Neethane En Ponvasantham | Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu | Assi Nabbe Poorey Sau

[MelHarmony]

Am i the only one who thinks Yuvan gave better feels in Sainthu Sainthu than NSK's grand daughter?

I feel both have given their their best. I rate Yuvan's contribution slightly higher than Ramya's....the whole song is a great treat for lovers....

[MelHarmony]

Can anybody share what Nick Newlands, the conductor, or the orchestra had to say about the album....

[Sureshs65]

Brilliant as usual ji. Please review about other songs too. The 'giving-it-all' / 'letting-it-go' has come out beautifully in this song. Superior drumming throughout too. The energy is something even a much much younger Yuvan couldn't have thought of. I was very apprehensive of Sunidhi, but she is perfect in the song. Even the thamizh diction is good. Have to listen to the original NEPV soon so that I don't forget that tune

Thanks. And yes, I was also not sure how this song would be when I saw Sunidhi's name in the credits. I was totally blown away by the energy and diction that I now can't think of anyone else for this song. Sunitha Sarathy tried gamely during the launch, did a decent job but Sunidhi's impact is something else. And yes, absolutely superb drumming throughout.

[Sureshs65]

Its a silly debate folks - who has used the most no. of instruments, its quite funny actually. ivaru idha use pannirukkaar adhanaal avaru dhaan great, really?

Fully agree. Why debate anything now? Just enjoy the songs. And there is definitely a lot to enjoy here

[kiru]

All the people posting here about needing more time to form their opinions is exactly what my position as well. I have never taken this much time to respond to an IR album or even just form my own opinons. Many of the songs however impressive with their orchestral brilliance is, take some time to grow on you.. so that you can shout .. I love it. I immediately liked - vaanam mella - even though it is compared to mella oorndhu. After my wife commented, "he is singing it like thenRal vanthu theendum pOthu" - I have to agree with one comment here it is - thenRal vanthu V2.0. I love it.
I like mudhal mural, saRRu munbu next up..Aggression, Energy, Passion ..As Suresh65 points out, it is line with the current social situation..Next up my choice is ..kaaRRai konjam has a nice jazzy feel to it..Here I would like to point out - what venki says - "குரல்கள் பயணிக்கும் இடங்களில் இசை நுழைவது "..the so-called "fills" is given to a Jazz player. On the negative side, you can see a bit of caution/"reticence" in Karthik's voice (maybe it is just me - even though I like him better in this albums than in previous ones). I like saaindhu, saaindhu.. inspite of people here pulling Yuvan down. He is not bad.. yes at times I feel he is not even in pitch. But as a composition I like it. Unnai vittu pOga mAtten - is good as well, but the first charanam has a kshathriyan/Sound of Music feel which is not in line with the freshness of the rest of the songs. pengal enRaal is pretty rockish . it is a familiar idiom for IR and youth seem to think it is still in fashion and I can see him using it successfully in this album as well as in many previous album (latest - chal chalein). I liked the prelude of pudikala maamu - my wife thought I was listening to my classic rock collection. I dont know why they switched to native style half-way through (commercial reasons ? - something for the common man ?)
I think my first 3 choices are bound to live forever (my forecast).. mudhal murai is like ..enge nimmadhi of this generation. saRRu munbu will be a classic like, say kaadhal siragai kaaRRinil virithu.. vaanam mella is a typical IR songs..and can only be compared to his works. And has the potential too to be a classic.
Some of my responses to comments here and my own take on the sound and style -
*) Yes, the sound mix of this album will be different than previous IR albums .. even Guru (which I remember Vinod mentioning to me that the bass is low). But this is the norm in the America/Europe. Not just IR, MSV and previous MDs did not have the technology to mix in all instruments without drowning out the voice - also the audience did not have the equipment to reproduce sounds with high-fidelity and instrument separation. Another reason, is the audience is more ingrained in the indian monophonic - solo tune thread.. It is difficult to bring in the orchestra and "break" the flow.
*) So I am hoping the audience can adjust to the interweaving of the orchestra and have good equipment so that strings or the wailing rock guitars dont sound jarring (IR and other MDs sometimes use the synth version mainly to tone it down, is my guess)
*) On the style - this album of IR is a bit elitist. It is more likely to appeal to the city-slicker than the audience which would dance to - iyya voodu thiranthu dhaan kidakku
*) One another point - melody - it is there .. but there is lot of orchestral backing too.. so in comparison it might look like we have less melody (it was my first reaction too). Note, IR writes the parts for the instruments after the main tune. Even the soft vaanam mella is no ordinary tune or simple. (to me it creates a trance like state .. it is extra-soft celtic (or scottish ?) music meets the european orchestra meets a tamil composer..awesome.. I would like to see more of you going gaga over this )
*) In essence, it would be interesting to see how the audience reacts to this album. I hope Gautam also really likes the album and not just hyping it up for the publicity. Hopefully, the orchestra will be cool again and IR will also be considered cool .
(@Gokul - yes ..I like Spotify .. playing through my squeezebox on my main system .. but I think I still need the CD.
@Suresh - I am not music-savvy or a great communicator like you.. but I will post more to add to the appreciation of this album, as much as I can)

[K]

http://ohoproduction.blogspot.com/20...post_4264.html

[V_S]

Back from vacation. Almost 25 pages in just two days? I also see lot of new hubbers and old timers who were not posting, started posting with NEPV. As expected, this is the most popular and a landmark soundtrack in recent times, beating everything/everyone right and left. Read few reviews here and outside hub too. I think many could not even digest that Maestro did this (I am referring outside of hub). They even want to credit Gautham for orchestration and all as they were too ignorant about Maestro's working styles. I don't want to go into that route, as I feel it is better they assume some non-sense, if that makes them happy.

I am too late to join you guys. I just picked Saainthu Saainthu (amazon version) as the first one to listen and I don't think I can go beyond this in coming weeks or months. Words will limit its beauty and I don't even know when I will go to the next one. I am totally absorbed by Maestro's tide. This is something I never expected, that for a college subject. I had this glimpse in Katrai Konjam few days before when RS/aakarsh posted, but Saainthu Saainthu is a stunner which made me even forget Yuvan's off-shruti/gasping for breath, as he brought the emotions right every time. If I am totally overwhelmed just with this one composition which I can take it for a life time, I am wondering about the remaining seven. I think I will be too late to even get to that, but I know the treat I am yet to receive. This one is just enough for me in coming weeks, relishing as a vintage wine sip by sip.

[rajkumarc]

My review of 'Mudhal Murai Paartha Nyabagam' song: http://onlyraja.wordpress.com/2012/0...-ponvasantham/

Simply fantastic review Suresh . Shared it on FB

VS/Plum/Jai - Do post your thoughts as well, much expected.

[Bala (Karthik)]

Suresh

V_S Sir
Glad that you are so kicked about Saaindhu Saaindhu, which I thought deserved more thread time here (ovvorutharum ovvoru paatukku ippadi solradhu means we have a problem of plenty)

[Sureshs65]

kiru,

Oh come on. You communicate as well as me, if not better. I wanted your feedback mainly because I know of your knowledge about recording techniques and sound engineering. Nice to see you mention those points. As and when you feel like saying something, say it immediately here

V_S,

Yes, people are waiting for your detailed posts on this album. I know it will take a long time to digest an album like this

rajkumar,

Thanks. And yes, I am also looking forward to Jai/Plum posting their thought. V_S has given his initial reaction