Excellent Review as usual Chord... Thanks for sharing.. Wonderful On 8/3/10, AJ <purev...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Enthiran Music Review > > I decided to write this review sooner than I thought due to the songs having > a more instant impact and having listened to the whole album at least 15 > times since it came out. Further time is not going to change my opinions. > My comments are only on the music, not the lyrics. > > I wonder if we really understand and appreciate the difficulty of Rahman's > job, no matter how musically brilliant he is. He is human after all, and > not a robot. He has to keep in mind so many expectations and demands, esp. > when you have a leading film-maker and superstar with his own fan > following….Rajinikant. Post Oscars, the expectations for Rahman have only > grown and I truly wonder how he manages to rise to the occasion each time, > whether we ourselves like an album or not. With Shankar and Rajinikant at > hand, boy, Rahman must try to keep a lot of people happy all at once, yet > creating music fitting for the movie that's supposed to have sci fi, robo > themes! If there's anyone who can do justice to these demands, it's Rahman. > The hype around the music release of this album is one of the biggest I've > seen in a while…..touted as one of the finest films, most expensive films, > etc. > > Pudiya Manidha whisks us away to a land of robos and futuristic sci fi, and > man, does it ever leave a mark! One of the sleekest masterpieces Rahman has > ever come out with in my opinion, this song oozes with etherealness, groove, > punch, mystery, intrigue, and trance. This track takes me to another world > truly with Rahman's sweet touches….crystal, progressive synth sound effects, > warm ambiance, loopy synths, and the ever soothing and captivating string > arrangements. Post Khatija Rahman's soulful singing and bleating goat > sounds, the song picks up speed with rhythms and SPB's spritely singing. > Notice how the strings mimic the synth loop melody, only adding depth and > character to an already richly bestowed track. Based loosely on raaga > Bhimpalas, the song takes a soaring route during the heavenly string > interlude. Beautiful choral additions are appreciated, adding a stark > spirituality and sonic texture along with SPB's split octave singing, > creating a very balanced and satisfying bass/treble aural experience on all > frequencies. This track will likely go down as one of my favorites in ARR's > entire repertoire for the reasons outlined above and for reasons I just > can't put into words, but can only feel and experience. For a techno/trance > number, it's very spiritual in feel! A complete masterpiece from start to > finish, what a way to kick off!!!! > > A contrasting, more acoustic, upbeat and happier track follows as Shreya and > Vijay Prakash please us with lilting singing and joy in Kaadhal Annukal. > Rahman's use of rhythm acoustic guitar layered with the sweet accordion and > mouth organ/harmonica is extremely appealing aurally with incredible > sweetness! Beautiful interludes highlight this earthy and charming song with > a Scottish/Irish style using piccolo and accordion in the first, and a very > unconventional, out of the box mysterious and ambient synth section in the > second, showcasing ARR's brilliant creativity and craft. The second > interlude is truly outstanding as it gravitates away from the usual flowery > mood and organic sound and serves us something more electronic and spacey, > but never distracts the groove and momentum of the whole track! I just love > how ARR uses the strings so tastefully and craftily throughout the song > creating a very lush aural landscape, esp. in the end when Shreya's counter > melodic line joins in. A really sparkling track from start to finish for me > and this song just radiates freshness and innovativeness for an Indian film > song. The melody itself is very sweet with many hooks, though > unconventional for an Indian duet film song and at times hard to remember, > but with repeated exposures, I can't get this song out of me!! The whole > song is beautifully supported by a fresh, rhythmic groove that mostly > unwavers alongside haunting and unique chords and chord progressions. > > Following the very techno and synth heavy first track, how beautifully > contrasting we hear a very earthy and acoustic one in the second…..truly > showcasing ARR's versatility and genius in the first 2 tracks alone!!! > > The third track, Irumbile Oru, is techno to the core, but sounding like an > ordinary remix to me! Marked by some sexy grooves and female rapping along > with ARR's metallic tinged voice, this track has not yet impressed me much > musically. Maybe if I understood the lyrics, I would appreciate it more, > but I did notice how the lyrics and words seem to flow quite well. I don't > know why Rahman did not do more musically with this track, esp. using a kind > of outdated techno sound that has been used over and over! As my friend put > it, "this track is a lost opportunity for Rahman" in terms of sound, but I > can see how the youngsters are enjoying it for its sheer rhythmic groove, > lyrics, word flow, and ARR's voice. Nothing more to write here! > > ARR has a little fun in the next track, Chitti Dance Showcase, which begins > as a cheesy robotic voice…………………come on Rahman! You can do better! Why > choose a clichéd, stereotyped robotic sound that we've heard over and over? > Once again, Rahman using a very outdated sound! I can understand Rahman's > attempt to be obvious and literal as he needs to cater to the masses, but > still….there is no elevation of taste using these outdated and