Rewind-Band called Nine by Neelesh Misra-Music Review

RATING: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

I wouldn't have listened to the album had it not been the creative promotional strategy by neelesh misra on 92.7 big fm.Everyday a new story is told through the voice of neelesh misra(named Yaadon Ka Idiot Box which is being aired Mon to Fri from 9 to 10 P.M).His voice and simple(yet creative) writing catched my attention instantly,his style of writing is similar to that of gulzar,using common daily routine words and converting them into a song(lyrics by neelesh-I Am In Love[once upon a time in mumbai],Maine dil se kaha dhoond lana khushi[Rog],few songs in Jism).Amartya rahut(debut) is the music composer and ofcourse neelesh misra has written the songs,lets see what he has to offer in today's era where pop albums are on the verge of extinction.

The album surpisingly has 19 tracks,out of which 10 are narrations in the voice of neelesh misra about his love story(fiction).The whole album is a concept,it will not work in isolation,by that I mean that each and every song is related to the story(narration),the placement of every song in the album is situational,its more like a movie where there are situations which can only be filled by some brilliant music.The album(1 & 1/2 hours) works as a whole.To start with, the 1st track,(rather a story), says-Chhote Shehar Ka Banda Hu main,REWIND,thats what my brain did when I heard this,its about the childhood,pocketmoney,etc.Brilliant start.

Shilpa Rao joins in for the next one yaadon ke idiot box me,already the title(yaadon ke idiot box me) is famous through his show and  the song takes u back in the carefree days of childhood[mujhko phir aam khane hai aangan ke,mujhko sona hai naani ke daman pe].Fantastic lyrics and brilliantly sung,a song that one wants to hear again and again.A perfect 10 on 10.

The narration tanha logo ke shehar me describes the loneliness,the changes that have taken place in the previous 2 decades,loved it when he described that how now-a-days mothers(maa) have started texting(sms) through mobile and asks-"how are u beta?"

Maazi(past) is a perfect number for Suraj jagan,it starts slowly but after a minute the rock beats takes on and suraj takes the song on a new level with his high pitched voice.Good number.

Oye yaad hai canteen ki mej kitna hilti thi,mujhe roj lagta tha kahin uske duppate pe chai na gir jaye,adrak ki chai use bhi pasand thi,mujhe bhi,meri kavitaayen use bhi pasand thi,mujhe bhi.Need I say more about this narration.

Suraj jagan comes back with the male version of yaadon ka idiot box,a completely different one from the one by shefali,the music and lyrics are entirely different,a more of a fun number.A Must listen.

Tumhari aankhen baatein bahut karti hai-pyar ka monsoon,this narration is the best one,it has all the things,love,suspense,twists(listen to it n then u will know what i mean).Wonderful.

Roobaru-Neelesh misra made his debut in this track as a playback singer with shipa rao as the female voice,his voice is brilliant be it as a stroyteller or a playback singer,this song I had heard months back on Big FM in his show,however the songs needs multiple hearings to grow on you a lounge number),its more of a soft number which needs some attention to build the required ambience.A perfect song to be placed in the middle of an album like this.

Hamare jhagde Expiry date ke sath aate the-Its the narration after love marriage and the jhagda's and the mannana's.Loved his way of using the word "ULLU"(will not spoil the moment by telling the whole concept).

The next songs Shayad(suraj jagan) is a brilliant composition and the placement of the song and lyrics makes it even more impactful(after hamare jhagde).Next comes mai koi mohabbat ka,neelesh misra uses words like neembu ka achar,adrak ki chai,he shows that how a narration should be ended so that it stays for a longer period of time in the mind of listeners.

Aangan(suraj jagan),tells the story of aangan with which many childhood memories are realted,again brilliant lyrics which forces us to rewind back our memories to the days when we used to play in the aangan.The narration continues with aakhir shaadi ka,one thing which I loved in his narrations is the background effect in every narration,it gives a real feeling.Then comes an average track naina tore(shilpa rao),one can skip this number ,neither the lyrics nor the music has something special to offer(not that its a bad song but compared to other compositions,this one is passable).

After one more narration,shayda main rishto ke liye,comes the best track of the album,unka khayal crooned by neelesh misra and shilpa rao,it takes you back to the jagjit singh era(the song is similar to baat niklegi to door talak jaegi by jagjit singh).The song is a perfect unplugged version played on keyboard,it will make you speechless once you hear it with your eyes closed.The lyrics are creative and gives the same feeling as jagjit singh ghazals used to give years back.After many years I have heard such a brilliant composition,it proves that we have much more to offer apart from sheila ki jawanai and munni badnaam,Keep up the good work neelesh,you have made the music industry proud with such writings.

There is a last track sung by shilpa rao(not mentioning the narration before it)dil raffu,good fast pacy track again with some innovative lyrics,i mean who write lines like dill raffu jake karwana hai,dil ka darji koi to mile.A perfect ending to a brilliant album.

Then Neelesh misra comes with his last narration ending his love story with aapke jaisa hi hun main.The last 20 seconds of the narration are kept in silence,just few sounds of cars moving and nothing else.To sum up,I will just say that I am blown away by his writing skills,neelesh misra is the future of indian poetry after gulzaar,just wonder why he has not written more songs for bollywood(a mere 5 or 6 till now).The album is not for everyone,its not the one which will be played in cars and clubs,its for the people who love pure music,go for it if u want to spare one and half hours of your life on this masterpiece.