This is a mini-review. Due to the fact that several awesome reviewers have already written about this album, I am only reviewing a few songs which I think are exceptional.
At first, for some reason, I thought that the songs were not exceptional. Not only was my first impression wrong, now, I hate myself for two things. First, for coming close to not hearing these songs again due to my initial opinion. Second, I wondered about my own competence as an amateur music reviewer, when I couldn?t pick up the emotions & the passion beyond instruments & singers? voices. Let me explain more.
Sometimes, in an album, you do not see what?s so special in it. What?s special in using the same violins, the same flute, the same Lata?s voice & the same acoustic guitar? Of course personalities (Like Lataji & MM) mean much more to their fans. I am not talking about fan following here. There is one phrase I could use to describe what I was referring to, the concept of ?philosophical depth?.
In short, my dear readers, this album is a wonder, at least in my view something you ought to have in your CD collection. The songs could come to haunt you for years to come. For me, it changed my mind, touched my heart & made me think about a whole lot of things in my life. I am running out of words to describe the true value of this album, I wish I found some more adjectives to speak my heart out!
Aaya Tere Dar Par
A. Hussain, M. Hussain
4.5/5
A wonderful Raag-Alaap (IMHO, Yaman (Kalyani), assisted by a subtle touch of Sarangi takes us into the song. It is a Qawwali number. The first few lines are sung in the traditional style. The first musical interlude is interesting. Both the singers take off on a Raagaalap with harmonium filling the rest of the musical space. The anupallavi (2nd Para) is again sung in typical Qawwali style, it is stunningly melodious, again using Yaman to its maximum. The Raag changes when the first lines are repeated. It took several hearings for this number to grow on me, but now I am addicted to it.
Tere Liye
Lata M., & Roop K. R
5/5
The song starts with stellar, haunting piano notes. The notes are similar to the tune of the first line. There are at least three sounds other than the piano notes. There is the sounds of tinkling glass, added lightly, & the lightest keyboard sound used as a BG. But the ingenuity of this starting is the quick turn it makes after the first two taalavattams (8 beat-Rhythm cycles). The tunes suddenly impart pain, sorrow and intense longing. This piece is intro?ed by a sequentially amplified sound of lighter pitch, used by most Hollywood BG musicians to introduce a scene. Around the middle half of this piano piece there is a precisely arranged violin orchestra, the precision is evident from the fact that we hear it as one unit and not as disparate instruments (Commonly called as Harmony).
The vocals start the lines ?Tere Liye?? The percussion is interesting, with at least three distinct parts. The latter part, with a light pitched tumbling sound, is commonly used in devotional songs, down south. There are some intelligently used background pieces. Hear closely as Roop K. sings ?Dil Me Magar, Jalte Rahe??Chaahat Ke Diye? Look for a perfectly added cello piece between the above two sentences (dotted lines). Those Cellos act as fillers. Then, both of them together support the lines ?Tere Liye? sung after the above two lines. The first interlude is excellently composed, except for the humming by Lata. Her age does show up on that humming piece. I just cannot express my satisfaction hearing such a beautifully composed song. The anupallavi is again co-ordinated to perfection, with light orchestral and chorus touches in between the lines. The second musical interlude is melodius, & uses flute.
Kyon Hawa
Sonu N., LM
4.5/5
You should get to the nearest beach or a scenic place, close your eyes, relax & hear to this song. I can guarantee you readers, that this one will calm your senses, & literally will put you in the middle of a light breeze. The song seems to be tuned in Raag-Behag. Just forget about the initial few lines narrated by YC. This credit for this song has to definitely go to at least three people.
SN for his amazing singing, R.S. Mani for an excellent, excellent orchestration & of course MM for the core tune. RS Mani deserves a lot of credit for the subtle touches he has given throughout the album. For example, hear closely just as YC stops his narration.
LM does her alaap, and towards the end of that alaap, you can hear the Violins slowly merging into the sruthi. This technique is used throughout in the song, even after SN sings his first few lines. The first musical interlude is another gem. As SN stops singing the pallavi, Santoor takes over abruptly, giving that energetic feeling, typically used to portray rapids, flowing streams etc. SN takes this song to a new level. As always, let me qualify further. SN has sung this song in a peculiar way, letting off some breath while he sings, a technique commonly used by Abhijeet & Udit.
You can hear Abhijeet use this technique in the following songs: Zindagi Ek Geet (Yash), Kahin To Milegi (Milan) & Ae Naznee (Duniya Dilwalon Ki). Udit has used it in Ae Ajnabi (Dil Se). This lends passion & closeness to the song. This is appreciable in the anupallavi. Hear as SN sings ?Jahan Tak Jaaye Nigaahein?.?, he almost whispers the lines, Wow! The orchestration during these lines is nothing short of spectacular. There are no twists and turns but just oneness with the singer?s voice, with emotions & with the percussion. Again, special congrats to RSM for this wonderful job.
Look for a melodious flute support, a short but intensely blended orchestra during the anupallavi, a precisely coordinated acoustic guitar played with Violins, and another Sitar piece. The charanam is incidentally supported by Sitar and Violins. A truly masterful job!
Aisa Des
Gurdas M., Udit N., Preeta M.,& Lata M.
3.5/5
Another beautiful track. The starting of the track is a gem, and so is the starting of most of the songs in this album. After the first couple of lines are sung by GM, Santoor is used to steadily introduce, step by step, the orchestra & the full version of the song. Udit starts his lines, and watch for the subtle addition of ?filler (folk) beats? The song calms in the first interlude. It has PM singing, & then a flute piece takes us to the anupallavi. This song took me to the olden days. It would be great to see this song picturized on big screen.
As mentioned before, I have only reviewed four songs in this album. That doesn?t mean that I did not like the other songs. It is just that I felt that a lot have been already written about this album, and I felt that, in the current format, I will never be able to complete this review. Like I said before, the songs in this album have a unique characteristic. MM & RS Mani use the same type of instruments, but are successful in imparting the haunting nature to the songs. It flows superbly & is really hard to discern the instruments used in the songs. For example, in the song, Kyon Hawa, just at the last part of the first musical interlude, Santoor, Flute, & Violins are played. It took several hearings to discern these, again due to the masterful blending job by RS Mani.
Overall, I wish to congratulate YC, Dev & RS Mani for appreciating the value of these tunes, & taking the effort to revive it.
