Review: Outlandish: Closer than Veins: Pt. 1/3
As promised, here is a review of Otlandish’s latest CD, Closer than Veins. Overall, its apparent that Outlandish has long since matured since their earlier albums. Many worried if Outlandish would continue to curse in their albums like they have on a couple of previous tracks, and a producer of Closer than Veins assured me that there is no cursing on this album. Moreover, the themes of this CD further reflect their maturity and growth as musical artists, as Muslims (at least for Isam and Waqas), and ultimately, as human beings.
Here is a comprehensive track by track review of Closer than Veins, some with brief audio clips, and some excepts of lyrics I particularly liked. I will probably split up the full review over a couple of posts inshallah. (And just to set myself clear, I will not send you any mp3s of the album, please purchase the CD once it becomes available inshallah and support Outlandish!)
1. Introspective
Dont go back to sleep, time for prayer
dont let it defeat you, time to find whats ur real need my player…
Learned from Ali how to fight
without the ego in sight
…
Lets keep it shoulder to shoulder; feet to feet
straighten your lines from inside out to the street
…
It makes me bow down to the Most High
And realize that whoever said a grown man cant cry – they lie
See every soul will taste death and I only fear Him
and I address the beloved with ‘peace be upon him’
This track is more of an introduction to the album. This CD is very centered with Islamic themes, and sets the overall tone for the album.
2. Any Given Time
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Im out to fight the devil but never fought myself…
I read a thousand books but I never read myself,
My soul starving and I fear, Lord I need your help!
the hell with the devil my biggest enemy is myself
it makes me wonder if im doing this for the right reasons
i mean the money the fame, the game all sounds appealin
but instead of entertaining i prefer to enlighten
but then again who am i to be in the position
to represent a whole generation of kids and to make them believe
when till this day i still struggle to uphold my deen
i read a hundred God is Greats in less than a minute
and though my tounge is fast, im twisted, as my hearts not in it
This song stresses that no matter whats going on to us, and how much we struggle with our lives, at any given time, He (God) is always there. He is in control of our souls and nothing really can happen without him and his will. God truly is closer than our own (jugular) veins at all times, and likewise we should always be continuing to struggle to attain His Light and nearness to Him.
3. Look Into My Eyes
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See I’ve known terror for quite some time
57 years so cruel
Terror breathes the air I breathe
It’s the checkpoint on my way to school
Terror is the robbery of my land
And the torture of my mother
The imprisonment of my innocent father
The bullet in my baby brother
The bulldozers and the tanks
The gases and the guns
The bombs that fall outside my door
All due to your funds
You blame me for defending myself
Against the ways of my enemies
I’m terrorized in my own land
And Im the terrorist?
This is the album’s first single whose video has already been released. This song is based on a poem on the plight and struggle of the Palestinian people and the injustices they are faced with daily. I wrote about this song in an earlier post. A very beautiful yet emotional song.
4. Just Me
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Shine a light up, Brothers and Sisters, go get brighter
Even though the media (will) try to demonize us
We need to be wiser, we got our eyes wide shut
We aint gonna get no where, so man, listen up
Race or color, it aint half empty, its half full
Life is a test, we face many obstacles
This song essentially addresses the way people (like Isam and Waqas, who appear Muslim, as well as foreigners in general) are often negatively portrayed by the media. Isam sings that "im just me.. just me". Dont let all the media hype and negativity deter you from being you as life isnt meant to be easy. Sometimes you just have to take life as it comes, and do the best we can to overcome these generalized misconceptions and tribulations we face.
5. Kom Igen
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To be honest, I didnt understand this song. It was like rapping in 3-4 languages really fast about something. I would really appreciate it if some1 could transcribe this clip I have available in urdu. Yes thats right, URDU rapping, lol. Listen to it for urself!
Inshallah Ill review the rest of the tracks in the upcoming days…
Please do not post comments of links where u can download the album. You can listen to all tracks online on the music player on my main (blog) page. Please purchase the CD for yourself and support Outlanidsh!
UPDATE: NEW!! LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE ALBUM:
Listen to Closer Than Veins & My Ummah (FULL ALBUMS!)
Salamualaikum and what up to everyone, all i gotta say is that people like Outlandish need our and help and need encouragement from people like us to go out there and buy their album and not download it for free. Lets go out there brothers and sisters and support these guys, lets make them number 1 cause i know i am trying and its hard to do it alone, peace and salamz
You can buy the new album from http://www.cdwow.com they do free worldwide shipping I think, they’re based in Hong Kong. They definitley ship free to the Uk it’s where I got my copy from
finally I found some lyrics for the new album. ENJOY
http://www.letssingit.com/?/outlandish-fcz31.html
all i gota say dat they new album is phat man sum of they new tracks mashallah they brilliant enuf respet outlandish keep the gd wrk uppp……..n they are the lyrical kings salaaam
Salaaaam outland mooro (although we dont no wat it means!) we give this album 15/10! it just has soo much meaning in thier music, we are the humble humans that have been heartened, entertained and educated by this album. the lyrics have really touched us and we have also really been influenced by thier album bread and barrels of water, that album is just amazing! p.s. does ne1 no wen they will be touring in england, let us no. thanx!
peace and salam…
OUTLANDISH 4 LYFFFFFFFFF………. LYRICALL KINGSS…….. MASHALLAH
Hey guys check this out. THESE GUYS ARE CATCHING ON REALLY FAST IN THE UK.
LYRICS ARE PUBLISHED ON THEIR SITE AND YOU CAN LISTENT TO THE SONGS
http://www.blak-stone.com
Hey what happened to all the other reviews you were going to do? Also, does anyone know where I can get the lyrics for the album?
