Blue – Music Review

blueThe album kicks off with Chiggy Wiggy which has already made its appearance on all music channels. Though at the onset this song with Kylie’s seductive vocals sounds like the typical hip hoppish dancy track a la Zara Zara from Race et al, Rahman brings in a lot more depth in the arrangement. And almost towards the middle the song totally turns on its head with Sonu’s Punjabi entry. But somehow after that dramatic entry of Bhangra elements the song seems to dwindle out. And I found the phrase Chiggy Wiggy rather unsavoury. Sounded something straight out of cartoons rather than anything romantic!! Nevertheless I am hooked to the 45 second segment from 2:15 to 3:00. Next up is the predominantly bluesy Aaj Dil Gustakh Hai. First there is this haunting sequence of Sukhwinder’s humming, followed by an acoustic guitar loop reminiscent of that in Allah Ke Bande. The first line reminds you slightly of Asha Bhonsle’s initial humming in O Bhawre from Daud. The similarity is only fleeting however, as the song then goes off tangentially on the blues mode. Sukhwinder and Shreya is brilliant as usual on the vocals, Shreya handling the Westernised rendition exceptionally well. I think I will have to play the song at half the speed to make out the various intricacies of the song!! Fiqraana, the third song in the lineup, sounds something along the lines of Masti Ki Paathshaala from RDB, Dhakka Laga from Yuva etc, the lyrics also indicative of the same. Vijay Prakash sounds quite different in this song, probably due to the processed voice. Backing him up is Shreya Ghoshal.
Bhoola Tujhe which follows next has Rashid Ali sing to an orchestral arrangement. After repeated listens this song has grown so much on me I am forced to re-review this song! In its general feel it is reminiscent of some older Rahman songs but the grandness of orchestra would simply blow you away! The background string sequence from 1:39 to 2:00 is my favourite. Six singers – Blaaze, Sonu Kakkar, Neha Kakkar, Jaspreet Singh, Dilshad and Raqeeb Alam – feature in Blue theme. As is Rahman’s wont, he creates yet another super theme song. With its power-packed Bhangra-electronic elements, it would seem Rahman made this for some Asian Underground album!! Sonu and Shreya return with Rehnuma, which is again majorly blues with a James Bond-ish loop appearing all through the song. The arrangement is once again spot on, and Sonu and Shreya particularly excel in the high-pitched portions. And finally there is Yaar Mila Tha, which is an unconventional sort of item number from ARR. While the lyrics and rendition by Udit Narayan and Madhusree have a slight folksy edge, the instrumentation is hip-hoppish. To add to the mix the vocals are mostly synthesised. I wonder why Rahman is displaying an increased penchant towards vocoded vocals of late. Whatever the case be, this song is also entertaining due to its unconventionality, and makes for a good listen.

Being Rahman’s first album post his Oscar win, there were great expectations of this album, but on the other side there was also that this was an Akshay Kumar movie and Akshay movies are not exactly known for their musical exquisiteness. Given that situation Rahman has given an ideal soundtrack, though not going to be counted among his best, a definite entertainer. And even while churning out such albums, Rahman makes sure that his music does indeed stand out from the ordinary.

Chanchal says:

I love all ARR songs……………………………………

Sudhir says:

I agree that, as you go on listening to rahman’s songs they “GET” in to you…very true.
BLLUEEEE..awesome songs…each song is “getting in” to me, the more I listen.

omkay says:

Always brand new music takes time to hit ordinaries. always arr tries to introduce new things. all of his creatures are very precious. some shine like gold. some do not glitter like platinum. remember platinum is costlier.

praveen says:

yaa this movie is very nice bt i like only that song which was played when jayed khan stunts on bike and i want to download that bt i cant find that plzzz anyone hlp me give me link of that song

nanion says:

Great review… I pretty much found the same thing as you have listed here… James bond theme loop, allah ke bande guitar loop…Just few more … Yaar mila tha’..rythm reminds me of Taxi-Taxi song which then is similar to latin rythm from Shakira song’s..

But again Great review… Keep it Up..

Vinay Kumaar says:

My favourites are Fiqrana, Yaar Mila Tha and Chiggy wiggy.. Awesome songs.. Just fell in love with them.

