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Radio Music
Music Direction : Himesh Reshammiya
Lyrics : Subrat Sinha
Listen to the album Here
Prelude: I know it is late, by almost 4 years! But couldn't resist writing a review after hearing the album once again this morning! This time my music tastes have matured and I hope I'll be able to scrutinize the album in a more quality, critic point of view than a HR fanatic point of view in which I enjoyed it back in 2009.
Mann Ka Radio, the title song, probably the only song of the movie which was promoted well, opens the soundtrack in a fantastic note! What with the new, fresh, urbane haunting sound of Himesh along with some uber cool beats and guitar riffs justifies the highly addictive slow tune! #Must Hear #Repeat
Koi Na Koi is reminiscent of the old post AshiqBanayaAapne Himesh, the composition has enough pain and thankfully minimal but lovely orchestration keeps the profile high! Shreya Ghoshal sounds pleasant and in sync with HR! #Repeat
Jaaneman was undoubtedly one of the sweetest melodies of 2009 and the controlled, non-nasal way Himesh sings it just shows his prowess as a singer. The song gets to another high with the entry of Shreya Ghoshal! #Must Hear #Repeat
Piya Jaise Ladoo is one perfect example to cement down Himesh's Hindustani classical abilities as a composer! Starting the note off in some brilliant Shehnai, this is one song tailor made for Rekha Bharadwaj where she essentially sings it with utmost grace and grief. HR provides ample support! Simply the best of the album! #Must hear #Repeat
Shaam ho Chali hai makes me skip a heartbeat. Probably one of the BEST romantic ballads of HR(yes, you heard it right, in par with Tere Naam) and one of the most under promoted! Particularly the brilliancy is seen towards the anupallavi(2nd stanza, I don't know the Hindi phrase) where the same lyrics are repeated in two totally different tunes, by Shreya and HR respectively but still stays in sync! The arrangements are top notch as well as the singing! Too bad and too sad that hardly anyone heard it! #Must Hear #RepeatForever
Damadji is total fun! The folk-ish compositions gets the best of vocals from Kailash Kher who totally captivates the song in the start before it turns into HR's somber vocals, which is as good! #Must hear #Repeat
Teri Meri Dosti is simply amazing for the sheer contrast of pitches it displays! While Shreya goes sweet, simple and low, HR gets the pitch high, so high, as high as it can get! And the cycle follows with the comely western arrangements! Interesting is the word! #Must hear #Repeat
Rafa Dafa has again HR gaining as a composer, a surprisingly eclectic compositions sung by HR in his cool voice avatar emits a fresh positive vibe and the good lyrics helps immensely! #Repeat
Zindagi Jaise completes the album with its Punjabi R&B pop sound. Considerably weakest of the lot, the song but does entertains you to a certain extent, if you ignore the mind boggling lyrics.
Verdict : I remember promoting the album and the movie alike vigorously back in 2009. Incidentally, that was the HR fan in me working, and some of the acts at that time, I agree, was biased. Now that my music tastes have matured(as I stated at the beginning, I have started hearing more world music, more Indian folk and classical, more languages) I look at the album with more of a critic's eyes and ha!! Nothing has changed whatsoever! Radio was a brilliant album for me back then, and four years later, after hundreds of songs I have heard in between, it still remains brilliant! In fact the re-hearing has only helped to elevate my admiration of the album. This is another outstanding album for me! Overly scintillating, particularly engaging, experimental, new-gen stuff from HR!
Must Hears! : All songs, except Zindagi Jaise
Listen to the album Here
4.25/5
AVOIDABLE<POOR<BELOW AVG<AVERAGE<GOOD< VERYGOOD <EXCELLENT!<OUTSTANDING!
Trivia : Here's what Shreya Ghoshal said about the album in an interview.
Q : Would you agree that your songs in Radio are among your best in recent times?
Shreya : Completely - it is one of the most frequently-played CDs in my home for a good while, and not because four songs are sung by me. Himeshji is amazing. The clean sound and interesting lyrics - even if they are not uber-cool - keep you hooked. I also do not agree with those who say that Himeshji is a non-singer. Shaam ho chali hai was a challenge for me as I have never sung so low in my career - it was challenging to sing in kharaj here. The contrast he has managed between my portions in Teri meri dosti ka aasmaan and his high-pitched segments is awesome!
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