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4 Very Good

SEL are back! And with a bang. London Dreams undoubtedly stands out as one of the most sensational albums of the year. After a not so good Shortcut- The con is on and a good Wake up Sid, the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio comes back in this Vipul Shah film to create some mesmerizing melodies.
The opener track is “Barso Re” which gets you back to the Rock on!! days. It is a Desi-Rock number. After crooning the chartbuster “Dhan te naan”, Vishal Dadlani starts of with his trademark energy and spirit. But the real surprise is Roop Kumar Rathod. He takes over after few moments and croons the track which now turns to a Punjabi style rock. Prasoon Joshi has already set high standards for him and he does justice to them with lines like “Chehre pe dhoop malo, Saagaro pe zhoome chalo”.
Then comes a typical Salman Khan track “Mann ko ati bhaave”. Shankar gets behind the mike for this song which will remind you “Jaane bhi de” from Heyy Babyy. The classical hindi lyrics and the word Saiyyan makes it an interesting song.
And then you have some new singers- Feroz Khan with”Tapke masti”- a pure rock number of the genre of Rock on!! Next is Mohan with “Khanabadosh”. This is a good song which describes the journey of main lead characters in thee musical word. Roop Kumar Rathod returns again along with Milind to sing “Yaari bina”. Prasoon displays his unconventional lyrical abilities with lyrics like “Duniya bhaad me jaaye”.
Abhijeet Ghoshal makes his presence feel with “Jashn hain jeet ka”. It is again a joyous song with trademark SEL style. The very talented Zubeen renders his voice for a motivational “Shola shola”. Another intensely inspirational song by SEL- similar to “Sapno se bhare naina” from Luck… By Chance.
But the best number is undoubtedly the one which brings together two masters of voice- Rahar Fateh Ali Khan and Shankar Mahadevan. “Khwaab” is a well written, well composed and exceptionally well sung track. It is about following one’s dreams and Prasoon Joshi tends to get into the philosophy of “The Alchemist” in this number. It is pretty close to the beautiful “Phir dekhiye” from Rock On!!
Overall, London Dreams is a very good album and a must for SEL fans. In vocals, no regular singers like KK, Shaan, Mohit Chauhan and Neeraj Shridhar. Shankar has restrained himself to only two songs and introduced many unrecognized voices. Another thing special about this album is the combination of SEL and Roop Kumar Rathod. But the most outstanding feature of the album is the total absence of any female voice. God knows what Asin must be thinking about this! And ironically, you never feel like missing any Shreya or Sunidhi!!!
Highlighting the album are “Khwaab”, “Barso re”. Good music, innovative lyrics and a huge ensemble of singers give this album an interesting touch. Summing it up, London Dreams is a recommendable and ‘Hatke’ album. Go for it!