Noori Live at The Rock Musicarium Album Review
By Khizar Karim
Noori has risen again. And this time, they seem to have renewed energy. Things seem to be going their way. So I say after having a listen to their new live album, Live at the Rock Musicarium. Add to these very good performers, Faraz Anwar as their live guitarist and Zeeshan Parvez as their live keyboards player and you get a good blend of musicians. Here’s a short briefing of what you would find on their newly released live album:
Starting off with Aik Alif, yes that song was performed on Coke Studio, this time only with Ali Noor and Ali Hamza on vocals, is easily the best song on the album. The vocals perfectly blend in with smoothly flowing guitar notes, coupled with Gumby’s drums. All this, in concordant with keyboards played by Zeeshan Parvez makes for a good listen. Next up is Gaana No. 1. Listeners would be in for a surprise when they hear Ali Noor starting off with a cover of “I Got a Feeling” by The Black Eyed Peas. Critically speaking, this only seemed to be a move to involve the crowd in the performance, but it did not seem to be such a good move. It involved the crowd, but seemed like a move just too “off” of the moment. This song still made for a performance which had its realms lingering on the above-average and good.
After this was the title song from their debut album, “Suno Ke Main Hoon Jawan”. This was very different from its studio version, which was more charged. This was soft and mellow, yet was different from the original version and still sounded good. We have “Neend Aaye Na” next in line, which I really liked. Faraz Anwar showed some of his prowess over the guitar in this song with three guitar solos. This song is like a roller coaster ride, with parts that are slow like a roller coaster at the top and then faster ones following. “Jo Meray” follows this, in which Ali Hamza starts off with the vocals and the song proceeds smoothly. This is also a good listen. Following this is “Jaana Tha Hum Ne”, which is again good. This song has a renewed energy as compared to the studio version from their debut album. It’s just – more energetic somehow, and you can sense renewed passion in this. Kicking off at three minutes and eighteen seconds is a guitar solo by Faraz Anwar that is reminiscent of Synyster Gates from Avenged Sevenfold and that I am not exaggerating.
Changing the mood after this song is “Meray Log”, from their second album. A lengthy guitar solo, and a very good one at that, by Faraz Anwar enlivens the song. The outro of the song is definitely another good part of the song. This song is done really good by Noori in this album. Another one of the highlights from Live at the Rock Musicarium is “Saari Raat Jaaga”. This sounds really good, especially because of Ali Noor’s vocals in this song. The vocals bring an electrified charge to the song. The bridge, the breakdown, everything is good about this song. This is definitely worth a check. “Nishaan” follows next. This is one of Noori’s most famous songs, no doubt, and can be brought about live by them too, very nicely. It is probably their best youth-oriented, punk rock song. This shows from their live performance in this album. I really liked this song, and it has amazing energy and feel to it. Definitely a highlight.
Speaking of the last two songs on this album, “Taaron Se Aagay”, and “Kuttay (Te Tho Uttay)”; the former starts off with a Blink-182-esque touch. The crowd really seems to enjoy the “bhangra” moment in the song mid-way through it. This is what intrigues me about Noori. The way they seem to be so versatile with their music, and be good performers simultaneously. This puts them at the forefront of Pakistani music. Ending with “Kuttay (Te Tho Uttay)”, Noori probably saw it coming, that the male crowd would definitely enjoy it, because the way the Noori brothers sing it. I could not help but be hysterical at the way they have performed this song on this CD. It clears various checkpoints, such as being different from the studio version, performing it fantastically, having the crowd involved throughout and just showing that they love performing this song live and they enjoy it. This song is just hard to not be loved. This song is a must hear from this live album.
Wrapping up, Noori have shown that they have game when it comes to performing and bringing about an even better sound to their songs when it comes to playing live. They have renewed energy and we hope that they work on another studio album. It would be good to hear something new from the four reunited members of Noori when the music comes out. But till then, this CD is definitely worth buying and listening to over and over again, as it contains music with different feelings to them, for all moods and moments.
