Sunday, February 15, 2009

Music Review - Sarvam by Yuvan Shankar Raja

Vishnuvardhan-Yuvan combo has done it once again. Sarvam has come out really well with brilliantly orchestrated fast-paced numbers and melodies. Yuvan's innovation, stylish composition comes to fore once again.

The flute music that comes in regular intervals in "Adada vaa" song is catchy. Yuvan always gives a haunting melody to his Dad. But surprisingly this time, it's IR who has sung this hip-hop kinda song. Works really well Don't miss the flute music!

Yuvan's trademark melody is "Siragugal" sung by Javed Ali and Madhu Sree. If you are ready to compromise on Vocals front, this would surely be a good melody for you. Yes, both male and female voice are pathetic. Pronunciation of the singers sucks. Unbearable. Javed Ali who did a good job in "Chinna sirisu" in KPKP, miserably fails this time. Madhusree, as usual!

However, the best track in the album is "Katrukulle Vasam". A thumping melody with enough innovation in orchestration. Fabulous lyrics by Pa. Vijay. Read the second line in the previous paragraph once again and listen to the melody. A precious melody has been mercilessly killed by composer's vocals.

With grand orchestration and good vocals, "Suttal Suriyanai" is another good number. The way Yuvan uses "Megam Karukkudhu Mazhai vara paakkuddhu" lines is simply beautiful. Great song! I guess, Shankar Mahadevan's voice could be an apt choice for this song.

"Neethane" is another good melody which is again spoiled by Yuvan's vocals. Pa. Vijay's lyrics are beautiful. Give it a listen. You may like it.

Aah... There is a Theme Music. Yuvan never falters when it comes to Theme Music. But this time he does. The theme Music doesn't really stand out rather it reminds you of Billa theme at times. It reminds me of Aanandha Thandavam theme music, in the sense that it starts of well but ends abruptly.

Verdict: Overall, Sarvam is yet another stylish album from Yuvan. Had Yuvan avoided rendering his voice and concentrated more on singer selection, this album would have been the best album in recent times. Album is worth buying. But remember, you have to compromise of vocals!

Trivia: It is said that, some parts of music in "Adada vaa" song has been lifted from an international album. Will check this out and update it!

Share your thoughts.

Regards,
Vini...

Tags: Sarvam music review, Sarvvam music review, Sarwam review, music review of Sarvam, Yuvan Vishnuvardhan.

22 comments:

Dinesh Scaran said...

Dear buddy, i know u have a serious issue with Madhushree. But calling a versatile, gold medalist in Khayal music a pathetic singer is even more pathetic. Please give some respects to the singers, even if u don't like them.

ps: just to let u know, the other reviewers have given fantastic review on that song.

http://madhushree-mania.blogspot.com/2009/02/sirugugal-sarvam-song-review-1.html

Cynthia said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cynthia said...

i jus downloaded and listened to "sarvam",its a cool album.and my pick is "katrukulle vaasam" ..lyrics are fabulous and so the mood of the song.but i liked yuvan's voice in both the songs,i dont know why u didnt like it,but not everyone has same kind of likings...and my second best pick is "ada da"..wow..ilayaraja sir is so cool in this song.

Vinith said...

Dinesh,

Thanks for your comments.

Madhusree might be a versatile singer in hindi but definitely not in Tamil.

My angry is more on Yuvan than on Madhusree. Yuvan is at faulty end for choosing her.

Vinith said...

Cynthia,

Yes. Album rocks. Has been in loop.

Yuvan's voice suits only few songs. Most of his beautiful songs have been spoiled by himself. :)

In this song, three great songs, Katrukulle, Siragugal and Neethaane have been killed. :)

kannan said...

Still listening to soundtrack, yet to form an opinion. Have been disappointed with Yuvan quite a bit lately; Tamil film music feels so dull without him being at his peak, as he's so prolific and still maintains quality. Trying to listen to Sarvam objectively.

