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FAYE WONG (HOPE FOR MORTAL ETERNALITY) (CINEPOLY)
ALBUM NOT REVIEWED
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Another collection from Faye Wong's old record company. This is solid proof as to how bankable Faye Wong is - almost every year her old record company will release a newly-packaged Faye Wong collection hoping to entice her expanding and existing fans to buy it. There is currently no less than five collection albums from her ex-record company on the market. "Hope For Mortal Eternality" is the latest re-packaged collection for 1999.
It is a two-CD collection containing thirty-two Cantonese and Mandarin songs. I feel there's really no need to introduce her old tracks here, almost all of her popular Cantonese/Mandarin hits are here.
So if you are one of those rare few who have not bought any of Faye Wong's collection albums yet, you can start with this one. For me, I'm just wondering how long before her old record company will run out of milk from this cash cow.
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GI GI LEUNG (TODAY) (EEI)
ALBUM NOT REVIEWED
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Gi Gi's first EP for 1999. It contains five
songs, including a sunny remix version of Track 1 "I
Like". Two of the tracks are actually Hong Kong
advertisement theme songs.
In order to entice her fans to buy the EP, it comes bundled with
a VCD containing the MTV of "I Like", a mouse pad,
stickers and a CD-Rom.
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VARIOUS ARTISTES (HEALING
HANDS) (KLINSTON RECORDS)
ALBUM NOT REVIEWED
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This is a soundtrack to the hugely popular TVB
ER-type serial "Healing Hands". It contains songs
which have been played in the series before.
The compilation in the album seems not bad : the songs include
William So's "Don't Want To Be Happy By Myself",
German group Trademark's "I'll Be The One", Michael
Learns To Rock's "Paint My Love" and there's even a
duet between the serial's two leading protagonists, Lawrence Ng
(or Wu Qi Hua) and Ada Choi (or Cai Shao Fen) "Every
Minute, Every Second Is Devoted To You". There's even a
bonus karaoke VCD which features four of the songs in the album
CD.
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ALAN TAM (ETERNAL GRATITUDE) (UNIVERSAL)
ALBUM NOT REVIEWED
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This is a new song + old hits collection from
Alan Tam.
The new song is "Gratitude" sung together with Jacky
Cheung and Ronald Cheng. Old hits include "If Know So
What" and "Concern".
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EDDIE NG (EDDIE'S THEME) (GO
EAST ENTERTAINMENT)
MUSIC STYLE : MAINLY BALLADS / MID-TEMPO POP
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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Eddie Ng (or Wu Guo Jing) has released
Cantonese albums before in the past but without much success.
But ever since he wrote the jackpot song "Sadder With Every
Kiss" for William So in 1998, he's suddenly a hot property
in Hong Kong. Now he even has a chance to release a new
Cantonese album containing his own compositions.
In his latest offering, more than half of the album's songs are
tracks written by him but sung by other singers before. They
include Sammi Cheng's "Crying Game", "Perfect
Companion" and "Our Theme Song", Aaron Kwok's
"Happy Christmas In The Warfield", Andy Hui's
"Faith With Heart" (Eddie actually sung this song
together with Andy Hui here) and of course not forgetting
William So's "Sadder With Every Kiss" (also a duet
with William in this album). The good thing is Eddie is able to
inject his own style into each of these cover versions, I guess
it's becos they are his own compositions in the first place.
Even the new songs like Track 1 "Actually I Love You
Deeply" and Track 2 "Bring You To See Scenery" do
not disappoint. Eddie's vocals are low and husky, they sound
like a cross between Tony Leung (or Liang Chao Wei) and Leon
Lai.
This is a good pop album not to be missed.
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RATING :  (4
out of 5)
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EASON CHAN (GOD BLESS LOVER)
(CAPITAL ARTISTS)
MUSIC STYLE : VARIED (BALLAD/ROCK/JAZZ)
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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Eason's latest Cantonese release.
The album starts off promisingly. The first three tracks are
highly listenable and radio-friendly, especially Track 3
"Every Tomorrow" whose lyrics incidentally contains
the album title name.
The letdown comes in the second half of the album which is
produced by Grasshopper member Calvin Choy (or Cai Yi Zhi). All
the three tracks that he wrote for Eason are disappointing as
the melodies are at best average but forgettable, the only
saving grace is Eason's vocals and the lyrics which are written
by some of the best in the Hong Kong music scene today like Lin
Xi and Huang Wei Wen.
Nicholas Tse (or Xie Ting Feng) also composed one number for
Eason in Track 5 "One" - the result is passable but
there's nothing much to brag about. Thankfully, the album ends
off with a nice and tasteful piano piece "Beethoven and
I".
Overall it is Eason's vocal performance which uplifts this
latest offering characterised by an equal mix of good and
mediocre material. Hopefully Eason's next album will be more
consistent as in his previous ones.
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RATING :  (3
out of 5)
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LILIAN HO (OCCUPY) (FITTO)
ALBUM NOT REVIEWED
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After her successful debut EP "My
Dream" in 1998, Lilian Ho (or He Jia Li) is back with her
first brand new solo album.
