Travelling back time can only be achieved by Rahman's music... not even science :)
Well written article ! --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, "Triply R." <cornholiosbungho...@...> wrote: > > Imagine that you buy a new Rahman album. You get hyper-excited to put the > thing into your player and just soak it in. You want to put it on repeat for > a 100 times, hear every instrument that is played, hear every note that is > played and find everything the album has to offer. > > That is what I felt like doing when I bought Raavan (and Raavanan). But then > I suddenly thought, instead of listening to one album a 100 times, why don't > I listen to a 100 different Rahman albums once? And that set me off to go > back to the beginning and revisit every Rahman album! To do this, I set some > criteria: > > 1. Only original albums in their original languages (Yodha, not Asokan. > Pudhiya Mugam, not Padmavyuham). > 2. Original songs on dubbed/ re-used albums (extra song from Sapnay, extra > songs in Saathiya, Star, Alli Arjuna, Nayak etc.) > 3. Unreleased songs available in other places (Hyderabad Airport theme song, > O Bosnia, We Can Make it Better, etc.) > 4. Non-film albums (Vande Mataram, Jana Gana Mana, Pray For Me Brother, new > song in Connections etc.) > 5. Miscellaneous singles (Raga's Dance by Venessa Mae, Marhaba Mustapha etc.) > 6. All available soundtracks of foreign projects (Bombay Dreams, Warriors of > Heaven and Earth, The Lord of the Rings) and non-available ones, if possible > (Provoked and The Passage) > 6. Only A R Rahman albums, no Dileep Kumar albums (so no Deen Isai Maalai, > Fantasy/ Andhmaalai, Set Me Free, Colours) > > With these rules, I dug up all my CDs of Rahman and put them into iTunes. > Next, I dug up the backups I had made of my cassettes onto CDs, since there > are quite a few early albums I don't have on CD as I couldn't afford to buy > them back then. I put all of them onto iTunes as well. That gave me almost > the complete Rahman discography on iTunes (the one song I really was missing > was Zindagi Se Pyar Karo, since I didn't find my video cassette recording of > the broadcast). > I then transferred these songs onto my iPhone and started my journey... > > I must say that it was absolutely incredible. I found old lost gems (Uzhavan) > again, found that I enjoyed some albums more now than before (Vandicholai > Chinarasu, Gang Master), found that I still didn't like all the songs on some > albums (Pudhiya Mannargal, Tenali, Super Police), found the classics as great > as ever (Roja, Thiruda Thiruda, Duet, Bombay, Iruvar, Kandukondein > Kandukondein, En Swaasa Kaatrey), still loved the albums I was always partial > to (Love Birds, Mr. Romeo, Kaadal Desam, Indira), still found albums that > were flawed (Paarthale Paravasam), still wished some albums had more justice > done to them (Kaadal Virus, Blue) still found some albums over-produced > (Godfather, Anbae Aaruyire)... > It took me 7 days to finish my journey, listening at over 100 songs a day! > The last day was capped with listening to Raavan and Raavanan, followed by > the Tamil anthem. Raavan sounded so much like a natural progression in the > journey. I was so glad that I had done this... gave me a sense of > achievement, even though it was a vicarious pleasure! > > I really wish Rahman had the time to take the journey as well. It would be > great if he could revisit all his music when he writes his autobiography. He > really needs to look back at those times when Shahul Hameed (RIP) brought a > nice rustic touch to his albums and when Chitra was flawless in every outing > with him... he needs to go back and see how versatile he always was and how > his albums were so special... go there and back again... he made classics > then and he is still making classics now. > > It's amazing how his music changed and yet excelled. It's also amazing to > discover how my taste has changed, but how some things never change, like my > love for his music. > > If there is one thing I really have to complain about, it is the lack of the > rustic, folk albums now. There was a time when I felt that the > ARR-Bharathiraja combination was the best one, with Kizhakku Cheemayile, > Karuthamma, Andhimantaarai and Taj Mahal. I felt that the combo was slightly > tarnished with Kangalal Khaidu Sei. It's a pity they didn't work together > after that. But that is just a small complaint. The rustic is back with a > twist in Raavan and Rahman is still making the most interesting music in > India. Maybe another 10 albums later, I will take the journey again. In the > meantime, it's time for me to listen to Raavan a 100 times. I am lagging > behind everybody on this group right now, so time to catch up! >