hackneyed > robo sounds! But, on the plus side, this track has its interesting and at > times brilliant moments, esp. with the beautiful and sweeping string and > choral interlude, but alas, only lasts about 10-15 seconds! We hear all > sorts of genres here….symphony, heavy metal, Indian tarana, but with jarring > transitions. Oh, and I also like that little whistling, jazzy insertion > that he put in there towards the end….showing the more humorous and playful > side to ARR! Nice touch there! > > We switch gears to a much more heavy sounding number, Arima Arima, with > Hariharan and Sadhana Sargam, 2 singers we haven't heard in a long time in a > Rahman's song! This track is full of valor and majesty, showcasing brass > and pomp with militarized drumming and a dose or distorted rock guitar to > add exclamation! I love Rahman's use of the symphonic strings in this song > using them to accent rhythms and intertwining them delicately at times in > 16th note fashion creating a beautifully crafted and intricate rhythmic and > textured backdrop to Hariharan's and Sadhana Sargam's passionate singing. I > love some of the operatic voices that are also used as transitional pieces. > I also loved that little 16th note synth insertion during one of the song's > transitions, adding energy to an already vibrant and punchy track! Did you > notice how the trumpet interlude totally changes the mood of the song as we > go into major scale? I love that part of the song!!!! The singing is semi > classical at times, esp. during the antaras, which I really appreciate. The > track both begins and ends with synth, creating an interesting contrast to > the much more acoustic and earthy majority of the song. > > We go light in mood again with an African twist!!! Kilimanjaro is a real > treat with extremely catchy lyrics and spirited singing by Chinmayi and > Javed Ali! What a track! I love the mood of this whole song and the > beautifully authentic African vocal tribal interludes add only icing to the > cake! I don't know how Rahman created such an authentically earthy sound to > the tribal choral parts! This song is just brilliant and so crafty! I love > how the crisp tablas are used at times and the naughty singing by Chinmayi, > who doesn't sound her usual self, but very convincing! This raaga Malkauns > based track is punctuated by some very wholesome and crisp drumming, > catapulting this track forward with every step! Check out the rhythmic > variations during many parts of the song with added maracas (or another > instrument) in double time, esp. during the second tribal part. Let's not > forget the playful "click click" sound either, which is just perfectly > placed! Rahman's versatility is simply mindblowing!!!! > > The final track begins with Yogi B's "Boom Boom Robo Da" bit which repeats > kind of annoyingly through the rest of the song. I could have enjoyed this > song without that part, catchy as it is!!! Brass hits and funky techno > beats characterize this very rhythmic, colorful and varied track with > multiple musical genres in jazz, latin, rap, heavy metal, hip hop, etc. For > a change, it's nice to hear Yogi B, another rapper besides Blaaze, though no > hard feelings towards Blaaze! The antaras are quite melodiously sung as the > singing takes on a more semi classical turn in raaga Abhogi and occasionally > Bhairavi. I very much appreciate the second interlude Latin/Spanish > sounding section with the soothing female chorus and nice but brief acoustic > Spanish sounding guitar. There are more acoustic elements to this song too > as what sounds like a bright santoor plays an old fashioned melody in the > beginning and acoustic guitar plucking briefly as the other musical flavors > melt away for a brief bit during some later transitions. A patchwork track > of sorts, much like its predecessor in Chitti Showcase, it's quite > entertaining to the core with some splashes of sweet melody thrown in. > Rahman's talent as a musically genius craftsman really shines in this track. > > So, another milestone in ARR's career if you ask me with heavyweights > Pudhiya Manidha, Kadhal Anukkal, Arima, and Kilimanjaro totally carrying > this soundtrack on all four of their shoulders. These 4 songs to me embody > some of Rahman's finest musical work to date in terms of composition, > innovation, sonic creativity, and mass and class appeal. This album would > be worthy enough with only these 4 songs on the table. The other 3 tracks > have bright moments contained within them, but seriously, the outdated and > cheesy and cliched robo/electro sounds of the 1980s are a big turn off for > me and I am quite disappointed by Rahman's choice here, also likely > influenced by Pravin Mani. I really wish that similar sound templates of > the ambient textured, progressive and futuristic sounds of Pudhiya Manidha > would have been in more abundance in the rest of the songs, but perhaps > Shankar had a big say in this to cater to more of the masses and Rajinikant > fans and what fits in with the film…..I don't know. As an album overall, > it's qualitatively very inconsistent to me and very gimmicky in parts, but > with 4 brilliant songs in the mix, I will surely be playing this very > entertaining CD as well as the Telugu and Hindi counterparts in heavy > rotation for a long, long time to come! > > Numeric Values: > 7/10 – Compared to other Rahman albums (mostly for the 4 amazing songs I > talked about above) > 9/10 – Compared to contemporary Indian film albums > > Copyright by iChord 2010. No part of this writeup may be reproduced without > the sole written consent of this writer. > > >
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