Album Review Corner
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SINGER: MICHAEL WONG(GUANG LIANG)
WHO IS HE: ONE OF THE HALVES OF NOW DEFUNCT DUO WU YIN LIANG PIN
TITLE OF ALBUM: GUANG LIAN DI YI CI GE REN CHUAN ZUO ZHUAN JI
RELEASED BY: ROCK MUSIC
I guess everyone remembers Michael Wong...with his very guy next door wholesome honest looks...but I guess most people would still miss the duo Wu Yin Liang Pin...
I have not heard the whole of Pin Guan's album...so I won't be making a comparision of any kind...but in any case...Michael has now ventured into acting...
Frankly, I still have not gotten accustomed with the idea of Michael singing fast numbers...they so stand out though...and I think we should credit him with this effort...however his sentimental ballads are nicer...and he really delivers the songs effortlessly and faultlessly...but one might feel that the song Di Yi Ci is nicer when sung in the La..La version...but to all who enjoy sentimental music out there...do fork out 20 bucks for this album and lend your support to Michael...
One complain...u dun have any songs etched in your memory after listening for the first time...
OVERALL RATING: B
Any comments?
[This message has been edited by Zilchster (edited 08 June 2001).] -
SINGER: TANYA CHUA
WHO IS SHE: PROMISIING LOCAL ARTISTE WHO
This is reportedly Tanya's last album with the label Universal Music...until she renews her contract...it is also said that Tanya was kinda disheartened with coming up with English albums...as no one would wanna buy...anyway...let's focus on this album..WRITES HER OWN SONGS AND FOR OTHER ARTISTES TOO AND WHO'S SINGING THIS YEAR NATIONAL DAY SONG 'WHERE I BELONG' 'SHU YU'
TITLE OF ALBUM: I DO BELIEVE
RELEASED BY: UNIVERSAL
I would say that this album is high on sincerity...music wise...i find it so so...alrite...kinda retains the standard Tanya has...but it is really sincere with the production of the album...and you could see a lot of heart and soul is put into it.
Probably everyone heard I Do Believe...needs no further elaboration...there are 2 versions of it...it would be good to look at other gems like KE YI AI NI ZHEN HAO...track 2...it is a surprise from Tanya...who has never attempted such singing tone before...and she does the song really well...at least not overbearingly cute or what...focus your attention on track 3 WHY...really nice...with good lyrics written by Singaporean Xiao Han...tune by Li Feihui
Other recommended songs u should not miss...BIAN MAI, NU REN DE SHUO FA (the lyrics are good and the tune great...) Zheng Huajian's composition GEN NI JIE DE XING FU is one of nicest tracks in the album too.
Overall if u support local artistes with potential and strength...this album is worth buying.
OVERALL RATING: B
BEST LYRICS: BIAN MAI
[This message has been edited by Zilchster (edited 08 June 2001).] -
Hmm...Reviews for Yuki and Hou Xiangting albums would be up soon.
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Me oso contributing some reviews. Hmm, since talking abt Chen Shan Ni, i wanna add a review abt her last album, which is release in DEc2000. Ya, old.
Comments : Urm, shuo zhen de, sometimes i wish Sandee can try to sing the songs she wrote for others, like jiang mei qi and sammi and the new singer wu pei wen. I find those songs easier to accept. Is not that i dun wanna accept Sandee, afterall i've bought
2 of her albums liao, but....this 1, the songs r harder to digest. (though sales is the best out of all her albums) A lot of dian zi music, till the last few tracks, will get a bit bored. However, the lyrics r not bad and the packaging is good too. Of course, there r still some digestable yet still filled with excitement in music elements tracks.
REcommended tracks :
ni tai hao kan
wan mei <--- really good, not difficult to digest and nice
shen ying
6 yue 29 ri
Album rate : **** (if comapred to her past works, it may worth ***1/2* )
Should-u-buy rate: *** (normal listeners may not like this 1 to be played at home, may end up dozing off.) -
Since zil. is doing hou xiang ting, den i wun do abt her. I would do abt Mayday's that soundtrack.
Album Title : hou niao soundtrack
Singers: Mayday, Liu ruo ying, Huang ping yuan, and other music tracks.
