Music OnLine : mere jeevan sathi

This 1989 soundtrack outsold any other for nearly five years and won Filmfare Awards for Best Music, Best Lyrics and Best Male Playback. While a few songs don't stand the test of time (e.g. "Mere Rang Mein Rangne" and the synth solo on the otherwise wonderful "Kabootar Ja Ja Ja"), the bulk do. Sharda Sinha gives a great performance on "Kahe So Teh Sajna."

Switchfoot come out swinging on "Dirty Second Hands," as metallic guitar riffs square off against distorted, bottom-heavy basslines and a seductive hypnotic beat. More than mere noise, the song features a psychedelic-tinged, Stones-ian type of heartiness that adds ammunition to this hard-rocking sorti, holding the sound together while heads bang en mass.

Beginning with two absolutely classic songs, one about a mother's love and the next about a mother's sexuality, and including country music's answers to "Triad" ("If I Lose My Mind") and "The Celebration of the Lizard" ("The Mystery of the Mystery"), side one is genius of a purity you never encounter in rock anymore. Overdisc is mere talent, except "She Never Met a Man (She Didn't Like)," which is more. (Grade - A-)

Still hooky after all these years, the three principals divide up 15 more love songs: John Murphy makes up to break up, Jeff Murphy starts happy-happy and gets blown away, Gary Klebe obsesses and suffers and obsesses some more. All over Zion, Illinois, bedrooms quake at the mere mention of these thirtysomething lotharios' names. (Grade: B)

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Bryce Avary has shown huge commercialpotential with his indie releases, and this, his first on a major label,displays a similarly sturdy power-pop formula. Even when Avary's high vocalcolors the guitar-driven tunes with a boy-band affectation, the record stillboasts plenty of edge and gigantic choruses. For highlights, try thefuriously compressed, bite-sized "Hold It Up" (a mere 2:55) or thewell-groomed title track.

This Elgar collection bursts with bite-sized delights. There is a truly Central European passion for melody in this Brit's work, and even from the early Froissart Overture it can be overwhelming. The Chanson de Matin and Chanson de Nuit, which were mere trifles at the time, remain two of the composer's most cherished works. The Romance for bassoon has a breezy leisure to it that hints at Elgar's love for the instrument - he was a bassoonist himself.

Frontman Chad Kroeger's gruff sensitivity and ambiguous philosophizing are key to Nickelback's wide appeal, and here, when he offers an "Amen, I'm alive," both elements come together for another instantly familiar single. The chorus ascends like a Boeing 747, fueled by rich production and vague longing. The song's central contemplation of a world where "everyone cared and nobody cried...everyone loved and nobody lied," is... intriguing, but it's best to not overthink it: In the throes of a Nickelback hit, mere mortality is nothing compared to the majesty.

This incredibly smart record is dressed up in the sounds of its time, yet it's too poppy to be lumped in with My Bloody Valentine and too strange to be mere indie pop. Ian Masters' places his falsetto against oddly baroque backdrops and darkly chiming soundscapes. Tempos change unexpectedly, melodies shift mid-song, and a surreal gloom hangs over songs like "Hair Shoes."

This is the film that re-ignited Kishore Kumar's stalled career in 1969 and helped establish Rajesh Khanna as one of the 1970s' major film stars. In a tale that ladled tragedy upon tragedy, songs like the joyful "Roop Tera Mastana," "Mere Sapnon Ki Rani," and "Kora Kagaz Tha Yeh" linked Kumar's voice with Khanna's face ever after.

Beginning with two absolutely classic songs, one about a mother's love and the next about a mother's sexuality, and including country music's answers to "Triad" ("If I Lose My Mind") and "The Celebration of the Lizard" ("The Mystery of the Mystery"), side one is genius of a purity you never encounter in rock anymore. Overdisc is mere talent, except "She Never Met a Man (She Didn't Like)," which is more. (Grade: A-)

Its impeccable simplicity and sensitivity gives Haggard's fourth and best album for MCA an autumnal feel reminiscent of recent comebacks by Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis. Granted, autumnal country music is easier to come by than autumnal rock and roll. But for Haggard, a mere forty-one but feeling it, the effect has thematic repercussions--and he's written a batch of wise songs to flesh it out. (Grade: B+)

Hovering somewhere between ambient and chamber music, Inlandish -- a collaboration between Krautrock pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius and the electro-acoustic composer Tim Story -- is an album of profound simplicity and uncommon beauty. Solo cello describes lazy arcs over chiming piano chords as analog synthesizers suggest a futuristic pastoralism, while delicate digital edits cast an otherworldly glow. With echoes of Erik Satie and Jan Jelinek, this deceptively deep album easily transcends mere aural wallpaper.

This 1976 film broke Amitabh Bachchan out of his bad-boy image, casting him as a sensitive young poet. The movie was a breakaway hit, and Khayyam's soundtrack is a gentle masterpiece featuring Lata, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar. Lata's at her best on the relaxed title track; other great tracks include the lullaby "Mere Gar Aayi Ek" and "Main Pal Do Pal Ka."

The final chapter in Tesh's trilogy of unforgivable pun album titles finds the multi-instrumentalist playing more soft-focus music for elevators and dental offices. The title cut however is beyond mere muzak; it's a funky, dirty grinder about everyone's favorite thing: funky, dirty S-A-X that goes all night. Say what you want about Tesh, but the guy's really good at sax.

As a mere admirer of Funky Divas, I prefer this stopgap EP's techno "What Is Love," rap "Hip Hop Lover," and dancehall "Desire." Qua song, "Runaway Love" cuts any of them. And Salt-n-Pepa's "Whatta Man" is the second catchiest and first funkiest thing they've ever put their larynxes on. Backup singing may not be their vocation, but they can always pay the bills with it. (Grade: A-)

Yahir's always leaning slightly to the right on his album covers. Political statement or mere chance? You be the judge. But it has no bearing on a career built on a singing style that's softer than cashmere and beats that pose absolutely no threat to your pacemaker. Songs like "La Distancia" and "Amada, Amante" will send you into soft-focus reveries about past loves.

Supremely bugged-out sonic excursions, from the deranged mind and busy hands of Canadian super-DJ Kid Koala. Known for his work with Bullfrog, Deltron 3030, and others, the Kid takes listeners on a loopy ride, deconstructing vinyl in ways never heard before. More than mere scratching, his charismatic compositions play like demented vignettes. Ultra original and very cool.

The heavenly harmonies here float like halos above angels' heads. The first time Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt blended their gossamer voices together (1987), we mere mortals got a glimpse of what it will sound like when we are someday greeted by winged cherubs at the pearly gates. The trio also got together in 1997 to record a second amazing album.

Ennio Morricone is heralded as one of cinema's all-time greatest composers but his work hasn't been covered much by jazz artists. The gifted Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi helped rectify the situation with this tribute to his fellow countryman. Just beautiful, with Pieranunzi's American rhythm section offering much more than just mere support. This was so successful that the trio followed it up with a sequel.

Flutists Michael Graham Allen and Barry Stramp blend traditional flute passages from around the world, overdubbing multiple instruments and creating music that goes beyond mere ethnic fusion into an almost educational psychedelia category. While the band's basis is in Native American music (they are named for a Native American mythological character), Stramp and Allen tend to wander into textures from all over the globe. This collection pieces together the high points from the first 10 years of their partnership.