STAR BOXX

WILD BOY

 LINDA WONG

MAVIS FAN

MINDY KE

THE FLOWERS 

OPEN STAR BOXX

 Can't Feel You

BREAK THE HEART BOTTLE

I WANT US TO BE TOGETHER

I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU

THE FLOWERS

EMIL CHAU

ELVA

 VINCENT CHANG

LAWRENCE CHAU

 VIVIAN HSU

VARIOUS

NOW

 ELVA

DISCOVER

GOOD

UNDEFEATED LOVER

HOPE 2000

After introducing YIYO to listeners in August 1999 and more recently The Flowers, Rock Records has once again unleashed another trio group : Star Boxx (or Xing He Zi).  Comprising of two guys & one girl (note : originally Star Boxx is a foursome group but one of the members have quitted), they are from Hong Kong and they are, on average, twenty-four years old.  This is their debut album and the record company has labeled their music as "DIY" (or "Do It Yourself" or "Do It Your Way") which supposedly means that they use their own ways to create music ...... er, get it?  

Their music is described as fresh, friendly and comfortable to the ears.  While a few of the tracks are written by the ex-member, the majority of them are still the works of the present Star Boxx personnel.   The first single "Half Beat Faster, Half Beat Slower" is a lively & happy tune which delves on the theme of friendship and is written by one of the existing members named Xu Ju Zhong.  He also writes the second, third and fourth singles, namely, the ballad "On The First Day Of Separation", the folkish-pop "Good Friend" and the light-tempo "You Are Troublesome".

If you have RealPlayer , click below to preview these four singles.

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Background info : this duo group hails from China, they formed "Wild Box" (or Ye Hai Zi) in 1998, they write and arrange their own songs, both are twenty-four years old and below are the pics of these two dudes :

Chen Yu Fan (Sings & Plays The Guitar)

Hu Hai Quan (Sings & Plays The Keyboards)

"Can't Feel You" is their debut album.  The music style in this ten-track release is a fusion of pop and rock.  The first single is the title track which is a light & slow rock ballad, other songs include the light tempo number "Most Beautiful" (note : another Rock Records singer Vincent Chang or Zhang Wen Sen has recently done a cover of this song in his debut album "Discover") and another slow rock composition titled "Who".

If you have RealPlayer , click below to preview the afore-mentioned three tracks.

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MUSIC STYLE : MOSTLY BALLADS

OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE

After a three year hiatus, Linda Wong (or Wang Xi Ping) has finally released a brand new Mandarin album under a new record label (note : her last Mandarin LP "Calm" was released way back in 1996).  Altogether there are ten tracks here and producers include Chen Xiao Juan, singer Yu Guan Hua and Li Bing Zhong.

The first single is a nice ballad Track 2 "Petty" composed by Mo Fan and written by Shi Fang.  The second single is another ballad Track 1 "Let's Treat As We've Never Met Before" composed and produced by Chen Xiao Juan.  Linda herself composed the acoustic-sounding ballad title Track 6 "Break The Heart Bottle".  In fact over half of the album consists of slow ballads and while they made easy-listening, it's a pity that most of them lack the evergreen factor (i.e. they sound boring after a few listening runs).  Even the few fast tracks such as Track 3 "Now" and Track 9 "Eclipse" fail to brighten up the listening experience.  

Linda sings competently like the way she did a few years back.  Overall, an album that does not provide any surprises after such a long wait.  An album strictly for her fans only.

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MUSIC STYLE : VARIED (JAZZ/RETRO/FOLK/ROCK/TECHNO/BALLAD)

OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE

Amid all the hoo-ha surrounding her contract dispute with Decca Records and her alleged (or should I say confirmed) love affair with Lawrence Chau (who also coincidentally released his new album "Good" recently), Mavis Fan (or Fan Xiao Xuan) has finally released her long-delayed brand new album "I Want Us To Be Together".  Speaking about the title track, on Xuan Xuan's album press conference on 29 Nov 99 Monday, Lawrence Chau made a surprise appearance and allegedly said "Mavis, I Want Us To Be Together" (exact quote from her title track) right in front of the whole press - what a brave dude!

Back to this new release, there are altogether ten tracks and are produced by, among others, Huang Guo Lun, Li Quan, Huang Yi and Mavis herself.  

