AUDIO REVIEWS

SAAZISH
Plus Music; Rs. 32
Jatin-Lalit have composed some good songs, but they fail to make any impact. Even after listening to the album twice, the numbers don’t register. Maybe because Jatin-Lalit’s tunes, heavily influenced by R.D. Burman’s music, have become quite predictable and sound like their past songs. And the music director duo don’t seem to have worked hard to give anything new. Of the six numbers, Is dil mein nahin, Dil ye kahe and Zindagi bin pyar ke (which appears twice) are hummable. Zindagi bin... sounds good in Kumar Sanu’s voice, but Vijeyta Pandit renders it off tune. The album has two ‘bonus’ songs from Daava, Deewane hain and Ru tu tu tu composed by Jatin-Lalit. But these ‘bonus’ songs don’t do much to pep up the album, since Jatin-Lalit’s music leaves a lot to be desired.

PARDES ’98 - REMIX by Subhash Ghai
Tips; Rs. 50
One wonders about the need to remix the super-hit songs of Pardes, which are fast-paced and danceable with techno beats. But then Subhash Ghai must have thought that instead of anybody else remixing his hit songs, and making a mess of them, it would be better that he remix his songs. And one must say that Ghai has done a great job. His remixed numbers don’t sound jarring, rather they are music to the ears. The producer-director, who is known for his good knowledge of music, has re-created all the songs. As a result, the songs sound different, even as they retain their original flavour. Ghai is quite innovative while remixing the qawwali Nahi hona tha, Diwana dil and Meri mehbooba. The only sore point is a woman going “ooh” and “aah” in the song Do dil mil rahe hai, which is highly irritating. Otherwise, the album can be counted amongst the best remix albums, and is sure to be a hit with the youngsters.

It’s My Voice
PolyGram; Rs. 55
This is the Big B singing his very own ten, delectable, popular numbers in his own deep, rich baritone. The album is a potent combination of some raunchy, some tipsy and some very naughty numbers. There is the famous Pukar number Tu maike mat jaiyo and the Ganga kinare number Khaike paan banaras wala from Don, which appears again as a remix. But the original sounds ten times better than the calypso mix. Another popular Don number which features in the album is Main hoon Don. Besides these, there are the popular Mere paas aao from Mr Natwarlal, the raunchy Mere angne mein from Lawaris, and Rang barse from Silsila. A great buy for AB fans.

Spice World
Milestone Entertainment; Rs. 100
The bad girls are back to doing what they are best at — singing naughty songs and making you shake a leg. Spice World is no different. They Spice up your life when you’re feeling sad and low, and tell you that All you need is positivity to spice up your life. And just when you are going too fast on the road of life, they advice you to Stop and take stock. The y sing Caught in a craze, it’s just a faze, slow it down, read the sign, so you know just where you are going. So Move over, Never give up and just Do it.

Mousercise
Plus Music; Rs 75
If you are one of those commendable fitness freaks who start each day with a round of push-ups and a jog a mile, then here’s what you can tune in to to pump you up. It’s not your usual aerobics tunes. This time you can mousey around with Disney and his chuha family and you can be sure this once the lil’ ones won’t crib about joining you for a round of one, two, three, turn... skip two, three, run... They have their favourite chart-toppers to ensure that they’ll keep in step with time and swinging with them you can also make sure that you keep slim and trim. So here’s to an hour of mousercise.

NEW RELEASES

Tera Deewana
A pop album which has songs sung by Sonu Nigam, Hema Sardesai and SadhanaSargam.
Sasha Music; Rs. 50

Bewafa Sanam Vol. 7 (Dil Ke Tukde)
The seventh volume in the Bewafa Sanam series, this one has sad songs tuned by Nikhil-Vinay.
T-Series; Rs. 30

Mujhe Khat Likhna
This album has six geet and ghazals sung and composed by Idris Nizami and Shaheda Khan.
Venus; Rs. 30

