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eason chan

EASON CHAN (BLESSED WEDDING) (WHAT'S MUSIC) (SEP99)

MUSIC STYLE : POP BALLADS / FOLK / ROCK

OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
Eason Chan (or Chen Yi Xun) has released his third solo Mandarin album under a new label, namely What's Music.  

The first single and title Track 1 "Blessed Wedding" is a typical main-stream pop ballad composed by the duo Chen Jian Ning and Chen Zheng Qing with lyrics written by Adam Hsu Chang De.  The song is based on the actual story of Eason's first puppy love whereby the bridegroom in the end is not him but another guy as his girlfriend had fallen in love with the latter.

The second single Track 2 "Tug Of War" is a soaring ballad duet sung with fella Hong Kong singer Edmond Leung (or Liang Han Wen) who has also signed on to What's Music.  Adopting a "Man's Talk" style (meaning the two guys seem to be having a conversation with each other in the song), the song successfully blends together the suave vocals of both singers such that if you don't pay attention, you would have thought it's actually a solo track.

Another single recommended by the record company is Track 3 "I Begin Here" which has a world-music touch.  However being an advertisement theme song for a Taiwan soft drink, it sounds overly commercial for my personal liking.

As with most love albums, Eason's latest offering also contains mostly mid-tempo and slow tracks.  Luckily the ballads are of repeated-listening quality : they include Track 7 "Sad Proof Book" (also recommended by the record company), Track 9 "Just Between The Two Of Us" and my personal fave number, the R&B-feel Track 6 "Empty Thrust" written by Pan Xie Qing.  One disappointment comes from Track 8 "One, Two, Three, Four" : while it has a nice folksy tune, however it is marred by the inclusion of a few Cantonese lyrics which sound really out of place. 

Five producers were roped in, including Xue Zhong Ming, Chen Zi Hong, Peter Wong and Huang Qing Yuan.  

The best thing about this release is Eason's superb vocals : unlike many Hong Kong crossovers, he sounds at ease in both Mandarin and Cantonese languages.  Coupled that with an album filled mostly with radio-friendly but competent tracks and you have yet another satisfactory offering from this vocally-talented singer.

(Side-Note : The CD comes enclosed with a bonus VCD containing the MTVs for "Blessed Wedding" as well as the music videos for his previous two Mandarin albums' title tracks, namely, "One Drop Of Tear" and "Ferment".)

RATING : (4 out of 5) 

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