The album came out after a long wait. There was lot of hype surrounding it. The producers of the film kept attaching lots of importance to the music and to ARR. So, lot of expectations on this album!
Does it live up to the expectations? Well, more than just meeting the expectations - it truly rocks and might well be the album of the year... err.... probably not... Guru is releasing in October!

Kummi Adi (or Ammi Midhichaachu):
An energetic folk number with fast beats.
Naresh rocks... Had a discussion with Deepak, about Naresh's voice in this song - he was wondering if it was Naresh in this song!! I felt Naresh's voice has so many dimensions. He sounded so soft in Tu bin bataaye (RDB) and Myiliragey (Ah Aah), sounded very different in Roobaroo and Paathshaala (RDB), and had that rustic feel in Kammaaa karaiyile (Godfather). His voice sounds so different in each one, and in this song, it is the "kamma karaiyile" dimension!! It was great listening to Swarnalatha, Seergaazhi Sivachidambaram and Theni Kunjaramma!
Already a chart buster.

Sillunu Oru Kaadhal:
Typical jazz song of 1970-80s. The beats, bass guitar arrangements, sax interludes, instrumentation - everything give us that retro-jazz feel. ARR proves once again that he can give a master any genre! Total fun song. Tanvi's voice is so fresh and apt for the mood, and the cat mewing sounds are so enjoyable.

Munbey vaa:
A soothing melody by Shreya Ghoshal and Naresh. The string arrangements are brilliant through out the song, especially during Shreya's humming after the first "rangoli" chorus. The starting instrumental and the BGMs (is it santoor?) are so cute. Highlight is the Rangoli part.

Maaricham:
Rahman loves to experiment a lot and break all rules. And he has gone totally unconventional in this song . This song doesn't follow the usual routine of pallavi-interludes-2 similar saranams.
The song starts of in a slow, high pitched opera-song-kinda mode and then the fast beats take over. Carolissa handles the high pitch portions throughout the song with ease.
The song shifts to a totally different mood after about 3 mins, when she says "Gautam" (it does sound like a mohini pisasu, as Harish pointed out !!) and Aslam takes over. Aslam's portion is melodious and is backed by fast percussion and wonderful string arrangements. The "tejo mayam " ending is good.

Machakkaari:
A peppy number. Shankar Mahadevan and Vasundara Das create magic. Loved the part when shankar sings "Thaangadhe Machakkaari" -starting from a low note for "thaangaadhe" and dragging on the "machakkaari" part to a high pitch and then goes "ohhh"... lovely! And, the bass guitar peice at the end of the stanza is mind-blowing! Potential chart-topper.

Mazaa Mazaa:
Shreya Ghoshal sung Thazhuvudhu Nazhuvudhu (Ah Aah) with SPB. This time, she pairs up with SPB Charan for a similar kind of song. Charan has tried to sound like his dad and succeeded in many places!
Just loved the percussion arrangements and the transistion from one mode to another! Very light percussion in the starting, and then some very heavy percussion at 1:07 - u keep listening and never know then shift in beats happened - so smooth! The starting ("mm mm hmm") is so addictive. Highlight of the song is the point (4:13) when all percussions stop, Shreya sarts to sing "Jillunu oar...", stops, giggles and then SPB Charan completes "Jillunu oar Ginger beeru thaan"... Awesommme!
Also love the part when both sing "kandaal Paavam unda....." (3:07-3:13) - SPBC sings that line from high to low pitch and Shreya goes from low to high... brilliant!

New York:
Definitely the pick of the album. A guy-misses- his-gal song - a very common theme, but the song is so fresh. Everything about this song is so different. The tune is very unusual and unpredictable and makes you keep guessing all the time.
This is second song in this theme in Rahman's voice, the first being "Mera yaar milaa de" from Saathiya. I dont think anyone else could have done justice to this song other than Rahman - wowwww - he just takes u in to that mood.
I was spellbound by the starting of the song itself, when i heard it for the first time. The "hmmm hmmm" (which keeps continuing to about 1 min) starting is so innovative. After some heavy acoustic guitar strumming in Roobaroo and Luka Chupi, Rahman continues that trend again and it adds to the mood. The lyrics by vaali are just awesome.