I second what you said about Madhushree, it's not her fault if she can't pronounce. Not knowing Tamil, she can't even know if she's doing it right or not anyway. I blame the composers who choose people like Udit and Madushree and Adnan Samy (mainly ARR, Yuvan and Vidyasagar).

Arvind Devalla said...

The theme music did not start off well... I always was not the spanish style music fan. But then orchestra style music starts and the best is when the rock part starts! The transition is almost indistinguishable...

Vinith said...

Hi Kannan,
I would say that, the fault is not entirely with Madhu. As I've mentioned in my reply to Dinesh, it's more of Yuvan's fault. But my point is, if she is passionate about singing, why can’t she learn to pronounce tamil words??? Having sung 30+ (If i'm not wrong) songs in Tamil, she is still struggling to pronounce even basic words. Observe the following lines closely.
"Indha neram, indha payanam, indha -vazhukkai- (instead of Vaazhkai).

I should have mentioned it as “Pronunciation” instead of “voice”. Will change it. :-)

About theme music, I have no idea about Spanish Music. I like the starting piece very much. The second half has the sound of Billa Theme!! IMHO.

Vinith said...

//Tamil film music feels so dull without him being at his peak// - True Kannan.

Whenever I get the feel that Yuvan has not been doing good, I would just listen to couple of songs of 2007 albums (Katradhu Thamizh in particular). I have no words to express his contribution in that particular year. 12 Albums. 20 + haunting melodies. 30+ hit songs.

It's been almost more than a year since we got such melodies from him. He is now concentrating more on International Standards (Sarvam, Saroja for example) than our traditional music. Looking forward to Yogi.

Anonymous said...

I like this album . It is clean and effective.

ᾋƈђἷłłἔṩ/அக்கில்லீஸ் said...

Sarvam songs were good with nice lyrics, and my favourite is Adada Vaa. Ilaiyaraja sir's singing was cool in this song... Nice one. For other songs, they were great numbers except for some bad pick for the singers....

Vinith said...

Yes Achilles. Bad choice of singers that has spoiled almost the whole album :(

I'm a kinda ok with his voice in neethane. But in Katrukulle, annoying!
--

//Welcome Aravind :)

Anonymous said...

All the songs are DAMM GOOD .I am for sure no idea why you commented on the singers including Yuvan. He is a COOL Singer .The songs all are so refreshing . Nicely blend melody into hip hop style .

I like all the songs very much .

kannan said...

Just realised the name of the blog changed! Hehe..

I was wondering why I received a comments notification from some random blog!

Vinith said...

Anonymous,

Yes. The songs are beautiful. There is no second thought. Hmmm... About singers, well, opinion differs :)

Kannan, ha ha... yes... new title :)
I don't keep the same title. I think this is the third or fourth one :) Will keep changing it :) :) lol

Anonymous said...

Good review, i agree with you. Listen the songs here
http://www.findnearyou.com/Entertainment/Musicreview.aspx?mrid=14&utm_campaign=sharan&utm_source=visionofvinith

Anonymous said...

Yuvan is d best forever

vimal said...

yep. rocking pick. stunning 2009 pick , all the credit goes to yuvan for kaatrukulle..

Anonymous said...

at the beginning, when i first listened to thea album, i wasnt rlly impressed. but slowly, i kept listening to it, and then i fell in love wid it. my favorites before were, neethane, katrukulle, and siragugal, especially neethane; the way he composed the last part was amazing. and i thoght yuvan's voice suited for those two songs, but i agree; madhushree's and javed's pronounciation is bad. but it's a wonderful song, and u wanna keep listening to it.
and then one day, i wanted to listen to adada va and sutta suriyane, and i slowly fell in love wid as well.
overall, i was rlly impressed with the album, i gess it jus took me some time.

Vinith said...

Hi anon,

Yes. Neethane is stunning. All songs are good.

Anonymous said...

Neethaane, Kaatrukulle and Sutta Suriyana are the best in this album.
Madushree sux, like an old womans voice

Anonymous said...

Okay first of all... Yuvan is a very good singer... Yes his vocals are not his best skill... But he is good.