CD review

Jacky Cheung ±i¾Ç¤Í "Release myself ÄÀ©ñ¦Û¤v"
Marks: Melody:70 Lyrics:75 Arrangement:70 Voice:85 Utility: 70
Comments: Exploring new types of songs, Jacky performed quite well, especially the song with Eric Kot ¸¯¥Á½÷. He also sings his usual romantic songs, still impressive.
Recommended tracks: "Message ¯d¨¥", "Don't want this to be a movie ¤£·Q³o¬O³õÀ¸"

Every Little Thing "Time to Destination"
Marks: Melody:75 Lyrics:N/A (I don't know Japanese) Arrangement:85 Voice:95 Utility: 80
Comments: This new Japanese group is so talented, good melodies, great leading vocal, just listen and feel....
Recommended tracks: "Time goes by", "For the moment"

Edmond Leung, Miriam Yeung & Eason Chan ±çº~¤å+·¨¤då_+³¯«³¨³ "Very exciting ideas ¤j¿E·Q" (CD+VCD)
Marks: Melody:80 Lyrics:80 Arrangement:70 Voice:80 Utility:80
Comments: Nice ad song for Coke, the ad of these 3 young stars looks nice, better than only inviting 1 big star (Like Aaron for Pepsi). The song itself is not bad, OK for an ad. The song is the most appropiate of Lam Mo-Tak's recent pieces (his other recent pieces sucks). Miriam's song is very good, fits her style, simple, clean and fresh. Edmond's is quite good too, although the dialogue in the song sounds stupid. The VCD is nice too, includes the ad and MTV.
Recommended tracks: "Very exciting ideas ¤j¿E·Q (¦X°Û)", "Only need to consider my betterment ¥u­n¬°§Ú¦n (·¨¤då_)", "Please ½Ð§A (±çº~¤å)"

Kit, Chan Kit-Yee ³¯¼ä»ö "Dreams and memories ¦³§A·R¹L§Ú
Marks: Melody:85 Lyrics:75 Arrangement:80 Voice:95 Utility:85
Comments: Great presentation by Kit. People should admire her voice more, not her body.The production is quite good, and Mark Lui add some interesting content into Kit's usual style.
Recommended tracks: "Speak nice ¦n»¡¸Ü", "Wonderful ¯«©_", "Having been your lover ¦³§A·R¹L§Ú".

Yuki Chui, Ng Pui-Tse, Lee Sum-Kit & Chan Yee-Jing ®}Ãhà±+§d¨Ø·O+§õ¤ß¼ä+³¯ºö­s "Girl samples ¤Ö¤k¼Ð¥»"
Marks: Melody:75 Lyrics:70 Arrangement:85 Voice:80 Utility:80
Comments: "Packaged" as Japanese singers, the songs inside are typical Taiwanese. All 4 tracks in the CD are "fast" songs which HK now lacks. Each of them has the potential to be future stars (of course Yuki Chui has become a star already after ther first album in Taiwan). MTVs in the VCD are enjoyable, better than those in HK.
Recommended tracks: (in CD)"The tearful decision °{µÛ²\¥úªº¨M©w(§d¨Ø·O)", "Let me think Åý§Ú·Q¤@·Q(³¯ºö­s)" (in VCD) "Love is like having a bad cold ·R¹³¤@³õ­«·P«_(®}Ãhà±)

Grace, Yip Pui-Man ¸­¨Ø¶² "Grace"
Marks: Melody:70 Lyrics:65 Arrangement:75 Voice:70 Utility:65
Comments: The first Hong Kong singer to become Tetsuya Komuro's familty member. To me the songs are not very special, not as good as Komuro's Japanese melodies.
Recommended tracks: "In your arms"

Sammi Cheng ¾G¨q¤å "Feel so good"
Marks: Melody:65 Lyrics:60 Arrangement:70 Voice:75 Utility:65
Comments: Quite a boring album. The songs are getting plain. She should find other variety in her albums.
Recommended tracks: "Ideal lover ²z·Q¹ï¶H", "Retrieval mark °O»{"

