http://qalandari.blogspot.com/2009/09/music-review-blue-hindi-2009.html
Outright fun, not to mention silliness, has long been a casualty of A.R. Rahman's recent Hindi oeuvre. Unlike in Tamil, Rahman simply hasn't done very many soundtracks for "ordinary" Hindi films of late. That is, the typical Rahman Hindi album this decade has been a Swades or aJodha-Akbar, or a Delhi-6 -- not a Rangeela or a Daud. The last year might well be the beginning of a shift, with Ghajini, and now Blue. No song in either album will ever make a list of Rahman's best, but equally, no-one can doubt that at their best, these albums feature a more playful Rahman, the sort of souffle-lover one missed in the likes of Jodha-Akbar. On the down-side, at its worst, the likes of Blue do give the impression of a composer who hasn't lavished much care on his work. Luckily for us, the balance comes down on the side of buying the album. Fiqrana began with a nod to Ghajini's Kaise Mujhe Tum Mil Gayeen, but then, when it seemed one of the Mahesh Bhatt stable of composers had taken over the song, my heart sank -- not that there is anything wrong with those neo-Pakipop songs, it's just that such generic music is unworthy of Rahman. At the fifty-five second mark, I realized how wrong I was as Vijay Prakash's voice segued from the familiar sounds of a number filmed on Emraan Hashmi to the more rhythmic, almost drunk "Jeet te hain hum larh larh ke"; and then, after about ten seconds of the addictive loop inaugurated by those words, the song begins to soar with "Hum mehekte ... gulzaaron mein". By then, this listener was hooked, with no possibility of escape. This song doesn't soar very far in terms of complexity, and will never be a major Rahman song; but it remains a song that insinuates itself into the bloodstream, and demands to be heard dozens of times -- or not at all. That the maestro has not lost his taste for light musical confectionery after all these years in the industry is worth celebrating in itself; but the extent to which this song's edges have been smoothed out in keeping with the film's aquatic theme (in no small measure due to Rahman's effective deployment of Shreya Goshal's voice), means this sweet dish will go down easy. This track is worth the price of the album. There is more breeziness in this album: Aaj Dil Gustakh Hai is twice as light as Fiqrana, and half as interesting; and while Sukhvinder Singh's voice is always welcome on a Rahman composition, the duo do not break much new ground here, resulting in a song that is musically faultless but quite safe. That doesn't mean you'll be skipping this song. Far from it: think of Aaj Dil Gustakh Hai as the Ocean's Eleven of this album -- smooth, suave, utterly charming, and rather pointless. Given the song's video trailer features Sanjay Dutt and bikini-clad Lara Dutta cavorting on a beach and on board a boat, this track seems like it is just what director Anthony D'Souza ordered. Rehnuma features Goshal and Sonu Nigam at their charming best, and the somewhat portentous effect created by the juxtaposition of their old-school crooning with a relatively overwrought orchestral backdrop makes this a more interesting song than it otherwise might have been. However, there is something missing from the song, a certain fun quotient that was needed to justify a song its musical arrangement does not get all the way there. At least on a first listen: of all the tracks in this album, this one is most likely to gain by repeat listening. No-one will ever accuse the delightfully throwback Yaar Mila Tha of lacking a fun quotient. Fittingly enough, Rahman resorts to Udit Narayan for the male vocals here, with Madhushree's faintly over-ripe voice playing the female part. The song is best thought of as Rahman's attempt to turn his gaze toward the sort of rollicking love song Hindi film music just doesn't see much of these days (replete with lyrics like "har maa kahe bete se, laa aisi dulhaniya"). That he is doing so self-consciously is indicated by the early soft-jungle beat reminiscent of a rather different vibe, namely Daud's "Shabba Shabba"; and by the decidedly contemporary hip-hop groove the song ends with. It all adds up to this album's best shot at timelessness, a song that should be as un-dated ten years from now as it is today. Bhoola Tujhe is another relatively simple composition, elevated by a chorus that soars several notches. The song's mellow anthemic vibe is in keeping with its subject -- Rashid Ali's vocals are addressed to the Creato -- although the tune seems a bit too upbeat for the lyrics. This song has the smell of a purely situational number, and as such might well work within the context of the film, but could have been truly memorable has Rahman himself crooned in place of Ali. In the final analysis, Bhoola Tujhe is notable for hearkening to an earlier Rahman, the composer of relatively sparse numbers like Bombay's "Tu Hi Re" -- the effect is one of clean, if safe, lucidity. The less said about the Blue Theme, the better. Or rather, I'll say enough to make clear that large chunks of Blaaze's rap are strongly reminiscent of Give It Away Now by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (or is it Ishq Bector's Dakku Daddy?). The song flows into some neo-Arabic strains and compelling incantatory passages, but these aren't good enough to rescue the track (which in fact falls apart at the very end, as it speeds up and is ultimately washed away in the sound of the surf). In Rahman's defense, I suspect this piece's function within the film will be to serve as background music rather than a conventional song. As it stands in this album, however, the Blue Theme is more a rough draft than a fully realized composition. The real stinker in the album is the first track. Piggishly named, I Wanna Chiggy-Wiggy With You features Kylie Minogue in an utterly generic pop song, cheerfully interrupted by an equally generic Hindi/bhangra song. From the song's video trailer, the latter moment affords Akshay Kumar an opportunity to play his populist card, a gatecrasher persona the actor has perfected beyond anyone else in contemporary Hindi cinema, but it is disappointing Rahman was not inspired to come up with something more imaginative to showcase his lead star's wattage. ________________________________ From: patevis3 <vishal1...