Jou a Rive

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[13]
DownBeat	[14]
MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide	[9]
The Sydney Morning Herald	[5]

The Chicago Reader stated that "Eddy Francois' Bob Marley-esque vocals, guitarist Vladimir 'Jimmy' Jean-Felix's psychedelic flourishes, and slices of straight-up reggae combine with the album's slick production and pop glosses to temper the Haitian ra-ra rhythms and voodoo chants with an overt crossover appeal."^[15] The Washington Post wrote that Francois "delivers the group's anthemic songs with the political/spiritual fervor of a Bob Marley... Seney and his four fellow drummers organize their patterns around a definite groove, and the gifted Jimmy Jean-Felix adds North American rock guitar licks."^[6]

The Gazette noted that "the very fact that Boukman Eksperyans and Boukan Ginen invoke more dangerous voodoo and rara rock rhythms is a defiant political statement... Their lyrics merely fan the flames."^[16] Guitar Player thought that the album "presents their driving, effervescent blend of folkloric Haitian trance rhythms with rock, R&B, and reggae, all arranged by Jean-Felix."^[10] The Chicago Tribune determined that, "in places, Boukan Ginen seems to be practically folksy even as it infuses its hypercharged vodoun celebrations with scorching guitar licks and near-solid walls of percussion."^[17]

AllMusic wrote that "BG's mix of rock and funk and compas and rara-derived rhythms is much hipper and less self-conscious than [Boukman Eksperyans's]."^[13]