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R.D. Burman — Sholay

In the top five best Hindi Film soundtracks we've ever heard. Of course, by the maestro, Pancham. This is a great film too, by the way. It's a "Western," pretty much. And the music absolutely kills. Slightly bigger production than usual for this 1975 classic, but all the usual craziness: strings going a zillion miles an hour in unison, super schizoid percussion breaks, some really wigged out chorus vocals — but mostly these are just great compositions and songs. A couple of unique-for-Hindi-Film sounding singing voices here. It's not just Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar and their clones who show up for the recording. That and some successful digressions harmonically make this an extra-special winner. All the instruments in the world seem to make appearances at one time or another, and of course with Mr. Rahul Dev Burman going completely gonzo on the mixing board, that means some serious shelf life for this album. You'll be singing 'em in your sleep and STILL be surprised at stuff you hear next time you throw it on. This has been a real favorite for years now.

There's even a 3 CD 25th year commemorative edition, with all the great incidental music, but it all has movie dialogue over it. Find the other one if that sounds frustrating to deal with.

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