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MUSICBOX: Rock and rage
Rage’s second album Deewana, which has come out after a gap of four years features some really groovy tracks, but somehow the record doesn’t fully satisfy the demands of an average music buff. The basic problem with the tunes is that they grow on you very slowly. If promoted heavily through the music channels, the album has a fair chance of capturing the local market.
Starting off with the Hamd Allah Hoo was a good move, but the number should have been rendered differently keeping in mind its genre. The heavy background music takes away the whole charm, though the lyrics are pretty good. The title track is quite listener friendly and very well sung. Though the tune harks back to the group’s previous album Aashiyana, overall the song is appealing. Maal Gadi is about a journey to an unknown destination, reflecting the confusion of the traveller. The pace picks up with the track Shola, which is sung a little differently by lead vocalist Salman Haider. Chand Se Chehron is a soft, slow romantic track where again the singer’s vocal talent is well exhibited. The national song Pakistan has nothing novel about it; in fact, the words make no sense.
Kho Gaya Mera Chand is fairly decent with the major use of tablas in the background. Jogi is full of energy, though it is not completely a sufiana kind of tune. Tracks such as Kabhi Kabhi, Bin Us Kay and Akhiyan keep things moving along, with the music shifting from heavy guitar riffs to a little eastern touch. At times a combination of both can be heard.
It is too early to say whether the album is generating waves or not. The response from the public depends a lot upon the publicity strategy employed by the record label. The surprise package of this album is Salman Haider though, who has lent his vocals in all the songs with much aplomb. He seems to be comfortable with almost all kinds of tunes and uses his voice quite effectively. All in all a listener-friendly album.—Azeem Haider
Futureperfect
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Cover records are a rock rite of passage. But Erasure are neither a rock band, nor is Other People’s Songs your average covers album. What it is, is an incredibly layered, listene- friendly synth-pop record gushing with synthesizer wizard Vince Clarke’s gorgeous, beautifully complex arrangements. Flamboyant singer Andy Bell completes the circle as the duo render 12 diverse covers ranging from rockabilly legend Buddy Holly’s jangly work to that of another pioneering synth-pop act, The Buggles.After successful stints with an early incarnation of the mighty Depeche Mode and livening up the 80s with Yaz (featuring Allison Moyet’s dramatic vocals), Clarke is to the synth what Hendrix or Page were to the guitar. But unlike those flashy axemen, Vince Clarke has always worked in the shadows, away from the spotlight, crafting electronic gems that are musically a cut above, while being commercially viable. Other People’s Songs is Erasure’s playful tour de force, making it known that while having fun singing covers, they can totally reconstruct and reincarnate these gems into evocative statements.
The album kicks off with Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill. The band waste no time playing about with obscure intros, as they hit the floor with full force from the word go. To put it plainly, the song is rendered phenomenally. Floating above a steady mid-tempo rhythm is an ethereal synth riff that puts the mind at ease and lets one concentrate on the quasi-mystical lyrics. Perhaps subconsciously, Clarke salutes his Yaz days on the Korgis’ Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime, especially in the chorus as the melody recalls a better, simpler time. Buddy Holly’s quirky Everyday is short, sharp and a real gas. The Righteous Brothers’ Ebb Tide has been given the disco treatment with a fat, syncopated beat keeping time as Bell gets to let loose with his vocal skills.
Though done to death by an army of artists, Erasure’s version of Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling In Love is remarkably distinct. But ultimately, The Buggles’ Video Killed The Radio Star is the coup de grace. Here, Clarke outdoes himself as Bell sings in an altered, robotic voice recalling Kraftwerk’s best. What a moment of pure pop joy!
To take a break from the lame, tough-man guitar boys choking the alternative music universe nowadays, pick up Erasure’s Other People’s Songs to find out what a near perfect record sounds like.—QAM
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