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Insane Biography – M.O.T.H.E.R.J.A.N.E

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This album is full of superlative songs. Wonder how they will live up to this in their next album. I must say that the band’s sound has been mixed beautifully. Just play any other recent Indian band CD alongside and u will immediately notice the difference.  There is a perfectly well rounded feel to it. Credit to Herr Weiss, I guess, and to the band too, for getting him to do it and not compromising there. Wonder why more bands don’t concentrate on this aspect?  

Track 1. Disillusioned

One helluva song. Believe me, I am no metal fan, but like Metallica first stuck me dumb, so did Motherjane. The first track just blows u away. Fabulous lyrics, All this has happened before, we are just the reruns. The opening riff grabs u, the fat, meaty guitar tone is excellent, so is the playing. The vocals impress as he is singing well within himself. 

Track 2. Questions 

Another brilliant song. The intro is beautiful and haunting. Is time not an illusion? Why does it sound so insane?….. Questions dipped in poison, burning with seeds of doubt…. Will I ever burn the  bridges I built so strong n true? Or bound by my need for them will I linger by these shores? Simply brilliant! Need I say more? The stick work is very impressive here. This is one band that writes great and sings it well too. 

Track 3. Mindstreet

This is the most popular song by and large as is evident from the RSJ polls. The fact that it was featured in Major 7th must have helped, ofcourse. The song immediately gets under your skin. Believe me, not in me, the messenger is rarely worth it” The catchy riff, the drums, the harmonies, the fluid lead… all go o make this an Indian rock anthem, up there with the greatest. 

Track 4. Maya 

This song too is a class item. The story of this girl child is beautifully told in a metal format. The skin-bashing is excellent here. Baiju proves to us again that he is one mean axe-wielder.  

Track 5. Soul Corporations 

My personal favourite. Excuse me for being repetitive, but this band writes superbly. Do check out their lyrics at their site www.motherjaneindia.com. Too good. Better still, BUY THE ALBUM! Can u believe that a guy from Cochin writes this? Religion is just a shadow of God. Illuminated by thought and understanding, sullied by the ambiguity of words. The way the lead delicately moves into a nadaswaram like piece and slips back again is really lovely. 

Track 6. Prison Chains 

This one is another rocker. The chorus is great. Sooraj must be heavily into philosophy reading to have written this. The lead comes across as a bit self-indulgent here but the playing continues to impress. Everything is just….a plunging line on a time graph, an art form of this century.

Track 7. An Ode to Life 

Just 4 lines. Acoustic. A sharing of thoughts with us. Lovely. 

Track 8. Walk on 

Another great song. Rounds up the album beautifully. 

Frankly, I am no musician myself and can’t really talk the talk when it comes to techniques and details. But I sure know what I like and why I like. And am trying to share that with you. A great album, a great band, a must buy. Sadly, its very hard to get hold of a copy. I tried and finally got it from www.rsjonline.com. Try it, you get it for 150 bucks instead of the 200/- MRP, pick up another couple of CD’s more and then the postage becomes worth it. The cover art is striking, though I really couldn’t figure out what is meant there.