Albums Albums Albums! Oh they have lost their charm, haven’t they? There were times when Junoon came to India and brought in some brilliant music. A budding talent names Sonu Nigam made Tu. The brilliant Colonial Cousins comprising of Leslie Lewis and Hariharan. A Shankar Mahadevan joined Javed Akthar to make Breathless. Those were the days? I would believe so.
Currently, the pop fraternity can only boast of a few great singers who would promise a good album in itself. Those include Adnan Sami, Lucky Ali and Shaan. I find it immensely tough to look beyond that when there is so much of music to be discovered and yet we find the ’’new dudes in the backyard’’ trying to remake the old classics with some skin-show videos hoping that the consumer would expect the album cover would look like playboy and buy the same. The answer remains an emphatic no. And emphatic no to the manner of the videos, and the most important of all, to the music in itself.
Amids all these so called modern generation of so called music stars, lies a very cultured singer. Cultured in her lifestyle, and cultured in her voice. Her name being Shubha Mudgal. Believe you me, Ab Ke Sawan is a hit album. It would be worth every penny of yours. It would give you a flavour wherein this music is catchy, yet rhythmic. The feeling hat one would get is here is someone who came, made a great album and left, albiet it was 4 years back. Music certainly has evolved! But for the good? Shubha Mudgal reminds us of the same old negation. It hasn’t.
Starting of with Dere Dere, it is a brilliantly fast paced song which starts off with some light hearted guitar. The combination of Shubha’s stern voice with her high pitches with immense control in her sur is magic. The euphoria of today’s background having light drums and guitar and great Hindustani music is worth listening to many a times, again and again and again. Add to that the brilliant lyrics which is worth noticing all through the album and gets better and better, it gives you the feeling of the potential that this album has to grip you into it.
Next up comes Usne Kaha, a slow paced song wherein Shubha again gives us a great insight to her singing prowess as she hits the various notes of this classical song absolutely brilliantly with a great chorus going on behind coupled with a simple background which make this song simply an awesome mix.
Enter the best song of the album, even better than the cover song in itself. Named Seekho Na. Shubha in this one gives you everything. Slow paced, fast paced, great lyrics with words like ’’Chuna Seekho, in hawaon ko’’. Just watch out for the background score which accompanies the pace of the song brilliantly and adds Shubha’s exclusive voice gives you the feeling that this one has written class all over it. Words like ’’Seekho Na, naino ki bhasha piya, keh rahi, tumse yeh khamoshiyaan’’ are magic. It continues to show the class of the singer and the quality of the album is set in this song itself.
Bhai Re is a song typical of Shubha, the same girl who has a strong village background in her voice and the dholak in the beginning is later followed brilliantly with the varying instruments including a light mandolin which not many have used. And the lyrics with words like ’’Jaise bhi hai tu, tujko who apna na chahe.’’
Is Pal is sung on a fast pace in varying octaves and look out for the various bars. And the lyrics, I can’t but just point those brilliant words time and again as it is too good to believe that this pice of tape is part of a cassette and not part of a movie and that of a great composer. The ending is brilliant when Shubha uses the seven notes to sing a piece of magic which one shouldn’t miss.
Hai Pyar Ka Musafir is brilliant. I cannot but stress the brilliance of this song with some great rhetorical questions inb the lyrics which are asked in a brilliant manner with Shubha stealing the show while the background piano accompanies her vocals to make a great combination. Remotely slow paced that it is, the song is a classic, classic when it comes to pop albums. Lyrics, you got to give it to it. Kaka Aaye, Kaha Jaaye, Kaha Tehre, Kya khaaye, Hai Pyar Ka Musafir, Marzi Se Aaye Jaaye
Baire Chain is a sad song which hits off in the same pace with the background score, simple that it is, is the main thing worth looking. With the use of the piano, violin, mouth organ and some synchronozation sounds, Shubha sings her song again with immense control on the anthra as she has immense control in the octaves and the pitches. The feel of the song in itself is worth thousand words.
Signing off with Ab Ke Sawan it gives you all the signs of a great song and indication of how a song of this type should be made. A sing which is sure to lighten your mood us and get you on the floor to do some dancing.
Very rarely in today’s time do we get albums which give you everything. I might be sticking my leg out, but the fact is this album would better 90% of the Hindi movie albums. It is for all moods, worth humming, worth admiring, worth respecting the brilliance of the singer, the imagination of the writer and the musci director in itself.
I cannot but stress how much I value this album as of today as 4 years down the line, the ’’pop’’ area of music has turned into utter crap, all the budding singers who have the opportunity to have a label under their name to make to towards the top need to look towards this brilliant voice which is nothing but worth bowing. I cannot but convince one to buy this album and not to miss out on it, even though it is 4 years down the line.
I cannot but stress on the fact that this has a mix of brilliance and a touch of class in it. A collector’s item indeed.