It's Hot - November's Chopin

I suggest you go out and BUY the album immediately and then you can follow this review properly. Or at least after reading the review, you'll understand that this is an album that you have to get or you'll be missing the only the worth waiting for this entire year in Mandopop.

As I used to say, the biggest event this year in Mandopop that happened wasn't the release of any album. It was the release of Jay's first movie, Initial D. Other stuff ain't important. And this is the second event - him finally releasing his album after a long year!

Right, no time to waste, here's a review of the songs in the album coupled with MB's opinions, and you can check out her blog on the right column of links!

*Ye Qu*
It is this track that kicks off a whole new Jay era, and whether the lyrics inspired the title of the album or vice versa, this one'll be a classic for him. With its rap-driven verse and a touching chorus, Ye Qu manages to combine an edgy feel despite it essentially being a soppy song about lost love. The lyrics are very dark and coupled with the music to present some sort of a melancholic masterpiece. A brood of ants, attracted to the smell of rotting flesh; My face expressionless as I stare out at the lonely view. I agree with MB that he hasn't done any song quite like this before and it is an extremely beautiful track.

**Lan Se Feng Bao**
I love Jay tracks that scream of attitude. I like them noisy, loud, fast. I can hardly grasp the meaning of this song, but it is a fine mix of rock and rap music that'll get your attention once you hear it. Starting off with something similar to a Gregorian chant, it is then rudely intercepted by the frantic dialling of numbers on a phone, which becomes the rift of this exciting track. It is crazy how it doesn't sound like a jumbled mess when there's the sound of electric guitars, scratching by the DJ, the sound of a phone, and classical string instruments thrown in at the bridge and at the end, giving a sense of urgency to this wild track. The lyrics are nasty and with attitude. This is my favourite track off the album.

Fa Ru Xue
This track does in fact remind me of Dong Feng Po. Dong Feng Po was a standout track because of its unique feel but it never appealed to a large audience. However, it went on to become one of the more famous songs from Ye Hui Mei. Jay has since fine tuned that unique sound to give Fa Ru Xue, which beats pretty much most of the previous love songs that he wrote with an Eastern feel. It's a unique piece of work and Jay unabashedly makes use of the very meaningful lyrics of the chorus, singing it a couple of times before turning it into a rap as the bridge. Another part that'll certainly get everyone singing is the la'er'la la'er'la la'er'la part. Very special. Ooh yeah, and as me and MB has observed the video to see his fit looking cleavage on display. Right, that's beginning to sound a bit gay coming from a guy, but he really moved on from being talented and raw and scrawny to becoming talented and cool.

Hei Se Mao Yi
In essence, it's a simple song, with the lyrics spanning only 11 lines on the album sleeve. As MB said, it's simple and sad, and she got it right. I'm stunned. Jay wrote the lyrics to this one himself. The lyrics are more accessible than that of Fang Wen Shan's describing a pair of lovers sharing the memories of a black sweater. Jay plays the guitar on this track. Multi-talented? You can bet your ass on that.

*Si Mian Chu Ge*
Another nasty track, immersed with plenty of attitude and this time round, features the sounds made by plenty of clicking cameras. It is easy enough to figure out that the track deals with Jay and the papprazzi. The previous year has been a rollercoaster ride for him, with news reports and photos of him and his girlfriend in Japan where he was on a break. There's too much to say about this song and only repeated listens will let you gain the entire feel of this song. What's unique on this track is a Korean rap at the bridge. Of course, the lyrics are written by Jay himself (I don't think Fang Wen Shan gets chased by papprazzi and it's difficult to put oneself in Jay's shoes. Not everyone is as huge as he is!) Lalalalalalalalalala... oh oh... there's no turning back. Lalalalalalalalalala... oh oh... forward's the only way to go.

Fong
2005's Hei Se You Mo. Okay, it's kind of mean to say that because it sort of sounds like he recycled an old track, which is totally false. But the similarities are hard to avoid, like the minimalistic backing music, bringing the focus to Jay's voice and the lyrics. It sounds confusingly like the Jay of the old being kicked back to life once more to do such an emotional performance. I thought this song kind of resembled An Jing, but I think it sounds like Hei Se You Mo more because of the way the chorus is sung; dragged out by his voice to great effect to portray the sadness of this track.

Lang Man Shou Ji
MB says, "Lang Man Shou Ji sounds like a song from his Fantasy days. like Ke Ai Nu Ren, like Jian Dan Ai, like An Hao. very simple tunes and simple beats." She also said that the song is one that'll probably become a sing-along hit, kind of like Qing Tian I think. Nothing much to say about this song except that everyone'll fall in love with it.

Yi Lin
Enlighten me because I have no idea what Yi Lin means. Another edgy rap track talking about life. Now how deep is that. It's about life being unfair, but no matter what, life goes on and that one should stand up bravely and face it. Gosh, I suck at Chinese-English translation but that's basically what it's about. There's a kind of magic in Chinese that cannot be brought to English. When it comes to beauty in lyrics, I have no doubt in my mind that Chinese is the one that is more versatile. And I regret not knowing more. Bah.

*Mai Ya Tang*
Another stand out track for me. It kicks off with an intro of strings that sound a lot like The Corrs. It's a very sunshine-song, almost like a male version of Shuo Ai Ni. He has a whole lot of works for me to compare this song against, but I think Jay himself has not sung anything quite like this before. It's a very feel-good track and that alone seperates it from the moodiness that is characteristic of Jay songs. Also, one of the highlights of the song is it has Jay singing I Love You in Thai.

*Hu Shan Hai*
There has never been a duet on a Jay album ever and now he throws it in on the 6th album. This duet with Lara from Nan Quan Mama is effective yet I don't see people rushing to sing this in KBox yet. Jay's musical influences are varied and in this, it displays the very complex harmonising and melody for the two voices. At some points of the song, they are in harmony. At others, they are echoing each other. Yet at others, the two voices go off in distinctly different directions, only to come back and proclaim of a love as deep as a coral sea. Beautiful stuff.

That's all for now. I think I took an hour for this, but I'm still not very satisfied with what I've writted. If you've got comments or would like to correct me on some of the facts that I have presented in this review, please feel free to do so!

I hope that this'll make people sit up and take notice of why Jay is a force in Mandopop to be taken notice of. Every track is different. Every track is unique. Every track drips of his sweat and and blood. The immense effort that goes into making every single track stand out in its own right, and the magic of mood that each creates whether using sounds rarely heard in pop music or through the startling imagery of the lyrics, make this album the ONLY album that you have to get this year.

BUY IT.