The first single is the mid-tempo title Track 1"I Want Us To Be Together" which is a light and elegant jazz piece written by China musician Li Quan.  This is the same guy who wrote the brilliant track "Cried" (or Ku Le) and "Blue Cheongsam" in Mavis's last album "Darling".  Check him out as he appears alongside Xuan Xuan in the song's MTV.  

The second single from the album is a ballad called "Expired" (Track 6).  It is written by uprising composer Chen Wei Ling who recently lent her vocals in the demo track "Three Seconds" in the album "Demo 2".  Mavis also contributed two competent works in this release, the breezy Track 7 "Thinking Of You" and the slow Track 9 "Can't See" which has been given a rock-guitar feel music arrangement.

There's a fair mix of fast & slow/mid-tempo tracks here and Mavis has once again experimented with various music fashions like rock, techno, jazz, retro and folk - music variety is definitely a big plus in this album.  However her attempt at an English techno-rock piece Track 10 "Into You" turns out to be a dud because it sounds monotonous and repetitive and certainly doesn't suit Mavis's light vocals.

It's a pleasure and rewarding experience to hear Mavis sing.  She has a gift of sounding poignant on sad numbers (witness her interpretation of the heart-wrenching Track 2 "Sometimes" written by Huang Guo Lun) while at the same time bringing the right amount of mischievousness and light-heartedness to lively songs like Track 4 "Defeated Man" and Track 8 "The Few Hours On The Plane".

Let's hope she can settle her contract hassles soon so that we don't have to wait for another one and a half years before her next new work comes out.

(Final Note : On the visual side, I like the album's creative use of neon lights whose effects have been wonderfully captured on film by Taiwan famous photographer Shockley Huang (or Huang Zhong Ping).  According to the credits inside the lyrics booklet, the multi-talented Mavis is responsible for this vision.  Refer below for some of these pics.)

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Sony Music has done it again.  Just when Mindy Ke (or Ke Yi Min) is about to release her brand new album "Beauty" under another label, Sony has once more unleashed another collection album to "distract" her fans from the new release.  

Titled "I Will Always Love You", this 2-CD compilation contains fourteen tracks.  One disc contains four previously unreleased live concert tracks such as the title track originally sung by Whitney Houston, another popular English cover "The Power Of Love", Halem Yu's (or Yu Cheng Qing) "Only For You" (or Zhi You Wei Ni) and Lin Zhi Xuan's "Something Good Or Bad For Life" (or Gei Ni Yi Xie Bu Gei Yi Xie).

The other CD contains mostly lesser known songs from Mindy's previous albums, such as "When Tears Flowed Across The Face" (or Dang Lei Hua Guo Lian Pang) found in her first Sony album "Broken String"; "Sensitive" (or Min Gan) and "Unspeakable" (or Ai Zai She Jian) both of which are found in her second Sony release "Love Me";  "Bygone Love" (or Jiu Ai) and "Wishful Thinking" (or Xiang De Tai Mei) which are contained in her third offering "Neighboring Ear"; and "Lonely Road" (or Ji Mo Gong Lu Shang) and "Poster" (or Hai Bao) found in her last Sony release "Hold Me Now".  Two better known hits can be found here too, they are "Too Silly" (or Tai Sha) and the solo version of "Love Me" (or Ai Wo).

Given a choice, I still prefer the last compilation "Visit" (refer below for cover pic) released by Sony in January this year as it contains a much better reflection of Mindy's bona-fide hits like "Love Me", "Hold Me Now", "Neighbouring Ear", "Broken String" and the duet with Coco "Crying In The Dark".

 "Visit" 

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Some background info about The Flowers (or Hua Er) : they are an all-male trio rock band from China; their average age is under eighteen years old; they write and play their own songs; their compositions are apparently so hot that Taiwan singers like Karen Mok & Faith Yang Nai Wen have pounced to cover their works; their debut release in China is titled "Happiness's Side"; and they have been hailed as the youngest under aged band ever to exist in the China rock music industry.  Below is a pic of them :

This four-track self-titled EP marks their debut entry into the Taiwan music scene - it is essentially a singles CD as the band only sang two self-composed songs here : "Extinguish" & "Silent End".  The remaining two numbers are the cover versions of the afore-mentioned tracks - Karen Mok sung the cover for "Extinguish" (which was included in her last Mandarin album "You Can") and Faith Yang Nai Wen covered "Silent End" (which can be found in her latest offering "Silence").

