We still haven`t figured what the title of this album is -- `Taz Mania Ishq,` `Tazmania Ishq,` `Tazmania` or simply `Ishq` -- but this latest release from Stereo Nation is truly international. Not because it was recorded (by Alex Kid-H in Laila Studios) and mixed (by Jim Lantsbury in Kamlee Studios) in UK. Nor because T Series released the album globally. It`s the sound that makes an album international, desi or regional, and on that front, `Tazmania,` `Ishq` or whatever, is truly international.

The album has tight basslines, vocal harmonies and sax sequences typical of R`nB artistes of the late Eighties and early Nineties. The tracks are also heavily post-produced to sound like the studio albums of that era. But unlike postproduction techniques employed then, this album has little elements, sometimes exotic, thrown in here and there that add to its already impressive sound. Taz and his chorus do sing Punjabi like they were singing English but that can be overlooked because the overall impact of this album is, like we mentioned earlier, very impressive.

The opening track, `Ishq` sets the tempo for the album - catchy beat, pounding bassline, brilliant vocal harmonies and very, very danceable. It`s followed by `Peeni Peeni Sharaab` -- a laidback R`nB track written by Faaiz Anwar. Taz has used a vocoder – a kind of sound processor that modifies the pitch of the input signal made popular by Cher`s smash hit `Believe` - on the third track titled `Dilruba.` The impact of this technique on the track is far from jarring, as has happened with other Indian artistes, or those associated with India, who have used vocoders. Next comes `Na Jaane Kya Hua` - an outright dance track whose opening sequence may remind you of a popular English track. Side B opens with `Love & Devotion` with rather amateurish lyrics. "With love and devotion, We`ll cross any ocean, We don`t want no commotion, Love is our solution."

But Stereo Nation`s frontman Taz, we presume, has never claimed to be the brightest of lyricists. What follows is a rather flat track, titled `Making Love.` `Aaja Giddeh Vich` is a cluttered number where the vocoder reappears. `Sikha De Hamein Pyaar` is a duet with Anuradha Paudwal with a Latin American percussion section. The final track, `O Saathi Re` has an alternating beat between something that works and something that simply doesn`t. It would have been nice to have one of the more catchy tracks reserved for the end.

Taz and his gang of postproduction wizards will climb up the charts and stay put for sometime with this album. It would be wise to lay your hands on this album soon.