Customer Reviews

Will You Cross the Skies For Me / Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya (New Rahman Tamil CD)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If there's a distinct trend that I see in ARR's music over time, it's his reduced emphasis on musical adventurism and acrobatics and increased emphasis on subtle musical forms within a composition, often perceived subjectively as "not living up to his own standards". I don't agree with that notion since it's ARR who recreates his own standards with each release, just like destroying his own ego before a compositional session. The burden of responsibility to recognize this is up to the listener, who may be challenged and confounded by expectations and biases, which is normal and natural. Again, these are trends only and just from my observational standpoint...nothing is black and white or exclusionary. This trend may be a function of two forces: 1)Age (emphasizing more of a gestaltic perspective) 2) Progressive evolution as part of a unique artist whose mindset is bent on conceptual expansion and really trying hard to avoid being typecasted, escaping from his own set trails to form new and distinct roads. The music of VTV is a major step in AR's evolutionary process as an artist who's never content with the status quo, or even his own previous success. Remember, it's the artist over the entertainer, and in VTV, it's the pure artist within ARR, even beyond musician, that is in the driver's seat. I will not comment on the lyrics since I don't understand Tamil.

1) Omanna Penne:
Steady and soothing.....a composition that oozes with spiritualness and introspection. I love how AR juxtaposes the Western rhythms with the Carnatic raagas first by the female voice, and weaving throughout the stylistic Nadaswaram, whose roots are deeply Carnatic, but expressed so universally in this track. Wonderful singing by Benny and the Nadaswaram ending is surely a page from the Rehna Tu continuum outro. Nothing fancy in this composition, but the feeling left behind is extremely elevating and cleansing. Fantastic start. (8/10)

2) Anbil Avan:
ARR at his playful best. He must have had a lot of fun putting this track together. There is nothing heavy or mind blowing about this track, but what makes it work for me is the joyful innocence in the melody and the very interesting sonic arrangements using a Shehnai type sound juxtaposed with a church organ sound. The musical interlude that has this also has some very nice, quick chord progressions that defy banality. The melody sticks easy and would be a fun song to dance with. (7/10)

3) Vinnathaandi Varuvaayaa:
Wow......what a minimalistic impact! Minimalistic impact is something that I have been missing from Rahman's oeuvre in recent films, but here it is, in its full glory and form. Using a minimalistic sound template for a title song is quite bold and outside the box, but boy does it work for me!!! The acoustic strings (guitar? harp?) along with vibes and small bells create such a unique, peaceful ambiance in this song that transports me into a dreamlike world. The song structure is very unconventional for an Indian film song. Beautiful string additions in the mid section only add depth to amazing vocals, chords, and heartfelt emotions in this gem, but likely to be underrated track. Delicate, subtle, dreamy, ambient, soft, restrained, soothing, warming.....I can go on and on..... Again, a track doesn't have to be complex and adventuresome to be powerful....this is the genius of AR....he can create such a powerful ambiance using minimal quantity. (8/10)

4) Hosana:
There is no other composer in India who can arrange better than AR. In this song, many of AR's strengths are showcased.....sound structure, layered, thick, yet uncluttered arrangements, symphonic textures, haunting melody, soothing ambiance. The sound layers are so clean and crisp....that beautiful strumming acoustic guitar is so nice!!! Also worthy of mention is the high toned Scottish flavored flute and the subtle mandolin rhythms in sync with the main rhythms, punctuated by the pulsating string sections. The female choir with the angelic expression is one of the most beautiful choir sounds I've heard. This song sticks to you and won't let go. A complete masterpiece IMO that is one of the best songs that ARR has composed in recent years. (9/10)

5) Kunnukkul Kannai
Another playful techno oriented track with some pleasing electronic arrangements. The unique feature of this track for me are the string quartet type rhythmic accents throughout the give this youth song a very Western classical feel. Relatively simple by composition and sound, but again, a nice dance number with good melody. Rahman not living up to his standards on this one? Well, that's up to you to decide, but it's an enjoyable one for me, though If I had to pick my least favorite in this soundtrack, it's this one. (7/10)

6) Mannipaaya
I was looking forward to this song ever since I knew Shreya and AR would be singing it, a romantic duet. The song has everything I could hope for in a romantic duet....breathtaking melody, beautiful soundscapes, sophisticated arrangements, gentle ambiance, subtle symphonic artistry. I love the piano backdrop and so many of the symphonic instruments can be heard in isolation...oboe, clarinet, tympani, flute, etc. A very subtle masterpiece in my opinion, that can only be appreciated by those with a certain musical sensitivity and emotional open-ness, and of course, who like mushy romantic numbers! The whole song has a very theatrical feel. The melody is quite drawn out with long contours, so it's not a song that's easily melodically remembered the first time go, but certainly sticks with you with repeated exposure. Strengths of this track...mood, delicate arrangements, subtle artistry, certain melodic sections, innocence, sincerity. One of the album's highlights for sure and I hope it's picturized well (9/10)

7) Aaromale
Wow.....just wow!!! AR takes a page from the Pink Floyd era, but nothing here is lifted or copied. Sensual, stylistic, clean acoustic guitar playing along with passionate and mind blowing vocals by Alphonse make this track simply mind blowing. What is so unique about this song is again, minimalistic impact with sound, instruments, but also chordal architecture.......there are only 2 alternating chords being used in the entire song!! Can you believe it? The chorus part which begins with the Malyali "Swasti Swasti" harks on raaga Bageshree to create a magical effect....imagine...juxtaposing a 2 chord bluesy guitar riff with a raaga based melody.....only AR....only AR.... The added percussion increasing the tempo only adds to the intensity to this path breaking and out of the box track. And man, what an ending...the way the vocals fade out......oh man!!!! The ambiance created is just out of this world....it leaves me stunned, mesmerized, in awe. (10/10)!!!

