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ARR's Vanthe Mataram : Nothing great...

Topic started by Guru (@ proxy.unicentre.edu.au) on Wed Oct 8 01:45:46 EDT 1997.
All times in EDT +9:30 for IST.

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Responses:

• From: Guru (@ proxy.unicentre.edu.au) on: Wed Oct 8 02:02:09 EDT 1997
  
  I got the chance to listen to ARR's much hulla-balooed 'VANTHE MATARAM' a few days back.
  It was a dissappointing 'half-baked' album with most of the songs akin to last minute cooked-up 'uppuma' compositions to fill-up the album. Other than the song 'Thaai Manukku Vanakam' and its Hindi version, the other tracks were all to familiar with ARR's filmi style although it was supposedly a departure from that genre. 'Gurus of Peace' is just a spin-off tune of 'Porale Ponnuthayi'. 'Thaai Manukku Vanakam' is comendable in its arrangement and engineering excellence but not musically. I felt that it was reminiscent to a bad imitation of the song 'Inner Circle' from Lion King. It's a lucky thing I got to borrow it from a friend and not spend money buying a copy...sheeesshhh..
  
  
• From: pg (@ client-116-12.bellatlantic.net) on: Wed Oct 8 04:00:08 EDT 1997
  
  And India-Today is hyping up this album as though this album instils patriotism in its listeners...
  
  And Sony (and ARR) lie that this is ARR's first non-filmy album...
  
  If this is ARR's first non-filmy album what are Fantasy, Andhi Maalai (with Vairamuthu) and Set Me Free ?
  
  
• From: hi (@ blondie.cfu-cybernet.net) on: Wed Oct 8 19:19:11 EDT 1997
  
  I like it.
  
  
• From: Guru (@ proxy.unicentre.edu.au) on: Wed Oct 8 20:36:38 EDT 1997
  
  Set Me Free was supposedly released 6 years back under the name of A.S.Dhulip or something. It was ARR's pre-ROJA endeavours which did not exactly kick-off well. Now the MAGNASOUND label is re-releasing the same album banking on just ARR's name to sell it although it is basically mediocre in musical context. This is the same with FANTASY but I haven't heard ANTHI MALAI yet.It's the sales figures that count today and not what the music is all about. The most important thing that people should remember in the world today is not to put too much trust in the media machine as, like any other establishment of the human condition, it is 'manipulate-able' by market-forces.
  
  
• From: pg (@ igw2.merck.com) on: Thu Oct 9 09:38:15 EDT 1997
  
  About a year and half back when I saw Fantasy and Andhi Maalai I grabbed it. I was expecting real good music without the shackles of composing to satisfy a stupid situation and boy was I disappointed. These two albums are the pits !
  
  
• From: NOV (@ 202.184.134.10) on: Tue Oct 14 23:58:53 EDT 1997
  
  Here is an alternative view of Vande Mataram. I have extracted the article from Malaysia's leading English newspaper, "The Star." Needless to say (especially to cp!) the opinions are those of the writer (Nantha Kumar is a respected impartial reviewer) and NOT mine!
  