Priscilla Chan ³¯¼z¼_ "Time in a Bottle ·RÅʤG¤d¤p®É"
Marks: Melody:65 Lyrics:65 Arrangement:65 Voice:80 Utility:70
Comments: Not much have changed after she has moved to Cinepoly, usual "Priscilla style". I found her voice is very similar to Vivian Chow especially when she's singing high notes.
Recommended tracks: "Distance ¶ZÂ÷", "Once and forever ±q¤@¦Ó²×", "The letter you left §A¯d§Cªº«H"

Leon Lai ¾¤©ú "I love you like this §Ú³o¼Ë·R©p" (EP)
Marks: Melody:70 Lyrics:70 Arrangement:85 Voice:80 Utility:75
Comments: His first EP in Sony is quite good and successful, probably helped by the advertisements of Hutchison on TV. Mark Lui continued to be the producer, and not much has been changed.
Recommended tracks: "I love you like this §Ú³o¼Ë·R©p", "Love you or not ·R§A/¤£·R§A".

ù¹Å¨} Law Ka-Leung "¤Ñ¦a»¨±¡ Secret of the heart"
Marks: Melody:40 Lyrics:75 Arrangement:65 Voice:75 Utility:50
Comments: It sells well in the market, but I find it very boring.
Recommended track: None

Leo, Koo Kui-Kei ¥j¥¨°ò "Flying love and dream ·R»P¹Ú­¸¦æ"
Marks: Melody:70 Lyrics:70 Arrangement:70 Voice:85 Utility:70
Comments: Having a few good songs, Leo shows his singing ability. But the production isn't good enough to make him a king of the pop music industry.
Recommended tracks:"Coming days and years ¨Ó¦~¨Ó¤é", "Flying love and dream ·R»P¹Ú­¸¦æ".

Mavis, Fan Hiu-Huen ­S¾å¸©"Darling"
Marks: Melody:75 Lyrics:70 Arrangement:85 Voice:85 Utility:70
Comments: Not a very good album, but worth to have a listen to her. She have a good voice to sing children songs, and is very cute to hear her singing these adult songs.
Recommended tracks: "Blue Kei-po ÂźX³T", "Oxygen ®ñ®ð", "Label ¼ÐÅÒ"

Leon Lai ¾¤©ú "Hoping for ÂQ©¹" (Mandarin)
Marks: Melody:45 Lyrics:70 Arrangement:65 Voice:70 Utility:50
Comments: His last album in Polygram is frustrating, maybe he is too busy to make this well, and his voice is not as good as in his Cantonese songs. The production is simply bad, the melodies make little sense.
Recommended tracks: Basically none

Candy, Lo Hau-Yam ¿c¥©­µ "No need to be too perfect ¤£»Ý­n...§¹¬ü±o¥i©È" (EP)
Marks: Melody:70 Lyrics:95 Arrangement:95 Voice:80 Utility:90
Comments: Great EP! Candy Lo has a unique style of singing, and the style of the songs are enlightening. Lyricists did a good job since they were brave to have such contents like "Rubbish". Wyman Wong deserves the credit. HK needs more singers who try new things. Excellent music and arrangement.

Recommended tracks: "800 companions 800¦ñ", "Self-selecting theatre ¦ÛÅʼv°|", "Rubbish ©U§£"

Miriam, Yeung Chin-Wah ·¨¤då_ "Had a visit here ¨ì¦¹¤@¹C"
Marks: Melody:85 Lyrics:95 Arrangement:90 Voice:85 Utility:90
Comments: Continuing the style of her last EP, this album exhibits a unique Miriam style, light and comfortable. Many big names appeared as composers, having good performance. Two lyricists appeared in the album, Wyman Wong and Lam Jik, and people can hardly find any mistake in the lyrics. The lyrics are still full of originality, like "Story of escaping from Eygpt".
Recommended tracks: "Because, so ¦]¬°©Ò¥H", "Eight and a half steps 8¨B¥b", "Once upon a time ´¿´X¦ó®É", "Flowers in the field ¥Ð¤¤¤p¦Ê¦X".