Aditya says:

Like most of Rahman’s albums, this one requires a few listens before you can ‘get’ the rhythm of each song. I absolutely hated them on the first listen and didn’t get back to them for the next one week. I heard each song a couple of times after the break, and wow, they’re on a loop now. I think the music is very apt for a commercial movie, but also with Rahman’s melody and complicated rhythm patterns. The initial feel is very western, with complex arrangements and lots of instruments, synthetic sounds. Just give it some time, you’ll get to the hiding Indian melodious core.

AbuBakar says:

Fabulous Music, A.R.Rahman always proves more than our expectation, One who says his music is not good, Let me to say ones does not know the real taste of music, I love it.

Harish S Ram says:

this album holds it merit in accordance with the merit of the movie… i didnt like the theme at all while listening to the audio but whn i saw the trailer- well wow!!! so in sync.. so if the director has done good work in the film ppl ll flock to audio stores again!!

VIP says:

@vinod
oh i guess you misunderstood me. i wasnt talking of a similarity with masti ki paathshala. just that it seemed to be of that college anthem genre, like masti ki paathshala and dhakka laga. although in case of dhakka laga yes there is a slight similarity on that loop that goes jeete hai hum.. masti ki paathshala was jst quoted as indicative of the genre. 🙂 overall a good album no doubt. and as usual gettin addictive as i go along. i was already forced to change my views about bhoola tujhe as i kept listening to it. 🙂

Vinod says:

good review. Had the same thoughts when I heard the album – the opening of Aaj Dil Gustaak reminded me of “O Bhaware” and Fiqrana was like “dhaka laga”. But I didn’t find similarity with Pathshala. Will check for it when I hear it again. I found the folksy part in ‘Yaar mila tha’ simlar to “Shabba shabba” from Daud and Mastam from Yuvraj. But the arrangment, western instrumentation and the Hookline are totally cool and make the song sound very conventional. Rehnuma somewhere midway reminded me of Dil Ka Ristha from Yuvraj, probably the arrangement is such.
Overall its a good album and I am enjoying to it. Rahman once again does not disappoint.

Pankaj Jain says:

I listened songs of Blue’ no. of times in last few days. “Repetitive Listening to ARR Songs Makes U More Addictive Everytime..” is the only thing which makes Rahman different from others.. Music of is really very very Good… First time Rahman composed it for an action film (first time for akshay kumar also) The only suggestion that I would like to give u, listen AR’s songs repeatedly & then go for a review.. Its not just I m his fan, but undoubtedly “He is More than Genius!”
And in ‘Blue’, Rahman Proved it again…!
Best Luck..!

Jeffrey says:

@Jupe,

I’d like to hear what you gotta say when you listen to the songs more than once, say twice ? 🙂

Jokes aside,
Like any ARR album, this one too departs from the usual stuff we’re used to listening, and change is always bittersweet. When you hear something that’s not progressing the way you expect, you feel nagged. But dont just put aside them. I always venture ARR albums with caution, knowing what’s gonna come and let me tell you, all the albums grow on you.

shah says:

this is the one of the website is always try to tolerate rahmans music.iam very sure
about that..because i was read the review of delhi6…? dont do it again because rahman
is the only person try to take indian music into world…..pls….

VIP says:

You can rest assured that this isn’t a fan-mail site. We are here to express our honest opinions of different albums, and we welcome opinions from other music fans as well.

Jupe says:

If this site is a fan-mail site where objectivism is not accepted, then neither the reviewer or me should be here…. so much as I love ARRs music (and I mean efforts like Ada, Yuvraaj where the movie does not really help add to the popularity of the music), I have to confess this is one album which is a huge let-down. There is clearly an attempt to do something different, something that will relate more to the subject of the film but it does not translate completely into output… Chiggy Wiggy was a real waste of time, money and hype – in my books it would get into the worst 20 compositions of ARR…. Fiqraana is probably the only song which will remain in my memory come 2010.. In summary, I cant wait for ARRs next album

manikanta says:

superb songs,fiqrana is my best

shah says:

i was listen each songs from the movie.it was really amazing tracks from rahman.but ur reviews is not encourage,it always discourage…..so pls stop this…..i saw so many people
after realsing the blue audio,what they telling is-‘mindblowing tracks”…..

neeraj says:

super hit song of super duper hit muvi love all the songs
akshay is the best