The Making of Angst

To say that I had been eagerly awaiting 'Rockstar' would be an understatement. It had all the right names associated with it; Imtiaz Ali, A R Rahman and the music was just mind blowing, as if you needed one more instance of a master reinventing himself yet again. But most of all I was very curious about the whole take on the Rockstar persona. I mean, which cultural phenomenas of our times have been more intriguing, ironic and tragic than the Rockstar.

'Rockstar' as story-telling is average. The plot jumps far too often, the performance of the leading lady is a big let down, although Ranbir Kapoor just shines through. As a concept, an exploration, however, 'Rockstar' is awesome. Yes, I said it out loud - Awesome.

'Rockstar' is an exploration of Angst. Although angst as a theme has existed for centuries, be it the existential angst of Hamlet - 'To be or not to be..' or Captain Ahab's mad obsessive angst against an indifferent, amoralistic universe symbolized by the White Whale. Hell, angst might very well be one of the favorite themes of literature in general. And while the past few decades seem to have been more about an irrational exuberance  than angst, the biggest cultural icons of our times to symbolize angst is the Rockstar.

Be it against an overbearing society, corrupt and cruel state, violence, puritansm etc. the Rockstar has used his rebellion as an effective tool to express his, oft misplaced, angst. Morrison, Cobain & co. were not just about sex, drugs and rock n roll, but also about a basic existential angst against the world. I think in 'Rockstar' Imtiaz Ali has tried to explore the same angst. Jordan can't really understand or control his doomed love or the frenzy of an icon hungry society which builds him up just to pull him down. The angrier he gets inside, the better his music and he keeps getting caught in the vicious cycle, a totally different Rabbit Hole if you may.

All of us have known angst at some point of time in our lives. To say that it is doomed is a fairly obvious statement to make. At its worse it is self obsessed, destructive and childish. At its best however, it simply innocence lost, a Naadan Parinda bewildered by a complex and strange world it can neither comprehend fully nor control.

It's been a long time since i rock n roll....

So sings Robert Plant. Yeah, that Led Zeppelin guy. What a band, and what an era of music: Classic rock. It was a period when guitars were used as weapons, mass collaborators, medicines and simply to blow your minds away. A time when Woodstock was a message, of rebellion, of change and simply of awesome music. Being a huge fan of classic rock, i thought it might be fun compiling "My favourite Classic Rock songs" list. Ah, but that would tend to run into a few hundreds and in keeping with my principles of laziness (more of that later), it would be the top ten. Yeah, i hear you, that's .. umm .. tough (and needless to say, subjective). But what the heck. I love lists. So here it goes:

Rock n Roll - Led Zeppelin : The sheer energy in this, or for that matter any Led Zep song, is unmatchable. Plant sings with a rabid fervor. But its Page's electrifying guitar and Bonham's insane drumming that makes Led Zeppelin The Band and this song, the quintessential Zeppelin song.

Achilles Last Stand - Led Zeppelin : This song probably has the best drumming, ever, in any rock song. It faster than you can think, but not without a rhythm. And what guitaring: Its almost like Page and Bonham conspire to take rock music to another level. Ah, with Led Zep, I could go on.

Freebird - Lynryd skynryd : Starts off slowly. But somewhere along the way, it just ..explodes. Insanely fast guitaring and drumming which matches up to it. But if you want a real feel of Freebird, watch Forrest Gump.

Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf : The bikers and any free soul's anthem and the benchmark song for metal. But for me, the reason this song is so special is because of the lyrics and the liberating feel to it. With words like :

Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space

you have to love this song. Perhaps, watching "Easy Rider" will make you realise what i'm saying.

All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix : When Hendrix strums, its like a musical epiphany. Are you experienced?

Roadhouse Blues - The Doors : The Doors is not quite like any other band. That is perhaps why they stood out. And when Morrison Sings "A keep your eyes on the road.." , its a call for beer, fun and some more beer and fun. Ah, i love this song.

Another Brick In the Wall 1,2,3- Pink Floyd : Its not just an anthem for rebels. Its a masterpiece of a conceptualization by Roger Waters. I mean, "Hey, teachers, leave the kids alone!". Where all the words gone now?

Highway Star - Deep Purple : Now this song is a style statement. Heavy guitars and smart ass lyrics. Deep Purple at their best.

Heartbraker - Led Zeppelin : Ok, so by now you have gathered that Led Zep is my favourite band. :D. But seriously, what a riff; guitar speaks its own language here eh?

Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan. There once was a man. Neither could be sing very well, nor play guitar like a magician. But he nevertheless turned out to be the most enigmatic and influential of rock musicians. Theres something about Dylan isn't it? And its amply evident in this song. An ode to the underdog in himself perhaps? Whatever. He's not there.

P.S. CCR, Dire Straits amd other songs i'm ignorant about aren't bad either.