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ANGELICA LEE
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STELLA CHANG
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PHIL CHANG
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KAN KAN
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LIU HUNG HUA
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CYNDI YAO
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Dancing
Skirt
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Just
Stella
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Rain
Keeps Falling
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The Tears
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What's
The Matter
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Too Late
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GIGI LEUNG
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DENISE RUAN
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SHINO
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MAY DAY
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JEFF CHANG
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NA YING
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Fresh
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Penetrate
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She Knows
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1st
Composition Album
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Please
Come Back
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Clear Cut
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JULIA PENG
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NA NA
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BILLIE
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ROMI
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VARIOUS
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RICHIE REN
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Process
Collection
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Poison
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Nobody's
Fool But My Own
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Angel
Fish
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Rock
For Children
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Serious
Collection
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ANGELICA
LEE (DANCING SKIRT) (ROCK RECORDS) (AUG99)
ALBUM NOT REVIEWED
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After two solo LPs and one EP, Angelica Lee
(or Lee Xin Jie) is back with a brand new album whose cover
photo (refer above) shows a "pretty uninhibited" face
of her. The
full album name is actually "Third Generation Angelica Lee
- Dancing Skirt". According to the record company,
there are, eh, three generations of Lee in her music career so
far. The first
generation shows a cute and lively Lee, the second generation
depicts a carefree Lee (no doubt related to her previous EP name
"Free") and the third & current generation reveals
a Lee who surpasses all expectations.
Like her previous outing
"Bye Bye Childhood Days", the new album is fun filled
with light-tempo and breezy tunes. One fine example is the
lively title track "Dancing Skirt" composed by fellow
Malaysian Ah Niu who is inspired by Lee's active and restless
character.
Other songs include another
light-tempo number "Don't Make Me Cry" sung together
with a Sweden trio group Dear Mom (this song has already been
aired in Singapore radio waves months before the release of her
current album), a ballad written by Li Zhen Fan "It's
Raining Again" and a song titled "I Want To Stick With
You" the lyrics of which is written by another Rock Records
female singer Wu Pei Ci.
Producers of this album
include Li Zhen Fan, another hot-shot producer Jia Min Shu
who has collaborated with Lee before in her "Free" EP
and Valen Hsu's boyfriend musician by the nick of Monster.
The first batch of
limited-edition album package comes bundled with a photo booklet
containing snippets of Lee's life, a pouch and discount coupons
valid in Taiwan only.
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STELLA CHANG
(JUST STELLA) (EMI MUSIC) (AUG99)
MUSIC STYLE : MOSTLY BALLADS / MID-TEMPO POP
OVERRIDING
THEME : LOVE
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After her last
Hokkien pop outing, Stella (or Zhang Qing Fang) is back with a
brand new Mandarin album. However beware : if you like
her previous Mandarin outing "Flower Rain Night"
which was soaked with Taiwanese-style ballads, you are not
likely to find any in this new release. Instead, what you will
find is track-after-track of Western influence. No
wonder, because it is mainly produced by Singapore musician
Ken Lim who is well-known for his Western-style
compositions. The choice of employing Ken Lim may be a
result of the successful collaboration with Stella before in
one of her tracks "Later" in "Flower Rain
Night".
In fact, except for the singer herself as
well as the international lyrics offerings by, among others,
Hong Kong Lin Xi, Taiwanese Yao Qian, Wa Wa, Li Man Ting, Adam
Xu Chang De and Singaporean Chen Jia Ming, the album can be
considered a wholly Singapore production. All the tracks
are composed (except for one Western-translated ballad Track 7
"Gentle Is A Strength"), arranged and produced by
Singaporean musicians which include the above-mentioned Ken
Lim, Ke Gui Ming, Shah Tahir, Joshua Wan and Goh Kheng Long.
The
light-tempo first single Track 2 "Just A Child" with
a groovy arrangement by Shah Tahir is composed
by Ken Lim and written by uprising Taiwanese lyricist Chen Jing Nan.
Ah Fang also
wrote the lyrics for the second single Track 3 "It Is Not
Your Fault". A highly listenable ballad, it is also
the first time that her work is being chosen as a single.
Hong Kong lyricist Lin Xi seems to be
churning out a lot of Mandarin lyrics these days, as evidenced
by his works in the latest albums of Jeff Chang, Na Ying and
Liu Hung Hua. In Stella's new release, he wrote three
tracks, including the third single ballad Track 1 "Choose To End".
Other recommended ballads include the
fourth single Track 5 "Let Love Decide" and Track 9
"You Loved Me So Much".
