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| Album: Pervertic Females [Bian Tai Shao Nu] Singer: SOS Record Label: Skyhigh Entertainment Number of Tracks: 12 Released: December 2001 |
| This is SOS' first Mandarin album after a hiatus of five years from the Mandarin pop scene, and what a way to make a comeback! But... is this the SOS whom we know -- DON't expect the usually bubbly Hsu Hze-Huan and Hsu Hze-Ti you see in their hosting of entertainment programmes in this album. Judging from their style in the album cover, it is inevitable that the public in general assumed that this album is of Satanic nature, which probably explains the rather average response in terms of album sales. It's true to claim that SOS' latest album is very different from other mainstream albums you see around today, but the publicity stint worked out by the promotional department of the record label does not seem to be very successful, given the general public assumption. In the album, you should expect to hear a wide assortment of instruments which is used in the arrangements of twelve recorded songs. Thus, I find it a pity that none of the songs from this musically-rich album is nominated for the latest Taiwan Hit Awards. It is the arrangements of the songs which make the album especially interesting to listen. For example, drums, basses, violins, cellos, guitars, pianos, saxophones, trumpets and trombones, among many others, are involved in the wide genre of the album. This is one fact that most album reviews just briefly brush across. Instead, the media chose to focus on the 'pervertic' lyrics of the songs in the album, making it seem that the album is full of such lyrics, when it is only a minimal amount. Credit ought to be given to the lyricists of the songs, who are mainly SOS, with Mavis Fan's help for two tracks, due to them venturing into a genre of music in the Chinese pop scene which haven't been explored much yet. To me, the most pervertic line in the album is "Tear off your flesh bit by bit and dig out your heart / The one who should be dead is you" from "Last Words of the Dead". The lyrics sheet is full of personal writings from Big S and Small S themselves, giving a personal touch to the album. Thus, one can relate to why they write the songs in that way. For example, "Love's Not Ever-Lasting", which can be deemed to be one of the more normal tracks in the album, and is a potential radio chart it and a must in dedication programmes, is written by Small S after a quarrel with ex-boyfriend Huang Zijiao, who claimed that they will always be together after he had listened to the song. However, a few weeks later, he left her... On the packaging, should you buy the 2nd version, where the album comes with a free VCD, it seems a very good deal for your $20. There's a lot of footage of behind the scenes happenings, and many MTVs as well. It is unfair for such a good album to be deemed unacceptable by the public, as this album is a rare gem among the many commercialised albums released in the market today. Favourite Tracks [In Order Of Preference]: 1 Love You Till I Die [Ai Ni Ai Dao Si] 2 Painful Silence [Tong Ku De Chen Mo] 3 Love's Not Ever-Lasting [Ai Bu Chi Jiu] 4 Missing Diary of Pervertic Females [Bian Tai Shao Nu Xiang Ren Ji] 5 Whirlwind [Long Juan Feng] Rating: A- |