Love Failure - Music Review

Album: Love Failure (2012)  Producer: S. ShashikanthCo-producers: Nirav Shah, Siddharth Banner: YNot Studios (with Etaki Entertainment) Director: Balaji Mohan  Music Director: S.S. Thaman  Audio Rights: Think Music Lyrics: Sree Mani Playback: Siddharth & Chorus (1, 3); Karthik & Suchitra (2); Thaman & Chorus (4); Karthik & Chorus (5) Album Rating: 3.5/5 Summary:Thaman's music at last gets less noisy and hummable, even with the lyrics that can be heard! That's saying a lot right there after he has given several hits that made much noise, literally. Sree Mani, who came into the limelight considerably in his lyrics for the film 100% Love last year, shines again in the lyrics for this album with his deft wordplay and notable expressions alike. Ample care while recording could have made the playback singers' rendition free of mistakes. While all songs have female voices in them, it's surprising to see that only one song credits the lady singer. (This review credits them as a part of "chorus" for the lack of appropriate credits from the inlay card.) On the whole, the songs catch up with only a couple of hearings and impress casual audience among the youth, at who the album is targeted. 1. History-ki andanaTTi mystery-le yee prEma! (Parvathi, Parvathi!...) (Duration: 3:21 minutes) (Rating: 4.0/5) Playback: Siddharth's rendition suits the mood of the song. The chorus fits in. Techno effects on playback bring an interesting twist to the rendition laced with retro instruments. Mispronunciation: ve llaavE (instead of "veLLaavE"). Lyric: The song signifies an agonized, present-day lover who goes around singing he failed in love, joined by others in a similar situation. Expressions such as "gunDe pinDi gunDu koTTaavE"  are fitting to the theme and tone of the song. (Note the usage of "gunDe pinDi..." with a positive connotation in song #2 of the album.) Wordplay like "macchukainaa acchu lEdE" is notable even in such a short lyric. The reference to "Columbus" as a rhyme for "syllabus" in the next line was irrelevant as such. At the end of the saakii(prelude) sung by the chorus, "kaligE lOpE" could have fit better if it was "kalugu lOpE" with no change in the meaning. The lyric bears a tangential thematic resemblance to the song "My love is gone!" from Arya 2. Tune/Interlude/BGM: The tune catches on instantly. Percussion in the interlude foot-tapping in its own way. The orchestra seems retro-styled, especially because of the wind instruments. The BGM also follows suit with the bass guitar and other ensemble. 2. paatikELLU vyarthamEnaa! (intezaar-E intezaar-E...) (Duration: 4:12 minutes) (Rating: 3.5/5) Playback: Karthik infuses freshness into the song with his rendition. Suchitra does not seem an apt choice. Her stress and vocalization of certain syllables does not seem appropriate for the song. Both singers are flawed at more than a few places. (The rating for this song suffers from these mispronunciations.) Mispronunciations (by both singers): ko TTalaa (Was it supposed to be koTTElaa or koTTi alaa?), jOrE(sung with the wrong ja, a taalavyam instead of a dantyam), chooDanandO & choostunTE (both words sung with the wrong cha, a taalavyam instead of a dantyam), ve llivirise (sung veLLi-virise sounding like two different words meaning "went and blossomed"!), vayasuvaa Ni (sung vayasuvaaNNi changing the meaning totally!), and so on. Lyric: The song seems to indicate a 10-day parting between the lead pair during which time love blossoms. (Observe the wordplay on the word "padi"). Reference to haikus and naaniilu in the lyric is appreciable; "chinni chinni kavitalunna pustakamlaa..." may seem redundant in a way but could be seen as setting the stage for these references. The line "ninnu ma~ravaDam marchipOyaa!" is as expressive as the tone of the song can get. Tune/Interlude/BGM: The tune seems very familiar, but there's an air of freshness associated with it still and it cathces up with just a few times of listening. The beat seems oft-repeated. Violin in the interlude, and in the BGM, is impressive. 3. Love, love, love... (Happy, happy heart attack-E love!) (Duration: 2:04 minutes) (Rating: 3.0/5) Playback: Siddharth starts off alone but croons along with chorus voices for most of the song that follows. Lyric: Celebrating the feeling of love, the lyric uses cricket as a backdrop for one of the stanzas (probably thematically). "aalOchanalE peelistE... oopiritO pani lEdu" is one of the notable expressions in this bit song. Tune/Interlude/BGM: The interlude is synthesized well. The "yapping" could have been more in the background than occupying the foreground at times. The tune is okay but not quite catchy or hummable, making this more of a play-and-go kind of song. 4. havvaa havvaa havvaa havvaa havvaarE! (mElukOraa, mElukOraa...) (Duration: 3:04 minutes) (Rating: 3.0/5) Playback: Thaman is okay as the singer here. He has his share of mispronunciation too, in such words as "baaram" (instead of "bhaaram", twice), using the taalavya cha instead of dantya cha in words like man chuand chakkerakELi. The female singer(s) is (are) not credited. Lyric: The lyric points "che~rigipOye manchu te~ra" signalling the dawn of love, but seems to also hints of other shades of love. "prEmaki too~rupu tappa teliyadu paDama~ra" is a beautiful expression hidden behind a BGM. Tune/Interlude/BGM: The song starts off with a hint of catchiness but that's lost somewhere down the way as the song proceeds into the pallavi that's composed of short lines. The beat is okay. On the whole, the song seems somewhat out of place in the album. The music does not have the same urge or spirit as the lyric "mElukOraa, mElukOraa!". 5. paatikELLU vyarthamEnaa! (intezaar-E intezaar-E...) (Duration: 4:12 minutes) (Rating: 3.75/5) Playback: The same comments as those for song #2, including the mispronunciations, suit this song too. Lyric: The same lyric as song #2, cleverly written to suit possibly an altogether different mood this time, is impressive thus as a male solo reprise. (Observe how the "binduvalle unna nannu jallu laagaa maarchinaavE!" or "~rEpu anna bhaavamanta maayamaindO!" could be interpreted if this one is assumed to be a pathos number after the protagonist's lady love has bade a farewell to his life.) If this song is a pathos number as it may seem, the reference "ee padi rOjulu" may not be really justified this time (or will it be, again)?