Wednesday 10 October 2007

Rahul Dev Burman: The Burning Train (1979)

Burning Train

Highly rated, much wanted... and already posted elsewhere, so some will have it already. For the rest of you then...

A few things to point out regarding 'The Burning Train': Anyone thinking this is a R.D. Burman mad funk freak out will be disappointed. Because it's not; in fact a lot of the album is traditional... albeit with a modern twist. The one standout track however ('Title Music'), is as awesome as everyone says it is, one of the composer's really great themes, a wild and unlikely blend of John Barry and Giorgio Moroder. So hence the album's fame.

There are a few more things to like though; 'Meri Nazar Hai Yujhpe' has a sweet melody preceded by an intro sounding like it could go anywhere and everywhere; 'Kisi Ke Vaade Pe Kyon Etabar Hamne Kiya' is sparsely arranged and rather nice, 'Pehli Nazar Mein...' has an OK feelgood vibe about it, and 'Teri Hai Zamin Tera Aasmaan' should appeal to anyone with a fondness for children's choirs.

But, at the end of the day, it's the instrumental you want to come back to.


Track listing:
1. Title Music
2. Asha Bhosle: Meri Nazar Hai Yujhpe
3. Asha Bhosle: Kisi Ke Vaade Pe Kyon Etabar Hamne Kiya
4. Asha Bhosle, Mohd. Rafi, Kishore Kumar & Usha Mangeshkar: Pehli Nazar Mein Hamne Apna Dil De Diya Th Tumko
5. Mohd. Rafi, Asha Bhosle & chorus: Pal Do Pal Ka Saath Hamaara
6. Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar: Vaada… Haan Vaada
7. Sushma Shreshtha, Padmini Kolhapure & Chorus: Teri Hai Zamin Tera Aasmaan

16 comments:

  1. i went to this link, but the links are not clickable.

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  2. Thanks alot!!!

    (Links work fine)

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  3. Hello,

    Thanks again for The Burning Train.
    Your blog is a favorite of mine.
    Well tagged tracks - date, covers, titles etc.
    Nice work !
    The "Title Music", as you said has some John Barry kind of orchestral thing in it and the surprising vocoder coming and repetitive rythms can be associated to a pseudo-disco stuff.

    Kind regards from Liège, Belgium

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  4. This one is definitely one of my favorite Burman works. Mostly for the amazing theme, but also because the variety of songs is so great.

    "Meri Nazar Hai Tujhpe" starts off furiously with the horns but then alternates between classical and modern before finishing with yet another frantic burst.

    "Pal Do Pal Ka Saath Hamaara" is probably one of the best-known qawallis in Bollywood history, and I particularly enjoy the interludes which in the movie signify one of the film's heroes frantically trying to catch up with the train.

    "Pehli Nazar Mein" is another unique song, perhaps the only Bollywood song I can recall where the entire lyrics are sung in male or female pairs.

    I've rattled on long enough, great post, PC... and thanks for linking to my videos! :D

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  5. Excellent, Thank you.

    As many have said, one of RD's best scores, specially the Title Music.

    Thank you once again.

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  6. Thanks for yet another brilliant album. :)

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  7. Hi, I'm a regular visitor to your great site.
    Any chance of finding here one day 1967's movie Baharon Ke Sapne? The featured Do pal jo teri aankhon se peene ko milen is one of my favourite RD Burman songs.

    thanx

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  8. Nope, afraid I don't have that one.
    PC x

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  9. Barry, Moroder, and perhaps Kraftwerk, who released "Trans Europe Express" two years earlier? It's the vocoder that gave it away...

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  10. Indeed. In fact, when playing 'Burning Train' recently, my girlfriend looked up and asked if it was something German :-)
    PC x

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  11. Thanks _so_ much for all the great music! I look forward to all of your postings.

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  12. In the music title it seems that it's been sung for yma sumac, hasn't it?

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  13. Mille grazia for all your time and energy posting these terrific soundtracks!

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  14. Thanks so much for editing and posting so many great albums, including this. As you point out, it's _not_ just about the funky/groovy title (as attention grabbing as it is).

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