"U2 of pakistan" .. "Salman .. Asia's answer to Santana" ../Junoon tu Junoon hai (Mer

Entertainment Showbiz Pakistan , Bollywood & World Entertainment
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STRINGS + FUZON + JAL + EP + NOORI + MEKAL HASAN BAND+ AAROH + MIZRAAB + MIZMAAR + RUNG + RAGE + KARAVAN + RAZAM + CALL + IMIK + SARAB + ATIF ASLAM + ALI ZAFAR + SAJJAD ALI + JUNAID JAMSHED+ NAJAM SHERAZ + ABRAR-UL-HAQ + SHERAZ UPAL + JAWAD AHMAD + AHMED JAHANZEB + SHEHZAD ROY + FAKHR-E-ALAM + FAAKHIR + HAROON + RAHIM SHAH + ALI HAIDER + ALI SHER + SALEEM JAVED + HADIQA KAYANI + HUMA KHAWJA + LAILA + SEHAR + MISHI KHAN + FAREEHA PERVEZ + KHADIJA + SENDRA = JUNOON

The rock legend grows…

Formed in1990 by two former Vital Signs members – Salman Ahmed and Nusrat Hussain, in partnership with Jupiter’s former lead vocalist, Ali Azmat. Despite Nusrat early departure and a subsequent longish but finite interlude with Brian, the band today has emerged – beat by beat, riff by riff and song after song – as Pakistan’s first true grit rock band.

After ten albums and over 850 plus concerts across the globe and 14 years of musical experimentation, JUNOON is unquestionably recognized today as Pakistan’s biggest-ever rock act.

Crowned and destined for immortal fame, this “band of brothers” experimented with and initiated a wholly exciting new genre of music, better known today as Sufi Rock. A style that bowled over hundreds of thousands of junoonis instantly and absolutely. JUNOON’s energetic band of music reworked the intricate connections between western rock, gospel and blues, with resulting combination being seamlessly fused with eternal wisdom of Punjab’s mystic. The verses of Baba Bhulleh Shah, Waris Shah and Shah Hussain set to the percussion of tabla, created a stir in the sub-continent and well beyond it.

Add to this Ali’s powerfully arousing voice rising from the sun drenched soil of dharti and intertwined with the braided rhythms of Salman’s electrifying guitar. This musical dialogue allowed our rock cabal to scale dizzying heights such as no band prior to them had experienced within South Asia. And more than this-the dizzy avant –gardeism of their musical nirvana struck a resonant chord with millions of fans across a world- music influenced global audience.

Junoon, referred to as “The U2 of Asia,” commands considerable recognition internationally. They have received the Best International Band award from Channel [V]. They also got peace awards from UNESCO and the BBC.

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Re: Junoon Tu Junoon Hai...

Lagta Hai Sab Junooni Hain Yahan Per...

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“U2 of pakistan” .. “Salman .. Asia’s answer to Santana” ..

Wowwwwwww .. when I read first time I couldn’t believe what I was reading .. I read again and was running in home telling everyone .. yes I’m talking about junoon .. we all know how popular junoon is, not just in India Or pak OR in Asia but in the World ..

this news is huge .. yayyy .. here is the news and the link ..

“JUNOON means Passion in Urdu. It also is the name of the Biggest Rock Band of Asia - comprised of the trio Salman Ahmed, Ali Azmat, and Brian O’ Connell

**Billboard Magazine calls Junoon, the Subcontinent’s “biggest crossover success since the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan”. They’ve sold over 20 million albums around the world.

Time says, “Junoon uses soaring guitar riffs to deliver a Sufi message of mystic harmony.” The New York Times has called them “the U2 of Pakistan”, and recently, “Asia’s answer to Santana” **

They are an international phenomenon. In Paris, France, UNESCO presented them with an award for Outstanding Achievements in Music and Peace. The BBC presented them with an award for Contribution to Asian Culture at the exclusive BBC Asian Awards Ceremony. They are the first-ever Asian band to have performed at the Roskilde Festival sharing the stage with international acts Oasis, Pearl Jam, Pet Shop Boys, Bush, and the likes

Junoon has pioneered the art of blending Western Hard Rock with South Asian folk and Qawwali. Junoon’s popularity is now spreading in the US, Canada, and across Europe as well.”

http://www.emicatalogue.co.nz/Discography.aspx?artist=6876 *

blush .. i’m so glad .. there is another news about MTV giving Award to Junnon .. something like that .. still looking for the complete news or a link .. if anyone of you have any interesting articles about this “U2 of Asia” and “Santana” .. plz plz post .. and also about MTV Awards .. feel free to post your comments .. :blush:

Best wishes and lots of prayers for Junoon .. :jhanda: .. n lets pray that junoon will make us proud in future .. Ameen ..

