JONATHAN LEE

SYLVIA CHANG

JACKY CHEUNG

CHYI

WU BAI & CHINA BLUE

STELLA CHANG

WORKS

BEST LOVE

PAST 1999

C'EST LA VIE

WHITE DOVE

THE BEST OF STELLA 1985-1999

 AARON KWOK

FRANS

 COCO LEE

DREAMZ FM

ANNIE YEE

ZHAO CHUAN

SO AFRAID

TURN AROUND

JUST NO OTHER WAY

DREAMZ FM

I AM BRAVE

COURAGE

MAO NING

JULIA PENG

 SANDY LAM

KYM

 YE AI LING

STEPHEN FUNG

NOT TO BE BURDENED

 JULIA LIVE PERFORMANCE

HOLD ME

FALLEN FOR YOU

LOVE SONGS

HANDSOME ROCK - NOT ENOUGH LOVE

Following the heels of Sandy Lam and Sylvia Chang, Rock Records has released another comprehensive compilation album, this time it's that of Big Brother Jonathan Lee (or Li Zong Sheng).  This is a two-CD collection : Disc 1 contains fifteen songs and it covers all his own vocal tracks like "Human Song" (or Fan Ren Ge), "Devil's Tempt" (or Gui Mi Xin Qiao) and "Hope" (or Xi Wang) (side-note : William So has also recently done a cover of the latter number "Hope").  The fifteen-track Disc 2, on the other hand, contains Jonathan's compositions sung by other Rock Records artistes : example, Sandy Lam's "Weathered The Cold Wind For You" (or Wei Ni Wo Shou Leng Feng Chui), Sylvia Chang's "Because Of Loneliness" (or Yin Wei Ji Mo), Karen Mok's "Cloudy Day" (or Yin Tian), Winnie Hsin's "Admit" (or Chen Ren), Wan Fang's "No Change" (or Bu Huan), Victor & Michael's (or Wu Yin Liang Pin) "Sad Train" (or Shang Xin Di Tie) and the all-male song "Troubled Lately" (or Zui Jing Bi Jiao Fan) sung by Jonathan, Emil Chau, Huang Pin Yuan and Victor (or Pin Guan).  This collection is truly a testament to Jonathan Lee's Big Brother status in today's Taiwan pop music industry.

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This is a two-CD collection of Sylvia Chang's (or Zhang Ai Jia) past hits.  Altogether a whopping twenty five songs are compiled here.  They include some of her earlier hits like "Busy & Blind" (or Mang Yu Mang), "Childhood Years" (or Tong Nian), "The Story Of Time" (or Guang Ying De Gu Shi), "Whether" (or Shi Fou), "I Stand On The World's Roof" (or Wo Zhan Zai Quan Shi Jie De Wu Ding), "Box" (or Xiang Zi) and the title track for this collection "Best Love" (or Zui Ai).  Even all the five tracks from her last solo album in 1992, namely the excellent "Price Of Love" (or Ai De Dai Jia), can be found here : "Price Of Love", "Is It Correct To Love You This Way" (or Zhe Yang Ai Ni Dui Bu Dui), "Because Of Loneliness" (or Yin Wei Ji Mo), "Snow Play" (or Xi Xue) and "Willing" (or Xin Gan Qing Yuan).  Truly a comprehensive compilation that is a must-get for all admirers of Sylvia Chang.

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MUSIC STYLE : ACOUSTIC  / DANCE / BALLADS

OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE

The brand new Mandarin album from Jacky Cheung (or Zhang Xue You).  Altogether there are eleven tracks, the overall music direction leans towards the safe mainstream pop genre and the album is produced by long-time collaborators Michael Aw (or Ou Ding Yu) and Lin Ming Yang.  The first single Track 1 "Heart Is Like A Knife Cut" is a haunting love ballad written by Li Fei Hui and its music video is filmed in Japan in which Jacky is seen partnering up with a cute Japanese kid actor.  

For his previous few albums, Jacky has been criticised for not finding new and challenging music outlets.  These critics are probably missing the point here.  Like Anita Mui, Jacky Cheung has long perfected his vocal techniques and over his fifteen-year singing career, he has already tried all kinds of music routes like rock, pop, jazz, retro, dance, rap, folk, R&B, musicals etc.  Therefore I've already adopted a "let nature takes its course" attitude when listening to Jacky's new works, I'm not concerned as to whether there's any new music invention but rather whether he can maintain his new songs to be highly listenable & of good quality. 