Best album in recent times.... Haven't got the album yet? What are u waiting for?
By Aravind on Monday, August 21, 2006 at 8:17 AM Post Categories: ,
Comments
  1. DD

    Finally :-)
    Since u took so much time, i expected slightly more detail though..neways ARR is still ARR...already waiting for Guru :)

  1. P.S. Suresh Kumar

    hey, SOK sure does rock for ARR fans like us but more common listeners don't think so and that is the reality, well i am confident album will be a blockbuster once the movie releases. If you find time, pls read my revu on the album in my blog

  1. DeaK.In.FroSt

    good job aravind..nice work

  1. Rams

    Rahman sure rocks...and our tastes matched a lot too (those pieces in each song where it's too good)

  1. True Blue Rahmaniac

    Finally got to listen to it properly huh? Good review. Couldn't have said it better myself.

  1. Anonymous

    Thanks for the review....about spb charan soudnign like his dad...do u think its a good thing or a bad thing? apart form the song being good? my personal opinion is its a bad thign becuase we dont want another spb! lol enoyed reading it
    thanks

  1. Mysorean

    Nice review Aravind!

    SoK rocks!

  1. Anonymous

    Hi,

    New York Nagaram is not "sung" by rahman; its "read" by him. Munbe Vaa is spoilt by Naresh's singing -has he sung in the recording room or from inside a well? All other "songs" are just so-so. Only the hype surrounding the marriage announcement of Surya-Jo should save this album at the box-office. Even otherwise, I am providing the stock replies readily for the maniacs - song not picturised well, story is not good, director spoilt the movie, camera angle was not right, light boy did not show the lighting properly, etc., etc.

    Imsai Rasigan

  1. Raaaga

    Thanks for the New York lyrics. Can I get lyrics for Munbe vaaa..pleeejjjj

  1. Aravind

    @ DD:
    he he... busy da!!


    @ Suresh Kumar:
    it is gonna rock for common listeners too.... The audio sales are very good, according to galatta and indiaglitz... Also, Kummi adi is already topping the charts!

  1. Aravind

    @ Shubha:
    Hey.. hey Shubha.. What a surprise!!! How did u land up in my blog? ;)
    BTW, me blogging for over a year now!

    @ D.i.f:
    Thanx :)

  1. Aravind

    @ rums:
    ARR Rulezz!! :)

    @ Sush:
    thanx ;)
    //Couldn't have said it better myself.
    Ipdi ellam solli thappikka mudiyaadhu.. un review enga??? ;)

  1. Aravind

    @ rums:
    ARR Rulezz!! :)

    @ Sush:
    thanx ;)
    //Couldn't have said it better myself.
    Ipdi ellam solli thappikka mudiyaadhu.. un review enga??? ;)

  1. Aravind

    @ Parthi:
    SPBC sounding like SPB -
    I dont think this is a bad thing coz, he doesnt try that always.... it is jus for this song!! his voice was very diff in kadhal sadugudu..

    @ Adi:
    thanks :)

  1. Aravind

    @ anon:
    Sour Grapes!!!

  1. Aravind

    @ Raaga:
    "Munbe Va" lyrics at Ferrari's blog

  1. Anonymous

    Nalla Kaalam, neenga unga perai, A.R.Aravind nnu maathikala, sandhosam.

    I guess you are doing a great deal of research on ARR's songs.

    Good work done and fantastic review.

  1. Aravind

    @ vidya:
    LOL..
    Thanx ...... :)

  1. Anonymous

    see its not all bout arr.see jus cuz he is playin da muzic evry track canot look gud nd u cant expect dids from him evrytime. but certainly i am sure dat da album will cum gud nd certainly bettr dan dasavadaram cuz muzic is composd by da great HIMESH RESHAMMIYA who sux badly.

  1. Aravind

    @ Jegan:
    LOL
    hope Himesh doesnt trouble us with his nasal singing in tamil too......

  1. Anonymous

    hey
    good collection about the movie SOK

  1. Anonymous

    www.silly-nu-oru-goodhal.info

    Interesting site. :)

  1. Seema

    hey!!
    I found u've posted the english version of the song 'NewYork Nagaram"
    Can u plz pass ont he link. I loved the song, but do not understand the language.

  1. Anonymous

    munbey va songs is really good..... this is really different....

  1. Awatts

    SOK songs rock...undoubtedly each song has its different flavor...
    Knowing that you are a ARR fan, still it may be worth if you want to check out Pachaikili muthucharam songs (Harris Jeyaraj)...as well as Pokkiri songs.

  1. Anonymous

    hi
    naresh really rocks in all his songs, all songs different. did you heat in telugu film, sad song O CHILAKAMMA from the film NOTEBOOK, too good, what about kannada film SAJNI by our boss ARR, he sang chandramukhiye, just amazing

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