There are twelve songs in this album including the champion song
"The More It's Wrong, The More It's Love" from Hong
Kong's CASH song writing competition.
A bonus MTV VCD containing three songs from the album (including
the title track "Occupy" and "The More It's
Wrong, The More It's Love" comes together with the
CD.
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ANITA MUI (LARGER THAN LIFE)
(CAPITAL ARTISTS)
MUSIC STYLE : BALLADS / TECHNO-POP / ROCK-POP
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE / ANITA MUI
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Anita Mui has been around for a really long
while, but I've always respect her determination to keep herself
abreast with the times, not only in terms of fashion but also in
her music. This latest Cantonese offering by her does just that
and I guess it has a lot to do with the music producers, in
particular Anthony Wong (or Huang Yao Ming) and Calvin Choy (or
Cai Yi Zhi, who's one of the members of Anita's protege group
The Grasshoppers), both of whom oversee seven (out of ten) songs
in this album.
There's an equal mix of slow and fast tempo songs in this
release. Outstanding ballad tracks include Track 1 "No
Happiness, No Vomit" and Track 7 "Anonymous".
Track 2 "Colourful Stage" and the title track Track 10
"Larger Than Life" are some of the dance tracks which
stand out.
There's no need to comment on Anita's vocals, if there's ever a
peak in terms of vocal performance, Anita has already topped
that a long time ago. She sounds at ease with any kind of song
here : with the ballads, she's so heartfelt and soothing and
with the dance tracks, she sounds wild and liberated (check out
in particular the dance number Track 6 "Anti-Privacy"
and you'll know what I mean).
On the hold, this album does not disappoint. Way to go gal!
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RATING : (4
out of 5)
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CASS PHANG (ONE STALK OF
FLOWER) (SONY MUSIC)
MUSIC STYLE : EASY-LISTENING LIVELY POP
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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After joining a new record company, Cass has
bounced back with a new look and new music. Lively is the word
to describe this album from everything from her image right down
to the songs.
From Track 1 to Track 6, all the numbers are lively and
fast-tempo pop tunes. And I'm amazed by the high quality of
these back-to-back songs : with the exception of Track 6, all
the tracks from Track 1 to Track 5 are highly-listenable. They
include Track 1 "To All The Guys I've Loved Before"
and the title track Track 2 "One Stalk Of Flower".
Equally important is the confident and good vocal performance
put in by Cass.
The mood only starts to mellow down from Track 7 onwards.
However the weakness of the album also lies in this latter half.
Except for Track 9 "Expiry Date For Taste", all the
songs from Track 6 to Track 11 sound forgettable. Although Cass
has been known for her hit ballads in the past, surprisingly the
producers could not come up with at least some good slow tunes
in this album. This is really a waste because the album would be
nice and complete if Cass can belt out some nice sentimental
songs, considering that they have already succeeded in
transforming Cass by showcasing her lively side.
Two bonus Mandarin tracks are also included in the album : but
they are the counterparts of the Cantonese tracks "One
Stalk Of Flower" and "Expiry Date For Taste".
All in all, a refreshing album by Cass. Welcome back gal.
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RATING : (4
out of 5 for first half of album)
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 (2
out of 5 for second half of album)
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EASON CHAN (NEW LIFE - LIVE) (CAPITAL ARTISTS)
MUSIC STYLE : MAINLY BALLADS / SOFT-ROCK
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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Having been voted by Hong Kong listeners in early 1999 as the singer they most want to watch in concert, Eason Chan has finally got a chance to hold his solo live concert on a big scale and this album contains the recording of the event.
Some of the highlights include singing competantly the famous Hokkien song "Fight To Win" as well as trying a tenor Mozart piece. However ultimately it is Eason's own songs and hits like "My Happy Times" and "Be With Me" which matter most. Without disappointing his voters, Eason turned in a solid and confident live performance. Personally I think this is the guy to watch out for in the Hongkong music scene for 1999.
Enough said. Go grab this album.
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RATING : (4
out of 5)
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JULIAN CHEUNG (MONSIEUR ENFANT) (EMI)
MUSIC STYLE : MAINLY BALLADS / MID-TEMPO
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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This is the latest release from Chi Lam but it's an EP containing only four songs and two instrumental pieces.
The title track "Monsieur Enfant" or "Mr Kid" is the only fast number in this EP. With lyrics by
Hong Kong radio DJ Wyman (or Huang Wei Wen) and melody by Zhang Jia Tian who's a member of the
Hong Kong group Black Box, it's a fun song about looking at the adult's world from the eyes of a child. The remaining three songs are slow tracks which are easy-listening but nothing much to brag about. Julian's vocals are ok and he performed all the tracks
competently.
The music producer of this EP is Calvin Choy (or Cai Yi Zhi), one of the members of the
Hong Kong group Grasshoppers. He also overlooked the art direction and photography of this EP, giving it a very strong French image.
Overall, nothing really exciting about this radio-friendly EP. Strictly for Chi Lam's fans only.
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RATING : (3
out of 5)
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