Thanks for taking us to a sweet and beautiful journey Chord!! Kalyan K. On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 8:14 AM, ichord <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > Since January 2008, 2 years ago, when Jodha Akbar was released, I have been > on an absolute Rahman high...enjoying the heavy Rahman showers that have me > soaked from head to toe with his magical, sparkling, mindblowing music. > Rahman achieving huge domestic and international success simultaneously in > the past 2 years has created some of the most exhilarating feelings a > musical fan could ever dream of, and that dream is continuing today. > > (Note, I was quite happy with AR's music prior to 2008 too, but really, for > me, the turning point happened with Jodha Akbar's music. Why? Between > 2004-2008, I felt that AR's ouput was a bit more inconsistent in terms of > sound and overall quality. Don't get me wrong...I still love many, many of > his songs from that period.) > > Let's review shall we since Jan 2008? > > Jan 17 2008 - After much, much frustration and ire, Jodha Akbar's music > FINALLY released and I was completely blown away by the majestic, haunting, > classically melodic numbers like Khwaja Mere Khwaja, Man Mohanna, Jashne > Bahar. This album still remains one of my favorite AR albums of all time, > and the movie's success finally helped catapult this album into commercial > success too. > > Late May 2008 - The almost simultaneous release of Janne Tu Ya Jaane Na and > Ada gave us fans a second feast that year with peppy tunes, excellent sound, > soul stirring numbers, and huge commercial success with JTYJN's music and > movie. Songs like Kabhi Aditi, Kahin To, Tu Bole, Jaane Kyu, Meherbaan, Ishq > Ada, Hawa Sun Hawa, Mile Waha Waha floored me again. > > July 2008 - Sakkrakati in Tamil released and boy what a treat we had with > Taxi Taxi, Elay, and Marudhaani, my favorites of that album. Taxi Taxi > created a storm unlike seen before on the airwaves and Marudhaani remains > one of my all time favorite AR songs in Tamil. > > It kept raining Rahman when on October 15, 2008, the much awaited Subhash > Ghai's Yuvvraaj's music released with much celebration. Beautiful > orchestration, classy, melodic numbers, and rich, soothing sonic structures > made their way into our lives once again with classics like Muskura, Dost, > Dil Ka Rishta, Man Mohiney, Zindagi. Zindagi remains one of my all time > favorite ARR songs in Hindi and this album is still one of my favorite ARR > Albums ever...a true artistic, classy masterpiece, barring Shano. > > Almost exactly a month later, on Nov 15th, the also much awaited music of > Ghajini released along with the music of Slumdog Millionaire just prior. > Ghajini's music had mixed reviews, but was associated with a HUGE BO movie > success and had some great tunes in Kaise Mujhe, Bekha, and Guzarish, my > favs from that album. SDM's music rewrote history and bagged AR Oscar > nominations, becoming a world wide massive hit. Those Rahman showers kept > getting heavier and heavier. > > Amidst all of these releases was AR's first private album since Vande > Mataram with the music for Connections, meant to be limited to Nokia phones, > but alas, leaked onto the internet and vastly enjoyed by AR fans everywhere > with masterpiece tracks like Man Chandre, Kural, Silent Invocations, > Mylapore Blues, and Mosquito...and let's not forget the hug message song of > Jiya Se Jiya. While this uniquely spiritual album never saw an official CD > release, the tracks continue to be lavished and savored. My picks are Kural, > Mosquito, Silent Invocations ABC, and Man Chandre. > > On January 15, 2009, just as AR was getting ready for the Oscar ceremony, > the music of ROM's Delhi 6 released with extremely, overwhelmingly positive > reviews, claiming to be one of AR's greatest works til date and earning HUGE > applause from both masses and classes with mindblowing classics like > Arziyan, Rehna Tu, Dil Gira Dafatan, Genda Phool, Masakali...an album > showcasing a HUGE variety of styles and genres from folk/classical to Sufi > to Latin to Soul to Hip Hop. And for the big cake icing, just a few days > later, AR bagged multiple Oscar wins for the music of SDM, being showcased > on American TV, delivering a speech with an unforgettable, positive message, > and soaring him to heights never before seen by a popular Indian musician > and composer. As AR fans, the success at home and internationally both made > AR fans feel like they were in heaven. A milestone month never to be > forgotten, and likely never to be topped in terms of the amount of massive > success and applause both all over India and all over the world. > > After the party was over and AR went into hiding for a while, there was a > break, quite a lengthy break of about 8 months before the music of Blue > finally surfaced in September 2009, AR's first post Oscar album. Mixed > reviews received this very energetic and mass oriented soundtrack for a huge > action flick, that saw AR experimenting with different genres, while the > song "Chiggy Wiggy" got some extreme reactions, but eventually a lot of > commercial success. The songs of Rehnuma, Bhoola Tujhe, and Fiqrana continue > to remain one of my favorites of AR, despite obvious sound issues. I guess > when one reaches a point so high, there is no place to go but down, right? > > HOLD ON! A little down we did go from the dizzying heights of Jan 2009, but > when the music of Vaughn's Couple's Retreat released just a couple of weeks > after Blue, the bounce was loud and clear and we were treated to an aural, > scintillating masterpiece with rich, world musical arrangements, Western > oriented catchy tunes, and lots and lots of Indian soul. The range of world > sounds and styles in this masterpiece is nothing short of awe inspiring from > a genius who never ceases to amaze, no matter where in the world he > composes. The music of CR was AR's first official American score and was > received with much appreciation and delight by his fans and in general, > music lovers around the world with some good BO success seen with the film > itself, despite being a light RomCom. The Rahman showers continued > strong...... > > And now, here we are with VTV....just 4 months after the music of CR, we > are treated to a first time Gautham Menon/ARR collaboration with one of AR's > finest musical creations ever. The album just oozes with soul, melody, sound > and arrangement richness, and some nice out of the box unconventionality and > stark originality. Songs like Omanna Penne, Hosanna, Mannipaya, and the jaw > dropping Aaromale, possibly becoming one of AR's most loved songs ever, make > this album his best Tamil creation in a long, long time in my opinion, > matching along the lines of Delhi 6 a year earlier, which to me, is one of > his best Hindi albums ever. > > And the Rahman showers continue heavy.....with perhaps a brief letup before > more heavy showers arrive when Mani Ratnam's "Raavan" releases a few months > from now in both Tamil and Hindi..... > > So, there you have it AR fans......enjoy this time.....relive the > glory....bask in the musical richness.......for we are blessed, truly > blessed to be fans of one of the greatest musicians/composers in world > history......a true genius in all aspects who continues to amaze not only by > his musical wizardry, but also by his strength of character, humility, and > deep compassion, nicely exemplified by his most recent charitable concert in > Australia to help promote peace and unity following racially motivated > attacks on Indians there. > > We will never forget........never......and we will always be with you, AR, > ALWAYS!!!!! AR's music is the gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and > giving.... > > >