The most surprising and refreshing music
changeover will have to be Track 8 "If Can".
It is a UK-style techno dance track which I've never ever
heard Stella tackle in her entire music career until now.
After hearing the whole album, I can
understand why the record company has a lot of
faith in it. Reportedly, seven music
videos will be filmed with the location shooting being done
in Nepal. Although this new release marks a drastic
change from her previous musical style, it is nevertheless a
commendable and rewarding move.
I know some people cannot stand the
inherent high-pitch vocals of Stella but if you are one of the
many who stand exception to that, all you need to do is to
listen to "Just Stella" with a open heart and you
will be amply rewarded by the more-than-usual twelve new
tracks here. Highly recommended.
(Side Note : It is mentioned above that
except for Track 7 "Gentle Is A Strength", all the
songs here are composed by Singaporeans. While it is
confirmed that two tracks are written by Ke Gui Ming and three
are by Ken Lim (whose Chinese name is Lin Zhi Qiang), there is
an assumption that the remaining six numbers are all written
by Ken Lim too. You see, these six tracks are supposedly
composed by three different names : Nek and two Chinese names
with the pronunciation of Lin Ken. It is suspected that
all these three names refer to just one person, namely Ken
Lim. Nek is the same as Ken spelt backwards while the
Chinese pronunciation of Lin Ken should be Ken Lim for obvious
reasons. Maybe someone reading this can kindly
help to confirm :) )
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RATING
: (4
out of 5)
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PHIL
CHANG (RAIN KEEPS FALLING) (EMI MUSIC) (AUG99)
MUSIC STYLE : MOSTLY LIGHT-TEMPO POP
OVERRIDING STYLE : LOVE
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Phil Chang (or Zhang Yu) has
come out with a brand new album in less than a year.
Apparently the phenomenal success of his previous "Moon
Sun" album released last December has prompted his record
company to push for the early release of this new work.
One would then tend to be concerned about
the quality of this new album since it means there is less
time for Phil to complete his production. But
after listening to the whole LP, I must say I'm quite
impressed that he can still come up with mostly competent and
radio-friendly new tracks in such a short period. The
fact that he has enlisted the same musicians from his previous
album must have helped too since the mutual trust and chemistry
is already there.
As expected, the general music style here
continues to flow from his "Moon Sun" album, namely,
the songs sound a bit dated but nevertheless listenable.
The title Track 1"Rain Keeps Falling" is a case in
point, it sounds like a distant relative of his previous hit
single "Moon's Fault". Other examples are
Track 5 "Chauvinistic Woman" (the way he belts out
the "Eh" in this song is rather cute and helps to
spice up the track) and the only Hokkien track 7
"Innocent Guy" (it has become a norm in his albums
to include at least one Hokkien pop song).
Most of the tracks here are light-tempo and
they make easy listening. Besides the tracks 5 and 7
mentioned above, two of the tracks recommended by the record
company, Track 3 "Photo For Keepsake" and the
retro-feel Track 6 "Never Mind" also fall into this
genre.
The few ballads included here do not
disappoint either, they are typical Phil-style sentimental songs
that are soothing to the ears. Track 2 "Change"
(once again recommended by the record company), the country-folk
Track 4 "For Both Of You" and Track 8 "At That
Time" are highly listenable.
Eight (out of eleven) tracks are produced
single-handedly by Phil himself while the remaining three
are produced by the Taiwan Golden Melody Best Producer Award
winner Jim Lee (side-note : he won by producing Lee Hom's
"Revolution" album).
If you like his "Moon Sun" album,
this latest album should be easy to digest too.
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RATING : (4
out of 5)
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KAN KAN (THE TEARS) (BMG
MUSIC) (JUL99)
MUSIC STYLE : BALLADS / RETRO / JAZZ / ROCK
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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When I first got this album, I
do not know what to expect becos I've no inkling whatsoever
about this newcomer. After listening to just the
first track of the album, his vocals remind me of two singers at
once : the fusion of Jacky Wu (or Wu Zhong Xian) and The Dick
& The Cowboys. Regarding the resemblance to the
first mentioned artiste, it is worth noting that Jacky is in
fact the producer of Kan Kan's (or Kang Jin Rong) debut
album. He produces eight (out of the ten) tracks here
while the remaining two are produced by Huang Zhong Yuan.
The first ballad Track 1 "Maybe You
Are Right" is written by Jacky himself. It sounds
exactly like the kind of music that Jacky can record in his
own album.
The title Track 2 "The Tears"
is another ballad which suits Kan Kan vocals perfectly.
