Chinese Music Blog

After months of postponing, the album is here at last!

The cover is impressive: almost A4 format and my version came with 2 cute plastic folders. Of course, you’re less happy when it comes to find a place where it fits, forget the Cd or DVD shelves!

1st disappointments, out of the 13 tracks, only 7 songs are really new….the rest are from the X Family and Romantic Princess’s OSTs.

“Xin Guo” (New Home) featuring SHE
This one isn’t a surprise, but I guess most of us will be more than happy to have a full and high quality version at last!
For those who haven’t watched the show, this song was the opening theme of Romantic Princess, starring Wu Zun and Calvin. The other songs of the OST are performed by Angela Zhang, and are all on her last album, Ang. 5.0. No OST CD was released, so if you enjoyed the show as much as I did, this song is a must have!

Cute and dynamic, it will definitely put you in a good mood….and might stay in your head for a day or 2, you’ll find yourself singing those simple lyrics without realizing it!

The lyrics are nice and funny, with some play on words, SHE’s and FRH voices are a perfect match, and the feeling is really different from “Xie Xie Ni De Wen Rou” (Thank You For Your Tender) (that has been criticized a lot).

“Wei Ni Chun Zai” (Exist For You)
Not my favourite…I’m not really fond of ballads. If you liked “Xia Xue (Summer Snow), this one is of the same kind. They sing in tune, and that’s enough for me! The music is nice but has no surprise, nor is catchy, the MV is going to make all fangirls drool, but it has nothing more.

“Bu Hui AI” (Don’t Know How To Love)
I was quite disappointed to find this song on the album. Ok for “Xin Guo” (New Home), but
“Bu Hui AI” (Don’t Know How To Love) and Chu Shen Ru Hua (Mystical) are already on the X Family’s OST so it makes me want to say « are you kidding me? »

Anyway, I just love this song; it has this little something special that “Wei Ni Chun Zai” (Exist For You) lacks. The feeling is deeper, and it can move you, and the tune is catchier… It is a relaxing song, still strong and intense.

Chu Shen Ru Hua (Mystical)
A “hard rock” song, powerful and loud, with lyrics that could remind you of “Wo You Wo De Young” (I Have My Young)， yet much more implicated. It is still about “awaking” yourself, going forward no matter what, being proud of yourself, and showing it to the world. I like this kind of thinking, and I love rock, so no need to say I appreciate this song a lot.

Ti Amo
Another disappointing one… If you have seen some of Aaron’s live performance (http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=yJdqCJGbXnk ) , you would expect something wonderful from this solo song, and that’s not the case. “Yuan Yi Bu Ai Ni” (Willing Not To Love You) on The X Family’s OST was not my style (too dramatic and “crying”), but at least it emphasized Aaron’s voice, that’s not the case for Ti Amo

This song would almost make you cry if Aaron’s voice wasn’t that close to being off tune.

Anyway, only the chorus will make you uncomfortable, the rest is really enjoyable, so although I just criticized, don’t skip the song before listening a few times to it!

This song still has a dramatic feeling, and will move you a lot, and the beautiful lyrics
Another remark, the girl singing the chorus is awesome, her voice is modulated, clear, and I really wish to hear more from her. She’s called “Liu Li Yang”, and I don’t think she’s famous yet.

“Ai De Wang Dao” (The Royal Of Love)
My 3rd recommended song. Poppish and happy with a little bit of rap, this song still is relaxing; I’d even say it has a little taste of Reggae! Another one to put you in a good mood, what more to ask for?

“Xin Li You Shu” (Numbers In The Heart)
Funny tune, and the jumpy feeling hides their vocal weaknesses, and although I usually disapprove this kind of mix, the classic music in the background, in fact Pachelbel’s Canons, (a quite famous piece, here’s a link for those who do not know it: http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=6wpPk8qk3uQ ) makes a nice effect. The Canon is remixed during the rap part and at the very beginning, or maybe they wrote a similar tune, I can’t tell, but it gives a certain consistence to the song.

What I’m really waiting for now is to see the MV, want to know why? Just get a look at this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uNjWZmBcDc

“Ming Bai Xiang” (Understand Fragrance)
For this one, just check what I wrote for “Wei Ni Chun Zai” (Exist For You), they more or less the same IMO. I could describe the feeling as bubble gum…sticky, thick, and not really tasty in the end!

“Zhi Hai You Wo” (At Least Have Me) and “Yi Wan Ge Kuai Le” (One Hundred Thousand Happiness)
Too simple, without much surprises… lacking some harmony, but compared to the average, they’re good ones! Those songs also show the gap between the members, Aaron’s and Calvin’s parts are really smooth and quite beautiful, whereas the 2 other’s are quite jerky and lack emotion. Those 2 are still pleasant, fine songs and they’re all perfectly in tune, so let’s not complain too much!

“Xiao Xiao Da Ren Wu” (Small Big Guy)
Ok, to put it in a nutshell, how am I supposed not to explode when I hear them rapping « Mickey Mouse »? And if you add this techno-ish music….well have you heard of the Chain Saw Massacre? That’s more or less how I react to this song! It is just too self-righteous…

“Xin Guo” (New Home) (Male dormitory version)
As weird as it may seem, FRH can replace SHE without much trouble! Okay it’s a little less cute, and some of SHE’s parts have been replaced by rap, but I really think this song is one of the good surprises of the album.

Conclusion: the look of the album (almost A4-size, with wonderful classy pictures) is a perfect comparison to the band itself: great looks, but not much inside.

I can’t tell what is the 2nd face (Shuang Mian), because the style/level is similar to their debut album.
I was expecting some progress in their singing over the year, and some outstanding songs, with catchy yet complex tunes, and in the end, apart from the songs featured in their dramas, which don’t leave much new songs, the rest is quite average, and not much improvement in the singing.

Nothing is up to the levels of “Zhi Dui Ni You Gan Jue” (Only Feel For You) or”Wo You Wo De Young” (I Have My Young), which had nice beats, and were a bit innovative and fresh.

With the group’s popularity, not really base on their singing, we can still expect this album to be a hit, but they did not disserve it.

If you really want to buy a nice boys band CD, and can only buy one, try 5566’s!