Bachna Ae Haseeno

Rating: 5/10

Music Direction: Vishal Dadlani - Shekhar Ravjiani

Strengths:The song - Khuda Jaane is an instant hit, nothing special otherwise

Weaknesses: Apart from the top two songs, others fail to stick on, songs are too cliched - same old dance numbers with nothing special to mention about.

Best Songs:Khuda Jaane, Bachna Ae Haseeno
Avoidable songs:No song is too bad but you'll have to listen to the other songs a lot of times to enjoy them.

It starts of on a rocking note with 'Bachna Ae Haseeno' and 'Khuda Jaane' and then just gets boring. Nothing particularly interesting about this album so let's go to the songs..

'Khuda Jaane' is a wonderful song. I loved it. KK rocks this song like anything! Shilpa Rao doesn't do too badly either but her voice doesn't seem to suit Deepika in the video. Other than this it's a rocking romantic song. Specially for the hookline 'Khuda Jaane' which is very very powerful and KK has given everything to it! You just have to listen to this song for KK.

'Bachna Ae Haseeno' rocks too! They've incorporated the original Kishore parts really well and Sumit Kumar (Kishore's son) sings the rest of it. You can't compare him to the great Kishore but he's done very well to keep up and doesn't let you down. This is song is throughly enjoyable and I am looking forward to watching this in the movie. The video should be very interesting. Go grab it!

'Aahista Aahista' brings back Lucky Ali but this is not as good as 'Anjaana' from Yuva although it sounds a bit like that. It doesn't really impress the first 2-3 times but it sounds better when it gets a little familiar. The singer's (Lucky Ali and Shreya Ghoshal) have done a very good job but overall the song is kinda skippable.

'Lucky Boy' might work. The hookline sounds interesting (the 'Lucky Boy' part). And I am assuming this song features Bipasha. So, eventually this might end up sounding well in the movie. As a track, nothing special apart from the main hookline. It will work with people who've enjoyed songs like 'Crazy Kiya Re'.

'Small Town Girl' sounds similar to 'Ticket to Hollywood' from Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and 'Pretty Woman' from Kal ho na ho. Punjabi lyrics, Shankar Mahadevan and the regular dhol beats. What is interesting to see is Shankar Mahadevan singing for another music director - don't remember when that happened last. So if you liked the songs mentioned above, listen to this, but for me, another song I don't mind skipping.

'Jogi Mahi' has Shekhar singing and he starts off pretty well with Sukhwinder joining later. I've had too much of these kind of songs (The name itself would put most people off, unless you've immersed yourself into Bollywood and Yash Raj for good). Yes, the song is exactly like what the name suggests. So, in case you've had too much of these jogi, mahi, soniya etc. tracks, avoid this one.

One more track on this album is the 'Khuda Jaane (remix)'. It's faster and with more beats as you would expect. Good one for the disco although the vocals have been lost somewhere in all the beats.

Overall, you can skip this album and just get hold of Khuda Jaane and Bachna Ae Haseeno as the rest is regular Yash Raj crap (unless you enjoy that).

Rock On!!

Rating: 7/10

Music Direction: Shankar Ehsaan Loy

For: Rock fans obviously, young college crowd and people in 20s, concert-going crowd.

Strengths:Rocking tracks, strong guitar riffs and rhythm, crisp sound, something new for bollywood.

Weaknesses: Farhan Akhtar sings 5 of 8 songs and he sounds very amateur in most of them, lyrics are ordinary.

Best Songs: Rock on, Ye Tumhari Meri Baatein, Socha Hai
Avoidable songs:Zehreelay

Bollywood going fultoo rock and roll! exciting! And yeah .. a good job with the songs. The theme is simple - Mainstream rock songs all over, strong guitar riffs, energetic rhythm, crisp drumming, simple tunes. What let me down is Farhan's vocals. He does manage to sound ok in a couple of songs like Socha Hai and Pichle Saat Dino Mein but mostly he doesnt manage to give the songs what it takes - and ends up sounding pretty amateur-ish. However, in the context of the movie all this might fall in place as they aren't anyway supposed to be bigshot artists I guess. Plus, as I mentioned, the lyrics are very ordinary considering Javed Akhtar has penned them down but again in the context of the movie it seems acceptable.

Now to the songs..

'Rock On' is my pick of the songs simply for the guitar riff (from Lakshya's rock climbing scene). Vocals could have been better - he can't hold on to the notes sometimes - has a kinda shaky voice - yes that is a characteristic of some rock vocalists, but somehow the impact is lacking. Apart from this, the track is perfect. Nice guitar solo and the hookline ('Rock On', hai ye waqt ka ishaara.. and so on) is catchy and easy to sing along with. Do listen to this at least once.