Another article jhanda if you want to read the complete article let me know I’ll try to find the link ..

This is a band that has dropped into one of those confluences of time and place that create history. Guitarist Salman Ahmad grew up in suburban New York and Pakistan. He met bass player Brian O’Connell in high school. They decided to make Pakistan their home and joined forces with singer Ali Azmat. Like Santana which forged a brilliant synthesis of Afro-Cuban styles and rock, Junoon has seemlessly woven Pakistani Qawwali music and Western rock. Ahmad, Azmat and O’Conner were joined by Ashiq Ali Mir on dholak (a cylindrical double-headed hand drum similar to tabla) and Jay Dittamo of New Jersey, USA on drums. Salman’s younger brother Shehryar, who worked on Wall Street before relocating to Pakistan, manages the band.

As Pakistan becomes a major player and wild card in what is likely to become World War III, this hybrid Pakistani/American force for peace also happens to be a band of immense talent.** Ali Azmat is a vocalist in the mold of U2’s Bono and Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant. He combines the passion and eloquence of Bono and a to-the-moon vocal range of Plant and traditional Qawwali singers like the revered Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. But unlike the Quwwali tradition of sitting crosslegged on the stage, Azmat throws himself wildly into the groove like Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder. Salman Ahmad is a brilliant rock guitarist. He lays a rich harmonic and rhythmic bed with sophisticated chord voicings, in-the-pocket groove science and a great sonic pallet. His leads are muscular, sweet and transcendent.** Brian O’Conner’s finger-picked 5-string bass is phat and nimble. His job in the rhythm section is to bridge the two musical traditions and he nails it. Ashiq Ali Mir on dholak and jazz-trained Jay Dittamo on drums have amazing technique and their interplay kept the groove alive all night, never half-stepping into rote heavy handed time-keeping like so many rock bands. The quality of the rhythm section, to me, is the key asset to this band. Ashiq Ali Mir, sitting cross-legged on a carpet and looking more like a traditional Qawwali sideman than a popstar, rocked like Kieth Moon and he knew it! His face gave away the subversive joy he felt in rocking his ass off in a party he seemed to have crashed.

This much talent at this particular time, from this particular place, combined with a nuanced and articulate understanding of global politics is a powerful combination. They stand at Ground Zero of a historic moment.
Polar Levine
Editor popCULTmedia*

i have more news but i dunno if you guys want to read or no .. :-S .. khair the last but not least .. :slight_smile:

*South Asia’s number one rock band Junoon has been nominated for the top 4 awards at the Bollywood Awards to be held in Dubai on January 21st. Junoon will be performing in the first Indo-Pak Awards show of its kind to ever take place in Dubai. Junoon has been nominated for the Best Band, Best Album (Dewaar), Best Video (Pappu Yaar) and Best Song (Garaj Baras) categories.

Junoon will headline the event, performing with Sonu Nigam at the close of the show.. *

link: http://junoon.com/home2.htm

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Re: “U2 of pakistan” .. “Salman .. Asia’s answer to Santana” ..

ohhhhh .. i’m so happyyyyyyyyyy .. on top of the world .. :hula: .. looking for some good replies here ppl .. :snooty: ..

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Re: "U2 of pakistan" .. "Salman .. Asia's answer to Santana" ..

Ghazal bibi...the days of Junoon are gone and over. Jitna U2 banna tha.... jitna Santana banna tha ban liya.

btw....Junoon actually means Madness, and not passion, and the madness is clearly seen in the so called "junoonis".

Hope this was the kinda reply u were lookin for.. :p

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Re: “U2 of pakistan” .. “Salman .. Asia’s answer to Santana” ..

Good for Junoon and their fans. :k: correction Brian is no more with Junoon. Salman has pet Mekaal on the base.

But really this award thingie should have happened back in 98/99 when so called Sufi crap was at its peak. Junoon have faded away after that NFAK bandwagon success.

