Jay Chou - Qi Li Xiang (Released on August 2004)
Rating: ****4
Here comes Jay's 5th album which I have been waiting with much antipation and expectation. Not much changes of pattern or style from his previous albums. This album is good but lacks the novelty and creativity that we can find in his 2nd album "Fantasy" album. Maybe it is lack of memorable songs to support the entire album.
I do not find the chorus of intro song "My Construction Site" interesting. It sounds a bit like one of those cheeky song by some cheeky girls group. I think the song should not have been chosen as the 1st song. The only thing I like about the song is the guitar riff.
My favourite song goes to "Grandma" (track 4). The interesting part is the voice of the child duet with Jay. Reminds me much of song "Coward" (Nuo Fu). The only complaint is they overdo the thunder music effects throughout the song.
Coming up next is catchy song "General" (track 5) which kinda of remind me of Jolin Tsai's "Pirates".
2nd Track "Qi Li Xiang" is a rock ballad starting off with chinese instruments intro. Remember "Dong Fong Bo"??
The last song in this album is "Injury Of Cease-fire" (Track10). I like the piano pierce very much. Sounds very classical and artistic.
My verdict: Jay needs to bring in new ideas into his next album. I would stick to Nan Quan Ma Ma's debut album for the time being for this year. I know Jay can do better next year! Support you, man.
Jay Chou - Ye Hui Mei (Released on August 2003)
Rating: *****5
Whenever it comes to Jay's new album release, it is always a time filled with much anticipation for me. Jay Chou's music never stops to mystify me with his genre of hip-hop rock, R&B and rap. He alone has, in fact, make a progressive step in bringing more music listeners to start appreciating this genre of music.
First track "In the Name of the Father" (Yi Fu Zhi Ming) is an eerie, creepy song. You can actually feel the phantom of opera lurking around in the background of the song. And gun shots being fired up in the air. In the MTV, Jay looked so cool in those glasses.
Next, 2nd Track "Coward" (Nuo Fu) explodes with a high degree of rock overtones, which could easily be mistaken as a direct challenge to Linkin Park genre of music. Besides, the rap part of a kid in the song does add some appeal to the song itself. Remind me of "Andrew Chou" in Machi's songs.
3rd song "Sunny" (Qing Tian) is what you would never expect from Jay. Take note of Jay's different style of singing in Track 8 "Ta De Jie Mao". Both songs are filled with guitars and drums.
Track 9 "Overhanging Cliff of Love" is another of my favourite in this album.
Closing the curtains, is Track 11 "Dual Knife" (Shuang Dao) which cuts through the entire eleven distinctive songs like a razor blade. I believe this rock song is a follow up sequel to his previous famous collection of kung fu tracks like "Shuang Jie Gun" and "Ninja". Keep it up Jay! It rocks!
In summary, this latest album is a bit different from his earlier works. It has a good blend of various type of music, which simply reaffirms Jay's creativity in composing songs.
My Advise: Buy this album to evaluate one of the GREATEST ASIAN artist and judge it yourself!
My Verdict: Barely catch up with Jay's renowned "Fantasy" album (my all time favourite album).
Verdict 2: On par with his first album and "Eight Dimensions" album.
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