Producer : mayday loh
Reviews: Saw the papers giving it ***** ....
well, not that perfect afterall. First, i must praise that this album is really a small breakthrough for them, bcos is no longer abt band sound, but their ability to do other things. Zuo jian is a very, UN-mayday song, bcos is very soft and is,.....
different, sounds fresh. Track by Rene is oso bery nice, bcos it really can give the feeling of hou niao. However, the other pure music tracks are....quite mayday lah, den...
though not bad, but....somehow, cant give me the feeling of the movie.
Since it is a soundtrack, i would really wanna comment on the track which can hear the actors words and their own background guitar n humming n singing. IT is, the BEST track in the album, bcos, i suddenly can feel the movie and feel the music they wanna give. It is called, hua huo yi ban, by Michael Teigen.
Album rate : ***1/2*
Should-u-buy rate: ***1/2* ( easy to digest, esp for a chi movie soundtrack) -
Howie, thanks for helping review too...
Really appreciate very much...
U can do hou xiang ting too...mah...is okie the more the merrier...by the way reviews would up tis sunday hopefully. -
SINGER: ANGEL HO (HOU XIANGTING)
WHO IS SHE: THIS IS HER THIRD ALBUM, FORMERLY KNOWN AS BEAUTY HO
TITLE OF ALBUM: AI ZHI LU (LOVE'S JOURNEY)
RELEASED BY: VIRGIN MUSIC/EMI
Finally, dearest little sister Hou as loosened up a bit and decided to a healthy xie zhen ji...i did not buy her first album...did buy her 2nd one though and the packaging on this third album is certainly more attractive than the first...i wun say she is extremely pretty but she is sweet looking for a 18 years old.
This CD comes with a power VCD which has the full mtv for liang ge dong tian as well as other mtv footage of some of her other songs...
Talk abt the people she assembled for her third album...this is definitely better than her sophomore effort...and she brought in Yao Qian, Li Yu Huan, Chen Qi Zhen, Chen Wei, Kay Huang Yunling, Ma Yu Fen...
Songs wise...this is an album with some standard...and i find the songs in this album better than her 2nd one...there are some OS...done by hou xiangting and she plays the keyboard on some tracks as well...cool!!!
Ignoring Hou's WEAK vocals, her songs are all really good...take for example, the jazzy feel of the song YI QI QU BA LI, composed by Li Yuhuan, lyrics filled in by Chen Qizhen...Chen has done a great job with the lyrics...able to write out the feelings of a young girl.
Hou did covers of other singer's songs...on three tracks...LIANG GE DONG TIAN (LIKE THE ARRANGEMENT-->very nice...prevents this song from slipping too much into sweet territory), YI GE REN DE XING QI TIAN, and AI MEI (had been sung a few times-->but this time the song is from a 18yo girl point of view)
There are some fast and catchy numbers on the album...for those who like sentimental numbers...I recommend DONG JING ZHI WEN (by Kay and Yao), WO BU, QIU TIAN YI HOU DE GU SHI(somehow the continuation of Qiu Tian Bie Lai)...this song is sung to the accompaniment of the keyboard...and i think Hou's voice is quite good in this one...yah...
OVERALL RATING: B+
BEST LYRICS: YI QI QU BA LI -
SINGER: YUKI MATUYAMA (ZENG SHAN YU JI)
WHO IS HE: TAIWAN'S LATEST MALE SINGING SENSATION WITH HIS IDOL LOOKS...WALKING RAP AND THE NAME COINCIDING WITH YUKI HSU AND HIS SONG DI YI CI COINCIDING WITH GUANG LIANG'S...HE IS WARNER'S NEXT LOVED THING AFTER YANZI
TITLE OF ALBUM: YUKI'S DI YI CI (YUKI'S FIRST TIME)
RELEASED BY: WARNER MUSIC
Really don't know how to review this album...let's say i have a love hate relationship with this album.
Talking abt Yuki...in a nutshell...he looks good...but androgynous...for those who dunno wat i mean looks boy and girl lar...sorry lar if i am insulting ur idol or wat...he reminds me of hideaki takizawa (not as shuai but still around there)...anyway he is really skinny...oh wat the heck...tis is suppose to be a review corner for albums rite?
