Track Listing

1. Bombay Awakes
2. Bombay Dreams
3. Like an Eagle
4. Love Never Easy
5. Don't Release Me
6. Happy Endings
7. Ooh La La
8. Shakalaka Baby
9. Famous
10. I Could Live
11. Only Love
12. Chaiyya Chaiyya
13. How Many Stars
14. Salaam Bombay
15. Closer Than Ever
16. Ganesh
17. Journey Home
18. Wedding Qawwali
19. Bombay Sleeps

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49627 in Music
• Released on: 2002-08-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording

Amazon.com
Just when you thought Andrew Lloyd Webber was stuck in a rut, he pulls off a new success. But maybe the reason Bombay Dreams is so lively is that Lloyd Webber only acted as a Svengali producer, helping Indian composer A.R. Rahman (Lagaan) make his debut on Western stages. And that move proved to be inspired.

Indeed, at a time when many people complain that new musicals have become dreary and have lost all sense of fun, Lloyd Webber imported talent from the one place where entertainment for entertainment's sake is still alive and well: Bollywood. The Indian film industry cranks out hundreds of movies every year, a huge number of them deliriously gaudy musicals, and so it was a natural resource to mine. The plot of Bombay Dreams is on par with your usual musical-theater fare, but the songs are unlike anything ever heard on Broadway or the West End. Sure, the lyrics by Don Black (Sunset Boulevard) flirt with sheer idiocy, but the music that surrounds them is so irrepressibly lively that you'll simply focus on it and it alone. Borrowing both Indian (ragas) and Western (electronic dance music) elements, Rahman and his co-producer, Marius de Vries (who's worked with Björk), have come up with a delicious musical treat. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews

Different, but not Bad
I got this CD and popped it in and listened to it, not looking at pictures or lyrics or anything like that just to get my first reaction to it. My first reaction was... huh? The music is great from the get go really nice orchestrations, musical theater as well as eastern themes, very nice. But some of the lyrics... eek. Then I took a peek into the case and sadly there are no lyrics and no synopsis. Just big pictures of these over the top characters. Not having the lyrics is ok because for the most part the English is sung very clearly. But without a synopsis I was really couldn't figure out what was going on. So if I were to end my review here I would say its a good one for people who like musical theater and want to hear some different stuff. Its also kind of poppy so maybe the newer musical listeners' will like it too. But then I read some of the other reviews and said that people like me just didn't understand it and wouldn't really get into it. That made me a little angry and if there is something more to this show that I need to understand it, it should be included in the CD. However, from the listeners' point of view, I felt this was an enjoyable CD and some of the songs are quite catchy. The only song that's... horrible is "Release Me." Favorite song: "The Journey Home"

Fantastic Dreams
This CD is just fabulous, "Like an Eagle", "Chayia Chayia", "Closer Than Ever" and "Wedding Qwalli" among my favorites. Andrew Lloyd Webber does it again.

Good representation of A. R. Rahman's best
Warning: Anyone who has seen the musical or merely picked up this CD soundtrack but knows absolutely nothing about Bollywood won't get the big hype surrounding this music. If you know A. R. Rahman's work and have followed his music throughout his amazing career, though, you will adore this CD. Another reason to adore it: even if you don't speak a lick of Hindi, you can still follow along with the English snippets and the catchy Hindi phrases. However, if your lack of Hindi skills is paired with no knowledge of what Bollywood is all about, the lyrics will come across quite easily as cheesy and the premise of the show fluffy. I'm not here to convert anyone to the style of Bollywood, but merely to ask you to appreciate this soundtrack as a play-on version of the real deal. A. R. Rahman's work is legendary and, when it comes down to it, the show is all about the music. And look at that- that's what this CD is!

My personal favourite songs: "Chaiyya Chaiyya" (from Dil Se) and "Love's Never Easy" (based on Ishq Bina from Taal), also "Shakalaka Baby" and "How Many Stars." All orchestral background on this track is paired with fantastic vocals, so be prepared for some quality composition on the whole.

If you like the sounds of this music, I would recommend checking out the music from the movies Taal, Dil Se, Lagaan, Bombay, Swades, and Rang De Basanti. All fantastic, all A. R. Rahman.