Shamitabh | Maestro | Amitabh | Dhanush | Balki | P. C. Sreeram

[irir123]

adikka varadheenga!

this album is not a patch on 'Neethane en pon vasantham', but more along the lines of 'om shanthi om' (telugu). NEPV (like Pazhassi raaja, Nan kadavul etc) was/is a landmark album with had drum patterns with live instruments (the second interlude of 'ennodu vaa vaa' being an exception) - this album no 'organic' feel with live instruments.

impressive (for me) at the outset were the interludes: 2nd interludes of 'sha sha mi mi', 'piddly' (almost half way to the height achieved by 'saaindhu' NEPV second interlude).

'sha sha mi mi' sounds/feels like a cross between a modern version of some Nazia Hassan song from the 1980s and a Shankar Mahadevan song - the rendition, singers' voice et al give the same feel - its the arrangements that have the IR feel.

IR's strings and the brass sections in the interlude make it standout.

Bappi da might have done something like this in his heydey, but the strings, brass and bass sections are definitely IR territory.

'piddly' is vintage IR strings ensemble - AB does some justice with some effort to this cousin of "konjam theera" (oru naal oru kanavu).

'ishq phillum' is a different version of 'katrai konjam' from NEPV!

'sannata' - Shruthi's voice def adds value to this rehash - the synth prelude motif is a counterpoint melody to the 'aasaiya katthula' tune and Balki could have insisted that counterpoint itself as a separate melody - IR evvalavu thadavai sonnaalum, ivinga pechha kekkaama, pazhaiya pattaayey thiruppi venumnu ketta yenna artham?

all the melodies sound truncated - maybe to suit a different audience spectrum

IMHO, after listening to Ghibran and Santosh Narayanan's output in recent years, IR's recording still sounds outdated - not on par with those of other younger guys around - maybe its coz the others dont have such intricate/complex strings arrangement as IR does in his compositions, so theirs are easier to mix - am not an audio engineer.

Santosh can give a 'aasai oru pulveli' or 'mogathirai' or Ghibran can give 'vaagai sooda vaa' with the sounds crystal clear, why doesnt IR's albums have the same production quality ?