It is composed by uprising musician Zhou Jie Lun (whose works
included Billie's "Slave Of Love" and the more
recent charity song "Snail" sung by Valen Hsu, Power
Station, Panda and Chyi Chin) and written by
Jacky.
Because the album consists mostly of ballads,
one would hope that the few light-tempo tracks included in the
album will not disappoint. However sad to say, they are
mostly retro-style tunes which sound really dated and do not beg
for repeated listening, they include the only Hokkien-pop Track
3 "She Lives In The City", the rock Track 5
"Can't Help To Leave You" and Track 6 "Light
Bulb".
Ultimately it is still the ballads which
make this album worth listening to, not to mention that Kan
Kan's husky vocals contain just the right element to belt out
such tunes. Besides the above mentioned "Maybe You
Are Right" and the title track "The Tears",
other radio-friendly slow tracks include Track 4
"Unnecessary", the jazzy Track 9 "You Won't
Give Me What I Want", both of which are written and
produced by Huang Zhong Yuan and Track 8 "Is It
Me" written by Chen Guo Hua.
There's no question that Kan Kan can
sing, after all he used to be a pub singer in Taiwan and it is
a known fact that singers who hail from such a background are
already accomplished performers in their own right (think A
Mei, Shino and Power Station). He does not disappoint in
his debut album but let's hope he will be given better
material to perform in his next release.
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RATING : (3
out of 5)
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LIU HUNG HUA (WHAT'S THE
MATTER) (EMI MUSIC) (JUL99)
MUSIC STYLE : VARIED (BALLAD / DANCE / ACOUSTIC / RETRO)
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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A newcomer whose record
company is using fresh tactics to introduce her to the Taiwanese
listeners. As Liu Hung Hua is quite photogenic so to
speak, her record company is worried that she'll be mistaken for
another uprising idol singer who's known more for her looks than
vocals. Therefore they came up with an idea : let Liu put
on a mouth mask and hopefully this will allow listeners to
concentrate on her singing than on her looks. The
title fast Track 3 "What's The Matter" is a
collaboration between Taiwanese composer Wu Xu Wen and Hong Kong
lyricist Lin Xi. It was reported that the response
received from Taiwanese listeners on this song is mixed, some
liked it and some simply hated it. I belong to the former
group as I find it a particularly refreshing title track in the
Mandarin pop music scene. The number has a very strong
Alanis Morissette feel from the music style right down to the
powerful vocals of Liu. The song is something that one
would least expect to come from Wu Xu Wen who's best known for
his ballad compositions. Maybe Wu wants listeners to
identify the new musical side of him and therefore he is simply
known as Shermann (instead of his usual Chinese name) in the
song-writing credits. While
"What's The Matter" is the first single in Taiwan,
Singapore is using another number to promote her. The
dance Track 7 "Go Ahead And Love" has been hitting the
radio-waves in Singapore. The song selection difference
may be due to the mixed response mentioned above, therefore the
Singapore record company may have decided to use "Go Ahead
And Love" since it's definitely more radio-friendly and
catchy. It's a collaboration work between Bao Xiao Bo and
Bao Xiao Song, both of whom are twin brothers of the former
singing duo Xiao Song Xiao Bo.
There is a fair mix of slow and fast tracks
here, most of which make easy-listening. Other recommended
tracks include the soaring mid-tempo Track 2 "Why
Reject" which is given a nice Scottish music arrangement by
Goh Kheng Long, the simple acoustic Track 1 "Morning Five
O'Clock", another Alanis-feel ballad composition by
Shermann Track 4 "Spirit" and the folkish light-tempo
Track 9 "Enjoyable" composed and written by Yuan Wei
Ren and Yao Ruo Long. It is
understandable why the record company wants to focus so much on
Liu's vocals, the gal can sing all right (after all she was
discovered when she won a weekly singing competition in a Taiwan
variety show) and her voice is soothing to the ears. For
a newcomer, Liu Hung Hua has a debut album which she can boast
about. Besides Romi and Jiang Mei Qi, this is another
singer to look out for this year.
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RATING : (4
out of 5)
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CYNDI YAO (TOO LATE) (ROCK
RECORDS) (JUL99)
MUSIC STYLE :MOSTLY BALLADS / MID-TEMPO POP
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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Cyndi Yao (or Zhao Yong Hua)
is back with a two-CD collection album and what's more, she has
re-joined her old record company Rock Records which is releasing
this collection. Incidentally her very first
collection album "Without Guilt" in 1994 (refer below
cover pic) was also released by Rock Records.