General highlights of this album include minimalistic impact, originality, very sophisticated and classy arrangements, incredibly strong ambiance and sound quality, and soothing influence. I don't think anyone will be complaining about sound issues in this album like we saw for Blue, as ARR I think paid a lot more attention to that aspect this time around, perhaps keeping our "Blue" feedback in mind??? The soundtrack also has a wide range of styles, sounds, musical forms that keep you interested. Because of the highly international, situational, and unconventional nature of the songs, these will only be appreciated most with time, post movie visuals, and by those who are most open minded about music in general. Those who only like the antara-mukhda type film songs will find the listening experience to be awkward and just too esoteric. Also, except for the first track with carnatic raagas, most of the rest of the album is void of obvious ethnic Indian sounds/styles/forms, consistent with the international and more universal musical approach. This again, may be a turn off to some. Like all new ARR albums, esp. ones like this that have some unconventional and new elements, it will take time to grow.

My overall rating....9/10. A distinct highlight of ARR's career...one of the very finest musical packages you will find anywhere in the world today, not because of its complexity, wizardry, or dynamics, but for sincerity, ambiance, mood, minimalism, unconventionality, novelty, originality, subtlety, and overall spiritualism. A nice instrumental track addition would have made this album perfect for me.

A.R.Rahman proves yet again that he is the best music composer in India. An amazing album - I am addicted to all seven songs. Terrific stuff from the Isai Puyal. A must buy!!

Amazing music by Rahman. This is his first movie in Tamil after winning Oscar. Guess What...He is simply awesome.

I couldn't stop listening to the songs since the day I heard them first. As with all ARR songs, the more you listen, the more you fall in love with the songs. I'm not a music gig, but as ARR said, he's tried something new in this album, and it's really cool and peppy.

It's worth the wait. Just go for it.

This is what you get when a classy director teams up with one of the best composers in the country. I simply can't stop listening this album. A masterpiece from the master. My favourite is "Hosanna". "manippaya" was good except for Rahman's flawed pronunciation in a couple of places. His rendering is not that clean either especially with Shreya doing such an awesome job with the female vocals. But, it is soulful. The kural couplets were a surprise. Initially, they didn't sit very well for me in the song but with a few more listens, they sound great. "vinnaithaandi varuvaaya" may be a surprise for many people who like heavy orchestration but only a composer like Rahman, supremely confident of his ability, can create a song with minimal orchestration like this one. Not that this is the first time he has done this though. "anbil avan" and "kannukkul" are nice tracks, easy on the ear. Although the latter is my least favorite song in the album, it is only because the rest are all awesome. Finally, "aaromale"! Wow! I doubt if too many composers other than Rahman can come up with some thing like this for a tamil movie. What a song! Simply no words to praise the genius of AR Rahman. May God bless him! Rahman has revolutionized tamil film music yet again.

I expected more from the lyricist Thamarai though. Slightly disappointing!

This is the 1st tamil (south indian regional language) musical album from Mr Rahman post his oscar award season. There are totally 7 songs - just like 7 colors of rainbow, combined to give a musical treat.

Each song is brilliantly written and very well engineered. There are multiple layers within each song with its own progression and the combined results are nothing short of pure genius. This album blends indian and western sounds in a manner only Mr Rahman can blend.

I have been a fan of Mr Rahman right from him 1st album (Roja). He has always enticed with fanastic music. This album is unique and engaging.

Do yourselves a favor. Go get this CD before they are out of stock.

Wonderful songs, typical A.R. Rahman differentiating from the contemporary. Can't wait to see it on Screen.

A stunning new soundtrack . Back to his roots of the good old Chennai Sound. But with a new musical approch.Every track is not a traditionally song in the usual way, but an harmonic blending of musical themes and beat, full of delightful surprises. (Something like what he did in the 90' with "Anthimantarai" soundtrack, and later with "Warriors of heaven and earth"...). Thank you, Rahman, from all of us , discriminating music and sufi lovers all over the world.

The song Aaromalae ALONE is enough to purchase the CD. A very nice blues genre presented wonderfully and singer has done justice to the composition.

I wish Rahman sang more songs...his voice is awesome....he has a profound voice with emotion in it for the song mannipaya.

Karthik is distinct.. he seems to have become Rahman's work horse singer.


Go buy it.

Maestro A.R.Rahman's latest Tamil offering is definitely a modern time masterpiece and one of his finest Tamil albums. The man who started his career with Tamil film Roja in 1992 offers a completely fresh and innovative music even after 18 years. This man is a true genius. I don't understand Tamil but just cannot miss any of the music this man is creating anywhere on the planet. Furthermore when it comes to music, and especially Rahman's music, it has no language. I am head to toe love with Omana Penne, Hosanna, Mannipaaya and Aromale.

Go get it .... no two words (however if you are a Western listener and haven't tried Rahman's top works yet e.g. Dil Se.., Bombay, Taal, Thiruda Thiruda (Chor Chor), Saathiya, Lagaan, Delhi 6, Kandukondain Kandukondain, Minsara Kanavu (Sapnay), go for them first.