Wednesday, September 24, 2008

rock on - again

I am coming back to the wonderfully crafted album by SEL - Rock on!

The songs in the album religiously maintain the construction of any typical rock song - i.e. the song has only a pallavi, which is repeated over and over again with distinct lyrics ofcourse, the tune being the same. Typically, there are no charanams. The pallavis are separated by guitar, keyboard interludes. The song gets its variation purely because of the variety in the orchestration employed.

This is something new that we haven't seen in Indian film songs. Infact,here, all songs fit the above description. Having said that, is there variety that is in offer?
Yeah. Sure.

'Socha Hai' is a wonderfully paced, would-make-you-dance song. I especially like the song's lyrics and the way Farhaan has sung it. He seems to ease through the song with a natural flair. Also, I feel this song is more peppier than 'Rock on', the title song. The two probably could have interchanged their places.

'Rock on', again by Farhaan is pretty good throughout. But a defnite zing is missing here when compared with Socha Hai.

'Ye Tumhari Meri', sung by Dominique Cerejo is easily the pick among the slow songs. The whole song has the chord Ri-Pa-Ma-Ri-Sa-Ri-Ma-Pa(all major notes) consistently flowing through. Again, the keyboard, guitar's prowess come to the fore. Accompanied by a wonderful voice, this song has already made me addictive.

'Pichle Saath Dinon' is easily bolstered by the electric guitar and Farhaan. The song's, 'Kaise Boloon...' phrase is very catchy, departing from the rock feel of the overall song.

'Tum Ho Toh', is good for its interludes(esp. the ones with the organ), not so much for the voice as Farhaan lack of proper training shows. Nevertheless, yet another good song.

The freshness in this album is probably comparable to DCH, RDB. No wonder they were chartbusters. Music of a movie reflects the thought process of the director and his penchant for the kind of songs he wants to have. The best of songs seem to come inextricably from the best of the movies. No wonder then, the director has a major role to play in the selection of songs that a music composer offers.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Rock on!! - The album does

Hindi film music has probably not, until now, been accustomed to this genre. The genre is rock and if you thought it was a misfit in our cinemas, this album might make you rethink. No music director has dared to explore this variety of music to my recollection. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Farhaan have given us some magical music in their previous unions. Farhaan was a director then. Here he is the prime propagator of the trio's music being the lead singer of the rock band. I always feel the best director would bring out the best of a good music director. Farhaan and SEL are no doubt one of the best combos that we have seen.

Its not the screaming, stentorian vocals or the blazing guitars of the rock rich western world that you hear in this album. This is the "desi" version of the Rock Music, with a feel fresh flavour to it. The album comes alive purely because of the instrumental arrangements, a novel orchestration compared to the mundane music that are dished out often in our films. Now, you can't classify an album as pure Rock if it has a couple of really good melodious numbers with minimal screeching and drums.
The album is fresh with Farhaan as a fresh singer and a host of other new names . All of them prove to an extent that they are novices and yet their singing shows experience. Except 'Zehreley', there is nothing "rocky" about any the numbers. Farhan has sung most of them. With a voice resembling Lucky Ali a touch, he actually eases through the fast paced numbers. He needs to work more on the slow numbers though.

On hearing the songs, I was transported to my college days where we used to have cultural festivals with independent rock bands performing on stage. Many used to display loads of attitude, the lack of commensurate content only too obvious. If this band had turned up then, I am sure they would have won the competition hands down.

I didn't end up disappointed the first time I heard the album because I already knew what to expect from a movie which has rock music as its soul. Any music album isn't first time impressive these days and the same applies here. This album has grown on me over the past week after repeated hearings. I can't seem to not hum the songs.

The irony is that the film is about an incipient band though the music is a far cry from being amateurish. After a couple of recent albums from Harris Jayaraj disppointing me, this one has managed to persist and from the looks of it, atleast for a few weeks from now, it will.

Rock on!!