This article is by extenok@HF.

This ten song compilation was released in late 2005 under Super Records and advertised on various television channels with video clippings of the artists performing in a musical night.

The CD cover or sleeve does not give any information regarding the recording facilities used and the music producers involved in this record’s production. The track selection seems to be based on the artists own selection of their favourite songs by the legend. The artists performing here are no big-name acts that would be known to many of our readers from India or even Pakistani listeners, unless they take an interest in the younger generation of singers.

The impression one gets is that this CD was only created for the local masses who could be duped into listening to Mohammad Rafi cover songs by the not-so-promising young lot of Pakistani singers. We have enough remixes & vomit-inducing latest songs from Bollywood being released in the Pakistani market to guarantee a real fan of Mohammad Rafi sticking to the originals. Nevertheless, even a fan can sometimes make mistakes. For now, I stand by the album.

The disc takes a start with the Qawwal Amjad Sabri’s rendition of the hit qawwali ‘Parda Hae Parda’. This is a departure from his religious qawwalis broadcast on ARY’s religious channel. The use of the digital synthesizer, the ‘Allah’ & ‘haahahaa’ could be considered sacrilegious by some devout fans of Rafi; I on the other hand thoroughly enjoyed this number. I just like to imagine how this would have sounded if done in a traditional qawwali style by Sabri & party. Fans of Sonu Nigam might recall Sabri from the concert Sonu Nigam held in Karachi. Amjad Sabri & party joined Nigam for the finale ‘Tumse Milke Dil Ka Hae Jo Haal Kya Kahain’.

Next up is the tribute ‘Chaahonga Mein Tujhe’ by Faisal Latif. The original song is a powerful number with Rafi’s singing. Faisal Latif has a good voice but is it mature enough to convey the emotions Rafi’s voice did? Unfortunately no, he fails on this count as do other singers on this compilation. Vocally, Faisal Latif might have been on the mark in almost all portions of the song, but if the feeling isn’t there, the song doesn’t carry well. Latif being popular for his soft numbers lets his listeners & the legend down.

This is a common problem with all cover songs performed. The original singer in his rendition aims to convey emotions on-screen through his voice alone, while the new singer is only trying to replicate that voice.

Third on the list of tracks is ‘Gulabi Aankhein’, the blunder by the current teenage-idol & former lead-singer of Jal band, Atif Aslam. My personal opinion of Atif Aslam’s singing abilities and his habit of munching the last word of every ‘shaer’ aside, this was a wrong choice of song for him. Even if you for a moment accept that he can sing, he should have chosen an easier song, where it didn’t feel like someone was torturing him when he sings. Atif Aslam fans assure me that his voice has a lot of hidden treasures that I have yet to discover, so I shall accept that I might be biased having listened to better singers.

Next is one of my favourite ‘shararti’ & ‘enchanting’ numbers, ‘Badan Pe Sitaray’ by Faakhir. For those of you who might have heard Pakistani Pop of the early 90s will know that Faakhir used to be in the now defunct band Awaz. His solo singing career has proved mildly successful but here this rendition can be counted as a good one, by his standards. Why do I rate it as a good one, consider first that Faakhir isn’t a singer; secondly, his voice conveys the ‘sharaarat’ emotion very well here. Overall, it stands out from the rest of the numbers, along with the first qawwali.

Farah Hassan is another not-so-prominent singer from the Pakistani music business. The choice of song here is good, but again the life that was enthused into this song by Rafi & Lata cannot be replicated. Also, with the tabla this sounds more like a ghazal sung in a monotonous tone instead of the melodic original. Maybe I’m being biased, comparing Farah Hassan to Lata, obviously she doesn’t stand a chance.

Ustad Hamid Ali is comparatively a well-known singer, belting out ‘Madhuban Mein Radhika Naache Re’ with the unknown Raaga Boys accompanying him. This song alone could stand out as being thoroughly entertaining while also not forgetting the original. A good song performed well by Ustad Hamid Ali & the Raaga Boys, remaining true to the spirit of the original. What they have failed in recreating is the lively & competitive vocal jostling that went on in the original.

Just as you start hearing ‘Aye Gulbadan’ sung by Babar, you start realizing that the singer has searched deep down inside on how to sing the starting line. The rest of the song is sung with a lot of heart, but the voice barely shows any maturity. Babar seems to be the select few who believe just a single name is enough for identifying them. Whatever the case may be, I certainly pass on this one.

Next is Saleem Jawed’s take at ‘Baar Baar Dekho’. The original had an enticing voice by Mohammad Rafi; Jawed might have been unable to recreate the magic, but he comes close to achieving something on his own terms, be it monotonous as it may be. The music in the original was minimal, but not in Jawed’s version, this is actually what brings back some feeling of the original into this cover.

Number nine on the list is the dance-number ‘O Hasina Zulfon Waali’ by Shariq Roomi & Rabi Peerzada. The song is a popular number among Shammi Kapoor & Helen fans. So, I’ll only consider the singers, Rabi Peerzada, the chubby & cute aspiring singer couldn’t sing if her life depended on it. But such is the lack of proper musical guidance in her career that she continues to challenge the musical gods. Shariq Roomi to his credit has had an album or two, but what he remains is a one-hit wonder, after singing the Munni Begum ‘Awaargi Mein Hadd Se Guzar Jana Chahye’. The song overall has a nice feel to it, but the singers disappoint giving a below average performance.

Last song on the list is the award-winning ‘Kya Hua Tera Waada’ sung by Sajjad Ali’s younger brother Waqar Ali. If there’s one place where Waqar could’ve asked his elder brother to sing for him, it would’ve been here. Waqar isn’t trained enough to convey the emotions. In the end, he only gives a bland rendition of an excellent song.

As CD filler, two medley tracks have been added, first one with duets of Lata-Rafi & the other, solo songs of Mohammad Rafi. This album could be a possible buy for Pakistani fans of Mohammad Rafi, if they aren’t bothered about spending a mere US$1.5 on an audio CD which could be an average addition to their collection.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 5th, 2006 at 6:44 am and is filed under Meri Awaaz Suno. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.