Aaararai kodi paergalil oruvan,
Adiyen thamizhan, naan ungal nanban

Thus starts the title track of Ah Aah. Was it written to signal ARR's return to Thamizh movies after a year? well...I do not know...

Whatever!! ARR has come back in style with Ah Aah. Beautiful, colourful album!! You get to hear so many different sounds and lots of experimentations throughout the album, which leaves you spell bound. There are 6 songs in the album, each one so different.

Anbe Aaruyire
This is the title track of the movie. ARR sings this song, along with child-chorus. ARRs enchanting voice makes me play this song in Winamp in repeat mode! And the lyrics - It is as if ARR is saying, "I am a thamizhan and I am back in thamizh". Look at the lyrics - Vanna thamizh paattu aayiram solven and Ungal Magizhchiyai Paattil vaippen. The lyrics fit ARR! Still wondering how this is picturised in the movie!
One negative aspect is the heavy percussion, which shadows ARR's voice in some places.
However, this is a great song!

Thazhuvudhu Nazhuvudhu
Shreya Ghoshal and SPB rock! Is it really Shreya? Flawless thamizh pronunciation, and that too, considering the fact that the lyrics are nothing less than a tongue-twister!!! The constantly changing rhythm patterns keeps you interested in the finer aspects even after repeated hearings!

The way the voice is blended with instruments (is there a technical term for this?) is brilliant! This effect is quite pronounced in Maramkothiye song too. ARR had earlier used this technique in "oh humdum suniyo rey".

Mayilirage
The song starts with Thavil. Then an instument that sounds like nathaswaram joins in! There has been a debate going on, in ARR Fans Yahoo Groups regarding what this instrument is - people came up with different ideas - Tenor Sax, Oboe, Shenai Voice in KORG etc. etc... We still do not have an answer. Whatever... That piece is so catchy and keeps playing in your ear even after you switch off the player!

The vocalists are Madhu Shree and Naresh Iyer. Madhu Shree's voice is as sweet as ever! She sounds like Sadhna Sargam in many places. And for those who don't know about Naresh Iyer - he is the one who failed to win the Super Singer (ARR was the judge), but got a chance to make a great debut under ARR!
A Beautiful melody - the next "Snegithane"!

Thigu Thigu
Slow ghazal-type beats and Sadhna Sargam's melliflous voice provide a very different start. And that too, the first 45 seconds of the song sounds, as though we are hearing it on an old radio set, with lots of disturbance. Will have to watch the movie to know why it is so...

ARR has this knack of inserting a catchy bit in some songs, to which you will be addicted. In this song, it is the "thala thala thala... anai anai anai" bit. This rhythmic bit has been inserted into the soulful melody without losing the effect of both.

Strangely enough, neither the cassette/CD covers nor the websites mention the name of the male singer in this song!

Maramkothiye
Maramkothiye is a fast, disco number with lots of techno beats and sounds. The beginning rap "wanna wanna be a woodpecker" is good. Think it is by Blaaze. Shalini and Vasundhara Das are best suited for such songs and they do deliver. Shankar Mahadevan too does a good job.

The most interesting aspect of this song is that this song has the same basic tune as that of "Mayilirage". I figured this out only after 4-5 hearings. So well disguised. It is really amazing that the same tune fits a pleasing melody and a fast dance number!

Varugirai
A pathos song from ARR after a long time. And it breaks all the conventions and rules of pathos songs. Hariharan and Chitra are the singers. What more can one expect from the legends. Hariharan shines in the high pitched parts in the second stanza.

True to the line "Ungal Magizhchiyai Paattil vaippen" in the title song, ARR has made everyone happy with this album.

Overall, ah aah-some musical treat.

(ah... my first attempt writing a review for a music album... finally!!)