Without
Guilt Collection
There are five brand new
recordings. The title CD One Track 1 "Too
Late" is a haunting ballad written and produced by Johnny
Chen (or Xiao Chong). It is one of the better ballads to
come out in recent time and Cyndi's heart-wrenching vocals do
justice to this unrequited love song.
Emil Chao (or Zhou Hua Jian) also
produces and sings with Cyndi on an easy-listening and
light-tempo CD One Track 2 "Love To The Deepest"
which is written by Pan Xie Qing. There is a second duet
in the album, the ballad CD Two Track 1 "I Will
Smile" which she cooed with a newcomer by the name
of Dai Ai Ling who's not a bad singer. This pairing with
a newcomer holds significance for Cyndi because when she
herself was a newcomer, Cyndi also sang a duet with another
Rock Records veteran female singer Xu Jing Chun.
A worthy mention is that Cyndi does a
cover version of Tracy Huang's excellent and ageless track CD
Two Track 2 "Night & Day" as well as one of her
earlier own number CD Two Track 3 "Listen To Me Singing
This Song". Coming back to "Night &
Day", although the song is given a refreshing and
modern-age musical touch-up, personally I'm still biased
towards Tracy's version. However those who have not
heard the original number will no doubt like Cyndi's version.
Coming to the collection, fifteen old songs
are included. Almost all of Cyndi's past hits can be found
here, like "Propose Marriage", "The Most Romantic
Event", "Without Guilt" and Li Zhen Fan's debut
composition "Only Want You To Be Nicer To Me".
The tracks in CD One are generally stronger than those in CD
Two. In fact, the just-mentioned hits all come from the
first CD. It proves that the past collaboration between
Cyndi and Li Zhen Fan is pure chemistry because all the
old tracks (except one) in CD One are produced by Li.
Unfortunately we will not get to hear new offerings from Li in
Cyndi's future albums since they have stopped working together
(gossip note : if you still don't know, both are lovers before
but have since separated).
When compared to the "Without
Guilt" compilation, there are three tracks which are not
found in this new collection. However "Too Late"
goes further by boasting eight more songs including the
afore-mentioned five new recordings. Therefore it is still
a collection worth buying even if you already have the
"Without Guilt" compilation.
A final note : as pointed out in the first
paragraph, this new collection is released by Cyndi's first
record company and therefore the old tracks are all dated 1994
and earlier. Therefore don't expect to find her more
recent hits (between 1995 to 1998) here, such as "On The
Seventh Day In The Desert", "Please Don't Worry",
"Relax", "Our Story" and "Love Or Not
To Love", all of which were recorded when she was still
under her ex-company Universal Music. If you prefer these
tracks, then you'd be better off buying another of her
compilation album "Yong Hua" released by Universal
last year (refer cover pic below)
Yong
Hua Collection
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RATING : (4
out of 5)
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GIGI LEUNG (FRESH) (EEI)
(JUL99)
MUSIC STYLE : FOLKISH / BALLADS / LIGHT-TEMPO POP
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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Gigi's fourth solo
Mandarin album.
After her successful collaboration with
composer cum producer Li Si Song in her previous album's first
single "Coward", the duo is back with a new title
Track 1 "Fresh" which is an advertisement theme song
for US cherries. However compared to "Coward",
the country-folk ballad "Fresh" seems to lack that
extra 'oomph' factor to be considered the first single.
A better choice would be the catchy Track
2 "Like Him" which is incidentally the second single
and the Mandarin version of Gigi's recent Cantonese single
"I Like" taken from her EP "Today".
Written by Hong Kong composer Eric Kwok, "Like Him"
is also Taiwan's Mandarin theme song for the US movie
"The Runaway Bride" starring Julia Roberts and
Richard Gere. An interesting side-note is the arranger
of "Like Him" is stated in the lyrics sheet as
Snowman but in fact Eric Kwok is Snowman himself , here's a
pic of him below :

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There's a balance mix of
slow and light tempo tracks in this album which includes
composers and lyricists like Li Si Song, Chen Guo Hwa, Zhen
Hua Juan, Pan Xie Qing and Yao Ruo Long. The songs are
mainly produced by Li Si Song who takes up half the tracks
here and Chen Zi Hong.
But alas most of the songs here
are of so-so quality, they are easy-listening but not
exciting, there's nothing here musically that listeners would
not have heard before in Gigi's previous three releases. To be fair, Gigi's vocals and Mandarin diction are
commendable but they are greatly underutilised here.
On the whole, an album
which is neither fresh nor challenging.