Personally I would have given them the biggest ROCK award for their album TALAASH. The best ever rock album came out from Pakistan. No other band can make such a great compositions, a real and geniune hard rock.

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Re: “U2 of pakistan” .. “Salman .. Asia’s answer to Santana” ..

Ghazal, nice to see Junoonis like you. As you can see, there are alot of hate/jealous mongers out there, who do not appreciate Junoons success, but they can cry all they want, Junoon is out there to dominate. This is an outdated press release though, it needs to be updated. Junoons videos will be airing on MTV America pretty in April too. This was finalized recently. Salman has also collaborated with Carlos Santana, but I dont know when we will get to see any of that.

Smooth Guy, you sure youre not talking about Inquilab? You sure mix up genres. Inquilab was the best Pakistani rock album, but personally, Parvaaz was by far the best Junoon album ever made. The new album will be coming out in April this year.

Ghazal, check this video clip out, I managed top copy it from the DVD from a recent concert, they are performing Ghoom, the best composition in Parvaaz live. They dont play this song live, they just did it for some special Junoonis.

Ghoom Kalamazoo

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Re: Junoon Tu Junoon Hai...

Nice article guy, where did you get it?

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Re: “U2 of pakistan” .. “Salman .. Asia’s answer to Santana” ..

opz i didn’t know there was a thread about u2 already .. i guess i was too excited to check that .. :blush: .. khair sorry ppl ..

Guy1 very nicely written .. thanx for sharing .. *Blush ..

Sharaabi who said that days of junnon are over and gone ..??? .. just because you said it, doesn’t make a difference .. if their time was over The New York Times and Billboard Magazine wouldn’t compare them with U2 and Santana .. :slight_smile: .. U2 and Santana “bana tha” nahi, they are still “bana hai” .. they still live in millions of hearts and so is Junnon and will .. you should appreciate .. :slight_smile: ..

“passion” is how white ppl describe junoon .. not me .. and i agree with them .. your passion keeps you doing .. where junnoon stands today is all about their passion and madness for music ..

smooth_guy agree .. but oh well dair say jo bhi kuch mila bohut bara mila .. :smiley: .. i think junnon is only fading away in pak .. in india, USA and some other countries they are still at the top peak .. ppl from other countries admire them more than Pak ppl .. :smiley: ..

its not “sufi crap” :snooty: ..

Spock i agree with you 100% .. i was looking for replies of appreciation but nooooooo .. khair we all should be proud .. junnon nay jis trha pak ka naam roshan kia hai we all should admire them instead of writing crap ..

and yeah that was the MTV news i heard but i don’t have any article about that news .. still searching .. : (

Ooooo Salamn … blush .. thanx a lot for sharing .. hula

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Re: "U2 of pakistan" .. "Salman .. Asia's answer to Santana" ../Junoon tu Junoon hai (Mer

That MTV thing was just signed recently, I found out via their producer in the US, Mr. John Alec, who will be handling everything. Another milestone. The first video they should play should be that of Bulleya.

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Re: "U2 of pakistan" .. "Salman .. Asia's answer to Santana" ../Junoon tu Junoon hai (Mer

GKK, it was sufi crap. if someone with good taste for sufi music wants to listen to the mystical tunes and songs, they will go for abida parveen, nfak and sabri qawwal. not Junoon and Shehzad Roy copying legends like, NFAK, abida parveen and aziz miaan.

Whenever (if ever) I happpen to listen to Khudi sung by takla, my blood boils on 1000 C. what an insult for such a great poetry.

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Re: “U2 of pakistan” .. “Salman .. Asia’s answer to Santana” ../Junoon tu Junoon hai (Mer

Smooth, no one cares about just you chanda, just go and see how the crowd reacts to Khuddi. If you dont like it, keep a lid on it, I dont like alot of the songs by NFAK, Sabri and even Abida Parveen, but I dont cry about it, and post the SAME thing in every thread like you do.

BTW Khuddi is not Sufi Poetry :hehe:

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Re: "U2 of pakistan" .. "Salman .. Asia's answer to Santana" ../Junoon tu Junoon hai (Mer

Spock yaar, mere laal you have not come across the sufis and their poetry yet. khudi ko kar buland itna is one of the exteremist stanzas ever said by a sufi poet. you gotta know about sufi stuff before rendering these lines. And that exactly makes the whole song more horrible, yongsters who know nothing about sufism banging their heads on a great piece of poetry. That is an insult dear. You won't get it until u know how deep are the meanings. And if you are going to say, who cares about the meanings, its just about gettnig a t 5000 plus crowd banging their heads on your singing, then I have nothing to say anymore. Its the most abussive of all.