Baseer – Unfortunety until now there have been only published 4 lyrics from the album. Those lyrics are not official but then again its better than nothing.
http://www.letssingit.com/?/outlandish-fcz31.html
For one month ago, I’ve tried once to call the guy whose the responsible official publisher of the Outlandish Album in Denmark. He told me that the site http://www.outlandish.dk will be updated in one week, but nothing has happened yet. For further information I can tell you that we did booked tickets for the new Outlandish concert for 6 weeks ago. But 1½ week before the concert we were told that the concert was canceled. In stead we were told that the date of the concert was moved to 16/02/06.
So in my opinion something strange is goning on. It’s kind of strange that the album has been out for more than 2 months and still the official lyrics are not updated at the official website.
http://www.outlandish.dk
regards
aghrab
This album is beyond words. My mate has this album, and i envy him very much (at least till i get it off him and make myself a copy).
Hey Desi Hiney, u from birmingham?
je trouve cet album tres bien fait coté mélody ainsi que les paroles …..je remercie outlandish.. you’re my best band you’re the greatest .. we are waiting for the rest of the lyrics in discographie in the official website..
sorry:) hi every one ….
salaams and helloo 2 every1
i just bumped into outlandish’s music literally a couple of days ago…and man! they are good!
i have a HUGE favour!
i’m from CANADA (Toronto) in particular, and just wondering where in the world I can get a hold of their new Album?
email me at: ari_shuza@hotmail.com for any info
thnks
I talked to the SONY BMG label today. They promised me that the site is going to have a new look included with the lyrics in 2 days from now.
now you can find the lyrics at http://www.outlandmoro.com
OMG!! OUTLANDISH R GREAT MAN!!
please who can send me beyond word
[...] Outlandish recently released their latest video from Closer Than Veins, Kom Igen. [...]
Outlandish ROK!!! these guyz r truli awsum, they hav stood up to the west and the taboos assosciated wiv singin/rapping about Islam an the Palestinian. the entire album is wicked. please, guyz dont download their album illegalli go out an buy it and support our muslim brothers, also tell all friends about them, we need to stand up against the west and their corrupt an biased media propaganda against Islam and Muslims. jazakallah hair
herez mi addy if anyone wantz to ask me anyfing : mckash_1*hotmail.com
also if u guyz wana chek out me profile at hi5 : http://muslim4life786.hi5.com
PS guyz NEVER GIVE OUT UR FULL EMAIL ADDRESSES ON FORUMZ, BLOGZ,etc SPAMMERS REGULARLI USE BOTS TO SEARCH FOR HOTMAIL, YAHOO, etc ACCOUNTS ON FORUMS AND THEN ADD U TO THEIR MAILIN LISTS AND SEND U SPAM MAIL, TRUST ME U WILL BE BOMBARDED!!! ok salaam to everyone on here all mi broz n sistrz MORO4LIFE
PS wat does moro mean?
Assalamu Alaikum (peace on you) to all Muslims and non-Muslims,
My son introduced me to this group when he played Beyond words and it stuck a cord in my heart as with Allah
’s blessing I performed the Hajj last Year and this track really summed up the whole experience for me and brought all those fantastic life changes memories back, Subhan Allah 
. May Allah 
grant this group all success in future – I could write so much more, but I need to get to the point.
This site is great and I regularly use the radio blog facility to play trax thru my work firewall – to listen to Outlandish and Sami Yusuf… I look forward to other trax soon, Insha Allah
.
Shaq thanks for your earlier mail below – the site is awesome. I have downloaded all Outlandish lyrics into a word document (100pages)…the songs mean so much more when you read the english trans of Spanish etc…If anybody out there would like a copy of this doc then please feel free to fire off an e-mail to sz3cv9@hotmail.com
Peace out.
Khalid Khan (Manchester -UK)
============================================
shaq from: Denmark dkyour flag Dec 10th, 2005 at 5:54 pm
finally I found some lyrics for the new album. ENJOY
http://www.letssingit.com/?/outlandish-fcz31.html
mmmmmmmmmmh great
sry ! first salam
ITZ REALLY COOL HOW MANY OUTLANDISH FANS ARE OUT THERE…..from EVERY PART OF THE WORLD….GREAT….luv them….specially ma ONE an ONLY ……..great work!!!!GOD BLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PEACE
HEY ZIKOS
DO U GET MSN?
I´LL SEND U BEYOND THE WORDS…..WHEN I GET UR ADRESS….ta min jai fi maghrib?MB
GOD BLESS
Finally, an album of the hip-hop genre with substance, not just people swearing and getting laid. I became an Outlandish fan immidiately
Finally, an album of the hip hop genre with style and substance, not just people swearing and getting party and laid. Well, eventhough there is a one beautiful song about partying
hi
please if u have samiyusuf number sendet to me pleeeeeeeeeeease
thanx
Well, guys i strongly think we should purchase outlandish new CD, i think it a good idea to make the west aware to the unacceptable situation for the Muslims overall and the European ones and the Palestinians.
we have to purchase it from a web site that’s belong to the outlandish them self.
salam all people
I fink Outlandish r SIK!… Only band who’s VDO’s I can actuali watch wiv out feelin’ ashamed, nd der lyrics r deeep…btw ppl if ny1 wnts lyrics for all der sngs visit:
http://www.azlyrics.com/o/outlandish.html
OMG ppl btw u can purchase Outlandish’s albums in HMV- neva xpected it, lol- ny1 know nd wen dey nxt cumin’ 2 London for a gig- i’m sooooooooo gna go!
Peace- Much
i luv outlandish
its nyc 2 listen 2 song on through headsets
dats y i wana download da songs aswell as buy da album.
0bn
http://002evolves.blogspot.com