Rock On !!! — Music Review

The music of first Rock Music oriented film is out now and the album is mostly a rock album with majority of tracks belonging to Rock music genre . Rock Music belongs to the west and it is their forte , not ours and this is what comes out clearly in this album . The last attempt at rock music was made in Metro by the “Metro Band” headed by Pritam . The songs of Metro were a huge hit and if you ask me they were no doubt the best of Pritam . There is one thing to take note from the songs of Metro and that is that they were Rock songs but the Lyrics of those songs were completely Indian with no western touch to them . Even the singing style was completely Indian . The album thus became a huge hit . But one thing is that Metro songs were not purely Rock and can be called Indian Rock instead . But  again pure Rock songs would never work in India . We always want some Indian Flavour in the western dishes . Thus I am doing this review for people who are not die-hard Rock music fans because Die-Hard rock fans might love this album .

Rock On is a complete opposite case . Not only the tune is western but also the Lyrics are quite inspired from west in the sense that they have been kept pretty crude and simple . The singing style  is also being directly picked from them . The Album has Nine songs in total out of which Six are by Farhan Akhtar which according to me was the biggest mistake . Farhan is just about an average singer and he has not sung songs at a professional level . One Advice for him — “Dude , Acting in a rock oriented film is still OK but singing six songs in it is just too much and you cannot do everything , leave something for professionals “.  He could have tried KK , Shaan or probably Sonu or some new guy who is a professional singer and can Sing to any genre of Music . KK did an amazing job in Metro and there is no song in this album that can match “O Meri Jaan” from Metro .

Well , talking of album , the first song on the Album is Socha Hai by Farhan which is a good track but the tune is a typical one and there is nothing new about it . The lyrics are quite interesting and are pretty catchy . The strength of this track lies in its lyrics hence this song would get popular “only” because of its lyrics and not because of its tune or singer . The songs on the album are very youth oriented and so are the lyrics . Nice track , lacks a great tune .

Then comes “Pichle Saat Dino Mein” which is again a song that has a complete western touch to it in terms of both lyrics and music . These type of Lyrics are usually seen in songs by young boy bands in west just because they don’t have much experience in writing . These lyrics might suit an amateur rock band of high school but would not suit to a Grown up band . The song has a fun feel to it and might be liked by youth at large . But that liking would be only for short period of time and not evergreen. Here also I felt that the lyrics would be responsible for the popularity of the song more than the tune or singing .  It is a bit hard to believe that Jaaved sir can also come up with such lyrics .

Then comes the title track which is on air these days and getting quite popular . I don’t know how many of you remember this but the main Music of this song has been directly lifted from the Background score of Lakshya . If you remember there is a scene in Lakshya where Hrithik and his team climbs the Cliff and during that entire sequence a great background score is played . That background score is used in this song and a full fledged song has been made out of it . Though Music of Lakshya was also by SEL so we cannot say they stole it . Yet , the tune is a great one and hence the song is also “rocking” . By the time this track will arrive on the soundtrack you’ll get a hang of Farhan’s singing and realise his limitations as a singer . The lyrics are not made in Poetic fashion and are more oriented towards language that we use in daily life . Though the lyrics are by Jaaved Akhtar but I am sure here also Farhan would have given some inputs here and there . Overall , the song is the best on album and would be most popular one . This is the only song which impressed me in terms of music but here the lyrics were a bit weak .

Then comes Yeh Tumhari Meri Baatein by Dominque Cerejo which is a nice slow track that usually a girl singer sings at a lounge , restaurants etc . Simple lyrics and tune and nothing great about it . Dominique is great singer and probably can sing a better song than this . These type of tracks can be used in background in a film where they sound much better .

Then comes Zehreelay by Suraj Jaggan which again looks inspired from songs of west . The song has a tune like a Metallica song or a Greenday song . I know that Metallica and Greenday are from two different genre of Music but this song I feel doesn’t belong to either one . It is a mix of little bit of both .  Fast Rock song with excessive electric guitaring in it . A treat for Hardcore Rock Lovers and who like to play music at full volume . Again nothing new about it and would look good only in the film . One positive is that at least Suraj sings better than Farhan in terms of rock genre .

Then comes a slow track Tum Ho Toh which is a sad song and again has a western feel to it completely . Listen to it carefully and you can almost imagine an english track . At least they could have made this one better and little Indian . A sad and slow song yet it has a rock feeling to it . An average track again and didn’t impress me that much . Regular stuff . Farhan continues .

Then comes Sinbad The Sailor again by Farhan . I had once attended a rock concert where a local band played the title track of famous Duck Tales cartoon series and it got a great crowd support considering all of us have sung that song in our childhood . A bit of a similar concept has been tried over here where the track focuses on Sinbad The Sailor and tells his story . Again nothing new about it , same old tune that can be composed by any Local Band for sure .

The next track on the album is a “STUDIO” made Live version of Pichle Saat Dino Mein . The Live version is supposed to be live 100% but I don’t think this one is . It has been recorded in studio and Live effects have been inserted . In all , it is pretty much the same as the previous one .

The last track is Phir Dekhiye by Carlisa Monteiro who tries to sing the song like Celine Dion , slow and some parts at high pitch . I am tired of saying this but the tune has nothing new again and we have heard several English songs like these .

Overall , the album has use of typical tunes and nothing new about them . SEL have disappointed me very much as I was expecting much more from them . It almost felt that the Director had given SEL some of his favourite english songs and compose accordingly . The lyrics by Jaaved Akhtar were different from his usual stuff , in a good way or bad , I can’t judge . Personally , I wasn’t impressed that much .  Still , the songs are not that bad and can be listened once in a while . The album is more of an experiment which might or might not work . I think  it lacks creativity (considering big names like SEL , Jaaved and Farhan) and definitely some good singers .

Album Rating : Two and a Half out of Five Stars ; Good for one listening .