Andy, Hui Chi-On ³\§Ó¦w "Capable of flying ­¸±o°_"
Marks: Melody:50 Lyrics:70 Arrangement:75 Voice:80 Utility level:55
Comments: Very poor! Is this Andy Hui and Mark Lui? How can they make such songs?I was really disappointed. The main problem is the melodies, they are just not making any sense.
Recommended tracks: "2 people after 1 day ¤G¤H¦æ,¤@¤é«á"

Aaron Kwok ³¢´I«° "Sing this song °Û³oºq"
Marks: Melody:55 Lyrics:60 Arrangement:70 Voice:70 Utility: 50
Comments: Again, the composers did a poor job, furthermore, the lyrics were not putting much brain energy in the lyrics. They were just filling the notes with words, and nothing new with the lyrics. The last track was a song for a charity organization, it sounds good at first, but I was really angry with the last two words of the song, they spoiled the whole song, being unrelated with the sentence. How can Aaron, such a popular singer, release such an album? I am really disappointed with the popular male singers in HK. May be it is time to have some cover versions of foreign songs, and I'm exploring alternatives in Taiwan for good albums.
Recommended tracks: "I love you so ¤Ó·R§A"

Amanda, Lee Wai-Man §õ¿·±Ó "Again and again ¤@¦¸...¤S¤@¦¸"
Marks: Melody:45 Lyrics:70 Arrangement:65 Voice:75 Utility:35
Comments: Amanda's first album in Polygram, and it is disappointing. Polygram used to be having many female singers, but after Lau Siu-Wai and Vivian Chow retreated from the industry and Vivian Lai turned to another company and many others just disappeared from scene, I hope they would be more efficient and can mobilize more resources on Amanda, Priscilla Chan etc.. This proved to be wrong. The melodies are awful and flat.
Recommended tracks: Basically none.

Kelly, Chan Wai-Lam ³¯¼zµY"You're different §A¤£¤@¼Ë"
Marks: Melody:45 Lyrics:75 Arrangement:70 Voice:75 Utility level:55
Comments: Very very disappointing! Singers of Go East often have poor albums in Taiwan. The melodies are so bad and don't make any sense at all.
Recommended track: Hardly any, but I chose one finally: "Listen to you Å¥¸Ü".

Mavis, Hui Mei-Ching ³\¬üÀR "Cover myself ¦n¬üÀR"
Marks: Melody:80 Lyrics:90 Arrangement:70 Voice:75 Utility:75
Comments: If you've listened to her Mandarin albums, don't need to waste money in this one. No new songs in fact, all songs are cover versions of Mandarin ones. In spite of the unworthiness to buy, it is not bad. Chan Kai-Ming's ³¯¨Î©ú melody is good, and commercially secure (IFPI #1 proves it). I think she should not be so addictive to Chan.
Recommended tracks: "Prefer dreaming ¹çÀR°µ¹Ú", "No need to say goodbye ¤£»Ý¦A·|", "Twinkling star ¬P°{°{".

Jan, Lam Hoi-Fung ªL®ü®p "Hard beat ªº¤h°÷®æ"
Marks: Melody:80 Lyrics:90 Arrangement:95 Voice:90Utility level:90
Comments: A really good album showed jan's talent in lyrics writing. The album included songs about Love, Philipino maids, gay etc.. His is one of the singers who is "accepted" to sing this kind of songs, and he has done well, probably better than his days of "Softhard"
Recommended tracks: "D.I.S.C.O. ªº¤h°÷®æ", "Hello Hello ³Þ³Þ³Þ", "Sweet sweet ²¢»e»e", "Miss Alice Patten ´^¤p©j"

YLK Organization §E¤O¾÷ºc "YLK Organization §E¤O¾÷ºc"
Marks: Melody:85 Lyrics:95 Arrangement:95 Voice:95 Utility level:95
Comments: A new non-main stream force in the pop music industry, composed of three talented people: Chan Fai-Yeung ³¯½÷¶§, a composer, Yan Kwai ¦]¸ª, a lyricist, and Yue Lik-Kei, a singer. Provided some fresh air to HK. All of them are performing very well in the album, a good alternative to the main stream music. The singer has a very special voice, especially when she sings Mandarin songs.
Recommended tracks: "Love is like a rose ÅÊ·R¹³ª´ºÀ", "Living ¬¡µÛ", "Spring-field flowers ¬K¥Ðªáªá", "Weather report ¤Ñ®ð³ø§i", "Boys look like pop stars ¹³©ú¬Pªº¨k«Ä".

