Irtiqa

Irtiqa (Urdu: ارتقاء, literal English translation: evolution) is the debut album by the Pakistani rock band, Entity Paradigm. It was originally slated for a 25 September 2003 release date, but was delayed to 1 October. Entity Paradigm released singles from Irtiqa which were "Hamesha", "Hamein Aazma", "Kahan Hai Tu", "Aghosh", "Waqt" and "Irtiqa III"; the videos for "Waqt" and "Irtiqa III" were directed by Xulfi himself.

Singles like "Waqt", "Hamesha" and "Kahan Hai Tu" did well in the charts. Irtiqa was considered a critical and commercial success.

Concept
Irtiqa means 'progress' or 'evolution', and this album talks about progress in life. The cover of the album depicts a sketch of an unborn baby. The first track 'Irtiqa I' starts off the album with a soft voice of a newly born baby, indirectly pointing towards progress after birth. The songs that follow after are carefully composed and it seems that EP strictly means business.

On the whole "Irtiqa" is not just a music album, it's a concept, it's a theme and not many musicians in Pakistan making music is based on a specific theme or subject and be able to maintain that theme throughout the album but not just in a single song.

Track listing
All music composed & arranged by Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan, Fawad Khan & Ahmed Ali Butt.

Personnel
All information is taken from the CD.


 * Entity Paradigm:
 * Fawad Khan: lead vocals
 * Waqar Ahmed Khan: drums
 * Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan: lead guitar, vocals
 * Ahmed Ali Butt: vocals, keyboard
 * Salman Albert: rhythm, vocals, drums
 * Sajjad Ali Khan: bass guitar
 * Hassan Khalid: rhythm guitar


 * Production
 * Produced by Mekaal Hasan, Fawad Khan & Zulfiqar J. Khan
 * Recorded & Mixed at Digital Fidelity Studios, Lahore, Punjab
 * Guitar sound engineer: Mekaal Hasan, Fawad Khan & Zulfiqar
 * Drums reprogrammed: Fawad Khan
 * Drums sound engineer: Fawad Khan & Zulfiqar J. Khan
 * Assisted by Mekaal Hasan
 * Photography: Usman Saeed
 * Art direction & design: Safwat Saleem
 * Album art: Tania Danish
 * Inlay illustrations: Safwat Saleem