Anyway his album sales in taiwan are not tat good...raking around 40,000 to 50,000(one of the best for this year newcomers i would say...but i saw a lot of screaming girls yesterday...anyway he did generate a lot of publicity wif his name and those little coincidences mentioned earlier.
If u r into pop music...get tis album...u like good looking fellas...get tis album...he sings better than tae, looks better, as he is half jap/half chi...(girls now u go ooooooooooohhhh!!) Anyway they did get quite a strong group of producers...CHEN WEI again, The Li brothers, Chen Zihong...
Of course there is his famous walking rap evident in How Deep is your live another rendition of the beegees classic...quite a few songs tat r covers...but of course there are the pop ballads guaranteed to melt your heart...especially DI YI CI. Of course there are a few songs in which he raps...i prefer him singing fast chirpy numbers and my favourite song is SHEN BAI SE'S XING ZUO...the lyrics quite innovative...anyway juz look at tis as a pop album...not much surprises...but a very decent effort...wat yuki needs is LOTSA LUCK to be the next really big thing.
OVERALL RATING: B
BEST LYRICS: XING ZUO -
SINGER: FREYA LIN(LIN FAN)
WHO IS SHE: THIS IS HER SOPHOMORE EFFORT...A VERY VERY GOOD SINGER.
TITLE OF ALBUM: DOU SHI TA (ALL ABOUT HIM)
RELEASED BY: SHANG HUA (WHAT'S MUSIC)
Just bought Freya's sophomore effort on Saturday, and I am pleasantly surprised by her good voice.
Let's talk about Freya. Li Zongsheng wanted to sign her on, only to realise he was too late. She had signed with What's. She made a name for herself by doing a rendition of Sandy Lam's YE TAI HEI. Freya is currently having her examinations in Seattle and for this album, they put a photo of a guy instead of Freya on the cover. So don't think you bought the wrong album. On the album, the company put that Freya songs have a power of soothing your wounded soul.
Let's talk about the music...she is collaborating with mainly two producers Ling Weiwen (wrote her YI GE REN SHENG HUO) and Lin Mingyang...
Let's talk abt the flaws...she is doing so so many covers of songs...She is singing the chinese version of the theme song Shrek...she sounds a little odd...can give this song a miss...And she did a cover of Sarah Mclachlan's Angel...for those of you who love this song...u might be a little aghast at freya for doing a cover of it again...but honestly, she does a good job with this song...and her pronunciation is perfect...as with the other english song Make Believe (Also a cover)(did a chinese version called SAN GE XIN YUAN). People who adore the song Angel, Freya's version is good too. She also did a cover of Sammi Cheng's SHE BU DE NI...so so alrite...and she did a cover of a Japanese song(ZEN ME LI KAI NI CAI NENG GOU BI SHANG XIN).
That leaves us with 5 original songs...U probably heard the first song DOU SHI TA. It's a light R&B number...need some time getting used to. My preference is however for track 2, NAN DAO. Composed by Liu Qing (of BU ZHI BU JUE, XIN SHI JIE), it is a very slow moving song...coupled with kinda sad lyrics by Li Zhuoxiong...a slow moving song u would like after a while...excellent arrangement from Tu Yin. Freya's voice is excellent in this number...but i think ah mei could sing this voice just as well too...if only ah mei got this song.
Wo De Gan Jing Tai Fen Fu is composed by Ling Weiwen (of YI Ge Ren Sheng Huo)...lyrics by Lin Xi...a nice ballad...WO XIANG YAO and Now I See are also more of pop in nature.
In fact if you can ignore the fact that Freya is doing too many direct covers...this is an excellent album for those who like vocals.
OVERALL RATING: B+
BEST LYRICS: DOU SHI TA -
give reviews only mah, y insult hideaki takizawa?
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sorry lar if i am insulting ur idol or wat...he reminds me of hideaki takizawa (not as shuai but still around there)...
I did not insult Hideaki lar...read carefully...i meant yuki is not as shuai as Hideaki...perhaps my phrasing not clear
[This message has been edited by Zilchster (edited 25 June 2001).] -
I like Takizawa, he's cute! Anyway, I think Yuki looks a bit like him but Takizawa is better looking. They are around the same age too, aren't they?
