Actually, let me modify my post a bit. Yes, ARR has lost his youth, freshness, and reblliousness. I agree with you there. There was an energy, innovativeness, and fire to those compositions, which perhaps many are missing today. I feel that he has made up for this loss through more mature compositional style and craftmanship as well as a more refined skill in pure melody and providing more room to the lyrics and singer. I don't think he has lost his "originality" in the purest of sense, although he is not as innovative as he once was. I think there is a difference here. Yes, I have questioned some of his choices of sound and arrangements in recent years, but to me it's not a loss, it's a choice. With JA, my concerns about sound quality were quickly put to ease as this is one of his best sonically sounding records.
You have to remember too that music, emotion, and memory are to tied in together. Many of us look back on Rahman's music in the early days with nostalgia, which is in and of itself a confounding variable. --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, "Chord" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Wonderful essay. Too bad it doesn't change my opinion that ARR has > not lost A THING since the beginning. He is just as brilliant and > original as before. Let's agree to disagree and move on. > > > --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, Dasun Abeysekera <dtdja@> > wrote: > > > > > > Originality > > > > The most original songs of the 92-96 era, in my opinion, are Thee > Thee from Thiruda Thiruda (93) and Mettupodu from Duet (94); and > their respective albums too can be called the most original from > ARR's highest creative standpoint. Roja would certainly have to be > considered original if we compare ARR's originality to the relative > originality of the musical backdrop of that era, but that is not what > we are attempting here; I feel that compared with the aforementioned > albums, Roja, along with the likes of Puthiya Mugham, Uzhavan, and > Bombay would qualify as some of the most soulful and brilliantly > crafted albums, but, not the most original; again, please keep in > mind that my comparisons are confined to ARR's body of work and not > extended to any comparison's with the work by any of his composer > peers. > > > > Thiruda Thiruda (93) was a breakthrough album for ARR as he was > able to match, if not exceed, the expectations surrounding his second > post-Illayaraja Mani Ratnam production after Roja, which could not > have been an easy task for a 25 year old who thought his first movie > album would be his last! Thee Thee's stunning energy and freshness is > only the icing on the cake after the beautiful vocal tapestry of > Raasathi, the operatic grandeur of Veerapandi Kottayile, and barring > its close references to Michael Jackson-like dance beats, > Chandralekha as well. Duet (94), on the other hand, with an > unprecedented use of Kadiri Gopalnath and his saxophone to showcase > Carnatic music, was quite a daringly original attempt for a movie; to > say both maestros pulled it off with shocking success, would be an > understatement. > > > > So, has there been a song/album of that calibre in recent times? I > think it will be an accurate statement to say that there has not been > a song like Thee Thee or Mettupodu in recent times, certainly not a > conceptually original album of Duet's kind, and most surely not an > album for an Indian movie. Now why could that be? First of all, as > you lose your youthful freshness and become enmeshed in a system, you > lose a significant share of that rebellious spirit. Albert Einstein > said during his latter years when he went on his quest to discover a > Unified Field Theory, how much he wished he had that same rebellious > spirit which fuelled his strength of mind and imaginative powers to > overthrow the revered Laws of Sir Isaac Newton and his universe of > absolute time and space with the new Relativity Theory. Similarly, in > United States presidential politics, Sen. Barack Obama is touting his > freshness in Washington as one of his biggest strengths for bringing > about real change to the country. So, yes, time spent in any > environment can significantly reduce your capacity for daring and > originality, which is what we are seeing with ARR in India. However, > let us not forget that we owe much of the advancement of the quality > of Indian music to him and let's not be surprised if his most > original work comes from his work abroad because that environment is > still new to him and he has many colors to show to the rest of the > world where he is not yet legend! > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Shed those extra pounds with MSN and The Biggest Loser! > > http://biggestloser.msn.com/ > > >