@hotmail.com> To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2009 9:47:47 AM Subject: [arr] Re: There is nothing "average" about Blue's music! I agree with Rawat to some extent here. Music is not like mathematics where there are objective realities/facts. Opinions about the goodness or quality of music are always going to be subjective. And Arijit's point about lack of music knowledge is hubristic (in my, admittedly not so humble opinion). Vishal http://vishal12. wordpress. com/2009/ 09/10/blue- music-review/ --- In arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com, Arijit Debnath <arijit...@. ..> wrote: > > Listeners seem to be average..... sometimes... lack of knowledge of music > are evident in some posts... > > Rahman is musicians' composer... not an average listener's composer.... . > > I think who doesn't like Mozart's or Rahman's composition. .... they should > not open their mouth...it's their shame... > > Arijit > > 2009/9/11 ichord <purev...@.. .> > > > > > > > Would love to hear your thoughts Wiredbeats. As a musician and composer > > myself, I can clearly say with factual certainty that in terms of pure > > compositional and musical terms only for a bollywood soundtrack, Blue is a > > masterpiece. It's not a personal judgement but a fact. What I will agree to > > is that whether you like the album due to taste or preference or whatever, > > that is an opinion, not a fact. Blue's music is compositionally brilliant > > due to intelligent harmonies, complex chord progressions, intricate > > orchestral variations, depth of sound, and varied use of sounds and > > instruments all weaving together at once. If you want to call the music > > average because you don't like that type of music, fine, but that is only an > > opinion due to preference, not because the music itself is just run of the > > mill. > > > > A lot of people don't like Mozart's music, but the music is not average by > > any means.....it' s intelligent and brilliant on an objective scale. > > > > > > --- In arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com <arrahmanfans% 40yahoogroups. com>, > > wiredbeats <wiredbeats@ > wrote: > > > > > > fastastically written, some very valid points in here.i have some > > thoughts. Will type them out later > > > > > > On Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:06 IST V S Rawat wrote: > > > > > > >On 9/11/2009 6:56 PM India Time, _ichord_ wrote: > > > > > > > >> I am hearing the words mediocre and average being thrown around in > > > >> some places to describe Blue's music in some reviews. Guys, how can > > > >> such brilliant work be average? > > > > > > > >It is a person's personal judgment whether a work is brilliant. > > > > > > > >Similarly, it is some other person's personal judgment whether a work is > > > > > > not brilliant, and is mediocre, below average. > > > > > > > >> The depth of compositions and > > > >> intricate orchestration and arrangements is anything BUT average or > > > >> below. Even saying above average is a huge understatement. > > > > > > > >You started with "lyrics are said to be bad", then you take a switch to > > > >"music is good" to say that "thus, lyrics also have to be good". see for > > > > > >yourself. It is not really logical line of thinking. > > > > > > > >"depth of compositions and intricate orchestration and arrangements" is > > > >one aspect of the song, and that may be brilliant. Similarly, words/ > > > >lyrics are another a different aspect of the song and they may be > > > >mediocre/ below average while other aspects of songs are brilliant. One > > > >part being great doesn't make an entire song great. One part being > > > >wanting doesn't make overall song lacking. > > > > > > > >For example, in recent times, chak de india's song kuch kariye had such > > > >lovely, heart touching, earthly lyrics by an unknown "Jaideep Sahni" > > > >that would do even a Gulzar or Ghalib or Meer proud, but the music, was > > > >just ok, went too fast to let people absorb the lyrics, and the khichdi > > > >of "loud in comparison" "chak de India" refrain, and female chorus, > > > >backgroun just "killed/ murdered/spoiled" the beauty of the mukhda/ > > > >stanza portion of lyrics. This song should be taught in class room as > > > >the perfect case how to kill great lyrics. > > > > > > > >Similarly, Taare Zameen Par, had excellent hearth touching lyrics in > > > >"dekho inhein hain os ki boondein", tune, music also good, still the > > > >song went a tad slow, too soft, introvert, subdued that it didn't get > > > >the prominence it could have deserved. "Maa" of the same movie were too > > > >emotional in lyrics, music and singing that it deserve to not get > > > >popular, irrespective