flakiness than on Transformation. Seventy minutes of excessively white sounding singers chanting call and response in Hindi might not be your cup of tea… well, it’s not really mine either, frankly. The fact that many of the melodies are similar, and there’s a 15 minute track, really slow this disc to a crawl. It’s interesting, if not particularly engaging.
The biggest problem with Wah! (and you cannot tell me she doesn’t have friends that don’t flinch having to call her “Wah!” instead of “Rebecca,” or whatever her real name is) is that the material goes nowhere, and fast. She has a beautiful voice, with enough range to be a great torch singer. Her harmonium playing is rather daring, expanding the simple style most play it in for more of a tour de force technique. Her band is capable (if unoriginally voiced with cliché effect and tones), and, especially on CD Krishna, they create some interesting arrangements. But the songs are frightfully unfocused, overly preachy (and pretentious), and rather disposable.
With a serious look at where her strengths lie musically, Wah! could be capable of creating some really great music. However, I’d probably just say Whoa! to these discs.
(Wah! Music, 1998)
(Wah! Music, 1999)
