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i thought about a lot of things
to write about this album for the past two days that i have been listening to
it. i have blasted it, played it softly while i drift off the sleep, sang along
to the tune stuck in my head when i am not actually listening to it, played it
on speakers, played it in headphones, played it in stereo, played it in mono. i
have not exhausted all possibilities. and now that i put my fingers on my grey
keyboard, i suddenly have nothing to say. i haven't made a decision.
decision on what? on whether
the album is good? whether i like the album? well, yes and no. but i realise,
everytime i listen to it, my preferences change. i mean, in economic theory,
consumers like us are supposed to be rational creatures, who are able to rank at
least ordinal preferences, if not cardinal. so, that's probably the limitation of
economic theory. but i digress.
BEFORE FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
before i actually heard the album, i've heard/seen lots of people talk about
it on ptt, and there were mixed reviews. some were good and substantial, some
were good but not substantial, some were of course bad, some substantial, some
not. so, i guess i can say i was apprehensive. were they really moving away from
their original style that captured our hearts? were they really becoming more
commercialised? are they no longer 'rock' and have migrated to the land of
'pop'? did their musical 'power' really improve tremendously like rumoured? have
they changed? have i changed? filled with so many so many questions, and
discussion merely fuels the imagination. i was expectant and excited at best and
apprehensive and worried some other times...
i mean, what if?
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
first song on the album was QG, which was not a new song cos it has
been played before on commercials and in the concert. halfway through, i smiled
to myself. it was good. not the typical mayday, but yes, it was good. so was the
second, so was the third, all the way till the end. it was good. it was
intensive, it was magical.
GOODS:
there were so many.
light metal - mayday's answer to heavy metal. it was funny and serious at the
same time. use of the cymbals gave songs like QG and HXDHX its spatial
sound quality. you really do feel as if you are running on tip-toes (as ashin
explained) or as if you were soaring through the galaxy's endless darkness. this
light metal sound also gave CXTT its decadent and lost feeling.
other instruments - of course
no one could miss the sitar and spanish guitars in the album, in CXTT and DS. i
sincerely thought it was perfect the way they were incorporated into rock. the
key point is that they did not overdo it! of course, this is not the freshest
idea and many people, bands, etc. have tried to do so, but only some succeed and
many just flopped. personally, i think the key lies in not overdoing it. in these
two songs, the sitar and spanish guitars have been added, but in moderation, to
give that exact kind of feeling that they want to portray, without making it
seeming forced and awkward. of course, it was also extremely impressive to know
that they were played by monster himself. it certainly sounded professional and
i wouldn't have doubted them if they said they invited outside help. impressive.
monster's melody of JHQ also added a new dimension to mayday. impressive too.
ashin's vocals - has obviously
improved. he now uses different techniques/sounds/methods to sing different
songs to create the different feel for each song. best example i think, was CXTT,
where the voice he used totally embodied the restlessness and decadence of the
song. tui2 fei4 as you would call it in chinese. the change in tempo near the
bridge of the song was great too and, that too, created the
walking-alone-at-night-through-all-the-neon-lights image perfectly.
other 'un-themed' goods - the
change in style in their songs is obvious. they have improved tremendously in
their arrangement ability and has definitely displayed that in this album. every
song is so layered and full that you almost get an overload (and sometimes you
do, but that's for later). there are layers on top of layers on top of layers of
sound. just the back-up vocals alone probably has dozens of layers, not to
mention the layers of guitar, bass, drums, etc. i think one great achievement
that they managed through this improved arrangement techniques is to be able to
paint such vivid images in the listeners mind. from the more upbeat songs like
QG, CXTT, DS to the slightly more down tempo ones like SGJ, EWZZ, they bring us
from movie to movie, each having its own setting and plot. i mean, who doesn't
listen to DS without thinking of Zhou Run Fa or Zhou Xing Chi walking through
the gambling hall, with his long coat flying? who doesn't listen to CXTT without
imagining neon lights? to be able to bring to life these pictures is already an
amazing feat in itself. this album has such diverse styles but there's unison in that
sense - the time machine moves you back and forth in time, space and dimension,
bringing you to a different place each time.
the double cd - the double cd
was a great addition, although i'm not sure about the selection of songs. but
XSH was definitely the overwhelming pull factor of the double cd. i loved that
song, just went straight to my heart. the tune, what it was about, how the song
was sang and arranged. oh yes, i also liked the version in Huan Xi Cheng cos of
the little "wo de wei lai bu shi meng.." part. too bad it was missing here. one
thought that crawled through my mind was that the SGJ could have ended with XSH
and it would have satisfied everyone, everyone who wanted the new album to be
very wyt style, everyone who wanted a happy ending. i.e. you must listen to the
2 cds one immediately after another.