Dry "Two"
Marks: Melody:70 Lyrics:80 Arrangement:95 Voice:70 Utility level:65
Comments: A disapponting album, especially if you have head their first EP. I expected more from them, but this time they are not performing well. They must work harder to improve their singing skills. I hope they can be better if they appear separately in the future. Nevertheless, the arrangement is good.
Recommended tracks: "Who is going to speak out ½Ö¨Ó¶}¤f", "Believe me for the last time «H§Ú³Ì«á³o¤@¦¸".

Karen, Mok Man-Wai ²ö¤å½« "To Be °µ¦Û¤v"
Marks: Melody:80 Lyrics:80 Arrangement:85 Voice:85 Utility level:80
Comments: Karen is now targeting on Taiwan, and this album provided her a good chance of doing so. Her producer Cheung Hung-Leung ±i¬x¶q garantees is good quality. Another selling point of this album is of course three versions (Cantonese, Mandarin, Engilsh) of the ZA ad. She wrote the lyrics of the English version, it is no problem for her since she studied in Britain (and in a band with Mark Lui ¹p¹|¼w and C.Y. Kong there). To me, all 3 versions contains a heavy dose of hidden message or ideology, telling what women should do (i.e. should be beautiful, and gain their self-confidence by wearing make-up).
Recommended tracks: "Love yourself Åý§Ú¬ü", "He loves me not ¥L¤£·R§Ú", "Hiroshima mon amour ¼s®q¤§ÅÊ" (with Chueng Hung-Leung)

Gigi, Leung Wing Kei ±çµúµX "face washing ¬~Áy" Recommended tracks:
"Face washing ¬~Áy", "Sometimes ¦³®É­Ô" Marks: Voice:60 Lyrics:75 Arrangement:80 Melody:90
Utility level:80

Miriam, Yeung Chin-Wah ·¨¤då_ "Private dairy ¨p¤é°O"
Recommended tracks:
"Souvenir ¤â«H", "Counting about you ¼Æ§A" Marks: Voice:85 Lyrics:95 Arrangement:95 Melody:75 Utility level (may not be equal to average of the four marks above): 80

"A-mei II" A-mei, Cheung Wai-Mui ±i´f©f
Recommended tracks:
"Bad boy"(track 6), "Listen to the sea Å¥®ü"(track 5)
Other good songs:
"Can't cry aloud ­ú¤£¥X¨Ó"(track 1),"When I think of you ¤@·Q°_§A§r"(track 2)
marks:Melody:75 Lyrics:85 Arrangement:85 Voice:100 Average:86.25
* Her voice improved since her last album, and becoming more powerful. Production is generally nice.

"place de sun airport ¤é¥ú¾÷³õ" Valen, Hui Yue-Wan ³\¯øªå
Recommended tracks:
"Eclipse of heart ¤ß»k"(track 5)
Other good ones:
"place de sun airport ¤é¥ú¾÷³õ"(track 1), "Love at night ·R¦b¶Â©]"(track 3)
Marks:Melody:70 Lyrics:70 Arrangement:75 Voice:85 Average:75
* Disappoints me a lot, since I expect more from such a popular singer from Taiwan. Most of the songs are monotonous with similar lyrics.

"A-mei II" A-mei, Cheung Wai-Mui ±i´f©f
Recommended tracks:
"Bad boy"(track 6), "Listen to the sea Å¥®ü"(track 5)
Other good songs:
"Can't cry aloud ­ú¤£¥X¨Ó"(track 1),"When I think of you ¤@·Q°_§A§r"(track 2)
marks:Melody:75 Lyrics:85 Arrangement:85 Voice:100 Average:86.25
* Her voice improved since her last album, and becoming more powerful. Production is generally nice.

