Greatest hits:

BACK TO THE START Megadeth EMI/Capitol; Rs 135

When bands die, record companies try and recuperate whatever little they can by bringing on a greatest-hits package like this one. A pioneering metal band like Megadeth, if hardcore fans are to be believed, passed away back in the early 90s, and on its epitaph was ironically embossed Countdown To Extinction, big and bold. A few years back, Capitol Records did something similar and succeeded in notching up the last best-known Megadeth sales records with Capitol Punishment ' a monster best-of package made deadlier with two new lethal tracks --- Kill the king and Dread and the fugitive mind; before dumping the band for good.

Megadeth went on to record two more albums, The World Needs A Hero and The System Has Failed (both on Sanctuary Records), none######NEITHER of which have###HAS contributed a single track to this revival package. Yet, Back To The Start with 25 tracks is being positioned as the ultimate Dethology. It may not be an entirely misplaced idea but if you have Capitol Punishment already, there’s little that is going to excite you here, except for some of the earlier tracks sounding lusciously different from their original versions. Also, the inclusion of some of Megadeth’s real gems that were given a pass on Capitol Punsishment give us some kind of excuse to add this one on. The rare, reworked versions of Peace sells'but who’s buying,######' Wake up dead and In my darkest hour are in fact tracks that once again highlight the hidden brilliance of Megadeth. These three reawakened tracks, metalheads, are enough for you to hail the ageing Vic Rattlehead as the harbinger of good ol’ speed metal in the year 2005.

When bands die, record companies try and recuperate whatever little they can by bringing on a greatest hits package like this one. A few years back Capitol records did something similar and succeeded in notching up the last best known Megadeth sales records with Capitol Punishment ' a monster Best-of package made deadlier with two new lethal tracks ' Kill the king and Dread and the fugitive mind. Megadeth went on to record two more albums ' The World Needs A Hero and The System Has Failed (both on Sanctuary Records), neither of which has contributed a single track to this revival package. Yet, Back To The Start, with 25 tracks is being positioned as the ultimate Dethology. If you have Capitol Punishment already, there’s little that is going to excite you here, except for some of the earlier tracks sounding lusciously different from their original versions. Also, the inclusion of some of Megadeth’s real gems that were given a pass on Capitol Punishment give us some kind of excuse to add this one on.

The rare, reworked versions of Peace sells'but who’s buying',Wake up dead and In my darkest hour are tracks that once again highlight the hidden brilliance of Megadeth. The three reawakened tracks are enough for metalheads to hail the ageing Vic Rattlehead as the harbinger of ol’ speed metal in 2005.

Sunny Dua

LegendS: MOHD RAFI ' THE INCOMPARABLE SaReGaMa;

In the first of a new series on Legends ' Maestro Melodies in a Milestone Collection, SaReGaMa has released a gift-packed set of five CDs which could challenge the sweetness of any mithai ka dabba you give anyone this festive season.

Each time a collection of the old gods of music comes out, you kind of know what to expect, with a different permutation each time. Even then, when you see these five CDs in a neat storage box (though the insides could have certainly been made of firmer stuff), with a lovely little booklet containing Mohd Rafi’s careergraph, personal anecdotes and tributes, your hands go grab-grab.

And then, you only have to glance at the list of songs on the CDs, and your wallet comes out whistling, and you come out of the music store with a song in your heart and a spring in your feet. The five CDs have a collection of 17, 19, 18, 17 and 15 numbers, each a gem twinkling more than the next. Each CD has a commentary for starters, by Naushad, Jagjit Singh, Lata Mangeshkar, Mahendra Kapoor (who was then described as a Rafi Clone; and Anup Jalota before the last song in the same CD, Mere mitwa from Geet), and Manna Dey.

The first CD, with Naushad’s commentary, starts this cracker of a set feather-fizzing with the softness of the morning after the night before, with obviously Suhaani raat dhal chuki (Naushad’s Dulari). And the last song on the last CD is, aptly, Tu kahin aas paas hai dost (from Aas Paas).

The Jagjit Singh commentary CD begins with Ghazab kiya tere vaade pe (a non-film ghazal) and also has a non-film bhajan, Paaon padun tore Shyam. The pack naturally eulogises the immortal man of music, calling him “a volcano of talent and a powerhouse of amazing versatility”. Hardly necessary, we think.

Anil Grover

Bojhaai kora gaaner gari Bhoomi SaReGaMa; Rs 42

Like Nim tita, one of the songs in Bojhaai Kora Gaaner Gari, Bhoomi’s seventh release is a bitter-sweet album, with a bit of this and a bit of that. There are some vintage Bhoomi numbers like Bhole baba from earlier albums (as fillers, maybe'), but the majority of the tracks tinker around with mahua and rivers and boats, and other favoured Bhoomi themes. Surojit scores highly in this album, especially with Kancha hanrite, a Baul song to which his full-throated voice does full justice. Raat perolei, again by Surojit, is in the Kaande shudhu mon mould, with a gentle melancholy and night breeze lingering on in its fading notes. Not Bhoomi’s best, but better than a lot of the rest.

Satadru Ojha