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Re: “U2 of pakistan” .. “Salman .. Asia’s answer to Santana” ../Junoon tu Junoon hai (Mer

Iqbal was a sufi poet? Meeri Jaan, Khuddi ko Kar Buland is a simple but powerful message, it has nothing to do with sufism to be honest. The stuff in parvaaz was what you can call sufi type. Who cares, the album was brilliant, and the sound was amazing, and thats all that matters. Listen to ghoom, what a brilliant song.

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Re: “U2 of pakistan” .. “Salman .. Asia’s answer to Santana” ../Junoon tu Junoon hai (Mer

Dont get me wrong smoothguy but would you want our youngsters to enjoy Kumar Sano or some other bharti faggot song rather that Allam Iqbal’s poetry?

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Re: "U2 of pakistan" .. "Salman .. Asia's answer to Santana" ../Junoon tu Junoon hai (Mer

^^ Alama Iqbal poetry was'nt meant for mere listening. It was meant for a purpose a purpose we have forgotten.

Listening to Khudi in a concert while being all drunk and going crazy, i dont think Iqbal really meant that for his people.

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Re: “U2 of pakistan” .. “Salman .. Asia’s answer to Santana” ../Junoon tu Junoon hai (Mer

When words fail, music speaks…

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Re: “U2 of pakistan” .. “Salman .. Asia’s answer to Santana” ../Junoon tu Junoon hai (Mer

Exactly my point.

Spock dear, consult a Sufi or any buzurg in your family and he will teach you the real meaning of the Khudi. Its as deep as the whole universe. The almighty has created humans in such a manner that the whole life of a person is not enough to dig in HIS creativity and characterstics. Sufism is full of surprises for ppl who take this life/world from the surface only. That is why in order to understand Iqbal, Saadi, Hafiz Shirazi or Maulana Rome, one needs a sheikh or an intelligent master, otherwise ch***ye type teenagers will bang their heads on ‘tu shaheen hai basera kar’ and ‘khuda banday se khud poochay bata teri raza kiya hai’ forever and ever without knowing a bit of what this great poet tried to unveil to the Muslim fellows. Taking Iqbal’s poetry word to word is the worst thing an Urdu-knowing guy can do. I can tell you have not dug into Iqbal’s Persian treasure either. jo urdu shairi hi nahi samjh saka woh persian kiya samjhe ga woh tou aur bhi gheri hai.

Pagluu, I am not saying listen to Kumar Sanu, I myself listen to Junoon’s first couple of albums all the time and I still think that Junoon were great and pioneer and all that and Salman is the best guitarist of all. But this cheap publicity (successfull) attempt of Sufi rock is totally crap and from day one I am against it. You can sing whatever you want but fans and general public keep the right to critisize too when its crossing the line. Singing patriotic songs or even religious (like Ye Mamla Koi Aur Hai by Najam) songs are good but they have to be composed with decensy in mind as they are too represent the country or religious belief. ‘khudi’ is sung in such a histeriacal way that it sounds so insulting and disgracing.

Same with Shehzad Roy’s ‘teri surat’ which was originally a qawwali by Aziz Mian. Now thats totally a deep sufiyana kalaam, but that idiot made it like a lovey dovey thing. teri surat nigaahon mein phirti rahe- ishq tera sataaye tou mein kiya karoon. And girls and guys will dance on it thinking of it as romantic song. Whereas it is written in a state of tassuwuf where the taalib is anxious to see the matloob.

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Re: "U2 of pakistan" .. "Salman .. Asia's answer to Santana" ../Junoon tu Junoon hai (Mer

haha spock yaar junoon say agay b dunia main kafi kuch hay

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Re: "U2 of pakistan" .. "Salman .. Asia's answer to Santana" ../Junoon tu Junoon hai (Mer

what's really bakwas is that junoon is being compared to U2, come on people of janoon make ur own identity

u2 and junoon are nothing alike if u are going to compare

junoon people are confused lamers while u2 cant be described with words :p