I held myself back from writing any review before I give it sometime and result is that I have a much different opinion on it now. VTV is also of particular significance to me because it's the first brand new non-Hindi ARR album for me (I started to listen ARR's non-Hindi albums last year and got all his collection at once). My initial impression was that it is below expectations especially given the huge hype however it didn't take long before I realized how innovative and classy album it is. Given it's experimental nature, songs are structured in unconventional way and ARR preferred to use simple and less heavily-layered music here. May be this is why album as a whole sounds low on melody, at least initially. Songs are not very hummable, at least in first hearings, but then grow on quickly.
Omana Penne: It has quickly become my most favorite of the album. Initially it sounded a little lacking in terms of instruments and thinly structured layers however it grew on me like magic. I absolutely loved Benny's rendition. I would say it is his best compared to his early works with ARR. What an awesome intro this song have got, and I think Benny deserves full credit for it. The beats and the chorus are awesome. Though didn't like the female vocals initially, at least the way they come in, it sounds to me like some song has been played in background with low quality sound. Loved that shahnai too, kind of Continuum fingerboard ending of Rehna Tu. 8/10 Anbil Avan: Very catchy tune and the only instantly-likable (or may be I should say mass-appealing) song from the album, but at the same time the only sub-standard song (as per ARR's standards) of the album. I completely agree with Chord and others that Chinmayi ROCKS big time. It's hard to believe how effortlessly she sounds different in different songs. And also that it is the same Chinmayi who sung Tere Bina and I Miss You Da. Though could not get why it sounds noisy when it starts, as if there is some problem with the sound. I see this song becoming huge hit among masses. 7/10 Vinnathaandi Varuvaayaa: To me this is the weakest of the lot. Initially I didn't even understand the rhythm, it was just like a free flowing song like someone else has also mentioned here. ARR has given much better songs like this with minimum instruments, e.g. Dheemi Dheemi from Earth 1947. Anyway I liked Karthik's singing and has started to like this song now. 5.5/10 Hosanna: I have to admit I under-estimated it from the promos. I think that was mainly because of Blaaze's rap, who I think is becoming repetitive (at least compared to NaNa where he did an awesome job). Now I am completely in love with this song. And I must say it belongs to Vijay Prakash who impresses once again after his superb Fiqraana rendition. In fact sometimes I think with such superb job by Vijay why did they even need Blaaze, it would have been equally good without him, or may be better. The song is very unconventionally structured (three stanzas/antras and no proper opening/mukhda ??) but maybe that's its high point. In number of places it just sounds sort of some instrumental because of limited vocals, especially those long female background vocals/choir (Suzanne) could have been cut short. 7.5/10 Kannukkul Kannai: Didn't like it much initially but now is it growing on me. Naresh's singing is very effective for these kind of songs and he proves this again. It sounds like a guitar only song, there is very minimum use of other instruments here. And again no rich, fancy interludes. But anyway quite a catchy song. 6/10 Mannipaaya: The song starts so beautifully however somehow later couldn't maintain it. Shreya is awesome with honey sweet voice and perfect rendition, her vocals are the absolute high point of the song. ARR sounded to me a little lacking don't know why, (I hope it goes down well with ....), his voice sounded bit husky, compared to Rehna Tu there was some difference, something lacking which I am not able to explain. From the initial hype I expected it to be my number 1 or 2 most favorite on my list however it only comes at number 4 or 5 (after Omana Panne, Aaromale, Hosanna and may be Anbil Avan). 6.5/10 Aaromale: Such beautiful guitar though I have to admit that I was kind of taken aback by Alphons's voice when it appears the first time. However later I realized how wonderfully it suited to the song. Though like many others I also felt that there is too much Aaromale Aaromale going on that it sounds irritating at some point, at least in first few hearings. Loved the rock feel of it. I don't think ARR has compose something like this before, I absolutely want more of this sort of gems in future. Really loved the way it breaks into the chorus the first time with those four guitar riffs (2:02 - 2:05) . And chorus is so mesmerizing, in fact I wished it repeated many more times instead of the repetitive Aaromale Aaromale. A classy song. 7.5/10 Overall it is a great album, I would rank it among some of the great albums of ARR, though it didn't make to my Top 10. I was expecting a melodious and instant-winner album like KK etc but ARR took a different experimental but as a whole very satisfactory path. A few things I noticed: very few instruments have been used (barring shahnai (?) in Omana Penne). Similarly those rich interludes are missing. The other day I was just watching Hamma Hamma performance in the Sydney concert and when that out of the world flute interlude came I could not help but think why ARR is missing such interludes these days. Also flute is almost gone from his songs, the last time I remember was in Man Mohana (JA) or may be a little in Kabhi Kabhi Aditi (JTYJN). Anyways this is the beauty of ARR's music that he keeps redefining his own standards, today I was expecting it to be something like KK, maybe in some years I would be expecting his new albums to be like VTV. Sound quality is top-notch here (except the Anbil Avan song, don't know why it sounds noisy to me in beginning), it seems all those complaints about Blue have been addressed. /Jahanzeb
