Label: T-Series,

Composer: Himesh Reshammiya,

Lyrics: Subrat Sinha,

Rating 4/5

If you ask – Is Radio's music similar to what we have heard of Himesh Reshammiya before… I would say – Hell, NO! In fact, the release of �Radio's music gives an entire new perspective to Himesh's composing skills – Perhaps, only he may know why he didn't play around with such balanced arrangements before. Now that you know, Radio's music is more than what it was expected, let's get to the core.

Starting with Mann Ka Radio, this is a song with a simple progression.
HR's reprising vocals may confuse your hearing senses for a while, since we were so used to his high pitched singing. The song is peppy, but balanced – one thing which HR sticks to through out the album are the trademark highlighted bass lines. The next, Zindagi Jise Ek Radio is a Punjabi folk inspired song (I hope, no plagiarism issues surface) In this power packed track, HR quite intelligently keeps intact the traditional flavor while gently kissing the contemporary. His energetic way of singing also adds a lot of zeal to the energetic melody. In the next, HR changes the mood from lively to somber. The slow tempo'ed Janeman is a relatively slower number, quite ably delivered by the composer-singer.

PICK LIST:

Mann Ka Radio

Piya Jaise Ladoo, Motichoor Wale

Rafa Dafa Kiya Nahin Jaye

Damadji Angana Hai Padhare

Koi Na Koi Chahe

Now comes the magnum opus Piya Jaise Ladoo, with Rekha Bharadwaj opening the song lines – pure magic, to say the least. A semi-classical song, Piya Jaise Ladoo has playful arrangements laced with Sarangi, Dholak and Tabla – a must hear. HR's vocals are unlike what we have heard of him before – certainly, nothing to do with the word �nose'.

The only track with a familiar sounding melody is Koi Na Koi Chahe – much like Jagjit Singh's contemporary ghazals, but irrespectively, the catchy intro gives a lot to look forward to – the finger snap beats, sarangi and crunchy guitar riffs give the song a classic feel. For this song, Shreya Ghoshal joins HR on vocals – yet another must hear on the list. The spacey rock song Teri Meri Dosti Ka Aasman again has Shreya Ghoshal and HR singing together – the song may not be �exceptional', but it's not bad either.

After spacey rock, daandiya and garba flavour takes over. The genre mixed Damadji Angana Hai Padhare has Kailash Kher's earthy vocals along with HR crooning a semi classical melody. The good part is, the song brings together two varied singers – Kailash and HR, and both shine.

In Shaam Ho Chali Hai, once again, HR experiments with slow tempo and pulls it off quite well – it may not be the best track, but is sure a good listen. The track has Shreya Ghoshal expressing the feminine side. Last track Rafa Dafa Kiya Nahin Jaye for some reason has a �Rahman' feel to it – perhaps, because of similar chorus arrangements and HR's la Rashid Ali singing style. But irrespectively, it sounds great.

So what has changed about HR you may ask? The thumping beats have made place for some acoustics, the alleged nasal singing has been replaced by easy, and unforced vocal restrains. That's not all, unlike his previous albums, the songs in 'Radio' are not based on repetitive 'hooks' alone - they are great melodies, with meaningful wordplay, thanks to Subrat Sinha, the lyricist, whose contribution in the entire album cannot be overlooked.

The music of �Radio' brings back the controversial singer back in spotlight after long– this time, for good reasons, we hope. With more than four great songs on the album, there's little doubt it will be also commercially successful, and may be also influence those who were earlier critical about HR's music. But needless to say, having impressed his critics, he will have to be consistent.