And I'm glad to say he has done just that.  Besides the title track, there are many tracks here which induce repeated listening such as the acoustic Track 3 "She Came To Listen To My Concert' which is given a very vivid and close-to-life write-up by local lyricist Liang Wen Foo; the second single Track 4 "Half Happiness" which is a superb ballad; and the catchy Track 9 "You Are So Poisonous" which is given a mischievous rendition by Jacky.

A worthy album by the guy who doesn't want to be known as The Heavenly King anymore.

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Chyi (or Qi Yu) has just come out with her seventh English album (note : her last English effort "Tears" was released back in 1996).  Although the ten tracks here are covers, but most of them are relatively unknown to me.  The only cover song that I can recognise here is the oldie hit "And I Love You So".  The first ballad single "Forever" also sounds familiar but can't quite remember where I've heard it before.  The title track "C'est La Vie" (note : this French verse, in the album's context, means "that's life") is another slow song which needs a few rounds of listening before it stays in the head.  

The CD album comes bundled with a bonus CD which contains some of other Chyi's English singles from 1997 to 1999 that have never been included in her previous solo offerings.  The singles that can be found in this bonus CD include the two duet tracks with Sandy Lam "The Rose" and "I Swear", the duet "Windflower" with her younger brother Chyi Chin and the English theme-song "Whispering Steppes" taken from Joan Chen's directorial debut film "Xiu Xiu : The Sent Down Girl" (or "Tian Yu").

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Wu Bai and his band has released their brand new Mandarin album.  As usual, the songs here are written by the man himself.  Wu Bai reportedly wrote the mid-tempo title track "White Dove" specially for his home-country Taiwan : having flown countless working trips between China & Taiwan during the past year, he has been particularly sensitive to the differences existing between the two countries, while he realised that there are still many system deficiencies in Taiwan, but at least the people there have one thing which is usually neglected but nevertheless precious - freedom.  A portion of the lyrics goes like this "...... even though I am wounded, but at least I still have freedom ......".  

The first single from this twelve-track album is "Love Of My Life" which is a trade-mark Wu Bai slow-rock love ballad.  Other numbers include the rock track "The Real World", the folk-style songs "Look At Me" and "Lazy People's Diary", the cha-cha track "11:30pm" and the retro-Latino feel "God Help Me".

The first batch of the limited-edition CD release comes bundled with a poster and a bonus CD which contains two versions (the rock version and the cinematic version) of the number "Beautiful New World" which is the main theme song taken from the movie of the same name (side-note : this China-made movie "Beautiful New World" stars Wu Bai himself as well as Richie Ren; the simultaneous participation of these two Rock Records' mega-stars is by no means a coincidence as the film's investor is none other than Rock Records itself).

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This is the third compilation album from Stella Chang (or Zhang Qing Fang) : it features some of her most memorable hits spanning a period of fifteen years.  They include, among others, "Serious Eyes" (or Ren Zhen De Yan Jing), "California Sunshine" (or Jia Zhou Yang Guang), "It's Hard Not To Think Of You" (or Bu Xiang Ni Ye Nan), "Marry" (or Chu Jia), "Burning In A Flash" (or Ran Shao Yi Shun Jian), "Flower Rain Night" (or Hua Yu Ye), "Unchanged" (or Bie Lai Wu Yang) (duet with Phil Chang), "Just A Child" (Zhi Shi Ge Hai Zi), "It Is Not Your Fault" (or Cuo Bu Zai Ni), "Solely" (or Chun Cui), the Hokkien track "Ai Yo Wei Ya" and Stella's very first hit "The Aftermath Of Passion" (or Ji Qing Guo Hou).  The album also contains two special remixes : they are "Men's Talk" and "On A Rainy Night" (or Da Yu De Ye Li), both of the tracks have been given a revamped techno-dance music arrangement.  This is a two-CD collection containing a total of twenty hits plus it comes with a 60-page lyrics booklet.  A must-get item for all of Stella's fans.

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The latest Mandarin album by Aaron Kwok (or Guo Fu Cheng) is finally out.  After emerging as the unsuspecting victim of the recent Australian-hanky-panky secret tape recording incident plus his aftermath heartfelt press comment ".... love does not belong to me anymore ....", some of the songs' titles in Aaron's current release will certainly choke up more sympathies from his ever-faithful and understanding fans.  Sample these names : "So Afraid" (title track), "Hurt By You", "Sacrificed", "Don't Say Anymore" (the first single ballad) and "Cannot Blame Me".  The Mandarin version of his Cantonese hit "Dream Of Fantasy Island" is also included.  Some high profile song-writers can be found here : they include Pan Xie Qing, Yuan Wei Ren, Li Si Song, Adam Xu Chang De and Yao Qian.  The limited-edition package comes bundled with a free calendar card.