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high 5 jiefen!
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I think Takizawa looks better than Yuki of course lor.
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SINGER: VICTOR HUANG (HUANG PIN GUAN)
WHO IS HE: ONE OF THE HALVES OF NOW DEFUNCT DUO WU YIN LIANG PIN
TITLE OF ALBUM: TENG NI DE ZE REN (THE RESPONSIBILITY OF LOVING YOU)
RELEASED BY: ROCK MUSIC
I guess everyone would know who Victor is right? And by the time of my review, everyone would probably have heard his title track TENG NI DE ZE REN...the song is a very nice with the saccharine factor...is very strong...really a hit with the girls...and I guess the creative heads have found a good way in marketing Victor...as a goodie two shoes guy...and yah...he is really that kinda person...
Unlike Michael's album, which is produced by Michael and most of the songs written by Michael himself, Victor has only 3 songs in this album, and producing given to the hands of Li Zongsheng and Xiao Chong (who also wrote the songs DU JUAN and PEI NI YI QI LAO)...I prefer the former...over Pei Ni Yi Qi Lao...i find Xiao Chong's songs very Hokkienish like...
Other than the slow moving sentimental songs...check out the slightly uptempto ZUI JIA PIN PAI and LIU DE HUA...I think these songs are delivered in a fresh manner and stands out amongst the album of forgettable songs. Anyway this is a really nice album of soothing and pleasant songs...
OVERALL RATING: B
BEST LYRICS: ZUI JIA PIN PAI -
Hideaki's cute! saw diz guy ard 16/so @Far East couple of weeks ago, looks xactly lyk him, except shorter & bigger eyes. u gals can proby try ur luck hangin ard dere.
anw heard Takky's goin to cut an album soon. -
btw Zil do u listen 2 J-pop?
[This message has been edited by funk (edited 29 June 2001).] -
SINGER: FISH LEONG (LIANG JINGRU)
WHO IS SHE: HER 3RD ALBUM, JONATHAN LI'S LOVED PUPIL
TITLE OF ALBUM: SHAN LIANG DE XING(SHINING STAR)
RELEASED BY: ROCK RECORDS
After a runaway success with her 2nd album, Fish (cute moniker) is back with her 3rd album.
This album is overall an extension of her 2nd album. She assembled Paula Ma Yufen, Jonathan Li and Guo Wenxian as producers for her 3rd effort...in terms of songs...I would say, there's no breakthrough...tunes are pretty much forgettable unless u keep on repeating one song at a time...well...this is to play safe...u get tunes like yong qi and ai ni bu shi liang san tian those kind.
However, I much say her singing has much improved...especially in WU TIAO JIAN WEI NI (originally a KOREAN SONG-->UURGH ANOTHER COVER), whereby the bridge is the climax...and she scales the high keys effortlessly...on the whole her singing is good.
OVERALL RATING: B
BEST LYRICS: ZUI XIANG HUAN YOU DE SHI JIE
Personal comments: I would rather buy Freya's album...find the tunes in Freya more captivating. -
Nope...i dun...coz i dun understand japanese lor.
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ARTISTE: MAYDAY/WU YUE TIAN
NAME OF ALBUM: REN SHENG HAI HAI (PEOPLE LIFE OCEAN WILD)
WHO ARE THEY: CONSISTING OF 5 BOYS, ONE OF THE BIGGEST RECORD SELLERS OVER THE LAST 2 YEARS.
Actually, I liked Mayday since their first album, from the song Zhi Ming Yu Chun Jiao a Hokkien song...which is the best of their songs to date...unfortunately, u can't hear it under airplay. They shot to fame because their tunes are very simple, very taiwanese, and the lyrics are well, revolves around day to day things and realistic.
As usual this album still does not fail to deliver catchy tunes and lyrics that touches us on our day to day lives. However, they are not so rock as before...toned down slightly.
As usual there are the usual 5 hokkien songs in the album...i persoanlly like the song HAO BU HAO...the kinda sentimental hokkien ballad tat is kinda touching...the rest are quite fast...