  Arrival of the true Rahman
  By Nantha Kumar
  
  THE most striking mark of A.R. Rahman's debut international album — Vande Mataram — is its raw passion. With fiery renditions of Maa Tujhe Salaam (also in Tamil and Sujatha's mellower, slower Sanskrit retake), Tauba Tauba and Only You this record could well become a collector's item.
  Vande Mataram, distributed locally by Sony Music, has sold more than 700,000 units in India, after its release there on Aug 14, the 50th Independence Day of India and Pakistan.
  Rahman, 30, says that it took him four months to complete the album. However, Rahman said, that the project had been mapped out in his mind for quite a long while.
  "I was in films for five years and I wanted a break. I wanted something else. I communicated (this wish) to my friend Bala (G. Bharat, one of the three producers who worked on the album) and we worked on the concept as early as last year."
  "Ninety per cent of the material is original and especially written for this
  album. (It is only for the duet with the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Gurus of Peace, that) I've taken the main idea from one of my previous
  film soundtracks and improved on it."
  For the reserved Rahman, Vande Mataram ("I salute my motherland" in Sanskrit) is a very personal album. It is, as he says, "what I have to give to the people who have been listening to my music as a gift, rather than just doing what people ask me to do."
  Rahman's disillusionment with the film fraternity is something that is well-documented and debated. He has always felt he was carrying his film assignments under various pressures. Rahman is known to be selective in his work and consumes a lot of time to come up with his compositions. Vande Mataram, he hopes, will appeal to a wide range of listeners.
  "It is different from what people like (but) they will like it because it has got an inherent soul in it. Mostly, I (take on jobs) which I like but sometimes due to lack of time, or something that happens along the way, the albums are prevented from realising their potential."
  According to Rahman, film soundtracks have a distinct storyline.
  "They try to cater to the story rather than give a personal (account). Vande Mataram is mainly targetted at a young audience ... it's like an anthem for the young. Listen to the music and feel that you strive more and achieve more. Motivation ... that is the kind of feeling that I wanted to create in the album."
  Rahman has certainly no problem getting support from the younger set; it is with the more mature audience that he has struggled — to project himself as a credible musician in a nation that holds too close to its tenets, spurns attempts to improvise and constantly reminds itself to safeguard classicism.
  For long, India's keepers have scorned upon and forbade any exploitation of their root music. In recent times, strides were taken notably by Nusrat to expand India's music to the world. In the pop-rock fusion region, Colonial Cousins' east-west blend commands deserved attention too.
  In cinema, Mani Ratnam's Iruvar (The Duo) graced last month's Toronto International Film Festival to widespread commendations. The score for period melodrama was an uncharacteristic Rahman effort, boasting of experiments in the melodies from the 40s to 60s. Needless to say, the soundtrack album raked in scant sales.
  With Vande Mataram, his expectations are unambigous. The album contains glimpses of Rahman's versatility and undoubted brilliance.
  "Vande Mataram doesn't mean that it's only for India, it's a salutation for any country, for one's motherland."
  If Rahman were to have to pigeonhole the album, he says he would have to call it world music.
  "I would like definitely like to see it in the mainstream (chuckles) because it's got a contemporary feel that people can enjoy and it has got a lot of exotic Indian influences in it too."
  He will be promoting the beauty of his music in the flesh early next year when he embarks on a worldwide tour that is scheduled to kick off in London and move to Europe before coming over to this part of the world. Unfortunately, however, details on sponsorship, dates and logistics are still being dealt with. So, in the meantime, Rahman faithfuls will have to make do with his album.
  Vande Mataram fronts a new maturity in Rahman's music. It is not that the maturity has not existed before but that it was easily contained by the demands of his young audience and film directors.
  The new Rahman is a defiant one; this is the real Rahman, this is the Rahman that some of us knew as an explosion waiting to happen.
  With Vande Mataram, Rahman's true sound has finally arrived.
  
  
• From: pg (@ igw2.merck.com) on: Wed Oct 15 09:17:24 EDT 1997
  
  To NOV :
  This does not read like a review of the album does it ? For the most part the author repeats info related to making of the album, ARR's quotes, sales figures, Colonial Cousins, Iruvar etc etc.
  
  In the whole piece there are just about 3-4 lines which 'review' the whole album. This is an impartial 'review' ?
  
  To me it reads like another ARR's PRO release. If you are impartial it is so flagrant in the article. There is no mention of recycling of filmy tunes in this so non-filmy album ! (except for ARR 's quote and he makes it sound as if it a +ve thing !)
  
  And when did Nusrat start to popularise India's music ? Nusrat's music is Sufi/Pakistani music - qawwal music which is almost non-existent in India. The author seems totally ignorant of this.
  
  
• From: pg (@ igw2.merck.com) on: Wed Oct 15 09:21:24 EDT 1997
  
  I wish to add another line :
  
  This is not the defiant ARR, this is the pandering ARR, milking pop-designer-patriotism for commercial purposes. Music videos, colourfully dressed Rajasthani rural folk as props ...
  
  
• From: Guru (@ proxy.unicentre.edu.au) on: Wed Oct 15 22:22:12 EDT 1997
  
  Nowadays, you can't trust the media even for a minute. There is seldom much truth in anything that they report today and gone are the days where journalists were dedicated and ethical in their duties as public informants. Today its either to boost the sale their ware or to sell someone else's. It's sad to see how people fall hook,line and sinker for whatever that they read in the medias.
  
  
• From: Aravind (@ 202.42.152.9) on: Wed Oct 15 22:27:17 EDT 1997
  
  aadu naniyuthEnnu OnAi azuthathAm - Who is NFAK to promote Indian Music? I don't understand. Was it a claim made by him or was it a statement made by the 'promoters' of the album? Only now I understand what is meant by 'promoting' an album. Anyway, NFAK cannot come back and deny. So, ARR, Bala, Sony, India Today and Star, blame it on him :-)
  
  Let the comedy continue.
  
  
• From: Gopal (@ host-207-53-5-14.atl.bellsouth.net) on: Thu Oct 16 00:01:17 EDT 1997
  
  NOV
  Firstly, arrival of the true Rehman? Yes, in terms of "make hay while the...." The review is not a review, but something to do with marketing the album!! "This is the real Rehman" Sounds very funny!! What kind of picture are they trying to paint of ARR?? Sounds like from now, ARR will go on "Theertha Yaathirai"!! Kind of soul searching?? Or are they trying to tell that only this is possible by ARR as this is the real stuff!!!"Rahman's disillusionment with the film fraternity.........." Come on!! As if pressure does not exist in other professions!! You are expected to deliver the stuff if you are capable of!! If you cannot deliver variety, you call it disillusionment?? I call it ineptitude !!!
  Above all, how many "trying" movies has he scored music for?? Infinitesimal !!!
  
