Fiji - Best of Fiji (CD)

All Music Guide

A greatest hits compilation of contemporary Hawaiian artist Fiji. On the album is one track from his debut Evolution, five each from Gratitude and Born and Raised, and three from Transition, along with the stray nonalbum track Irresistable Woman. As with much of contemporary Hawaiian music, there's a notsocareful mix of reggae, synthdriven pop, more traditional elements of Hawaiian music, and basic pop ballads. As such, the songs take quite a few predictable turns, despite being rather well made. There are other contemporary artists that have perhaps made greater contributions to the music (Israel Kamakawiwo'ole being the most obvious in Hawaiian reggae, Hapa in the traditionalcontemporary fusion, etc), but in large part, they don't work across the various subgenres. Fiji does a fine job of bridging the boundaries, and the greatest hits album is actually pretty well done, collecting the highlights by simply condensing the majority of the filler tracks out of his previous albums. If you...'re going to buy a Fiji album, this is a good choice. It doesn't break any records for originality, but it's pretty good on all fronts. - Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide Read more Less