BADS:
criticisms? i strive to be a rational and level-headed/hearted listener. i
do like them, a lot, but i like to be objective, like to stay in focus, and i will feel
like i have blindfolded myself consciously (which i am certain they would not
like) if i do not say something from the
other side. maybe they are criticisms, but i do hope they are valid and
constructive. but if you feel that they are invalid and not constructive (which
some of them are, hehheh..) then please retort in
my guestbook! (i welcome
rotten eggs and vegetables and stuff!)
here it goes, not in any order:
first thing that i want to point out - are they having a little toooo much fun
with the back-up vocals? my god, i really did burst out laughing at some stage
cos the back-ups are so thick and varied and were making funny sounds. i mean,
seriously, they were really going "back-up-vocals-crazy" in that album.
but this is just my small pointless observation. and yes, i know they are
absolutely necessary in the songs.
then it was the cymbals - same thing. i know the excitement of 'inventing' a new
genre, but did they have to use the cymbals so excessively? it was all pretty
good, except for WZ, which i was kind of disappoint with. i liked WZ very much
originally because every beat of the bass drum went straight into your heart.
but with the addition of the cymbals to it, it just kind of loses that effect.
then it was the "environment sounds" - they seem to like this a lot also. my
reaction was "wth?" sometimes i felt it was alright, but most of the time i felt
it was unnecessary and too jay, which brings us to the next topic...
too jay - or other singers in general. there were traces of U2 (QG's beginning),
SYZ (WM), Queen & BQ (JHQ), eason even (SGJ) and of course jay (EWZZ esp).
and that line in EWZZ, where ashin goes "wo jiu shi shou bu liao..." after
the first chorus, i really almost fell off my chair. sounded too much like jay (my
god, still in shock now)
ashin's vocals again - yes, they have improved, and they sound like they have
been polished. but did i mention that it was his unpolished voice that gave the
songs their soul? i once said i like them because of their honesty and ashin
sings with his heart, not just his voice. i am not saying that he is dishonest
now, but i'm worried. worried that their honesty will get covered by layers of
vocals, guitars, bass, drums, cymbals etc. and this brings us back to the
previous point of overloading. yes, sometimes i feel that this album is
overloaded. too full, if that is possible...
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QUESTIONS:
then, some questions. i have made a lot of observations. i may change some in the
future as my preferences evolve, some i will maintain. some i will elaborate, some
i will delete. but after all these, i still have some questions, for mayday
maybe, or for everyone, or for myself...
they have strove to make a full-marks album. and i have to say, in my amateur
opinion, they have created a musically full marks album, certainly. but someone
brought up this question: could they, in their quest for perfection, have missed
the fact that fans love them despite their imperfection? in fact, i even have
this wild thought that fans love them BECAUSE of their imperfection! how they
sing about life, about not being perfect, about
being lost in life, about hopes and dreams... stuff that people can relate too
and can gain strength from, you know what i mean. NO, i don't
mean that they are no longer that friend that we can relate to, that remains to
be seen (in future albums), but does a change in style hint of that? i keep my
fingers crossed.
next question, on a lighter
note. i'm sure everyone realised that they have arranged the songs in such a way
that the last two songs (SGJ & WM) kind of flows from one to the next. they
actually feel like one song and when i first heard the album, i didn't even know
that we went into the next song already!
Question: is that done on purpose? i mean, they couldn't have missed that, which
means it must have been done on purpose. then the next question is "why?".
my guess/observation is this. this whole album gave me the feeling of a
soundtrack, and the last two songs were the kind of songs in a movie soundtrack
that were just instrumental pieces, so once piece flowed into the next. and this
also kind of points to my next question..
why end with WM? i can totally
understand why begin with QG, but why end with WM? i have seen people who have
complained about WM being the last song because they want the album to end on a
lighter note. but if this is a movie, QG will be the introduction, CXTT & EWZZ
will be building up to the climax, which is DS & JHQ, and finally, SGJ & WM is the
resolution part. and although the dramatic/excitement level has fallen from the climax,
but it still rises a little towards the end, as all movies kind of do. i don't
know if this makes sense. i'm actually still thinking as i write this down.
one more question/observation (totally boliao and pointless):
you know the part in BRW where it suddenly breaks into piano? yesh, i thought
immediately "jay", but then i was immediately proven wrong as the
piano soon turned into a joke. do you think it was a spoof (at jay maybe)?
