Awesome preludes, great lead riffs, questionable lyrics, substandard chorus, unoriginal score, poor drumming, zero consistency – somehow music does not all come together.
Given the hype and lead in, I really had really high expectations for the music of Rock On: Maybe one reason why I am fairly disappointed. The music and the movie epitomize the struggle that India Rock music is facing and likely to face for a while to come : Brilliant Talent, poor execution. The sheer might of the talent comes right at your face in the lead riffs of Sindbad the Sailor and Socha Hai, the lyrical genius is apparent, then why oh why is the music substandard? What makes rock music rock? (Also refer to my previous blog on musical orgasm) Let’s go back to a few classic Indian rock sound tracks (in my opinion)
· Ground Zero : 13 AD
· Indus Creed : Rock N Roll Renegade
· Strings : Anjaane
· Most songs of Junoon
The underlying theme is easy to detect even for the musically challenged musically orgasmic chorus, unique lead, temo that perfectly paints the lyrical canvas and perfectly laid interludes. While it is difficult to create, you cannot go wrong with your audience with this pattern. Music of Rock on fails in all these categories. Even in comparison to a recent comparable score of Life in a Metro, Rock On does not rock. The song, Rishtey of Life in a Metro had many a good attributes going for, while not all perfect, songs were decent, well directed and composition well executed.
Here is what I think about some of the songs:
Sindbad the sailor : prelude is great, then comes the average rest of the song
Socha Hai : Great prelude, great lead riff, surrounded by below average lyrics and an unimaginative chorus
Pichle Saat Dindon – Come on, someone actually believed you could make a live version of this song, Shankar Ehsaan, Loy, what were you guys thinking???
Zehreelay – Looks like a pretty pointless song that ESL added when they are really tired of working on this movie. Beta grunge to abhi door ki baat hai, pehela, garage ka soocho!
Tum Ho – a corny attempt at being an anthem / ballad song in the rock album (a la Poison’s Every rose has its thorn)
Ye Tumhari – What is this song? I didnt get it.
The movie preview in Yahoo (http://in.movies.yahoo.com/upcoming-detail.html?news_id=170 ) is pretty hilarious, the Synopsis reads “In 1998, rock music had a shot in the arm with the emergence of Grunge. The voice of teenage angst found an audience across the globe and rock music seemed like it was on the threshold of becoming the leader in mainstream music.“ Dude, whoever you are, you must be stoned when you wrote this. Here are some fairly basic info on the characteristics of grunge
· Grunge started in late 80’s, peaked in the early 90’s (Nirvana 1990-91) declined / stabilized by 1998
· Altered chords, heavy distortion, feedback
· Slow, complex and altering tempo
· Mostly Baritone (heavy) serrated vocals
Music from Rock On is anything But. Other than Zehreelay (which sucks!!!) nothing in the play list even comes close to grunge. At best its pop-rock with some good lead thrown in.
Music directors, musicians et al. your current generation is fairly advanced in term of taste, exposure and understanding of Rock music…please grow up. I also have this nagging feeling that (ESL) Ehsaan, Shankar & Loy are having creators block. Reminds me of the time in the late 90’s that the famous ARR created some pretty bland music. Whack pack time people!!!
Then again, the Indian movie audience is pretty unpredictable, given the insatiable appetite for “rock” this movie may have its short moment in the sun with metro youth audience. A few months down, there is nothing in the music that will make me remember it.
I hope the movie is much better, I look forward to watching it. In Mid-west America that means a wait for 3 or 4 months before the DVD releases or my begging and pleading with the local grocery to rent the theater and play this movie sooner.
