Saagar

Saagar is the debut album by the Pakistani pop rock band, Fuzön, released in January, 2002 by Amazing Productions/Empire Music Limited in Pakistan and by Virgin Records in India. The album is also known eponymously as Fuzön and was re-released in 2004 by the Sound Master record label. Saagar is noteworthy for embedding elements of Hindustani classical ragas within pop rock and jazz compositions, and it is widely considered a pathbreaking album for the way it revolutionized Pakistani music in the 2000s. The album also made history by becoming the first album to be released by a band simultaneously in both India and Pakistan. Overview Recorded at Planet Audio Studios and mixed and mastered in Sound Master Studios (both in Karachi, Pakistan), Saagar was among the first albums in Pakistan to be produced entirely using digital recording equipment at a time when the analog format was still the norm. The overall reaction to Saagar was generally positive and it was both commercially successful and critically well received. All three founding members of Fuzön — producer and keyboardist Imran (Emu) Momina, guitarist Shallum Asher Xavier, and lead vocalist Shafqat Amanat Ali — were propelled into fame across the subcontinent as a result of the unprecedented success of Saagar. The lead single of the album, "Aankhon Ke Saagar" as well as the songs "Khamaj" (also known as "Mora Saiyaan") and "Akhian" received significant airtime on music channels and FM radio stations in both India and Pakistan. The tracks "Khamaj (Mora Saiyaan)" and "Teray Bina" were also featured in the soundtrack of Nagesh Kukunoor's 2004 film, Hyderabad Blues 2. Lead vocalist Shafqat Amanat Ali has delivered live performances of several tracks from the album — with variations in arrangement — including "Khamaj (Mora Saiyaan)," "Aankhon Ke Saagar," and "Akhiyan" for Coke Studio Pakistan, Coke Studio India, and MTV Unplugged India. Composition and songwriting The album is notable for its unique soundscape that showcases influences of Persian, Arabic, and Indian music, as well as western pop rock. The songs in the album feature a common strain where aspects of Hindustani classical ragas are woven into pop melodies, combined with traditional Pakistani folk vocals and the Sufi rock style of singing. Discussing Fuzön's approach to composing the tracks for Saagar, Ali shared: "It wasn’t like I was trying to be a rebel; breaking convention.