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MUSICBOX: Dr who?
Dr Aur Billa became popular because of their eccentric, funny lyrics, electronic rhythms, compositions and videos. The group is back with their second album curiously titled Very Very Best Of, considering they only have two albums to their credit, the first being titled Greatest Hits.
The video of the first song from the second album, Tum se pyar hay is set in the ‘70s, when bell-bottoms, platform shoes and wacky hairstyles were the norm. Chan chan — a Punjabi track with unbearable vocals — follows but doesn’t impress at all. A slow version of Mujhe tum se (Yes Love) might bring a smile to your face with its witty lyrics. Beautiful violin music in Keh do impresses, while the vocalist, Jawad Bashir, doesn’t. His voice on this track needs major work.
Tu meri ho jaey starts with rugged guitars and is garnished with colloquial words such as kanghi, changi, khoka etc. Here, Jawad praises his beloved in simple words that will go down well with kids and adolescents. Two soundtracks by Jawad — one from Sarmad Sultan Khoosat’s Shashlik and one from his own venture Motor chalay pum pum — find their way into the album and are certainly the saviours, especially the guitars in the latter. The vocals and the lyrics redeem the group for their earlier mistakes.
One can skip Yarana purana and Fun Car as they are just plain disturbing while Jao has been composed in the mould of Yes Love. Nazrain sounds like it came from the Vital Signs drawer and makes one hum along because of its guitar work and lyrics. The last four songs Manzil, Ab kya karoon, Pagal and Mohabbat, don’t make much of an impact because of their tone and at times slow pace.
It was back in 1999 that Jawad and his friend came up with the immensely popular Dr Aur Billa Greatest Hits album. Four years later, Jawad returns with the second album which fails to impress most. So if one has kids at home who have nothing else to listen to, this is just the right album. —Omair Alavi
Shooting to infamy
Linkin Park seem set to conquer the scene once again by releasing their long-awaited second offering Meteora. The band has gained rapid success in the last couple of years. Some say they deserve to be mentioned in the same bracket as Limp Bizkit, Marilyn Manson and Rage Against the Machine. The previously released Hybrid Theory had earned them millions of die-hard fans all over the world.
In this album, they seem more innovative, mature and determined to do what they are doing and prove themselves in the world of modern rock. The songs are streamlined, tightly-focused and diverse. Heavy on intense rhythms and deep grooves, violent intent, nimble vocals and devilish lyrics, Meteora is pure modern rock. Tracks like Somewhere I Belong, Hit the Floor and From the Inside seem to be violent declarations against the system. Anyone who has gone through a rough patch will definitely feel like it is their own voice from within.
Faint is already doing great on MTV. Breaking the Habit, Easier to Run and Don’t Stay seem to be revolutions in rhythm and serve as savage identifiers of the band’s intent. The chemistry of these aggressive cohorts instantly generates a response in songs like Numb and Nobody’s Listening. The snarling guitars mixed with head banging drum work produce metal-hop at its brawny best. This album’s surely going to take this band far.—Atif A. Khan
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