Sonu Nigam's Yaad
Deewana stole your hearts, Jaan mesmerised your imagination andnow T Series... brings Yaad, which will rekindle memories of true romance," declaresT Series MD and CEO Bhushan Kumar on the cover jacket of the new album. Yaad does none ofthat. Sonu Nigam’s voice — though among the best in the current crop of playbacksingers — fails to evoke any magic whatsoever. Worse, he has to shout the lyrics overthe much-too-loud orchestration. Then, the music is very Western which in itself isalright. But when you combine Western notations with silly, trite and typically Hindifilmi lyrics, the result is expectedly puerile and peculiar. The music video could’vehave been a redeeming factor, but Sonu Nigam and Riya Sen cavorting against the backdropof a very artificial ruin are absolutely unwatchable.
Namrata Joshi
Unnikrishnan's Abhishegam
In this era of Taliban and VHP, spirituality has been reduced to barter with God. WhenGod becomes a product, then the spiritual exercise merely reflect the market economics.The chanting and singing is replaced with cassettes and loud speakers. There is a suddenspurt of bhakti cassettes in Tamil. Cutting across religion, every major and minor God/Goddess is invoked through packaged music though none of these cassettes have anymeaningful lyrics or interesting musical arrangements. The basic tune is invariably a liftfrom the film music. The voices are off-key most of the times and it’s generally loudand lacks the natural introspective quality that makes bhakti music a distinct genre. Evengood singers like Unnikrishnan, when he opts for techno-kitsch bhakti music, floundersfully. His album Abhishegam is the ideal example of how not to produce a music album.
A.S. Panneerselvan
