The 20 best local pop albums … ever!

I would say Inquilaab should stand tall at number 2. This album inspired a rock revolution that made artists create issue based music. Albums like Irtiqa, Maazi Haal Mustaqbil and other good rock albums are basically a culmination of the rock initiative taken by Junoon. Sure Junoon has fizzled out with some crap music but they still remain, in my opinion the founders of true rock music in Pakistan.

yeah yeah I know they sold out to cola companies...y do they have to do that? Man zindagi ka saara maza kirkira ho gaya...

Fizza
I don`t think albums being huge hits is criteria for them to be good as well. In fact most super hit movies and albums are really crap. I agree with Nadeem, Strings 2 was raw but more adventurous than Duur or Dhani.

CoolHandLuke
LLLLLOZZZZ!!! Atta boy.

PZulu
Make some sense, for a change.

#41 CoolHandLuke:

LOL

Rating Strings-2 at number 5 ..well thats very fine but how come not including Strings`DUUR`, one of the most smashing hits of the recent pop ...uh.. that seems :S

Give me a Break NFP... First of all it`s really annoying to see u posting your Top20 list (all time blah blah) every other month, like i think u need some time to really think hard about your peculiur choices.. but this time i was really expecting something fresh from u.. like how in the world u can skip VITAL SIGNS ``HUMTUM`` (album 4) from your all same rusted list....no doubt VS:2 was plain amazing ...and desrves to be #1 ...but HUM TUM was brilliant and powerful, in all sense!!... songs like ``NAMUMKIN`` and ``MEIN CHUP RAHA`` can blow all the competition out of the water!!..techinaclly it was masterpiece in term of it`s composition, effects and ofcourse it`s mellon cholic feel , Rohail Hayyat and Shahzad Hassan Fluid production..was at it`s best ever!!..it`s a shame that after reaching to this height they failed to come out with an album, and u NFP what about Junoon ``PARVAZ``.....yes inquilab was fresh and powerful, but not bigger then the mighty ``PARVAZ`` .. it was a superb accomplishment .... like how can u put milestones, awaz and that clown najam on your top 20 and get rid of these 2 ultimate albums.....they derserve to be on top 10!!!...so plzz..for God sake next time if u ever decide to come out with your same old rusty all time lists....give a deep thought......needs a major refinement..and updation...on your behalf!!.....

PujabyZulu
You aren`t the man.

You said: ``Leave the music criticism to the NME, it is painful to watch brown boys from Karachi making execrable rock music and then discussing it as thought its Radiohead or something``

Leave reading NME and start reading Stardust. Yes we are brown here in Karachi, thankyou very much. Are boys in Rajistan green? Just asking. Because Stardust discusses them as though they are from sunny california or something.

riffat

Pakistani bhangra is really hopeless and when Pakistanis try to do bhangra they just end up looking stupid. Pakistani singers like Naseebo Lal make good traditional folk music they should stick to that.

CoolHandLuke

You are the man.

Have you ever watched This is Spinal Tap? I thought that movie could not be made more funny but reading these posts discussing the music of Spinal Tap with an Urdu accent is the bomb. You are guys are funny. Leave the music criticism to the NME, it is painful to watch brown boys from Karachi making execrable rock music and then discussing it as thought its Radiohead or something.

Noori .Ali Noor copy the Ali azmat style of singing . ``Oncha Hoon Mein`` is a truly a song in Junoon style.should not rate them in top 20.

inquilab was junoon`s best..... followed by azaadi

Adnan at 33:

The first album had only 1 song that had part Pushto in it. The 2nd album has none. Both of them are therefore, Urdu numbers. But its his musical style and messages that are essentially Pushto in nature.

But Rahim Shah does sing Pushto songs in private and close gatherings. Its these Pushto numbers and Urdu songs that have made him popular in Pakistan and Afghanistan alike.

Come on rozaiba, not Awaz Vol:1. Talaash & Pervaaz were good, but I agree with NFP on ultimately chosing Inqaylaab. And can anyone tell where in London can I buy an Alamgir album. The one mentioned by NFP in #30?

Nadeem. .
thank you for that entertaining response. why do i remember that dastardly or bastardly coup being in 1977 rather than `76. oh well. . .i do remember `daikha na tha. .` i had that on one of alamgir`s greatest hits albums, and then i bought a cd and there it was again, i had forgotten he sung that with naheed akhtar.

i rarely watched lollywood filmein so i don`t really remember aaina. though my old faded memory is stretching to remember what the last lollywood film was that i saw with nadeem, which was partly filmed in london, i think. anyway, i`m trying to remember the mehdi hassan and nayyara noor songs, and will probably remember them once i listen to them, but i do remember `mujhe dil se na bhoolana, chahe roothay ye zamana. . ` loved the song when it first came out. love it a little less now.

i guess i was projecting some of my own opinions of alamgir there. for some reason i was totally peeved by `khyal rakkhna`. . .the song itself, not the entire album. there he was my favorite 70`s urdu pop star singing `. . `jamal-e-subh hai. . .khayal rakkhna` on independence day `83, and i`m thinking kahan jamal-e-subh hai yaar!

thanks for the memories,
n~

Some albums that do belong in the list but aren`t there.

Junoon`s Talaash and Parvaaz. Awaz Vol. 1.

ahmedzai: Is Rahim Shah`s album in Urdu or Pushto?

Dont know about Ziyad but Ali Tim`s new lead guitarist Hammad is definitely a gem. His latest jazz-eastern classical number on air on IM these days is a treat. But are we ready for jazz?

I also want to know who wrote+composed Manware for Noori?

NFP also needs to do a piece on all the nameless, faceless composers/musicians, arrangers, producers etc who make the Faakhirs and the Strings and the Hadiqas of the world. People like Shahi, Shuja, Zeeshan, Nizar and so so many more...

For the benefits of the readers, I would just like to state that Rahim Shah is the most listened to singers in Afghanistan. His cassettes and videos are in great demand. Hotels and restaurants that can afford playing his videos and cassettes seem to have a definite competitive edge over their competitors. In Kabul, even the northerners seem to enjoy his songs.