(Side-note : There
are two types of limited-edition packages for Gigi's new
album. The Taiwan version contains an extra-thick lyrics
booklet which has Gigi jetting to Seattle cherry orchards for the photo
shoots. On the other hand, the Hong Kong edition comes
with a mouse pad and a CD-Rom which includes a Cantonese MRT
advertisement theme song "Take A Deep Breath And
Fly" and the Leo Ku-Gigi hit duet
"Wish".)
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RATING : (3
out of 5)
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DENISE RUAN
(PENETRATE) (WHAT'S MUSIC) (JUL99)
MUSIC STYLE : BALLAD / JAZZ / LATIN MUSIC
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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Third solo album
from Denise (or Ruan Dan Qing) who adopts a new-age hippy
image in her latest offering.
Like her previous album, the title ballad
Track 2 "Penetrate" is composed by long-time
collaborator Xue Zhong Ming and written by Adam Xu Chang De.
Kudos to Tu Hui Yuan for providing a fitting dramatic music
arrangement to a song about a woman's anguish after
discovering an affair going on between her lover and her best
friend.
The second single Track 1 "I Don't
Care" is a fusion of rock + blues + jazz and
is Denise's first musical attempt. Composed and partly
written by the gal herself (she co-wrote with lyricist Yi Jia
Yang), it was originally written for Chyi Chin in mind but
producer Huang Yi later encouraged Denise to sing it herself.
A refreshing and commendable attempt.
Other musical varieties in the album include the light jazz +
folkish Track 3 "Fake Love" written by female
composer Chen Guan Qian and the Latin style ballad Track 8
"Time Has Changed Me".
The album consists of mostly ballads and
mid-tempo tracks which make easy-listening. Ballads like
Track 6 "So There Is Really Such A Person" written
by uprising composer Xie Ming You (the same guy who wrote
Valen Hsu's "Don't Say Goodbye" and Dick & The
Cowboys' "Sailor"), Track 7 "Fought For
Love" again composed by Xue Zhong Ming & written by
Xu Chang De and Track 10 "Want To Confirm" written
by Wu Xu Wen are all radio-friendly sentimental songs.
Denise's unique and soothing vocals also
makes this album a pleasant listening experience.
It is not an easy task for any singer to
churn out successive albums which are consistent in production
and quality, but right from her debut album to her current
third new
album, Denise has done just that.
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RATING : (4
out of 5)
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SHINO (SHE
KNOWS) (FRIENDLY DOG) (JUL99)
MUSIC STYLE : VARIED (ROCK/TECHNO/RETRO/BALLAD)
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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Second
album from Shino (or Lin Xiao Pei), incidentally the album's
name rhymes with her own. Most
of the songs here are written by the same composers from her
debut album. However a glaring absence is Chen Shanni
who wrote Shino's first hit "Troubled".
The title Track 1 "She Knows" is
a catchy rock number composed by producer Li Shi Xian who's
behind the hits "Blind Cinderella" and "So What" in
the first album. It starts off with a nice techno beat
and right into the middle part, there's a particular long
sentence that Shino pulls off effortlessly with one breath.
Shino's two works are
included here : the lyrics for Track 4 "Forever" and
the melody/lyrics of Track 6 "Hand Is Too
Small". For a first-timer, Shino's composition of
the lively "Hand Is Too Small" is surprisingly
good. It also helps that Li Shi Xian has given the song
an infectious country-folk style arrangement.
There seems to be a
certain musical pattern in Shino's ballads right from the first
album to this present one. They sound a bit dated but
nevertheless heartfelt, just like the kind that E-Jun (or Li
Yi Jun) would have sung. Track 3 "It's Not As If I
Must Have Your Love" written by Huang Yun Ling and Track
9 "Goodbye My Love" are such examples.
Although most of the tracks
range from slow to mid-tempo, one can still find some musical
variety. Besides rock and ballad, there's also techno (like Track 7 "War") and retro
(in Track 2 "Don't Casually Say To Send Me Home"
which takes a poke at guys who don't take love seriously or
playboys so to speak).
As for Shino's vocal
performance, it seems that her first album's commercial
success as well as winning the Best Newcomer
award in this year's prestigious Taiwan Golden Melody Awards
have boosted her confidence. She sounds so much at ease
and comfortable in all the tracks here, the rawness which was
evident in her debut album has dissipated into thin air.
A good follow-up album
that doesn't disappoint. Even Shino's record company
knows that, it is organising a grand lucky draw in Taiwan
whereby the first prize is an Audi A3 1.8T car, this must be
the most attractive prize ever sponsored in the promotion of a Mandarin album,
lucky Taiwanese listeners.
