A class above the usual Bollywood fare.

Writing about web page http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/g84z

Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa began composing together in the late 1990s, coming to prominence with Farhan Akhtar’s Dil Chahta Hai in 2001. Since then, as Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, the trio has scored dozens of films to both critical and popular acclaim. Their latest offering is the soundtrack to director Vipul Shah’s London Dreams.

There is a lack of the instant musical impact that you would expect from the composers who have given us albums as diverse as Rock On! and Kal Ho Na Ho. That said, the record endears itself on re-visiting and listeners will no doubt find themselves singing along to the pounding Barson Yaaron and smiling at the beautiful lilt of Khwab.

One of the most notable features of this album is the lack of any female vocals – unsurprising, as the film revolves around a male rock band. It is, in fact, the excellent use of strong male voices that makes each of the eight tracks a great listen. In particular, Vishal Dadlani, Roop Kumar Rathod, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Mahadevan himself all excel themselves with performances that are powerful, uplifting and soulful in turn.

The wordsmith, Prasoon Joshi, deserves a mention, not because he has penned stunning poetry, but because he has almost entirely steered clear of a growing penchant in Bollywood for the use of inane English lyrics. Other than a couple of glib references to the title of the film, all we hear is lyrical Hindi.

To the uninitiated, Bollywood music can often seem overly dramatic, due to the nature of its purpose. The true test is whether the songs stand apart from their associated film as quality pieces of music in their own right. In this case, all the tracks pass resoundingly. London Dreams may not be Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy at their best, but it still outshines many other recent Hindi film releases, and is a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

V xx

: 22 Nov 2009 10:49 |  Tags: Music Review |  Comments (1) |  Report a problem