For starters, I was very surprised when I found this album reviewed here, on Mouthshut. com! Let me explain.
I have been following this artiste(Sanjo The Balladeer) very closely for the last three years. I first saw him perform at LaMakaan, Banjara Hills in Hyderabad. The show was called’The Songs of the Balladeer’ and it was amazing in its sheer depth, versatility and variety. Subsequently, I attended many more shows in both Hyderabad as well as Secunderabad. Each show was unique, entertaining and intellectually stimulating. They covered areas as diverse as protest songs, anti-war songs, love ballads, pub songs, social anthems, etc.
A few months ago during a show at Our Sacred Space, Secunderabad, the artiste announced the launch of his second album. On being asked by various fans in the audience about the first album, Sanjo performed two songs from the album - and we were all blown away.
That memorable first album was BARSON HUEY. An amazing album from an amazing artiste.
Also, I must add - an amazing album that is amazingly difficult to find! Finally, sometime in the first week of this month I managed to get my hands on it. Trying to find more information on other albums produced by Sanjo The Balladeer, I went searching online and Google sent me here - to Mouthshut dot com. And that’s why I started out by saying I was surprised. It is such a niche album and so difficult to find that I was surprised to see that others had managed to buy it!
My favourite songs on this album are the emotionally stirring title track Barson Huey, the folksy Mujhe Tumse Kuchh Kehnaa Hai and the melodically brilliant Sapno Ka Ek Shahar.
There are some truly brilliant reviews of the album here on the site - so I won’t repeat the same stuff. Others have said it a lot better than I could have. The album is so fascinating that I can barely wait for the second album to be released.
I will close this review with the following advice: to understand the real essence of this awesome artiste, you’ve got to see him LIVE. That is the real avatar of Sanjo The Balladeer. His shows are free-wheeling, free-flowing free-spirited conversations that lead from one song to the next. Time flies - and you are left praying that the next song won’t be the last. He is intelligent, evocative, humble, friendly and provocative - all at once.
In the final analysis, this album is excellent - but it doesn’t come anywhere close to replicating the breathtaking experience of listening to Sanjo The Balladeer live!