As for the Mandarin songs...Neng Bu Neng Bu Yao Shuo is an uptempo fast song...tat could make u wanna dance...and ren sheng hai hai is like the answer to WEN ROU.
Personal favs include HOU NIAO (they took back the song to sing too...juz as good as rene's version) as well as CAI HONG (a song for Liang Jingru in her first album), with the band sound, the 2 songs seem fabulous. In Track 10 CHUN ZHEN (Innocence), you find that their music can be slow, touching, without much band music, and Ah Xin the lead can be gentle too in his singing.
Anyway this is their final album until the guys come back together again after their Military Service. So if u like them, do get tis album. Would be sure to miss their music. Interesting, they r pitting themselves against some big names in trying to capture sales like Jolin and Yanzi.
All the best to Mayday
OVERALL RATING: B+ -
ARTISTE: STEFANIE SUN YANZI
NAME OF ALBUM: FENG ZHENG (KITE)
WHO IS SHE: SINGAPORE'S PRIDE AND ONE OF THE FOUR SMALL HEAVENLY QUEENS WITH IMPRESSIVE RESULTS...BOTH CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AND SALES RESULTS.
Firstly, I am not a huge fan of Stefanie. But nevertheless, I was anticipating her third outing, and the fact is, she never stops to impress, and this third album is quite well, impressive.
With the great sale record of her first two albums, Stefanie must be under immensed pressure for this album to sell. And I'm sure it does.
She kept the producers Bao Xiaobo, Si Song, Wei Song and added Chen Wei and Chen Zihong to the list of producers. As for music wise, 8 out of 10 songs are by local Singaporeans. Hurrah!
Her title track FENG ZHENG starts off with her just singing without any music, and it brings out the quality of her voice. She sounds a little like Alanis when she is doing this song. 20 lyricists were asked to fill in the lyrics to this song, but Calvin Yi Jiayang emerged as the winner. This song is really touching, and somehow I could feel that Yanzi is crying at the same time. Touching song, but needs more time to appreciate.
Her first song LU GUANG (Green Light) is a fast number...sounds pretty enya like, and yanzi does a rap in it (she wrote the rap) herself. On the whole, the music sounds pretty enya like, but i enjoyed this song, a difference from Ling Que Dian and Chao Kuai Gan...
Her two compositions REN XING (Track 3) is the best song in the album. It's also very touching and easy on the ears especially when she gets to the Bridge...wow...her technique is really good. Her other song ZHEN DE (Track 6) is the demo ON THE ROAD (from Album 2)...this is yet another nice song and easy with well written lyrics by Xu Shi Zhen. A bit slow, but u need time to catch on it.
There are some uptempo/fast numbers like TAO WANG, LIAN XI, SUI TANG CE YAN and WO SHI WO. WO SHI WO is a duet with Sun Jing...has this kinda band sound and Sun Yanzi really let herself go...my preference is SUI TANG CE YAN...with cute/creative lyrics written by Li Zhuo Xiong. However a small part of the tune sounds like Sammi's MEI LI RAN SHAO.
Other karaoke friendly numbers include BU SHI ZHEN DE AI WO...and AI QING ZI DIAN...these songs cater to the market needs, but then they dun fail to please the listener as they r easy on the listeners and yet touching.
I hope Yanzi would be able to do more slow numbers though. This album is a really decent and good effort. So do support Yanzi.
OVERALL RATING: A-
BEST LYRICS: FENG ZHENG, SUI TANG CE YAN, REN XING. -
SINGER: HARLEM YU (HA LIN) (YU CHENG QING)
WHO IS HE: SUPER HOST OF THE VARIETY PROGRAMME SUPER SUNDAY/ HUBBY TO ANNIE YI/ LOSER AT TAIWAN'S GOLDEN MELODY AWARDS
TITLE OF ALBUM: HAI XIAO (TIDAL WAVES)
RELEASED BY: SONY MUSIC
At this time when I am writing my review, according to reports, Harlem's album has passed 250,000 and is the saviour of the bad record sales market.
Frankly, I never wanted to get this album. It was not really on my list of must get albums...and it was not becoz of the 250,000 that I decided to get this album...it was partly due to the concert.