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MUSIC STYLE : EASY-LISTENING POP

OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE

Emil Chau (or Zhou Hua Jian or Wakin) has finally completed his long-delayed brand new Mandarin album (note : originally scheduled for a July release, it was pushed forward to the end of Nov becos Wakin has been busy filming the Golden Horse Best Film nominated movie "Purple Storm" co-starring Joan Chen & Daniel Wu).  But since this album contains as much as four advertisement theme songs, therefore prior its release, the lucky Taiwan fans already had a chance to listen to these tracks through the ads.

Altogether there are twelve tracks here, out of which seven are his own compositions (note : he also acts as the album producer).  A major reason behind Wakin's mass appeal lies in his catchy melodies and simple lyrics.  Fortunately he has not lost that touch here, take for instance the first single Track 7 "Give Me One Second", it is a light-tempo track which is simply begging to be sung in karaoke pubs.  Another case in point : the lively duet Track 4 "Pained Before" sung together with Karen Mok.  

His mellow works are also highly-listenable, such as Track 1 "Propose Marriage" (my only complaint is the music arrangement which has an irritating "sizzzz" sound permeating throughout the song) and Track 8 "Capable Love".

However there's one aspect of his music that I am personally repelled to, namely, his childish works.  Did anyone remember that irritating duet with Tarcy Su "Coffee, Tea Or Me"?  In this new album, he has come up with another kiddy song Track 9 "Far Far Away".  I understand he must have young fans hearing his music and so maybe he needs to fulfill their listening tastes but I guess I'm too old for these kind of songs.

It's a good idea for Wakin to include a fair share of other people's compositions in his album (note : there are five here) so as to add more music variety.  They are mostly cover versions including Jonathan Lee's hit "Devil's Tempt" (or Gui Mi Xin Qiao) and two versions of a nice ballad called "Now If I" originally sung by a group band from China.  Emil also sang competently his first-ever Hokkien track "An Afternoon Show", originally performed by Hokkien singer Chen Ming Zhang.  The only non-cover track is the supporting theme song of the TV hit serial "Mulan" starring Anita Yuen & Zhao Wen Zhuo, called "Shang Shang Qian" which was already included in an earlier-released TV soundtrack compilation album.

All in all, a radio-friendly release that should keep his broad-age-range fans satisfied and happy.

To stamp piracy, lots of goodies await fans who buy any two versions of the limited-edition CDs : the first is the super-deluxe album CDs (only 10,000 in stock but it will cost you around S$55/- if you buy it in Singapore) - you'll get a 24-CD wall-hanging bag, a T-shirt, a Wakin watch, a mobile phone accessory and a Wakin Y2K calendar; the second is the normal-deluxe album CD whereby there's a mobile phone accessory and a Wakin Y2K calendar.

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MUSIC STYLE : R&B DANCE / BALLADS

OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE

The third female newbie originating from Virgin Music (after Jiang Mei Qi and Hou Xiang Ting) who is said to resemble Coco Lee in the looks area and is reportedly a pro on stage too.  Like another EMI newcomer Ruby, the twenty-year-old Elva (or Xiao Ya Xuan) also studied in Canada and has participated in singing competitions before when she was in Vancouver.  

Altogether there are ten tracks here and they are mainly Western-style R&B/dance numbers, very much like Coco's music style.  The first single Track 1 "No One" (or Mei You Ren) is a soul ballad with a Latin flavour.  Composed by Chen Wei & written by Yao Qian, some feel it has a touch of Karen Mok's singing style in it.  

The second single is a nice R&B ballad Track 6 "Best Known Stranger" which is also written by Yao Qian and composed by a newcomer by the name of Ke Zhao Lei.

Lest you think that the album is choked with slow numbers judging from the first two singles, it actually consists of mostly fast dance tracks and many of them are covers of Western works (as much as six out of the ten songs here are cover versions) - a big minus in terms of originality.  Thankfully many of the dance numbers are catchy enough to make you want to groove along with them, such as Track 2 "Cappuccino", Track 4 "Born To Choose" and Track 9 "Love Oneself More".

