Cover The Covered

Looking into recent popular albums and songs in Mandapop, it's not difficult to find that the numbers of new songs out nowadays are getting to be a covered songs, by recent popular artists. Mostly its because they are good? Yes or not they are getting good response from the public.

Hey Westlife basically feed on the covers get them on the charts...... So it doesn't seems a bad thing for artist in Mandapop to do a cover albums? Well, it depends a lot of the artist itself. Not everyone can get escape with it. It used to be a backstab a lot. Cause people loves the original piece of art mostly.

Forget bout the past, whats now? Let me bring you along the covers of 2009. First one, A-Bin's Bad Guy's Lovesongs-Regrets. The title track originally sung by Mavis Hsu Mei Jing, a Singaporean diva back in 90s. In fact the whole album is covers songs from the 90s. Carefully selected by the housewives group of the people, they say, a beautiful female ballads is always better when sing by a tender voice of a guy. I get to know girls like to hear guys sing, and vice versa too. Anyhow, those songs (A-Bin's covered)are songs when I used to listen repeatedly again and again during my schooldays. Faye's Chess(Qi Zi), Yanzi's Dark Sky(Tian Hei Hei), Coco's Hints(An Shi), Sandy's Don't Bother Who Am I(Bu Bi Zai Hu Wo Shi Shui) and etc..... all classic hits and super sing-along elements... How's A-Bin doing it? The plus point is that he is not doing it hard, to sing to his own feelings but instead give the songs a gentle touch and sings with the most simple technique as if you are in the live lounge cafe. The memory of the songs makes you exciting about this album.

Talking about classics, Khalid Fong's Timeless Classic resembles Yanzi's cover album which includes songs that influenced them most from young. English songs and mandarin songs and even cantonese. This is the biggest selling point, Cantonese. Khalid Fong's first cantonese song, Kuang Chao. Gaining favourable critics arcoss Asia, and his jazz, basanova-ish arrangements capture the peoples heart when he redo Faye's Red Bean and "Nothing Gonna Change My Love For You". Choice of songs are briliant too, as couples of songs already got forgotten by the younger generations nowadays. Again you sees the most simple arrangements capture more audience. In the olden days, artist tries too hard to makes it sounds differ. Not everyone another Shirley Kwan or Anthony Wong, famous covers icon.

As releasing a whole new cover album could risky the good name of an artist's talent, so Jolin didn't make one. Accidently the record company makes an EP of her live performances as part of her DVD package, when she covers a couples of famous ballads that she loves to sing in the karaoke. One of my favourite too, A-mei's I Hate I Love You. Its mesmerising everytime I listen. The song is too good for me to notice Jolin's singing. Other also Gigi Leong's Bias, Fish Leong's I Like.... light and good choice to covers too. Commercial value are there, while lesser critisation made. (As its live-ed, we forgive you)....

Earlier of the year, there are a not so popular of Fu Qio Yin's Pink Jukebox. She challenged the super classic from Pan Yue Yin and Chan Shu Hua to Celine Dion and Mariah Carey's signature songs. Proves she can sing but lack of the experiences of life which many songs interpreted like a singing machine. I didn't like it at all, maybe waiting for her to come out a new material album would be more a worth of listen.

As introduced in earlier post, Karen Mok's kind of re-doing the classic is getting rare. She totally futurised the oldies. (See the review yourself then) and adding latest additions would be Jam Hsiao's Love Moment. As a promo for his first concert tour, he did all ten classic hits from our generations and these songs are still popular among karaoke goers and singing competitions contestants. As heard before when he was appearing in the SUPERSTAR Talent Show, his way of covering songs are astonishing.. . let not forget thats how he got famous. So back to the roots, he brings us back to the classic songs we love..... oh also another sets of female classics.

Landy Wen温岚, -Dancing Queen

L.A.N.D.Y............. Tell me tell me why.....

A catchy phrase from her breakthrough her signature song, "L.A.N.D.Y." And this is also a conclusion after I listen to the whole album. Too damn much LANDY rapping... almost appear in every uptempo song in this album. Creative? I would say running out of it. Landy Wen is an artist which I always look forward to as she very in trend, but I don't see this one a good match to ELVA Hsiao's. Funny, Taiwan named her their own version of Kylie Minogue. Maybe she indie and hip in the same way, as compare Kylie to Britney, Madonna.

This album is a follow-up from the success of HOTWAVE, release 2 years ago, which I would say duplication? Yeah a bit. Follows the same formula, but lesser of the elements of surprise. Sometimes I feel the element of surprise is more important in an album I listen to.

This new album of Landy sort of ruining my expectations. What are mine? A sets of evergreen ballads...... not sure yet, it takes more repeats of listen only I can rate..... A sets of catchy uptempo tunes.... yes there are in it.... And hoping for more songs.... only a formal of 9 new songs when another one is a mash-up tribute to Anita Mui's Let Go Your Mind.

The warm up single, Let Go Your Mind, a cover/mash-up of Anita Mui's hit back in 1996, is not very pleasing number. I would have to say lack of creativity. Song arrangements are not exciting enough. New rhythm introduced into the classic is not very tempting. Lucky, this all can be turn around with the continue of "Hotwave", "D.I.S.C.O" the lead single is able to carry the album out. No doubt its another hit for her. It cross between of the 80's disco culture and today's autotunes.

From the previous success, she totally dulge into the 80's disco elements. The whole album also sounds a very mashup of the 80's, from tribute to 80's icon, Anita Mui til the disco culture with current futuristically mando-pop sound. It will be well-received by current audiences, specially China Mainland.

Another potential single, a very dance pop track,"Wide Angle Beauty" declares a new standard of beauties among the ladies by not starving too much to be beautiful, and able to do whatever they want without society restricts, etc...

Yes, the 2nd single is the everyone's favourite number.... ballad. "I Believe All Of You", the stupider than a dumb lyric (as also a continuer of her huge hit, "Dumb") which says, believing in all the craps a lover says. It the dumbest you can get. Yeah, love makes people blind. It got worst when you jump right to it and believe it all. However, without another look at the composer's name, you totally can hear his signature right all over the song. As like R. Tedder in Leona Lewis's. This is another works from Kenji Wu, who recently seems disappearing from the spotlight since his concert. Catchy, commercial, beautiful and pitiful.....actually I am looking for wittyful, but there is none. He also had repeating himself too much.

This time all 3 ballads from the album is very good... and all potential hit songs. The other 2, "Porcupine", and "Don't Fall For Me" are very much my cup of tea. I can imagine myself singing along to these songs in the gym in coming months, and too getting good reviews from internet viewers.

Mid-tempo and up-tempo songs had made up the other 60% of the album, and its a good experimentation to continuing her previous musical style. As suggested by the title, Dancing Queen, most songs are danceable to it and heavy disco influenced. A play number with a little of hip-hop and pop, "Don't Be Too Obedient" plays a hints to her previous hits. A reggae number, "Everything Gonna Be All Right" and a mid tempo folkish stuff, "There's No Right Or Wrong In Love" would just leave you shaking your leg all the way.

Tracklist
01. Intro
02. 廣角美女 (Wide Angle Beauty)
03. D.I.S.C.O
04. 愛情沒有對錯 (There's No Right Or Wrong In Love)
05. 我全都相信 (I Believe All Of You)
06. 視而不見 (Pretending Its Invisible)
07. Everything's Gonna Be Alright
08. 放開你的頭腦 (Let Go Your Mind)
09. 不要太乖 (Don't Be Too Obedient)
10. 刺蝟 (Porcupine)
11. 不要愛上我 (Don't Fall For Me)