ALBUMS OF THE WEEK

Saat Rang Ke Sapne
T-Series; Rs. 38
This is one cassette whose cover is well represented. There’s a mug-shot, a mid-shot and a long-shot of the heroine, Juhi Chawla cavorting with her desi babu, Arvind Swamy. There’s the logo of T-Series and BIG B. The film title resplendent in rainbow hues. All the credits but one. The name of music directors have been surprisingly omitted. Or is the ommission deliberate? After all, aren’t the compsers the headline-making Nadeem-Shravan. Anyway, to get down to the basics, N-S’ score is pleasant and hummable. The title track is a typical gaon ki gori kind of love song. MG Shreekumar makes a melodious debut in Hindi films despite his slight Southern twang. Alka Yagnik comes up with another winner, teaming up with Babul Supriyo for the already popular, Aati hai to chal which has the stamp of a folksy Priyadarshan special. The Alka-Babul team churn out another hit hop number, Ba ba batao na. Despite the repetition of the first syllable of the first words of every mukhda , the pace is frisky and the number frothy. A likely chart-topper. However, one does wonder why Kavita Krishnamurthy was given an, if not sizzling at least a smouldering Mujh pe bhi jawani. Wouldn’t the raunchy Poornima have been a better bet for this song? Kavita doesn’t seem too comfortable with a song which is nowhere near her usual softly serene songs.

MOHABBAT KAR LE
PolyGram; Rs. 55
With his debut Hindi album Mohabbat Kar Le, the ace choreogarpher-actor proves he can sing as well as he can dance and act. He endears the listener with the opening number, Jane kisne, a soft, haunting melody. Ram Sampat’s music is no less magical and Shiamak keeps switching effortlessly from one soft, breezy number to another fast, foot-tapping one. Jane kisne is followed by Mohabbat kar le, a pacy-racy, hip-swinging number, which he belts out with gusto. And even as you are tapping your feet, Kasam yari ki, a slow-paced duet with Udit Narayan follows, leaving you swaying to the lyrics and the gentle music. Shiamak sings Ajab zindagi, a soft number, which says volumes about love and parting with one’s beloved. Come on Raju is an added bonus. Shiamak had composed the number for the Asiad ’82 mascot Raju, and it was thoughtful of PolyGram to include his first ever Hindi composition in the album. Hope we get to listen more from you, Shiamak.

 

FILM ALBUMS / HINDI '97
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10	Dil To Pagal Hai Ishq Pardes Chachi 420 Kabhi Na Kabhi Aflatoon Shapath Bada Din Aunty No.1 Grahan	[HMV] [Baba] [Tips] [Bombino] [Bombino] [T-Series] [Bombino] [HMV] [Venus] [Time]

 

POP ALBUMS / INDIAN '97
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10	Ho Jayegi Balle Balle - Daler Mehndi Nasha - Pankaj Udhas A-Ha - Suchitra Krishnamurthy Asha Aur Khayyam - Asha Bhosle Tum Yaad Aaye - Alka Yagnik Farebi - Biddu Humnasheen - Pankaj Udhas Greatest Dance Remix-2 - Various Awara - Vikas Bhalla Pardes '98 - Various	[Magnasound] [PolyGram] [Magnasound] [PolyGram] [Plus] [HMV] [PolyGram] [HMV] [BMG-Crescendo] [Tips]

 

MUSIC ALBUMS / ENGLISH '97
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10	Now 3 - Various Aquarium -Aqua Spice World - Spice Girls Let's Talk About Love - Celine Dion Nothing To Lose - Michael Learns To Rock Backstreet Back - Backstreet Boys Scarlet - Code Red All That Matters - Michael Bolton The Greatest Hits - Kenny G 23 a.m. - Robert Miles	[PolyGram] [BMG-Crescendo] [Milestone] [Sony] [Milestone] [HMV] [PolyGram] [Sony] [BMG-Crescendo] [Sony]

 

UK TOP TEN
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10	Dil To Pagal Hai Ishq Pardes Aankhon Mein Tum Ho Aflatoon Shapath Vinashak Bhai Qahar Vishwa Vidhata	[HMV] [Baba] [Tips] [HMV] [T-Series] [Bombino] [Time] [Bombino] [Zee Music] [Bombino]