| Song: Na Jiya Lage Na Album: Anand Type: Bollywood Singer: Lata Mangeshkar Music Director: Salil Chowdhury Lyricist: Gulzar Rating: 5.0 This is one of my favorite Lata songs because it allows her to display her tremendous range. I specially like the lines sung at a low pitch because their cool vibe is a brilliant contrast to the higher pitched lines and because that’s a side of Lata that hasn’t been used a lot. iTunes US iTunes UK iTunes Canada Flipkart |
| Song: Raina Beeti Jaye Album: Amar Prem Type: Bollywood Singer: Lata Mangeshkar Music Director: R.D. Burman Lyricist: Anand Bakshi Rating: 5.0 Amar Prem and Aandhi are probably two albums that define Pancham’s career and it is no coincidence that Lata figures prominently on both. Story has it that Madan Mohan thought that this was an S.D. Burman composition and called Burmanda to congratulate him. Apparently, he was not convinced when Burmanda told him that Pancham had composed the song. That story tells me that, Amar Prem, and particularly Rain Beeti Jaye, was perhaps the point when Pancham moved on from being popular to being popular and respected. Lata’s singing is also divine. But as I write this review I realize that I have been guilty of underplaying Anand Bakshi’s talent. I have tended to tag him (mistakenly) as someone who wrote “good but simplistic” songs. I stand corrected – there is nothing simplistic about his lyrics for Amar Prem songs. iTunes US iTunes UK iTunes Canada Flipkart |
| Song: Mausam Ke Sargam Album: Khamoshi Type: Bollywood Singer: Kavita Kriishnamurthy, Shraddha Music Director: Jatin – Lalit Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri Rating: 5.0 A song of hope and cheer, this is Jatin – Lalit at their best. Amazing instrumentation. The harmonies between Kavita and Shraddha are incredible. I generally don’t like the idea of using kids for songs other than nursery rhymes but Sharaddha does a pretty good job. iTunes US iTunes UK iTunes Canada Flipkart |
| Song: Papa Kehte Hain Album: Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak Type: Bollywood Singer: Udit Narayan Music Director: Anand – Milind Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri Rating: 5.0 A quintessential coming-of-age song. Fresh is the keyword here – Udit’s young, clean, fresh voice and Anand – Milind before they turned copy cats. iTunes US iTunes UK iTunes Canada Flipkart |
| Song: Udhar Tum Hasin Ho Album: Mr. & Mrs. 55 Type: Bollywood Singer: Mohd Rafi, Geeta Dutt Music Director: O.P. Nayyar Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri Rating: 5.0 A perfect marriage of melody and rhythm. Very cool castanets in the song. iTunes US iTunes UK iTunes Canada Flipkart |
| Song: Private Investigations Album: The Very Best of Dire Straits Type: Rock Artist: Dire Straits Rating: 4.0 A slow, dark, brooding track with just a few spoken (as opposed to sung) words. iTunes US iTunes UK iTunes Canada Flipkart |
| Song: Your Time Is Gonna Come Album: Led Zeppelin Type: Rock Artist: Led Zeppelin Rating: 4.6 The highlight of the songs has to be the easy-to-sing-along chorus. This could be a nice, pop song except for the lyrics and the drums. iTunes US iTunes UK iTunes Canada Flipkart |
| Song: Karu Karu Album: Patchai Kili Muthucharam Type: Koliwood Singer: Naresh Iyer, Karthik, Girish Music Director: Harris Jayaraj Rating: 4.3 The melodic portions are predictable because they’re part of a standard Harris Jayaraj template but the edgier, rock portions are different from the usual Jayaraj stuff. Nice listen. |
| Song: Cheerappovakul Album: Dhanam Type: Mollywood Singer: Chitra Music Director: Raveendran Lyricist: P.K. Gopi Rating: 4.0 Ultra melodic but loses me somewhere. |
| Song: Manassi Nabhassi Album: Raathrimazha Type: Mollywood Singer: Ramesh Narayan Music Director: Ramesh Narayan Lyricist: O.N.V. Kurup Rating: 4.0 A Hindustani music influenced track sung by the music director himself, who also happens to be an accomplished Hindustani musician. I like the song except for some heavy keyboards and pop vocals that don’t gel with the song. iTunes US iTunes UK iTunes Canada |