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MUSIC STYLE : MAINSTREAM POP

OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE

Frans (or Francesca or Gao Hui Jun) has released her second Mandarin album which contains a total of twelve works.  It is an album filled with love songs as evidenced by the title track ballad Track 1 "Turn Around" (composed by Tu Hui Yuan).  

There is also a love ballad duet Track 7 titled "Lost" done with Dick & The Cowboys (or Di Ke Niu Zai).  Another duet Track 9 "Happy Is All That Matters", this time paired with Shirley Yee (or Yi Xue Li), is also featured here (side-note : this number has already been included earlier in Shirley's "Deep Breath" offering).  

The album is produced by, among others, Lin Ming Yang, Paula Ma Yu Fen and Zhou Zhi Ping.  

But alas, like her debut album "Beautiful Sincere Women", the majority of the songs here do not live quite up to expectations. Many of them sound very back-dated and they lack the "oomph" to leave a deep impression. Take for instance the title track "Turn Around" and the duet "Lost", they sound like recycled ballads which have been reused over and over again. 

For me, it has been a "painful" experience listening to this album.  I've always felt that Frans is one of the few rare uprising artistes (others include Shino and Shunza) who have the charisma to handle both studio and stage performances with ease just like veteran pros A Mei and Julia Peng.  However unlike Shino and Shunza, Frans has so far been limited to mostly mediocre music material that I feel sorry for her, she really deserves more challenging works.  I guess the only consolation right now is that since her first album "Beautiful Sincere Women" sold like hot-cakes in Taiwan notwithstanding the weak music quality in it, this new album should also be well-received by her fans.  I feel sorry for them too.

RATING : (2 out of 5)

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Coco Lee's (or Li Wen) first international English album is finally completed.  Produced entirely by western musicians, this release scores a first in allowing a Chinese artiste to break into the competitive US pop music market.  The album contains mostly dance tracks (such as the first single "Do You Want My Love") and R&B ballads (such as the title track "Just No Other Way").  It also contains another R&B ballad "Before I Fall In Love" which has already been included in the soundtrack album from the movie "The Runaway Bride" starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.  Altogether there are eleven songs here plus one bonus remix version of "Do You Want My Love".  

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The debut album from a Singapore male trio group called Dreamz FM (or Meng Fei Chuan).  Dreamz FM stands for Dreams Flying Machine - its name is reportedly inspired by a chapter title contained in a book written by the late Singaporean model Bonny Hicks.  This is the same group who recently sang a duet "Love Yo" with Taiwan's prominent entertainment host Matilda Tao Jing Ying (note : "Love Yo" is not included in this album) and who also sang this year's Singapore National Day theme song with Singapore TCS actress Evelyn Tan (or Chen Yu Yun).  Another note-worthy mention is that its members include a fella called Lin Yi Xin (the guy wearing the specs) who's the elder brother of Rock Records' female Singapore singer Elsa Lin (or Lin Yu Ting).  Produced mostly by Huang Shu Jun, this twelve-track album is released direct in Taiwan and its first single is a light-tempo number called "You Love Her, I Love Her" (composed and produced by Chen Guo Hua).  Besides group singing, the album also contains solo performances in which each member sings two works individually.  

(Side-Note : Dreamz FM reminds me of another Taiwanese trio group YIYO who also released their debut album a few months back.  Click here to learn more about this group.)

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After more than three years, Annie Yee (or Yi Neng Jing) is back with a brand new Mandarin album.  Touted as a very feminine-style record whose music embraces gentleness and sensitivity, the songs included here were reported to be specially selected by Annie and Sandee Chan (or Chen Shanni), the latter being the producer of the album.  The first single "Your Goodness Towards Me" is a acoustic ballad composed by Chen Xiao Xia and written by Annie herself.  The lively grunge-pop title track "I Am Brave" is another work of Annie who penned the lyrics while Sandee provided the melody (note : Sandee also composed five other tracks here).  Other song-writers include Tanya, Chen Wei and Adam Hsu Chang De.

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The album also contains the song "Deep Sea" which was well-received by Singaporeans as a result of its air-play in a Singapore TV serial last year.  The CD-album comes bundled with a bonus CD which contains two of Zhao Chuan's past hits which were also featured in another Singapore TV serial : they are "Quiet Lamb" and "How To Talk About Love".  One last note : the bonus CD also contains three karaoke tracks of "Courage", "Live" and "Deep Sea".  