A side-note : the first batch of the
special-edition CD album comes bundled with a small Shino
poster and a Shino-trademark tattoo sticker (refer below).

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RATING : (4
out of 5)
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MAY DAY (1st COMPOSITION
ALBUM) (ROCK RECORDS) (JUL99)
ALBUM NOT REVIEWED
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Rock Records's
first Mandarin band group, May Day (or Wu Yue Tian), was
discovered by Jonathan Lee.
Comprising five members who formed the band when they were
students, they have come out
with an aptly titled "1st Composition Album" debut
work. The title is spot-on because the album is close to
100% made by May Day themselves, ranging from music, lyrics,
singing, arranging to instrument-playing, vocal backups and
producing.
The band group are also
veteran live-performers, having played to a whopping
twenty-thousand audience group even before they release their
debut album.
The first single
"Wild World", written by one of its members Ah Xin, is a lively and catchy track with a
strong raw band sound.
The album CD package
comes with a VCD which includes snippets of May Day's live
performance and the MTV for "Wild World".
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JEFF
CHANG (PLEASE COME BACK) (SONY MUSIC) (JUL99)
MUSIC STYLE : VARIED (BALLADS / R&B / FOLK / LIGHT JAZZ)
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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Although Jeff
Chang's previous album "Direct Feelings" did not
fare well commercially, however I think it ranks as one of his
most listenable and most consistent album ever yet.
Therefore when listening to this brand new release
"Please Come Back", I'll inevitably compare it to
its predecessor. On a personal note, I still prefer
"Direct Feelings" but having said that, this follow-
up album does not disappoint. After all, it boasts a
strong cast - composers & lyricists include Chen Xiao Xia,
Lin Xi, Chen Jia Li, Sky Wu, Li Si Song, Jimmy
Ye Liang Jun while producers include Huang Yun Ling, Huang Yi
and Xue Zhong Ming.
The title Track 1
"Please Come Back" is a ballad composed by
Chen Xiao Xia and written by Yao Ruo Long. It differs
from Jeff's previous trade-mark ballads in that it is nicely
arranged with a slow techno-beat. Kudos to the
producer Huang Yun Ling who has collaborated before with Jeff
in his earlier works. A bona-fide hit.
The second single Track 2
"Won't Be Your Lover" is a typical Jeff-style ballad
which should go down well with his fans. After all it
has a potent international team behind it : written by Hong
Kong lyricist Lin Xi, composed by Singaporean Chen Zhi Wei
(side-note : the lyrics booklet misprinted the composer as
another Singaporean writer Liang Wen Foo),
arranged by Taiwanese Wang Yu Ming and produced by Taiwanese
Xue Zhong Ming.
Although this new release
consists solely of slow to mid-tempo songs, it is commendable
that Jeff has tried to give a different face to most of
them. Besides the title track, there's a R&B track 5
"Ask For Love", a ballad with a light touch of jazz
track 6 "Depression Mode", a folkish track 9
"Bad Weather", a light-tempo guitar track 3
"Find A Key", a mainly-piano ballad track 6
"Forest Of Two People" and a nicely-arranged track 4
"Punishment" intermixed with soft drum techno beats
and train sound effects.
Jeff Chang's vocals shine throughout the
album. His crispy voice still sounds as fresh as ever
after so many years.
Overall, a radio-friendly pop album that is worth listening to after such a long
wait.
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RATING : (4
out of 5)
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NA YING (CLEAR CUT) (EMI MUSIC) (JUL99)
MUSIC STYLE : VARIED (BALLADS / FOLK / R&B / JAZZ / LIGHT-ROCK)
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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Na Ying's brand new Mandarin release.
The album is produced and recorded in Singapore except for one Japanese produced track, namely the already-aired and well-publicised 1998 collaboration with Aska (from the Japanese duo Chage &
Aska) titled "To Meet Is Not As Good As To Reminiscence". It was originally released last year in a movie soundtrack album titled "B Project". Since not many people would have bought that soundtrack, it's wonderful that the song is included in this new release under Track 3 cos it is such a great number.
The title Track 1 "Clear Cut" is a nice ballad written by Taiwanese female composer Chen Xiao Juan and arranged by Singaporean musician Goh Kheng Long (or Wu Qing Long). It was reported that Chen Xiao Juan wrote at least ten different lyric blueprints before she could settle on the final version. Another recommended ballad Track 6 "One Person's Story" is composed by Li Si Song and written by HK lyricist Lin
Xi. In fact Li Si Song produced a total of eight tracks in this album including the above two mentioned songs.