'Ye Tumhari Meri Baatein' will get you moving in your seat. Perfect date song! And I loved the vocalist (Dominique Cerejo). The voice has good presence and character. Soothing rhythm/groove and very good work on the bass guitar. Lyrics go with the feel and the music has nice variations too. Overall an involving feel-good song. Absolutely no problem with this song.

'Socha Hai' starts of with a guitar prelude sounding something like 'Winds of Change' (Scorpions). Anyways, pretty good song. This is one song Farhan didn't screw up and he sounds pretty good to me. The lyrics are kinda philosophical and innocent. The structure is pretty much the same hard rock formula - decent guitar solo, slight variations and halts on the drums etc . This one can go down as an anthem of sorts - easy to sing, easy to follow kind. Another one I recommend.

'Pichle Saat Dino Mein' is the one used in the promo. Pretty funky song. Kind of melodic rap. The lyrics are like a conversation really - pretty effortless but you wont really focus on the lyrics here, just enjoy the track. Also, Farhan's vocals are bareable in this one too. The sound reminds you of RATM and if you enjoy that, give this a try.

'Sinbad the Sailor' is faster and slightly pop-ish. Reminds me of a couple of Strings' songs. By the time you get to this song, you get used to Farhan's vocals and they start sounding ok :P. The guitar solo is very good, one of the best in the album. It slows down towards the end and goes into another song ('Tum Ho To') from this album making it very long - something they could have avoided (unless the movie requires it). The overall song is somewhat like Paradise City (GnR) and is pretty refreshing. Not among the best of the album, but worth listening to.

'Tum Ho To' required a better singer. The composition is very nice and could have come out much better with a singer like KK or a voice with a solid presence and impact. The song has a psychedelic feel to it. The organ has been used a lot too. Pink Floyd fans might like this one. Lot's of voices and filling instruments. I would have rated this higher but for the singer.

'Phir Dekhiye' is a very soft and soothing acoustic song with good vocals and lyrics. It's like one of those theme songs which play in the background while the story is playing in fast forward or while a couple's having a good moment in a bar. :)

'Zehreelay' is thrash metal or something thereabout and of course very noisy. So there you go. If you like bands like Bhayanak Maut, RATM or Korn, go ahead and enjoy this one. This might be very enjoyable or totally annoying in the movie. Let's wait and watch. As for the theme, it's about snakebites I guess :p..

Overall, refreshing to see something like this in Bollywood. Definitely a welcome change from the regular Yash Raj melodies, disco and bhangra. Great album to have playing in the car! Seems more like Farhan Akhtar's private rock album. He needs to work on his vocals if he wants to repeat something like this. But inspite of that, this is a good buy.

Singh is Kinng

Rating: 6/10

Music Direction: Pritam

Strengths:Snoop Dogg!, Good tunes, Energy.

Weaknesses:Monotonous at times, too much bhangra.

Best Songs: Singh is Kinng, Bas Ek Kinng, Teri Ore
Avoidable songs:You can skip the remixes (other than the Bas Ek Kinng one)

Yo! Whaddup this is big Snoop Dogg
represent the Poon -jaabi
Ae Yo!
Hit ‘em with this
RDB
DPGC
Akshay
and Snoop D O Double G!!

This is THE bhangra album for the summer spiced up with Snoop Dogg and a misplaced romantic song! Yeah, monotonous but it features Daler Mehendi, Mika, Snoop Dogg, Hard Kaur and Neeraj Sridhar - so you don't need to doubt the style, energy and the Balle Balle quotient.
It's not for everybody - You have to like either bhangra, excessive dance beats or Snoop Dogg to like this album.

Starting with 'Singh is Kinng' which apparently is being shot in LA for a budget of 7 crore has Snoop Dogg written all over it. Simple - if you like rap/Snoop Dogg or any parallel form, you will like this song. Very catchy beat (reminds me of Eminem) and although it is monotonous, you do get involved in the song and it will be over before it gets boring. And guess what? It also has Akshay Kumar rapping in it, and he's actually done a good job! You should listen to this at least once.

'Bas Ek Kinng' is like Pritam's follow up to the 'Hare Krishna Hare Ram' (Bhool Bhulaiya) - 'Aai Paapi' (Kismat Konnection) series. Regular bolly-hip-hop dance track and Hard Kaur adds good energy to it. It sounds a little bit like 'Ganpath' from Shootout at Lokhandwaala and the hookline 'Singh is Kinng' sounds a bit like network provider Idea's commercial. :P.. I wonder why all Pritam's songs end up sounding like something else ;).. Anyways.. this is a pretty good title track.