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Some quick facts about this China singer : he has obtained numerous prestigious music awards in China, he sang the Mandarin version of Celine Dion's "Titanic" hit "My Heart Will Go On" for the China market and this latest release "Not To Be Burdened" marks his debut entry into the Taiwan pop music scene.  The title track "Not To Be Burdened" is a ballad composition written by Pan Xie Qing.  Another note-worthy track is the duet "Dedicate A Song" sung with fellow colleague Jeff Chang.  The release also contains some of Mao Ning's past hits in China.  One last note : this 14-track album is a joint China-Taiwan collaboration with Chen Zi Hong manning the Taiwanese side of production.  

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This is a live recording of Julia Peng's (or Peng Jia Hui) Taiwan concert held sometime in August this year.  It is a 2-CD album which contains live performances of her own hits like "The Day That I Walk On The Red Carpet", "Old Dreams", "Hear Your Goodbye", "Knocking On My Head", "Love Till No Point Of Return" and "Heartache Love Song".  The more interesting tracks are her covers of other artistes's hits like Sandy Lam's "Wounded Scars", Shunza's "Come Home" and Whitney Houston's "One Moment In Time".

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Now that Sandy is leaving Rock Records (note : she is expected to sign on to lyricist Yao Qian's Taiwan Virgin Music which houses female newcomers Hou Xiang Ting and Jiang Mei Qi, and on a broader scale, since Virgin Music is a sister arm of EMI Music, that makes her becoming colleagues with other female heavyweights like Faye Wong, Na Ying and Stella Chang), the latter has released a new 2-CD compilation album containing Sandy's past hits.  Disc 1 consists of sixteen songs, including "Wounded Scars" (or Shang Heng), "Heard Love Has Come Back" (or Ting Shuo Ai Qing Hui Lai Guo), "Night Is Too Dark" (or Ye Tai Hei), "Clang Rose", "Tempting Street" (or You Huo De Jie), "Weathered The Cold Wind For You" (or Wei Ni Wo Shou Leng Feng Chui), "Shadow Lover" (or Ying Zi Qing Ren), "Smell Of Rose" (or Mei Gui Xiang) and "Let Go".  The second CD contains eight tracks, including five live peformance numbers like Sara Chen's "Moment Of Awakened Dreams" (or Meng Xing Shi Fen) and Winnie Hsin's "Learnt" (or Ling Wu), and three English tracks such as "I Swear" and "I'll Always Love You".  A must-get collector's album for all Sandy's fans.

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Singapore's beloved home-grown TV compere Kym's (or Zhong Qin) compilation album has been released by her old record company.  This "made-in-Singapore" easy-listening pop album is produced by Ken Lim who also happens to be the largest song contributor here - he composed six (out of a total of thirteen) numbers including the title-track ballad "Fallen For You".  Other song writers include local musician Chen Jia Ming and Taiwan's Yao Qian and Cao Jun Hong.  However the big question that is on everyone's mind must be "Can this throaty beauty with a slightly-hoarse voice sing?" cos I don't think many people heard her prior two albums which reportedly chalked up poor sales since Kym was not well-known at that time and sad to say, would probably be best-remembered as the ones whereby she did some baring on one of the covers.  Personally, I think her vocals are decent and nice, although I need to admit I have to bring down my listening barriers a bit just as when I listen to albums by other TV artistes like Zoe Tay, Fann Wong, Ann Kok and Christopher Lee.

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For those younger listeners who have no inkling of this singer, she's the 80's glamour-female artiste whose first hit was "Because Therefore" (or Yin Wei Suo Yi) and who made a name for herself by appearing in a series of successful coffee ads.  After "disappearing" from the music scene for close to three years, Ye Ai Ling is back with a 2-CD album in which the first CD is essentially a collection of cover love songs from the 90's.  Some of the cover tracks include Chyi Chin's "Night Night Night Night" (or Ye Ye Ye Ye), David Tao's "Love Is Simple", Co Co's "I'm Still Your Lover", Sammi Cheng's "Deserved", Anita Mui's "Woman Flower", Eric Moo's "Winding Road" and Jacky Wu's "Holding Back The Heart".  The second CD contains two brand new songs "Love Strategy" and "Love Till Old" which are produced by Wu Xu Wen and written by Pan Xie Qing.

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Following the heels of Nicholas Tse, another upcoming Hong Kong male artiste Stephen Fung (or Feng De Lun) has also just released his Mandarin debut album.  As the album name implies, the music style leans towards the rock genre, for instance, the title track "Not Enough Love" is itself a slow-rock ballad.  The album is produced by, among others, Chen Wei and Zhou Bo Xiong (or better known to many listeners as singer Xiao Gang).

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