of award it fetched for the singer. > > > > > > > >Again, all these are my personal judgment. > > > > > > > >ARR's Zindagi of Yuvraj has everything great, music, lyrics, whatever > > > >else. However, Ghajini's Kaise mujhe though we all like that a lot, now > > > >I think that that song is lacking something that I can't pinpoint > > > >really. may be, it went a tad too loud, sort of a "declaration" for a > > > >emotional song that should have been introspective - a la zindagi. > > > > > > > >But, other songs of ghajini -- and I am not speaking of latto and > > > >bachchoo which were intentionally kept cheap, had poor lyrics. The most > > > >popular guzarish had lyrics that a 10th standard child poet might write, > > > > > >just putting rhyming words matching scale - no thought, no concept, no > > > >inner beauty, no content - that was wordsmithing, words being fitted to > > > >give the shape of a song like a menial worker putting physical things to > > > > > >fit in a shape. Even then it got popular. > > > > > > > >Coming to lyrics of ballooo, blooo, ullooo, falloo, there are good urdu > > > >words put at places, that had not earlier been used much in ARR songs, > > > >so they sound good. But that is it and that is all. There is not much > > > >depth vibrating through entire song. These are just individual separate > > > >pieces that are good lyrics, but none of the entire song is a single > > > >whole entity having a life of its own, no single thought or line of > > > >thought peeking from the entire songs. > > > > > > > >It is a general feeling that ARR is quite confident (though I think "too > > > > > >proud" would have explained it better but that would hurt several of > > > >you) about his musical instincts and creativity, and I concede that > > > >rightly so, but that makes him ignore lyrics "intentionally" . Seems as > > > >if he considers lyrics are necessary evil and he is compromising the > > > >greatness of his music by putting lyrics in it. Sometimes he gets good > > > >poets so good lyrics come up but not as a rule of ARR songs, just > > > >because of the individual presence of a good lyrics writer who is not > > > >ready to compromise. Seems ARR's standard of lyrics is as low as > > > >"jurrasic park mein sundar se jode rap music gaaye jam ke" or "patti > > > >rap" or "latka jhatka" or "telephone dhun mein hansne wali" sort of > > > >cheapness presented in the name of lyrics. > > > > > > > >Again, all these are my personal judgment. > > > > > > > >Blue lyrics are better than Ghajini's, but still writer is appeaing as > > > >novice who might have good potential in future, but is a kid learning > > > >and experimenting at present. > > > > > > > >Again, all these are my personal judgment. > > > > > > > >Coming to music, I have been hearing Blue now for most of some 48 hours, > > > > > > and my conclusion is this. > > > > > > > >Blue music sounds so rich and complex as none of ARR's earlier album had > > > > > >been in toto till now. > > > > > > > >But, it lacks content, it is showbiz, it is decorative, it is soulless, > > > >it is all glitter and nothing else. I am listening to it and liking the > > > >beats etc., but it is not giving me internal intellectual emotional > > > >satisfaction that several of ARR's earlier words had given me. > > > > > > > >I don't know how many of you have heard "muqabla" in last one year or > > > >decade, that once went so popular that dozens of copycats mushroomed on > > > >it, its copies even went in two full fledged hindi movies, but how many > > > >of us are still listening it, how many of us listen to hello doctor or > > > >Kay Sara Sara. Such songs have a smaller lifespan. New catchy beats make > > > > > >them popular and then mind memorizes the beats pattern and the song > > > >looses charm leaving nothing emotional/ intellectual for the heart/ mind > > > > > >to cherish, and the song becomes boring or dead. > > > > > > > >Blue songs are also like that. Will go very popular but will die after > > > >that and no one will humm them or listen to them while they still go and > > > > > >will keep on going back to Dil Se after 11 years of its release or > > > >Rangeela or Taal or Bombay or Guru after years and ages of their > > release. > > > > > > > >Blue is ARR becoming commercial, though I agree that being commercial is > > > > > >not a bad thing in a commercial world. But, in blue, ARR has become > > > >purely 100% commercial, compromising his inner instinct of what he knew > > > >and trusted and gave for his fans' various tastes. This is not a good > > > >indication of the things that future holds from ARR and for ARR. > > > > > > > >Thanks for putting me into blabbering spree. > > > >-- > > > >Rawat > > > > > > > > > > > >> Keep in mind, I'm not downing anyone who doesn't like the music due > > > >> to personal taste...have no problem with that. But to call the music > > > >> average when it is clearly musically superior in compositional terms > > > >> is just false. > > > >> > > > >> I can't believe how much I'm posting about Blue's music. You can > > > >> tell I'm very excited and very happy.....almost bubbling with joy and > > > >> can't contain myself from posting here to express it! > > > >> > > > >> Thanks Gopal for creating a group that allows me to post my thoughts > > > >> and feelings so freely!! > > > >> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Connect more, do more and share more with Yahoo! India Mail. Learn more. > > http://in.overview. mail.yahoo. com/ > > > > > > > > > >