One song that seems out of place in this album is 'Teri Ore' given all the bhangra and Whaddup! However, this is a very sweet romantic song. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is at his best but Shreya Ghoshal could have done better given her reputation - she sounds a little subdued. The melody is nice and overall a very good job with everything - the pianos, strings, beats etc. And yeah, listen to it for the Bagpipers if nothing else!

'Bhootni Ke' is a fast energetic in your face bhangra track from none other than Daler Paaji. And yeah, he's done a LOT of singing in this one. Perfect song for a bhangra night. The hookline is very very good and energetic ('Bhootni Ke'.....). If you're looking to wake someone up or just dance like crazy this is the song to go to. Great song for the right occasion. Not suitable for listening to in the car :P. Needless to say, good job Daler Paaji!

'Jee Karda' is another techno bhangra track which starts off well but once all the melodies are done one time, it gets monotonous. The singer Labh Janjua is perfect for this song. You definitely will like this song but not love it I guess.

By the time you reach 'Talli Hua', you're already too tired of all the bhangra, excessive beats and all the energy. So, unless you're a real die hard bhangra/Punjabi music fan, skip this one, coz its pretty ordinary.

Out of the remixes, you might like the 'Bas Ek Kinng (remix)' - more of Hard Kaur in this than the original and its actually pretty different from the original so give it a try. The 'Bhootni ke (remix)' is also slightly different from the original plus Mika sings this instead of Daler. Daler seems to have done a better job but Mika fans can go for this. Other remixes are just usual amplification of beats and rap.

Overall, this is something new from Pritam after a lot of typical Bollywood albums (not his fault :P). Will sell a lot in the north and among hip-hop/rap fans. Snoop Dogg rocks as usual. But yeah, as I said before, you have to be either a Bhangra fan, Snoop Dogg fan, or a die hard Akshay Kumar fan to buy this one!

Kismat Konnection

Rating: 5/10

Music Direction: Pritam

Strengths:Standard formula that works - Catchy dance numbers, decent romantic songs, familiar bollywood sounds which go down easily.

Weaknesses:No outstanding song - just good enough songs, Atif Aslam annoys in what could have been a very good song.

Best Songs: Aai Pappi, Bakhuda Tum Hi Ho (If you can ignore the parts where Atif has no idea what he's doing), Is this love - decent enough
Avoidable songs:Not really - Just go through the album quickly and pick the ones you like.

This is a pretty regular bollywood album. The songs wont annoy you or anything, but not sure how long you will remember them. 3 dance tracks, a couple of romantic ones and all sorts of remixes and reprises. Straight to the songs..

'Aai Pappi' is the most sellable song on this CD. It's got a good techno-riff going all throughout and as usual the groove and all is pretty well arranged. Plus, these songs have become Neeraj Sridhar's bread and butter now and he's done well here too. However, this song is a bit monotonous and you might not repeatedly listen to the whole song but still like it. Also, sounds pretty similar to 'Hare Krishna Hare Ram' from Bhool Bhulaiyya. Don't think that should be a problem though.

'Ba Khuda Tum Hi Ho' is a very nice composition and could have been an outstanding song if Atif would have sung in scale, especially the antras. I'm not an Atif hater but I do admit he's overrated and needs to get his basics right. Plus, somehow the Atif-Alka Yagnik combo doesn't go down easily with me. Inspite of all this, I still recommend this song! Oh haan, and its a romantic song of course.

Another decent song is 'Is This Love'. Again, nothing special, just nice-and-mushy-can-listen-to-a-few-times kinda song. The hookline is good ('maine na jaana' etc.), guitar fillers sound refreshing and the singers Shreya Ghoshal and Mohit Chauhan (Tum Se Hi fame) have done a nice job.

'Soniye Ve -Dhak Dhak' sounds very similar to 'Dil mangta hai' from Mujhse Shaadi Karogi so if you liked that go ahead and enjoy this track. Bhangra mixed with rap and decent melody makes it a good track to listen to once a while. Sonu's good as usual but something's been done to Sunidhi's voice and I dont know why, but don't care either. :P

'Move Your Body' is an average dance number. There's so much of this these days that such songs just disappear in the crowd. However, this one's got a good hookline ('pheeki pheeki raat ho gayi' and so on). Otherwise, its pretty ordinary.

Nothing major has been done in the remixes other than adding the dhik chik dhak chik beats and technofying the vocals. Will have some use in Gyms or discos here and there.

Overall, as the theme of this post has been - Very regular and average bollywood album with just-good-enough songs. A couple of them might be more popular than expected if people are made to listen to them too much, otherwise nothing special. You can skip this if you want to and as you might have noticed, this is one of those reviews I've not really enjoyed writing. :P