Released:
April 2002, EMI, CDEMCI (WE) 5982

Review:

If you read the SA Rock Digest charts each week and think to yourself, "I've never heard of most of this stuff", then this CD will rectify that. 'Homegrown' is a really great retrospective CD of South African rock music from the last 3 years or so. Most of the best and biggest names of the SA rock, pop, dance and even kwaito genres are here. And if you are a avid follower of the song and album charts published each week in the SA Rock Digest, you will find 10 Top 10 songs (including 4 chart-toppers), tracks taken off at least 6 Digest Top 10 albums and a song off the Digest's Album Of The Year for 2001, 'Poles Apart' by Karen Zoid.

'Homegrown' opens with the gentle and catchy R.E.M.-like 'Indigo Girl' by Watershed which went to #3 on the Digest charts and was off the chart-topping album 'In The Meantime'. By the way The Indigo Girls from USA recorded a song in 1990 called 'Watershed' - interesting, hey?

'Life', the theme from the Big Brother SA reality TV show sung by Semisane shot to the top spot and is taken off the second edition of the number 1 album 'A Life Less Strange'. The nu-metal sound of Saron Gas (now known as Seether) is represented here with the slow and powerful 'Fine Again'. Taken off their number 2 album 'Fragile'. South Africa's one-man Backstreet Boys, Danny K, sings his chart-topping hit 'Hurts So Bad' which is off his number 2 self-titled album. Adrian Shannon's heartfelt tribute to his young daughter 'My Angel' was a number 4 hit last year.

Afrikaans rock chick Karen Zoid sings 'Southern Skies' which is off her bilingual debut 'Poles Apart', the SA Rock Digest Album Of The Year for 2001. 'Stumbling Shore' is sung by Tree 63 who were originally known simply as Tree and have had great success overseas. The chart-topping song 'All Roads' by Liesl Graham is off her number 1 album 'Something To Believe'.

One of South Africa's best-loved poprock bands is the Counting Crows-style Just Jinger who went to number 1 with 'Your Song' (no relation to Elton John's early 70s hit) off 'Strange World' (#6), and it also appears on their highly recommended 'Greatest Hits' CD which went to number 2. 'Heroes', which has nothing to do with the David Bowie song of the same name, is a stunning rock song by Leery released in early 2001. And Bon Jovi fans will love Justin Bergh's title track off his number 3 album, 'Love The Sinner'.

Dance music is represented here by Roger Goode with 'To Move You', 'Haya (Tekstylez mix)' by Ryan Dent and 'Xplicit' by Heatseeker which also appeared on the '5FM Showcase 2' album. And not forgetting the King of Kwaito, Mandoza, with the very popular 'Nkalakatha' which was number 2 on the Digest charts and is taken off the album of the same name which went to #16 in 2000.

The other artists on this CD are: Grannysmith, Egyptian Nursery, Mean Mr Mustard and Henry Ate. Disc one of the recently released 'SA Top 40 Hits Of All Time Volume 6' also covers much of the same ground as this CD, but there are only 2 repeated tracks between the 2 albums. The rest are different songs by the same artists such as 'Only When It Rains' by Mean Mr Mustard ('Without You' appears on 'Homegrown'), and also features other big name bands like Wonderboom, Springbok Nude Girls and Amersham which are not on the 'Homegrown' CD.

'Homegrown' is highly recommended. I can't wait for Volume 2, so I decided to compile my own! See my imaginary compilation here...

Brian Currin, April 2002