Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

Rating: 6/10

Music Direction: A R Rahman

Strengths: Consistent Modern Sound, Catchy Tunes.

Weaknesses: Lyrics lack attention, Some tunes seem too familiar, and in general average music - for a Rahman album.

Best Songs: Kabhi Kabhi Aditi, Nazrein Milaana.
Avoidable Songs: Pappu Can't Dance (and the Remix).

Disclaimer: I am not judging A R Rahman, I am only commenting on the songs of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.

To start off, the music is pretty good and nothing wrong with that anywhere, plus it seems like one of those albums which might sound much better in the movie than on a CD, so lets wait for that too. However, for an A R Rahman album, it's just average.

Let's straightaway get to the songs,

The best song is 'Kabhi Kabhi Aditi' and why - nice groove and rhythm all the way, Rashid Ali (Rahman's lead guitarist) does a pretty good job on the vocals. Definitely a very peppy song and will quickly top the charts. Very nice guitar work too. A very good song but I have a few problems with it - 1. Can't really make out all the lyrics - he's sung it well but it seems as if noone cares what is written, 2. sounds like 'Lady' by Modjo and 'Love to see you cry' by Enrique a little bit! - plus he ends up sounding a bit like adnan sami at times - all this put aside, just listen to the song and you will love it!

I liked 'Nazrein Milaana' a lot too. Again, very peppy and this one has a hint of rock too - something you can rock to as well as shake a leg or two to. This song should look really nice in the movie and sounds fresh and will click a lot with the college and school going crowd. The problem with this song is that you will love the track and keep listening to it without paying attention to the lyrics because the singers don't do it themselves! But a good song anyway and has a great hookline - 'Nazrein Milaana........'.

'Jaane Tu Mera' (both versions) is a decent 'sad' song (something like Tanhaayee from DCH but with lesser intensity). Nice melody and ambience and the kind of song you can always have in the background when missing someone or if you're simply sad! - especially the female version which is a little more upbeat - while the male version is more intense and actually meant to be depressing - not something you will listen to too many times. Decent lyrics - nothing too touching but go with the flow.

'Kahin To Hogi' sounds too similar to 'Nothing's gonna change my love for you' and 'No matter what - Boyzone' for me to appreciate it too much. It's a very nice song to listen to on repeat and fall in love with - especially for the romatically inclined, but then I can't resist saying that not too much of it sounds original. The antra / verse sounds nice and overall the ambience is good - something Rahman always manages to create. However, when I start liking the song for what it is there is a scale change (around 4:15) which reminds me of those songs again! Anyways, yes, listen to it and you will like it - but overall an average song.

'Tu Bole Main' is all jazz. Music of course is very neat and very jazz and it is definitely a likeable song. Very good melody on the hookline - 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na'. The problem with this, and don't kill me for saying this, is Rahman's vocals - they don't seem to go with this song - with a difficult melody for a song like this, you need someone to pronounce the lyrics really really well but Rahman has always had that problem and it puts you off sometimes in this song.

'Pappu Can't Dance' - err - I tried liking it - managed to eventually but that's not how it should be. It certainly sounds like a song made to look good in a movie and in a discotheque and it is probably, but among all the songs in the movie, this is the one you would listen to the least and the same goes for it's remix of course.

The whole soundtrack has a consistent sound and that is very important. The music sounds fresh and in place for what the movie promises to be. So, overall, worth buying but maybe not a memorable album - except for the best two songs which might still play on MTV a year from now but I think the rest will be forgotten. And frankly, I don't think Rahman was too involved in this.