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.