Rating: 9/10
For: Anybody who has a good ear for music, especially Indian classical/jazz, Sonu Nigam fans!
Target Audience: People in 20s and above.
Strengths: Beautiful Beautiful vocals all the way, amazing fusion of Hindustani Classical and Western Jazz music in some songs, good lyrics, some very touching melodies, very fresh but mature sound, experimentation with instruments, phew!
Weaknesses: None. Except that it is a little musician-friendly and not for everybody.
Best Songs: Chhalki Chhalki, Soona, Sochta hun main, Dhanya Dhanya
Avoidable songs: None.
It is for albums like these which go unnoticed sometimes, have I actually started this blog. I might be sounding very biased already, but you must listen to the few songs I've mentioned above. Yes, it's not for everybody to digest, but anybody who plays/understands music or is a good follower at least will love this album.
My respect for Sonu Nigam has skyrocketed after this album, not that I wasn't a fan already. He just seems to overshadow the wonderful music direction by Deepak Pandit with his perfect vocals all the way. The lyrics (by Ajay Jhingran) are just as good. I am making sure I mention all the names coz it takes a few really creative and skilled artists to put such an album together.
The songs - yes, I'll start with 'Chhalki Chhalki' - very very soothing track, you might just fall asleep but that's how good the song is! I can again just brag about Sonu's vocals here again, but for the rest of the review let's just assume that he's done an amazing job unless stated otherwise.
Beautiful composition, interesting waltz-like piano solos and perfect lyrics sum up this song.
Another incredible song is 'Soona Soona'. Awesome Jazz groove, great use of the organ as well. The song just takes off with the groove and keeps you interested. Interesting fusion of the jazz beats with indian percussion.. It gets less jazzy and more classical as it progresses, but only to get better melody wise, although the groove is always there. I would rate this as the best if it was not for Sonu's soothing vocals in Chhalki Chhalki.
Other must-listen songs are:
'Dhanya Dhanya' - very beautiful and soothing song - reminds you of Parineeta's songs actually. Nice use of Shehnai.
'Sochta Hun Main' - Slightly upbeat and more mainstream than the other songs - something not too difficult to like. Very nice solos, use of a lot of instruments, light distortion guitar at places and a good bassline all the way. It's like a formula which always works if done well - and in this case works just fine.
'Bheege Bheege' - Minor minor everywhere - one of those dark sounding songs - some people might hate it - not a very upbeat song and is very classical and requires patience to like. Not recommended for casual listeners but certainly serves its purpose in the album.
Other songs - 'Lamha lamha' - More pop-ish, most people will like it and a couple of other songs are also worth a hear if you enjoyed all these songs.
Overall, a very mature album and yet not boring. Hail Sonu!
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