Hi Dasun and all, I found all the discussion very refreshing and of high quality. Pardon my less knowledge of ARR's Tamil projects, i can surely talk about his work in Hindi.
In terms of Originality (or in fact Innovativeness) i'll divide his work in two parts of which Mr. ROMEO is the dividing album. 1. From beginning to 1997. 2. From 1998 till now. Let's discuss both parts in detail. [1. From beginning to 1997] According to me, ARR's most hard hitting, innovative, careless (By writing careless i mean knowing no boundaries) music comes from this time span. To be honest his music was more noise than melody during this time (I dare saying this about the legend because i am comparing him with him only, most of other composers hardly even know how to make a good noise, melody is far away from their conception). There are some exceptions though. The song "Kal nahi tha wo kya hai aaj ye" from "VISHWA VIDHATA", i think still stands as ARR's most melodious song ever. [2. From 1998 till now] According to me, ARR earned more respect in this time span, became more responsible, composed maturely, his music made more sense than his earlier work BUT lost innovativeness somewhere. Noise levels were down now and melody started flowing in. There were more expectations from him now and he was expected to make better music than his past. He truly came out as a winner and with every album he made a strong statement that you have to raise your expectations a bit more. Expect the unexpected from the legend. Coming back to the original discussion, i think in recent times "DIL NE JISE APNA KAHA" songs are very refreshing and very different from his other work. MEENAXI, i think is the most innovative, stylish and a stand out performance from the legend after 1997. I hope the discussion goes on. Pravinder. --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, Dasun Abeysekera <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Thanks to all for the responses. Purevibz, you pretty much wrote the prelude to part II of my essay. I agree, innovativeness may have been a better word than originality, because as you would understand from reading the second part, his music still flows from the origin of all life, and therefore it must be original! :) I should've taken my GRESs, and I warned you that I'm still learning too!! lol. I'm glad you understood my point though. Let's keep the discussion going. > > Hail ARR! > Dasun > > To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:15:12 +0000 > Subject: [arr] Re: ARR's Standard Deviation - Part I - Originality > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Actually, let me modify my post a bit. Yes, ARR has lost his youth, > > freshness, and reblliousness. I agree with you there. There was an > > energy, innovativeness, and fire to those compositions, which perhaps > > many are missing today. I feel that he has made up for this loss > > through more mature compositional style and craftmanship as well as a > > more refined skill in pure melody and providing more room to the > > lyrics and singer. I don't think he has lost his "originality" in > > the purest of sense, although he is not as innovative as he once > > was. I think there is a difference here. Yes, I have questioned > > some of his choices of sound and arrangements in recent years, but to > > me it's not a loss, it's a choice. With JA, my concerns about sound > > quality were quickly put to ease as this is one of his best sonically > > sounding records. > > > > You have to remember too that music, emotion, and memory are to tied > > in together. Many of us look back on Rahman's music in the early > > days with nostalgia, which is in and of itself a confounding > > variable. > > > > --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, "Chord" <purevibz@> wrote: > > > > > > Wonderful essay. Too bad it doesn't change my opinion that ARR has > > > not lost A THING since the beginning. He is just as brilliant and > > > original as before. Let's agree to disagree and move on. > > > > > > > > > --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, Dasun Abeysekera <dtdja@> > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > Originality > > > > > > > > The most original songs of the 92-96 era, in my opinion, are Thee > > > Thee from Thiruda Thiruda (93) and Mettupodu from Duet (94); and > > > their respective albums too can be called the most original from > > > ARR's highest creative standpoint. Roja would certainly have to be > > > considered original if we compare ARR's originality to the relative > > > originality of the musical backdrop of that era, but that is not > > what > > > we are attempting here; I feel that compared with the > > aforementioned > > > albums, Roja, along with the likes of Puthiya Mugham, Uzhavan, and > > > Bombay would qualify as some of the most soulful and brilliantly > > > crafted albums, but, not the most original; again, please keep in > > > mind that my comparisons are confined to ARR's body of work and not > > > extended to any comparison's with the work by any of his composer > > > peers. > > > > > > > > Thiruda Thiruda (93) was a breakthrough album for ARR as he was > > > able to match, if not exceed, the expectations surrounding his > > second > > > post-Illayaraja Mani Ratnam production after Roja, which could not > > > have been an easy task for a 25 year old who thought his first > > movie > > > album would be his last! Thee Thee's stunning energy and freshness > > is > > > only the icing on the cake after the beautiful vocal tapestry of > > > Raasathi, the operatic grandeur of Veerapandi Kottayile, and > > barring > > > its close references to Michael Jackson-like dance beats, > > > Chandralekha as well. Duet (94), on the other hand, with an > > > unprecedented use of Kadiri Gopalnath and his saxophone to showcase > > > Carnatic music, was quite a daringly original attempt for a movie; > > to > > > say both maestros pulled it off with shocking success, would be an > > > understatement. > > > > > > > > So, has there been a song/album of that calibre in recent times? > > I > > > think it will be an accurate statement to say that there has not > > been > > > a song like Thee Thee or Mettupodu in recent times, certainly not a > > > conceptually original album of Duet's kind, and most surely not an > > > album for an Indian movie. Now why could that be? First of all, as > > > you lose your youthful freshness and become enmeshed in a system, > > you > > > lose a significant share of that rebellious spirit. Albert Einstein > > > said during his latter years when he went on his quest to discover > > a > > > Unified Field Theory, how much he wished he had that same > > rebellious > > > spirit which fuelled his strength of mind and imaginative powers to > > > overthrow the revered Laws of Sir Isaac Newton and his universe of > > > absolute time and space with the new Relativity Theory. Similarly, > > in > > > United States presidential politics, Sen. Barack Obama is touting > > his > > > freshness in Washington as one of his biggest strengths for > > bringing > > > about real change to the country. So, yes, time spent in any > > > environment can significantly reduce your capacity for daring and > > > originality, which is what we are seeing with ARR in India. > > However, > > > let us not forget that we owe much of the advancement of the > > quality > > > of Indian music to him and let's not be surprised if his most > > > original work comes from his work abroad because that environment > > is > > > still new to him and he has many colors to show to the rest of the > > > world where he is not yet legend! > > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________________ > > > > Shed those extra pounds with MSN and The Biggest Loser! > > > > http://biggestloser.msn.com/ > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Climb to the top of the charts! Play the word scramble challenge with star power. > http://club.live.com/star_shuffle.aspx?icid=starshuffle_wlmailtextlink_jan >
