Singer: Winnie Hsin
Record Label: Rock Records
Number of Tracks: 12
Month of Release: May 2002
:: Following Winnie's successful sales figures for her previous cover album of Korean songs <<Forever>>, Rock Records has released another cover album for Winnie <<Oh! Lover>>, just approximately half a year later ::
:: Though Winnie did not manage to clinch the Best Female Vocalist Award at this year's Taiwan Hit Awards, while she had been nominated for the award three times, due to her 'cover songs being unable to showcase her wide range of vocals', but her company seems to be cashing on the popularity of such albums.
Review:
In this album, expect 10 of the songs to be covers of Japanese songs. The title track of the album, <<Oh! Lover>>, is a cover of a Celine Dion song <<To Love You More>>, a cover of an English song. The remaining track, <<A Winter Story>> is a piano piece, theme of the movie <<Love Letter>>, and is played by Winnie herself. The 10 covers include songs like <<La La La Love Song>>, <<Everything>>, <<I Believe>> and so on. Thus, I think that this album will appeal to fans of all things Japan -- serials, songs etc.
Before I heard this album, I had expected this album to sound very weird, with the inclusion of Mandarin lyrics and so on. However, even though the melody and arrangements of the songs remain unchanged from the original version, Winnie's vocals manage to blend in to the music rather perfectly. Honestly, I was not a fan of Japanese songs beforehand, mostly due to the language barrier [I can't understand what the songs are trying to imply!!!], I like most of the songs which I did not particularly like beforehand after hearing this album.
The lyrics of the songs are written by some renowned lyricists the Mandarin music industry can boast. For example, Liao Yingru rewrote the lyrics for <<Oh! Lover>>, while Yao Ruoyong rewrote the lyrics for <<Trust>>, Yi Jiayang <<Glass>> and Yao Chien <<Long Holiday>> and <<Glass>>.
It's certainly a pity that such a good vocalist like Winnie isn't given much recognition locally, judging from her performance from local charts. I enjoyed this album a lot, perhaps excluding the only English track of the album <<Summer Snow>>. Even though many people may claim that not much sincerity and effort are put into cover albums, SOME of the covers do sound nice. However, is it wise for Rock Records to continue following this path?
Recommended Tracks [In Order of Preference]:
Track 6: Magic of an Apple [OT: Shiawsena Ketsumatsu] -- Ping Guo De Mo Fa
Track 2: Oh! Lover [OT: To Love You More] -- Lian Ren Ah!
Track 8: Sorrow [OT: Bokutachi No Shippai] -- Ai Chou
Track 6: Long Holiday [OT: La La La Love Song] -- Chang Jia
Track 9: I Believe [OT: Believe]
Track 10: Love Story [OT: Love Story Wa Totsuzenni] -- Ai Qing Gu Shi
Rating: B
Ratings from other sources:
MTV Chinese **
I-Weekly B-
Friday Weekly B3