CONCLUSION:
i think they were in an awfully difficult situation this time. it was what i
would call a lose-lose situation. after 2 years hiatus, they have every pair of
eyes in taiwan and even asia's on them. the 4th album could continue what they
were in the first 3, but people would say that they did not improve in the two
years and that they are stagnant as musicians. or, they could change in the 4th
album, show us that they have matured and grown musically as well as mentally
and pyschologically, as they have done here, but people will also start
complaining about how they have abandoned their roots and original style. so
which one should they go for? the key is to strike a balance, which i think they
have done extremely well here.
do i like the album?
yes i do. i love it. it has not fallen short of expectations. for one, it
provokes thoughts, images, stories and tonnes of emotion. most importantly, it
is also the result of what they had put in. they put in 100%, sacrificed
everything, sleep, health, rest, even kinship. in the end, you do get a 100% album. but i dislike it as well, for all the
questions it raises in my mind. so is there a net liking or dislike? i don't
know. sometimes i love, sometimes i don't, sometimes i fall in between. but <Shi
Guang Ji> definitely has qualities of a 'stayer', like all their previous
albums... they are 'staying in my mind and drilling a hole in my heart', heh heh
heh...
the above have been
written as they come to my mind. and i don't dare to say that they are true or
that i have 'analysed' the album thoroughly or professionally. that will be left
to professional reviewers. in fact, i have purposely left out the "trying to be
technical" part to spare everyone the torture cos of my lack of knowledge. i have merely written down what i feel and random
thoughts that pop into my mind as i was listening to the album. More
importantly, as you probably already know, GOODS and BADS don't fall into
distinct categories that i have put them in above. i sometimes love the bad and
hate the good and sometimes realise they are all the same thing. alright, i'm
confusing myself. shall stop here now.
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ADDITIONS:
i realised that i just can't help but keep changing stuff and adding
stuff to what i have wrote. so, to stay true to my original thoughts, i
shall add my new additions here.
2003/11/14: i just read an article on ashin talking about monster's mum. i
came up with this thinking - a lot of people have complained that the album is
about lost love and they feel like mayday has lost something, turning to
ballad-y love pop songs, but have we forgotten that love is such a broad
category? we can take it simply as love between two people, or all the different
kinds of love that i'm sure you know, like kinship. and yes, the album is about
lost love, but lost 'broad love', about regrets in our lives. the album is
limited because we imposed our narrow-mindedness on it.
if <SGJ> was a love movie, it's an unhappy ending. if it was a saga about
a hero,
he dies heroically, yet lonely and tragically. if it was a realistic drama, this life is
plagued with regrets. ashin even talks of slitting his wrist in WM. i was tramautised. i wonder how much they must have went through to motivate them
to produce something so sad. it was extremely depressing. it's really a kind of
unspeakable sadness that i can't describe. like someone died and there's no
tears left, just this empty, silent grief...i remember a friend once asked me, monster's mum
is so sick, how can he still smile and joke like he does, how can he still look
so strong on the outside? well, now we know, this is how he really feels, how
they all really feel..
"they talk about them having changed and matured in the 2 yrs and how this album
reflects the change in them. if this is so, then the album really does reflect
the increasing hopelessness and cynicism of growing up??" quoting my friend, i
have the same worry. and i am really, honestly worried. why worried? because of
the possibilities they bring up with this album. they are hope and direction and
advice and strength to me, if they lose their strength, then..... then what?
2003/11/16: i think i know why SGJ and WM was made to join up. it's like, SGJ is sad, but still
manageable.. then, unknowingly, you just flow
into WM, and before you know it, the touch of sadness has spiraling into super
depression. it "hugs you from behind secretly" (quote ashin), creeps up
on you and throws you into an unspeakable sadness... and because of this
reason, WM is a perfect ending song for this album.
Out of
point, but this is to those people who are in confusion like me:
我要你看到我你不該猜測應該享受
我要你愛上我你不該猜測應該愛我
我可以是男是女 可以漂浮不定
可以調整百分比
只要你愛我一切都沒問題
只要你愛我一切都沒問題
don't
try to evaluate so much, if you think too much, you are missing the
point - this is what someone just told me. i do, i love it, but i still
don't know why.
2003/11/18: just a wild thought that popped into my head, to illustrate
what a freak i am... i know, 0 points, but i just had to say it.
hehhehheh...
if they
knew all the variables that affected the likeability of their
songs and the elasticity of each variable, i.e. how sensitive
is likeability to 'rock-ness', to 'different themes', to 'length', to
'different singing styles' etc, then they could progamme all these into
a linear programme, and then take first order condition (differentiate
and put to zero), to find the optimal combination that maximises the
total utility derived from their songs. hah! problem solved! then they
won't have to bother about people complaining and stuff cos they know
that at the optimal combination, they cannot change the variables
anymore to provide any more utility! ha! there you have it!
but of
course, what do we all know about economic models? useful in theory,
lousy in reality. oh dear, if only i were also so brilliant in my work.
2003/11/19: CLARIFICATION: i criticise because i like them. the more i
like them, the higher the standards i compare them to, the harsher i am.
i know it's not fair to have double standards. but they are Mayday! they
are not just anybody... and any criticisms at all is because i want them
to be better, better than they are now, better than they ever were and
just keep on getting better.
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