Na Ying has also ventured into other new music styles like jazz (in Track 10 "Poison") and R&B (in Track 5 "Wait"), all of which the diva performed with ease. Yuan Wei Ren (the guy behind Na Ying's hits "Conquer" and "Awakened Dream") wrote and produced the second single of the album, a folkish Track 4 "A Dream". Evidently, it's a follow-up to "Awakened Dream" but thankfully both have their distinct identities. Personally I prefer this new track "A Dream" which boasts a stronger melody.
Na Ying handed in three lyrics here including "To Meet Is Not As Good As To Reminiscence" and an interestingly titled Track 7 "Willing To Gamble And Accept Defeat", interesting in the sense that this is the same advice that Na Ying gave her good friend Faye Wong when the latter was experiencing marriage troubles with Dou Wei. However the song sounds a bit dated.
It's a great pleasure to hear Na Ying belt out all the tracks here, she's such an accomplished singer. At times, I thought I'm listening to A Mei, check out in particular Track 5 "Wait".
A good pop album on the whole. If you like her previous "Conquer" album, then this one doesn't disappoint too.
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RATING : (4
out of 5)
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JULIA PENG (JULIA'S PROCESS - BEST COLLECTION) (BMG MUSIC) (JUN99)
MUSIC STYLE : BALLADS / DANCE POP / ROCK
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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Julia's very first compilation containing two brand new tracks and eighteen old songs.
Let's talk about the two previously unheard numbers first. Track 1 "Happy People Please Raise Your Hands" is a pulsating rock piece that showcases Julia's powerful vocals. Track 2 "The Day That I Walk On The Red Carpet" is a nice ballad which writes about a gal's wish to marry.......hmm, wonder whether the protagonist is Julia herself cos she's really absorbed into the song. Incidentally, both numbers are composed and produced by her beau, Chen Guo
Hua. Coming to the collection, all of Julia's greatest hits are included here, among which are "Old Dreams", "Hear Your Goodbye", "Knocking On My Head", "Love Till No Point Of Return" and "Heartache Love Song".
This double CD album comes enclosed with a photo booklet which contains some interesting snippets of Julia's life. If you look carefully, you can even catch a glimpse of how Chen Guo Hua and another famous musician Li Zhen Fan look like.
A good vocalist, a good selection of songs........need I say more? Go and grab it.
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RATING : (4
out of 5)
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NA NA (POISON) (BMG MUSIC) (JUN99)
MUSIC STYLE : MOSTLY BALLADS
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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BMG Music has done it again - the ex-record company of Na Na has once more
shrewdly timed her second compilation album to come out around the same period as the release of Na Na's new album "Remedy". What's more, it is titled "Poison" - talk about originality!
The selection here is very uneven - a whopping six tracks are taken from Na Na's last album with BMG "How Could You Not Love Me", five tracks from her brilliant album "Retreat", two from "Wish", one from "Hold A Bit Closer" and get this, NONE from another good album
"Freedom".
This "Poison" compilation also pales considerably when compared to the first collection "Change Love" which was released in 1998. While "Change Love" contains all of Na Na's previous leading singles and hits, the current series is stuffed with lesser-known songs.
Maybe the selection team also realised that they are threading on thin ice. Therefore they have attempted to spice up the compilation by repeating some songs that were already included in the first one such as "Forget To Forget" and "Healing". There's even a karaoke track for "Retreat".
However I think listeners are smart nowadays, I mean who would want to consume poison in the first place right?
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RATING : (2
out of 5)
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BILLIE (NOBODY'S FOOL BUT MY OWN) (WHAT'S MUSIC) (JUN99)
MUSIC STYLE : MOSTLY SOFT ROCK / FOLK-ROCK / BALLADS
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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Billie (or Wang Xue Er) is like the female version of Dick & The Cowboys (or vice versa). Both are in their forties, both are parents, both are pub singers, both have that tinge of life-weariness in their voice and both are adept in belting out rock numbers (and yes, both are from the same record company).
The title ballad Track 1 "Nobody's Fool But My Own" is composed by Panda (or Xiong Tian Ping). Very different from Panda's previous works in that it is of a slow pop-rock style with a touch of jazz and it fits Billie's vocals perfectly.
Billie's own daughter, Joyce, has handed in two song lyrics for her mother, namely, Track 7 "Only One" and Track 9 "Immerse" - they are not bad, considering that it's written by a newcomer. These songs are meant to mirror Billie's own love life so I guess nobody's more qualified to write about it than her own daughter.