"place de sun airport ¤é¥ú¾÷³õ" Valen, Hui Yue-Wan ³\¯øªå
Recommended tracks:
"Eclipse of heart ¤ß»k"(track 5)
Other good ones:
"place de sun airport ¤é¥ú¾÷³õ"(track 1), "Love at night ·R¦b¶Â©]"(track 3)
Marks:Melody:70 Lyrics:70 Arrangement:75 Voice:85 Average:75
* Disappoints me a lot, since I expect more from such a popular singer from Taiwan. Most of the songs are monotonous with similar lyrics.

"I've my world §Ú¦³§Ú¤Ñ¦a" Cass, Pang Ling ´^²Ü
Recommended tracks:
"I've my world §Ú¦³§Ú¤Ñ¦a" (track 2), "Memories °l¾Ð" (track 4)
Other good songs:
"Just because you're present ¥u¦]¦³µÛ§A" (track 1), "Let us be happy together Åý§Ú­Ì§Ö¼Ö¦b¤@°_" (track 6)
Marks:Melody:75 Lyrics:80 Arrangement:70 Voice:95 Average:80
* Quite good, but some lyrics and song titles are not good, quite monotonous. Cass changed the producer from Andrew Tuason §ù¦Û«ù to Anthony Lun Wing-Leung ­Û¥Ã«G, and it is easily recognised by the selection of songs. After a safe first-pub song "I've my world §Ú¦³§Ú¤Ñ¦a", and another safe second-pub "Just because you're present ¥u¦]¦³µÛ§A", the third one should be more stylish.

"The call of love ·Rªº©I³ê" Aaron Kwok ³¢´I«°
Recommended track:
"The call of love ·Rªº©I³ê" (track 1)
Marks:Melody:55 Lyrics:75 Arrangement:85 Voice:75 Average:72.5
*Another typical Aaron's album. Although he has a different method to present the song ("fast" songs), the melodies are not good enough. but the arrangement is quite good.

"Enjoy yourself tonight Åw¼Ö¤µ®d" Leo, Koo Kui-Kei ¥j¥¨°ò
Recommended tracks:
"Enjoy yourself tonight Åw¼Ö¤µ®d" (track 1), "Friendship ¤Í¦@±¡" (track 2)
Marks:Melody:75 Lyrics:80 Arrangement:75 Voice:85 Average: 78.75
* A good album with creative tracks. Besides the two popular tracks, other songs are also good.

"Never say I love you µ´¤f¤£´£·R§A" Ronald, Cheng Chung-Kei ¾G¤¤°ò
Recommended tracks:
"Never say I love you µ´¤f¤£´£·R§A" (track 3), "If you're not with me ¦pªG¨S¦³§A¦b¨­Ã䪺®É­Ô" (track 4), "Love is love" (track 8)
Marks:Melody:65 Lyrics:70 Arrangement:70 Voice:90 Average: 73.75
*A typical Taiwanese album, the songs fitted the Taiwanese style. But I feel such style is quite boring, especially the melody. Perhaps it isn't a problem since Ronald is really singing well.

"Our theme song §Ú­Ìªº¥DÃD¦±" Sammi Cheng ¾G¨q¤å
Recommended tracks:
"Not male nor female «D¨k«D¤k" (track 1), "Our theme song §Ú­Ìªº¥DÃD¦±" (track 2)
Other good tracks:
"The last time ³Ì«á¤@¦¸" (track 6)
Marks:Melody:70 Lyrics:70 Arrangement:80 Voice:75 Average: 73.75
* Not bad, but this album is too similar with her previous albums. If you look back, you'll discover the lyrics of her songs were similar, and there are some songs very boring in the album.

"Intuition ª½Ä±" Miriam, Yeung Chin-Wah ·¨¤då_
Recommended tracks:
"Goodbye Second Street ¦A¨£¤G¤B¥Ø" (track 9), "Handwriting ¦r¸ñ" (track 11)
Other good tracks:
"Intuition ª½Ä±" (track 2), "Mint flavour Á¡²ü¨ý" (track 4), "Without further trouble °®¯Ü" (track 6)
Marks:Melody:75 Lyrics:90 Arrangement:95 Voice:90 Average:87.5
*A good album, but comparing with her last one, this album is a little disappointing. Anyway, the arrangement is excellent, and the songs are durable to listen. Honestly speaking, I didn't expect Miriam to be so popular, but I'm very happy to see her being so welcomed in the public. She has the potential to be a better singer.