It is no doubt Harlem is a capable host...he needs no host to create that kinda atmosphere...but i dislike him for doing covers...
Back to this album, I find that it is one of the best for the first half of the year...in terms of of lyrics, music, and singing style...yah...it's really good...a wide variety...it's as good as Elva's if not better...Harlem produced this album, and wrote 8 out of 10 tracks...the other 2 (HAI XIAO and QING FEI DE YI) is by a local composer Tang Xiao Kang (no idea who he is)...anyway, lyrics maestro Adam Hsu/Xu Chang De wrote 9 out of 10 songs in this album. Reportedly, Xu Changde had some differences with Harlem at first, but it worked out nicely in the end. Although, I still like Lin Xi and Yao Qian, Xu Changde did a good job with the lyrics thanks to Harlem's constant haranguing until Xu Changde got so scared...Harlem made calls to Xu and even made Xu convince him that the lyrics to Hai Xiao is touching. Xu took abt 9 months to a year for this album, normal cases 2 to 3 months. So u should be able to see the quality of the lyrics...2nd to elva's Ming Tian album.
Was kinda upset over HAI XIAO...it's a nice song...but Harlem's singing sounds so bitter and sad...very sa gou xue...that kinda feeling...okie...but still a nice song...can show off some vocal prowess...
As the album progresses, you can realise that Harlem's forte is in his zhuan yin. Track 2 is very R&B and Harlem laps it up with confidence. Track 3, and Track 7 (QING FEI DE YI, my favourite, happens to be the theme song of the tv serial LIU XING HUA YUAN) is very folksy, very Harlem like, and this is the two tracks which he really excels in.
There are other ballads and my of my favourites is Track 4, YING HUA L.A. TOKYO...beautiful music...as well as TRACK 8 GOODBYE PETER PAN'S WORLD. No matter whether it's ballads or folksy or even Fast numbers, personal favourite is HUAN YING GUANG LIN DISCO...with a disco kinda arrangement...COOL!!! GROOVY! REMINDS ME OF ABBA.
Don't miss out on Track 6 AI DAO DI...kinda touching...is this track meant for Annie Yi?
Harlem has been losing for the last few years at the Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards...certainly...I hope with this album, he would be able to get the crown for best male vocalist. This is a totally fresh album, and without strong competition...i would wanna him to win.
OVERALL RATING: A-
BEST LYRICS: ALL OF THEM ARE GOOD... -
Many thanks to Zilchter's music review. It is truly helpful. I wonder if you actually buy all the CD albums before you review them. There is a music site that allows you to listen (w/o downloading) all the newest chinese CDs using RA player (www.xuxule.com/home.html).
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Actually, the albums I reviewed are the ones which I've bought...I dun really listen to albums online...except to test test see see if the album is worth buying.
My review of Xin Wei's album would be out this week...i bought it for 16 dollars...so happy...saved 2 dollars. -
Dunno what albums to review, hmm...though is a repeat but...eh..nvm lah, hor? hehe.
Singer: Mayday
Album: ren sheng hai hai
Comments: Well, this is definitely not their best and also not the best they could give us to last for the following 2 years. Firstly, maybe is bcos xian ru wei zhu, din really like the cover version of the 2 songs they wrote. Afterall, what make us excited abt mayday is not the vocals but the music itself.
One of the outstanding tracks would be all 5 of them singing together, jie wen zhong shen ming, taiwanese song, but one of the best. Light, easy, comfortable and great. Din understand the lyrics afterall i aint hokkien lah, but, is really the best.
First track, yi ke ping guo, is not bad for a start. ren sheng hai hai, the lyrics is ok only, tot would give some better lyrics though. As for the rest, all i could say is, not as outstanding as the previous album but, nai ting. This album din really make sales as good as the past, and dun really believe they've crossed the 250000 mark, if not, yanzi would be reaching 300000. I've learnt to take 1/2 of those figures.
Anyway, this album dun haf...those kind of HIT song to really remember. If i really were to choose, perhaps it would be neng bu neng bu yao shuo loh.....
Grades: 7.5/10
Worth buying rate: 7/10