  
• From: NOV (@ 202.184.134.10) on: Thu Oct 16 05:35:32 EDT 1997
  
  Wow, it's is exciting to see so many angry reactions! Please do not stop, on my account. I am really enjoying this!
  
  For some balance, how about some comments from James, Amar (and other ARR fans) and some from outside such as Kanchana, Bones and Satya Keerthi?
  
  
• From: Guru (@ proxy.unicentre.edu.au) on: Thu Oct 16 20:40:19 EDT 1997
  
  Remember the inaugural stage performance of ARR in Malaysia last year. Well, it was held in a stadium with a seating capacity of 80,000 people. The promoter had put in a lot of money and as common in the case of Indian 'superstars' there were legible rumours that the his wallet was being milked by the 'charge it to the promoter' attitude of these artists (one case was when Nagma dialled up $8000++ on the hotel phone bill alone, making long distance calls to her boyfriend back home). Anyway, the cheapest ticket for the show was $150 and the front aisle was $1000 (the nerve of these guys when Micheal Jackson's front aisle was $250+ or something. And even if it was $1000 for MJ's front aisle seats, it would be worth every cent paid). It turned out that a week before the show, ticket sales had not been performing as expected. As a lat minute attempt, the media made statements that almost all of the 80,000 tickets had been sold out and there were only a few remaining. I guess a lot of people were not that interested and finally there were only about 30,000 or so people who attended the concert. I myself did not attend it but saw the concert on video (it was supposedly transmitted 'live' via satellite to SunTV, India). It was a rip-off. ARR was playing minus 1's of his songs and the musicians were just puppets on the stage, covering up here and there. There was one instance when the camera focused on the bass player and he was basically standing there doing nothing with his hands. But as far as 'showmanship' was concerned, it was done professionally with pyrotechnics, lighting, the background dancers and especially with singers like Mano and Hariharan to liven up the situation a bit. That is one case where the people saved some money by not listening to the media.
  
  
• From: Ravy (@ eagle.vapower.com) on: Fri Oct 17 08:58:45 EDT 1997
  
  I haven't listened to 'Vande mataram' completely. I listened to first the song in an Indian function and was not impressed. But what irks IR fans is that ARR is able to market himself successfully in the national/international markets. Give him the credit for that. IR is not as media-savvy as ARR (despite the widespread perception that ARR is shy and etc). No matter however talented one is, one cannot afford to antagonize the media especially in this cable channels/viewership ratings dominated era.
  
  
• From: Pratap (@ 206.217.81.242) on: Sat Oct 18 22:22:13 EDT 1997
  
  I agree with Ravy. I think every ir fan should read Ravy's note "2" times before making any comments at all.
  
  
• From: Gopal (@ host-207-53-0-111.atl.bellsouth.net) on: Sat Oct 18 23:04:03 EDT 1997
  
  Who is bothered by all these! Raaja is Raaja!!
  For some MDs, making money is priority! But for
  Raaja, music is priority, money next!!
  
  "NEtru illE naaLai illE
  eppavum Naa Raaja"
  
  
  
• From: Gopal (@ host-207-53-0-111.atl.bellsouth.net) on: Sat Oct 18 23:05:16 EDT 1997
  
  Raaja = Isai
  Isai = Raaja
  
  
• From: aruLarasan (@ psiphi.umsl.edu) on: Sun Oct 19 13:18:24 EDT 1997
  
  innA kOvAlu,kOvam vanthiruchchA. Ravyyum partappum
  adhEthA solloRanga. ARR's shyness may be another marketing
  strategy. strange are the ways media and money work (together).
  
  
• From: Ravy (@ eagle.vapower.com) on: Mon Oct 20 14:25:37 EDT 1997
  
  BEWARE
  ------
  Last weekend I came across a 'Vande mataram' CD with bright Indian tri-color on the cover but without any SONY logo. Looking closely I found the word 'REMIX' in somewhat smaller font. So plese be forewarned.
  
  BTW if the original itself sounds like a REMIX, don't blame it on me.
  
  
• From: MPR (@ dyn07.iacc-t23.ndsu.nodak.edu) on: Mon Oct 20 18:14:31 EDT 1997
  
  yArathu ARR(Remix king)ke alvAh kodukarathu?
  
  
  
• From: St. Nelson (@ mc-11-85.tm.net.my) on: Thu Apr 23 08:21:05 EDT 1998
  
  messenger of god
  
  
• From: please try the page www.arrahman.nu (@ tornado.itea.ntnu.no) on: Mon Nov 29 09:03:52 EST 1999
  
  please try the page www.arrahman.nu
  
  

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