Sonu Niigaam - Classically Mild

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!

Jal - Boondh

Rating: 4/10

For: Pop-rock lovers
Target Audience: Young College crowd. Nothing beyond that.

Strengths: Good Vocals, crisp and popular rock-ish sound.
Weaknesses: Bad Lyrics, Lack of good melodies, Weak song structures.

Best Songs: Sajni, Payal.
Avoidable: Most of the rest.

To start off, disappointing album. I loved the first album with songs like Woh Lamhe, Aadat, Dil Haare, and I am sorry to say, this one is just some rock-musicians getting together, jamming, writing lyrics on the spot (not too much thought into it) and putting it on a CD.

Apart from Sajni and Payal - which have hints of the good composing skills they apparently possess, no other song seemed to have good melody, something you would like to sing along with. And even when they do manage to put together a good tune for some song, they turn into 15 yr-olds when they get to the lyrics. In fact, the most disappointing feature of this album are the lyrics.

The song structures are weird. You never seem to get involved in the songs, nor do they themselves seem to. It just feels like this album was made and recorded in a week. Nothing much was thought about.

However, the sound is very crisp, very good production and you wont mind listening to it while on a long drive or on a jog. Also, these songs are mainly the concert-types, so I wont go all the way and bitch about them like crazy. I used to be a fan as well by the way.

Don't have too much to say about this album or the songs specifically as they mostly sound the same and are not for the music-lover types who think about the music/lyrics. It's just good enough to have in the background and is not annoying at least.

Tashan

Rating: 7/10

Strengths: Variety of songs, Catchy tunes and beats, slightly new sound.
Weaknesses: Udit Narayan sounds outdated in a couple of songs.

Best Songs: Dil Haara, Tashan me, Chhaliya.
Avoidable Songs: None.

Vishal-Shekhar are just flying these days. Not only can they create catchy tunes, but are very good at putting them on CD as a complete package. This album is about catchy tunes, very-bollywood-beats, a touch of rock here and there and of course, strong vocals.

'Dil Haara' is my pick of the songs. A song tailor-made for Sukhwinder and he's nailed it! The most interesting part of this song is the 'oooo - aaaa' noise at the beginning and the middle - never seen that used before. Very creative. Also, good suttle distortion guitar all the way keeps the adrenaline going.

'Chhaliya' is your typical well done catchy item number - very very nice groove - and the highlight of course is the 'nasila nasila tera naina'. A piece of cake for Sunidhi and the lyrics are not too bad. If you've seen the video/movie, then you'll like the song more ;).

'Tashan Mein' is this rocking track - great aggression in the vocals - especially Vishal. Can classify this under alternative/techno-rock fused with Indian classical music. Nice song, especially for a promo.

'Falak tak' can get boring if you're not the bollywood-lover types. It's a sweet romantic number and I liked it, especially in the movie. Nice guitar rhythm and other guitar work helps the song sound fresh and not a typical bollywood-pyaar-bhara-gaana. But then, this is a very-Vishal-Shekhar-song - reminds you of 'Hey Shona' from Tara Rum Pum. The antra slightly let me down, although a good song overall.

'Dil Daance Maare' .. umm .. well .. some people loved the song, I didn't. It's good to watch and enjoy in the movie, but as a track, unless you love everything bollywood throws at you, you might not like it. Udit Narayan seems mis-fit in the song, someone else would have sounded better - personal view though. Very filmy techno-bhangra beats waala say-shava-shava / Ek-punjaban like track.

Overall, a good variety of songs, and mostly good to listen.

Fuzon - Journey

Rating: 8/10

For: Pop-fans, Rock-fans, Keen listeners - everyone really.
Target audience: College crowd and people in 20s, 30s.

Strengths: Great Melodies, Interesting guitar solos, Good new vocalist, good production/mixing.
Weaknesses: Slightly monotonous sound. Lyrics not up to the mark for some songs.

Best songs: Suna Suna, Tu Kahan, Neend Na Aaye, Dholna, Abhi Hum Kahaan
Avoidable songs: Teri Yaadan, Chhuu Lo.

After a wonderful first album (Saagar), Fuzon had made a lot of fans including me and have they pleased the fans with the new album - Yes! The best thing about the album is that the sound is exactly the same. They have played to their strengths - Vocals, Melodies, good Chord structures. And this time I felt the production quality was a little better.

Rameez Mukhtar was brought in for the vocals following the departure of Shafqat Amanat Ali from the band and not only has he managed to adjust to the classical-melodic funk-pop mix sound but his beautiful voice has added a lot to the songs in terms of soul.

Most songs are flow songs - Soft start, Crispy guitar entries, quick percussion entries and then the songs just take off and you are involved till the end. Not too much experimentation really - there is with songs like Teri Yaadan, Chhuu Lo - with an upbeat sound, festive feel and different instruments - but unfortunately I would rank these the lowest in the album.

The best songs - the first three - Neend na aaye, Suna Suna and Tu Kahan - beautiful vocals complimented by simple but suitable lyrics and very good guitar backing. And of course, the keyboards add a lot of colour to the songs, just like the first album. Neend na aaye reminds you of 'Ankhon ke saagar' from the first album and Tu Kahan reminds you of 'Tere Bina'.

Dholna is an interesting song - Starts of very funky and for a change with Punjabi lyrics - threatens to be one of those upbeat but forgettable dance tracks - but then has a beautiful punchline/crossline (whatever u wanna call it) which goes something like 'mainu jaan zaraa, pehchaan zara' - my Punjabi not too good :P.

After the first 4 songs though, it might get a bit monotonous if you are not a fan - although the other songs are good, wont call them memorable. But definitely worth listening.

Jo dil ne kaha - Lyrics could have been better. It's a sweet song.

So, overall a definitely worth listening album. Go ahead and BUY stuff if you can! Makes you feel good.

More reviews coming up.

Kick Start

The blog is simple, very simple. Album suno, review likho. Review padho gaana suno.

I realized I discuss a lot about music and songs and how and what makes a song good, bad, memorable, forgettable etc. etc. and probably have a decent taste in music and being a composer myself, I think I can make sense here.

So, will put it on e-paper from now and hopefully guide a few people on whats good to hear and whats not!

So, in case there is no review on this blog yet, just wait a while and I'll start putting up stuff.

Will be reviewing as many 'Hindi' pop/rock/alternative albums and of course bollywood albums too. Might not be able to cover all of em but at least those that matter.

Enjoy!

Reviews coming up soon:

1. Fuzon - Journey
2. Jal - Boondh
3. Tashan
4. Sonu Nigaam - Classically Mild