Elva's debut performance is impressive for a newcomer.  She sounds at ease with both fast and slow numbers.  Kudos to the record company for selecting the right music niche that matches her vocals and image.  Although I guess some will complain that she is merely copying Coco's style, but this newbie sure gives Coco a run for her money - besides, what's wrong with having one more "Coco" around in the Taiwan music scene since the real diva herself is expected to spend more time in the international music market in year 2k.

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A debut album from Vincent Chang (or Zhang Wen Sen).  Some background info : he's 33 years old, he used to sing in pubs, he likes rock music, he has formed group bands before and he writes his own music.  This release consists of mostly his own works and while it leans towards the rock genre, it's not the hard-core type but rather a more accessible and mainstream type (hint : think Wu Bai).  The fast-rock title track "Discover" is written and produced by himself.  The second single "Thinking Of Your Goodness" is another of his composition and is a Wu Bai-style slow-rock ballad.  But unlike Wu Bai, his vocals sound cleaner and hover around a higher pitch, something like a cross between Zhang Zheng Yue and Yin Zheng Yang - yup you didn't get me wrong, it's THAT Yin Zheng Yang :) 

This thirteen-track album is also produced by, among others, Peter Wong and Han Xian Guang.

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This is Lawrence Chau's (or Zhou Jun Wei & no, we are not talking about that Singapore ex-Showbuzz compere of the same name) third Mandarin album.  Better known for his ballad love hits in his past two releases, he has embarked on a slight musical change by focusing on more western-style fast tracks here, such as the pulsating rock title track "Good" written by Beyond member Huang Guan Zhong.  A note-worthy highlight is that the husband of Faye Wong's sister-in-law, Zhang Ya Dong, is involved in this ten-track album music production too.  

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Vivian Hsu (or Xu Ruo Xuan) has released her second solo Mandarin album.  Some background info : she's better known for her achievements in Japan as part of the popular group Black Biscuits (or Hei Se Bin Gan) and she has been romantically linked to Nicky Wu (or Wu Qi Long) before in the past.  The title track "Undefeated Lover" is a light-tempo and catchy folk-rock number with a Japanese flavour.  Altogether there are ten songs in the album.

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In my personal view, this is a very "practical" collection album.  Why? Because only the songs by artistes whose albums sold well this year are included here : these albums are William So's "Love Someone Is So Hard", Andy Hui's "Faith In Love", Kelly Chan's compilation "Love Kelly", Faye Wong's collection "Faye Love Life" and undoubtedly the best-selling female newcomer of the year Zhou Hui's "Zhou Hui Collection".

So who are the unlucky Decca artistes who are missing in action here apparently due to unsatisfactory sales performance this year? They are Stephen Fung (or Feng De Lun) with his "Love Not Enough" debut album, IPIS with their "Give Me A Hand" and female newcomer Alex Zhu Shao Wei's first LP "Gotta Have You Now".  Another glaring absence is Mavis Fan (or Fan Xiao Xuan) who is not here for a different reason.  There is no question that Mavis's past albums chalked up huge sales, so why are her songs excluded when hits as old as those by Faye Wong, who's not even a Decca artiste now, can be found here while Xuan Xuan's more recent excellent hits like "Oxygen" (or Yang Qi) and "Cried" (or Ku Le) are left out in the cold?  The reason is reportedly due to the cold war being waged between Mavis and Decca over some contract disagreement, which has also led to the delay of her long-due new album (side-note : Mavis latest offering "I Want Us To Be Together" is finally out on 30 Nov - refer above.)

Back to this compilation : out of the sixteen hits here, six of them belong to William So alone (note : this reinforces him as the No. 1 star in Decca Records), among which are "I'm Sad For You" (or Wo Wei Ni Shang Xing), "Old Love Is Still The Best" (or Jiu Ai Hai Shi Zui Mei), "Sorry" and the Japanese duet "Believe" sung with Yuko Yamaguchi.  William also sang the only new track in this album, namely a cover of Jonathan Lee's "Hope" (or Xi Wang).

Other songs include Andy Hui's "You Loved Him" (or Ni Ai Shang Ta), Zhou Hui's "Empty" (or Kong Bai) & "Wings Of Thoughts" (or Si Nian De Chi Bang), Faye Wong's "Chess" (or Qi Zi) & "Cold War" (or Leng Zhan) and Kelly Chan's "Lover's Concerto" & "Can't Help" (or Qing Bu Zi Jin).

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