Since the wait has been long for their followers, expectations have been high for HUM YAADON KE SANG, but sadly, the band’s music has hardly matured since their first offering. Most of the songs are more of on the Pop side than on Rock, and brewed on time tested formulas of and a certain lack in experimentation.
The album opens with the title track HUM YAADON KE SANG, which is just about an average peppy track. It is a funky and rhythm driven track. The lyrics, as anybody can guess from the title, are the average lyrics for the lovelorn. But thankfully, this is not the best track of the album, and things get a little better ahead. Up next, WAADA is a melody driven soft number- a lot more soothing to the ears. It’s a similar themed song but even the lyrics are a lot better this time. If one leaves all the technicalities behind, this is actually a light refreshing song to listen to and melody line does stick on one’s mind for a longer time. Moving ahead, in contrast to the other songs, MEIN CHALA is a bright happy song and makes an interesting listen.
The fourth track, TUM MERI HO, starts off as a very slow song and builds upto a ballad. Wajhi’s vocals are good here. The next, BOLO TOH, is probably the most interesting song on the list, because it seems to be straight out of the 80’s era. Pop beats, a very Boney M groove and Nazia Hassan styled lyrics. It really takes one back to all that. Jhoothi Kahaani, wouldn’t have been a very bad listen had the band had double checked on the lyrics. The vocals are the only high point in this one. While, the next one, AAG, is the quintessential Rock number, that might give you a high sense of déjà vu. The last track of originals, before the remixes take over, DIL NAHIN MAANTA, is the only track on the album where some experimenting surfaces. The song has a very reggae rhythm to it which builds up to a very punkish mood near the end. After this there are three remixes on the album, which are’nt very fancy. We didn’t expect something like Armin Van Burren anyway. However, the acoustic version of HUM YAADON KE SANG actually sounds better than the original.
Overall, the album seldom rises above average. The compositions are good but there are loopholes and a lot of space to improvise in the arrangements. But, for a light hear, it might be good and worth listening to. Wajhi’s vocals are simple, melodious, and the best thing is he is not trying to copy anybody; there is a certain degree of freshness we gain there. The best tracks according to me would be WAADA- for its melody and DIL NAHIN MAANTA- for its innovativeness. The rest of the tracks are of the JAL, Atif, ROXEN style.
HUM YAADON KE SANG more or less gives you a ‘been there, heard that ‘feeling. There have been numerous Pakistani bands trying their hands at Pop-Rock before and that’s why RAETH should have tried something new, given they have taken 4 years to come up with this. It is certainly not up to mark. Though, the silver lining is that they do have potential, and we can’t lose hope. Maybe in a next few years, we’ll have a more mature RAETH to listen to. Keeping Fingers Crossed.
Bottom Line
HUM YAADON KE SANG- A Pop-Rock album which is more of Pop, less of Rock and a bit in between. All of it rounds up to average album!
