Chinese Music Blog

First, I guess a quick introduction is in order. I’m Geof, the newest contributor to CMB, here primarily to try and get around to a few of the translation requests, but I’ll drop the occasional review as well, like I intend to do today. If you care, you can find out more in the forums. Anyway, on with the show.

I’ll be doing my reviews a little differently to the others, too - I plan to do mine in two steps, first impressions relatively soon after getting the CD, and then revisiting it after a few weeks to see if it’s grown on me or proved to be nothing more than a fling. So here we go with my first impressions of the new SHE album, Once Upon A Time (不想长大), and bear in mind - this is without having paid particularly much attention to the lyrics as yet. Being a non-native speaker of Chinese means that takes a bit more effort for me, so in the follow-up expect more on that front.

In short - if you like your music innovative, intelligent, and creative, buy something else. But let’s be honest here, if you’re buying SHE CDs for musical innovation, you’re probably not too sharp. This is bubblegum music, pure and simple - and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Once Upon A Time is essentially more of the same formula the girls have refined to a fine art - I few up-tempo, high-energy party songs mixed in with a few pop ballads. And this is both one of the main strengths of the album and one of its biggest weaknesses. In terms of track layout, this CD is almost perfectly planned; starting off with a couple of the aforementioned high-energy tracks, the first of which - 不想长大 (I Don’t Want To Grow Up) - is one of the best tracks on the album. It then eases off the pace with a few ballads, picking it up again at the end to leave on another high note. Well, almost. The final track, while entirely passable, is a bit of a soft ending for the album, and leaves kind of an overall… dull impression at the end. Plus, as an English speaker, the English bit in that song just… argh, NO. NO NO NO. Anyway.

The problem caused by this, though, is that it gets, well, remarkably forgettable in the middle. After 天灰 (Grey Skies), track 4, it tails off into a succession of wallpaper music ballads that just blur together after a couple of minutes, to the point it’s hard to remember what track you’re on. This lull lasts through a full three tracks, almost a third of the album. Personally I would prefer if they did a few more of the power numbers, since those have a lot more character to them than the cookie-cutter ballads.

On the plus side, when it’s good it’s excellent. Standout tracks, for me, would be:

Track 1: 不想长大 - the title track and first single. To be honest, at the present point in time I can’t remember which classical piece they’ve used on this, but it provides a good driving sound to the track, which is just a nice fun-sounding piece. I would say this is the second best track on the album, and they made an excellent choice making this the lead single.
Track 4: 天灰 - there’s a very Jay-like quality to this one, to the point I actually had to check the album insert to verify that neither he nor Alexander Fang had anything to do with it. Good harmonies, nice pace, never pushes itself too far. Really makes me continue to wonder what a duet between Jay and either Ella or the whole group would sound. Ella needs to stop trying to hit those high notes though - goddamn did that hurt to listen to.
Track 8: 好人有好抱 (Good Hugs for Good People - Hao Ren You Hao Bao) - This one’s a nice, relaxing, acoustic number that works surprisingly well. Very old fashioned sound to it too, but I can’t quite explain why…. Plus it’s one of the only tracks that really seems to fit the theme of the album.
Track 9:神枪手 (Sharpshooter - Shen Qiangshou) - Easily the best track on the album. Very country-influenced, great fun, and damn if it’s not the catchiest thing I’ve heard in months. I dare you - dare you - to listen to this one and not at least be tapping your feet before the first verse is done. They really should’ve ended with this track, gone out on a high note.

To sum up - if you like a bit of lightweight fun, this is what you’re looking for. Polished, well-executed, and only really let down by a few tracks in the middle. There’s also a definite improvement in the quality of the singing over Encore. If I had to give it a star rating, based on my ratings for the songs in iTunes, I’d say 3 and a half, leaning toward four. Certainly not the best album in the collection, and I would hesitate to call it a must-buy, but if you’ve been in two minds about it, I’d say go for it. It’s been in high rotate on the iPod for the past week, but come back in a few weeks to see if it stands the test of time.

Track Listing & Personal Rating

1 不想长大 (”I Don’t Want To Grow Up”) (*****)
2 Super Model (***)
3 不作你的朋友 (”Let’s Not ‘Just Be Friends’”) (***)
4 天灰 (”Grey Skies”) (****)
5 月桂女神 (”Laurel Goddess”) (***)
6 绿洲 (”Oasis”) (***)
7 谢谢你让我爱过你 (”Thank You For Letting Me Love You”) (***)
8 好人有好抱 (”Good Hugs for Good People”) (****)
9 神枪手 (”Sharpshooter”) (*****)
10 星星之火 (”Twinkling Star”) (***)