"Sisters ©n©f" A-mei, Cheung Wai-Mui ±i´f©f
Recommended tracks:
"In fact you want nothing ­ì¨Ó§A¬Æ»ò³£¤£­n" (track 1), "Sisters ©n©f" (track 2), "Cut love °Å·R" (track 6)
Other good songs:
"Released ¸Ñ²æ" (track 3), "Reactive ½Ä°Ê" (track 4), "Rebellion ­I«q" (track 7)
Marks: Melody:90 Lyrics:80 Arrangement:85 Voice:95 Average: 87.5
* This album occupied the top of the IFPI sales chart in Taiwan for many weeks. A-mei, as a new comer of the pop-song industry, had a great start. She is very good at singing, and possesses a very powerful voice. Songs of dancing beat were presented very well.

"If" Leon, Lai Ming ¾¤©ú

"Eternity" Ekin, Cheng Yee-Kin ¾G¥ì«Ø

"New home ·s©~" --- Gigi, Leung Wing-Kei ±çµúµX

"Star dreams, true feelings ¬P¹Ú±¡¯u" --- Kelly, Chan ³¯¼zµY

"Short hair µu¾v" --- Gigi, Leung Wing-Kei ±çµúµX

* Generally acceptable, but the singer have to practice more on singing. In some songs, she appears to be difficult in reaching high notes. The songs generally give a comfortable and soft feeling.

"Time after time" (new songs + compilation) Linda, Wong Hing-Ping ¤ýÄÉ¥­

No marks given, since it's a compilation.

* The new songs (tracks 1-5) are quite good. It seems that Linda is seeking for something special, in order to gain attention from the public.

"Love is a miracle ·R¦p¦¹¯«©_" Andy, Lau Tak-Wah ¼B¼wµØ

"One" (EP) Dry

Marks :Melody: 80/100 Lyrics: 90/100 Arrangement: 100/100 Voice: 65/100 Average: 83.75/100

* A very good EP, a great start for Dry. In the EP, there are 7 songs, 1 music track (new club song of 903 id club), 1 remix, 1 hidden track (after listening track 8, wait for about 2 minutes, and ther English version of "who wants to give up" (Kelly Chan) will appear) and 1 screen saver. In the EP, the melody is not the most attractive aspect, but the arrangement is fantastic, I like this type of rock very much. I'm also pleased to see the lyrics which is not about romantic love.

"When there's love, there's William So ±¡¨Ó¦Û¦³±d" William, So Wing-Hong Ĭ¥Ã±d

* William's singing skill is very good, no question. If you have heard the live version of "Never happened", you'd probably agree. This album is good, and he present different kinds of songs very good, with great feelings and has personal style.

"Engaged in with whole heart ¥þ¤ß§ë¤J" (EP) Stephanie, Che Yuen-Yuen ¨®¨J¨J

* The EP is unexpectedly good. After going to America to study, Stephanie return to HK and signed by Music Impact and BMG to continue singing. The EP is produced by Alvin Leong Wing-Chun, an experienced producer who produced many albums of Faye Wong. All five songs in the EP is of high quality. In the first track, Stephanie's singing style is creative. A good return for Stephanie.

"Deep love ±¡²`" Ronald, Cheng Chung-Kei ¾G¤¤°ò

* Ronald's singing skill and voice is very good among the new comers.

"Eager to be in love ¦n·Q½ÍÅÊ·R" Mavis, Fan Hiu-Huen ­S¾å¸©

* An extremely good album. Mavis is talented in presenting various kind of songs, and can use her voice very well. The songs in the album are well produced. What a little magic girl!

"I love you too §Ú¤]³ßÅw§A" Julian, Cheung Chi-Lam ±i´¼ÀM

* The album is bad, honestly speaking. Listeners bored to listen.