The music for Rock On! has been out for some time now, and everybody and his mother have an opinion. I personally like it, with some reservations. Shankar Ehsaan and Loy have delivered (as they seem to do with some regularity these days), the lyrics are good (and have a nice college band feel), and Farhan Akhtar’s voice comes as a pleasant surprise. The sound is decidedly “rock”-y, featuring anthemic songs with a ballad tossed in (Phir Dekhiye) for good measure. The pick of the songs are the title track and Pichle Saat Dino Mein, especially the live version. Phir Dekhiye is beautiful, and uses an acoustic guitar to great effect. The only weak songs are Zehreeley and Ye Tumhari. One has a made by the numbers hard rock feel and the other is just plain schmaltzy. One can hear the producer clamoring for a Bollywood-y song somewhere in the lineup.
It’s not all plain sailing, however. The trio were clearly aiming for a raw anthemic sound, but the songs sound overproduced, with the bass barely making an appearance. The drums are muted too, with the focus mostly on the vocals. This is fine by Bollywood standards, but sounds odd in a rock focused album, where vocals generally get drowned out by the guitar. On the whole, however, it’s nice to see the Indian film industry taking a risk on a completely rock based album to support a major release. I like it. Rock on!