Most of the tracks here range from slow to mid-tempo but they are highly listenable because of Billie's heart-wrenching vocal performance (for example, in Track 10 "Hello", she sounds so convincingly in portraying loneliness and weariness in her dialogue and singing that one actually feels for her). After all, she has this to say about her music in the album sleeves :
"The biggest difference between my music and other people's music is that I sing about my own life and I will not sing something that doesn't touch on my
feelings".
If you are one of those who lament that most singers nowadays concentrate more on vocal techniques than on feelings, then this album by Billie will bring you great satisfaction.
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RATING : (4
out of 5)
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ROMI (ANGEL FISH) (UNIVERSAL MUSIC) (JUN99)
MUSIC STYLE : MOSTLY ACOUSTIC AND FOLKISH POP
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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Another newcomer - Romi (or Li Qi). Some quick facts about her : she used to be a folk-lounge singer, she's a good guitar player, she has lent her voice to a lot of Taiwan ad jingles and she has written songs before for singers like Tao Zi (or Tao Jing Ying), Yi Neng Jing and Wa Wa (or Jing Zhi Juan).
Given her background, there's no doubt that Romi can sing. Her voice is clean and delicate; at certain high notes, she even sounds a bit like Yang Lin.
The first ballad single Track 1 "Love Afar" is composed and produced by Singaporean Li Si Song (the guy seems to be going places these days, just this year alone, he has been responsible for producing the title tracks for Sammi Cheng and Na Ying already). "Love Afar" is no mean feat too - it was chosen as the leading single after a consensus from fifty student couples and one hundred broken-hearted female students in Taiwan.
Romi herself composed four highly-listenable numbers here, including the ballad title track 5 "Angel Fish" and the light-tempo folkish track 6 "The Edge", the latter sung originally by Tao
Zi. In one of the more "un-folkish" songs in the album Track 8 "A Girl Or A Woman", Romi really sounds like Yang Lin, go check it out
yourself.
The album CD comes with a bonus CD containing two impressive live unplugged performances of Track 4 "Can't Help Yourself" and Track 6 "The Edge" plus one guitar-demo version (played by Romi herself) of the Track 1 "Love Afar".
With the recent crop of over-polished Western/Korean-influenced pop releases, Romi's "Angel Fish" comes like a cool breeze - listening to it is a refreshing experience. The best, most sincere and most consistent debut album ever released by a newcomer so far for 1999. Watch out for this gal.
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RATING : (4
out of 5)
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VARIOUS ARTISTES (ROCK FOR CHILDREN) (WHAT'S MUSIC) (JUN99)
ALBUM NOT REVIEWED
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A live album recorded at a children's charity concert in Taiwan spanning over a period of two days and two nights. Performers for this occasion are all What's Music artistes including Chyi Chin, The Power Station, Dick And The Cowboys, Panda (or Xiong Tian Ping) and Fei Fei (or Ouyang Fei
Fei).
Some of the highlights include the pairing of The Power Station and Fei Fei for a cover version of Faye Wong's "You Are Happy, So I'm Happy", another duet from The Power Station together with Panda on the latter's "Matchstick Heaven", the rendition of A Mei's "So You Don't Want Anything At All" by Dick And The Cowboys, Chyi Chin's cover of Dave Wang's "A Game, A Dream" and a finale song Su Rei's "The Same Moonlight" by all performers.
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RICHIE REN (SERIOUS COLLECTION) (ROCK RECORDS) (JUN99)
MUSIC STYLE : VARIED (FOLKISH / BALLAD / ROCK)
OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE
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A new song cum collection album from Richie.
There are altogether seven new tracks here, including a duet cover with Jonathan Lee on Zhao Chuan's "I'm A Small Little Bird", two nice works by Pan Xie Qing "Give
You Happiness" and "Candlelight", a radio-friendly and light-tempo Hokkien pop number "Late At Night" sung with three other guys Ah
Niu, Huang Ping Yuan and composer Li Zhen Fan and finally a re-recording on Richie's three earlier but supposedly "extinct" works from his previous record company.
On the compilation side, all of Richie's hits are included here like "Too Soft Heart", "I'm A Fish", "Sad Pacific Ocean", "Very Hurt" and "Depend".
Altogether it is a two-CD album containing a total of twenty songs plus a bonus VCD which has eight of Richie's old (sorry, no new ones) MTV hits. Sounds like Rock Records is pulling all punches to make this collection release a success. A good buy indeed.
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RATING : (4
out of 5)
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Copyright
© 1999 ASIAN MUSIC POP . All Rights Reserved . |
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