Think back to 2004, picture yourself at any wedding during the summer  and you would have heard one song playing time and time again. In fact fast forward 3 years and you will still hear this song guaranteed at every Punjabi wedding today, not to mention the endless clubs.

Captain Bhangra Da had become a worldwide phenomenon, and it had catapulted a relatively unknown Daljit Mattu as one of the rising stars of the Bhangra industry. Of course for the producer Ravi Bal, it was indeed just ‘another’ smash hit song which he had produced.

So now comes one of the most eagerly awaited follow up albums, Captain Bhangra II, stating the obvious it features once again Daljit Mattu and Ravi Bal on the production.

A quick glance through the track listing sees a very strange pattern, first thing is every song seems to have the word ‘mix’ next to it, although Im sure this is just a Ravi bal thing. Secondly I notice upto four songs with the word ‘Captain’ in it…a recipe for disaster? Maybe.

The first track is aptly titled ‘Captain India Da (Ravi Bal Mix)’, a follow up anthem you think? It’s a bit of an anti climax, well a big one to be honest. The beat is a slowed down reggaeton beat, with an infectious harmonium throughout. The lyrics are a little laughable, but I guess there’s a reason why this is called Captain Bhangra II. ‘Ni ma captain India Da, Sohniye Ban Duniyan Di Rani’, it’s a little corny, but I guess it’s expected. It’s a solid song, but nothing on its original. The song even includes extracts from the original such as the intro, I guess originality wasn’t on top of the checklist when making this song.

 ‘Koke Da Chamkara (RBP Mix)’ is next and you can check out the video to it HERE .  This song is more up tempo to the previous track, and is probably one of the stronger efforts on the album, Mattus vocals work well on the song and production from Ravi Bal is pretty solid, once again its another solid effort but you feel Ravi Bal is always holding back.

 ‘Phone (Ravi Bal Mix)’, ok we’ve kind of got the message that Ravi Bal is producing this album, after the front cover says RAVI BAL PRODUCTIONS, I don’t know why every track the same bleeding message. Anyway onto the song, which is actually a very good track! On his previous album, Daljit Mattu showed on Ja Ni Chootiyeh that he excels on slow tracks, and this no exception. At over 8minutes long, you may think you’d get bored of it, but it’s a really good song. Props to Ravi and Daljit for this gem! A special shout out to the lady who’s talking on the phone… stick to English luv!

 ‘Captain De Vere (Bat Cave Desi Fix)’ is up next and putting aside the stupid title, its another song that’s well made song. It’s the first real desi tune on the album as the title shows,  to sum it up it’s a fairly decent track but much like everything before it doesn’t really live up to the hype.

 ‘Anakhi Banda (Dancehall Sapp Mix)’, if anyone can explain to me what exactly a dancehall sapp mix is supposed to consist of I’d be greatful! Anyway onto the song which is another half decent(ish) song, and features the amazing lyrical skills of Cheshire Cat; can you sense the sarcasm in that? I’ve never really been a fan of him, but I’ve always said when he adds something to a song, I cant say that now. The computerized voice saying ‘Ravi Bal Mix’ doesn’t add much either, sounds like something you’d get using fruity loops. I’d call this song a filler.

 One of my favourite song off the album is next titled ‘Mitran Di Pagh (Sida Sada Mix)’ as the title suggests its an all out desi track. Daljit Mattu does really well, and production from Ravi Bal does his justice to his vocals. He has sampled little snippets from Preet Harpal’s track Teriyan Aadavan, which he produced aswell. It’s a catchy number and head and shoulders above anything that has come before it.

 ‘Captain India Da (Ravi Bal Desi Mix)’ is song number 7, and this is actually the first remix off the album, although you wouldn’t know judging by the track listing. It starts off with the same intro as Captain Bhangra Da, so I think I know what it means by ‘desi mix’. The song has been sung in the same way as Captain Bhangra Da, and the production is basically identical to the original, although there’s a slight alteration in the tumbi. I don’t know what to make of this song, and that’s never a good thing.

 ‘Kaun Tapdi (Nerve Mix)’ is up next and features a into with Daljit Mattu turning down some fella who wants to buy his vocals, that’s a first, a Punjabi vocalist not whoring himself out to X,Y and Z. The title is kind of funny considering Ravi Bal recently did Kaun Nachdi for Jazzy B. The song itself is well another solid effort, it doesn’t really do anything for me, and another song that’s a big disappointment, that list keeps growing.

 ‘Mela Pind Shappar Da (Pendoo Mix)’ and this much like Mitran Di Pagh is another out and out desi track, as the title suggests. The production by Ravi Bal is probably at its highest on this song, it’s a very good song, but to sum it up, if this song was the best on a album, then that album would be struggling…

 ‘Nightclub (Delhi Club Mix)’ is track 10 and is one of those songs you either really hate or really like, and this will probably surprise you but for some reason this song appealed to me. And I have no idea why! Its pretty catchy especially when Mattu goes into the chorus, I find myself embarrassingly nodding my head to it. Although I can just imagine a Indian man in a Delhi night club topped up on acid raving away to this song…

 ‘Dil Torke (Ravi Bal Mumbai Mix)’ is the penultimate track and much like phone, its another 8minute+ ballad. Now theres a reason why this song is actually called Mumbai Mix, it was produced in Mumbai… which is pretty evident in the way it sounds. It has all the sounds of a melo-dramatic Bollywood love song. I’m not really one for slow songs myself, but I guess this will appeal to a lot of people out there who love a good cry here and there. Much like Phone it’s a very good song, and by no means long by 8minutes.

 ‘Captain India Da (Ravi Bal Dance Mix)’, *yawns*.

So that’s that, probably one of the most anticipated albums of the year, and me being blunt; it’s a big big let down! Out of the 12 songs we are given on this CD, theres around three our four that can be classed as good or even average. There are far too many fillers on this album, or half arsed attempts to plays off the massive success of Captain Bhangra da. Ravi Bal is a very talented producer but he has done nothing on this album to enhance his ever growing reputation.

It’s a massive let down, I honestly was expecting a lot more from the calibre of artists on this album, Ravi Bal is no mug when it comes to production, however it seems as though this album had very little thought gone into it. A lot of the songs are actually decent, but is decent what we expect from Daljit mattu and Ravi Bal? It seems customary in today’s industry that every album is given a lot of hype, this hype only raises expectations, and those expectations are rarely lived up to. As Ravi Bal often says the music should do the talking, I think it’s actually done the screaming here.

Please don’t make a Captain Bhangra III, I can just see the cringe worthy lyrics now… ‘Ni Ma Captain Duniyan Da, Sohniye Ban Universe Di Rani’…

 
Daljit Mattu & Ravi Ball – Captain Bhangra II gets a VERY disappointing 5.5/10

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