glam (edited for the second time)
In the past, the word ‘glam’ (short for ‘glamour’) would bring to my mind the ‘glam rock’ bands like Led Zeppelin and T-Rex that were big in the 70s. Actually I don’t know much about them, and the topic today hasn’t got anything to do with them anyway, apart from their common glamorous, glittery image.
The ‘glam’ here refers to the latest album by hocc (Denise Ho), released on 5 January 2005. I got my copy much later as I had ordered it online together with another item that wasn’t in stock, so I only received it two and a half weeks later.
Before the appearance of “glam”, “hocc2”, an EP released in 2002, has been my undisputed favourite hocc album. Subsequent albums were unable to dethrone it from the no. 1 spot and I was wondering if “glam” might be the one to do just that? The problem was I KNEW that "glam" was critically acclaimed and well-received among critics and fans in general, even though I had tried my best to avoid reading their reviews because I didn’t want their comments to affect my listening. I wanted to form my own opinions and interpretations of the songs and had no desire to spoil the pleasure of savouring the album for myself. For “hocc2”, I did not have any expectations beforehand so I was completely taken over by the high quality of the album. On the other hand, my expectation of "glam" was sky-high and I was actually a little afraid that I might end up being disappointed.
Last Saturday afternoon I finally received the long-awaited CD and wasted no time in listening to it repeatedly. The song that was stuck in my head that night was the chorus part of “如無意外" (If not for the accident). I daresay I am quite a rational person and while there are many songs that I find touching, they don’t usually bring tears to my eyes. But “如無意外” is one such song. A woman who traded love for career by ‘accident’, who sold her life to the performing stage; I think the word ‘accident’ here seems to carry double meaning, as does the line ‘At this moment, I discovered in vain, your importance to me’. I am usually more affected by a song’s melody. While the lyrics and story behind “如無意外” are extremely touching, the melody alone has the ability to convey the emotions. From “由十七歲開始" (Since I was seventeen) in 2000 to "出生入死"(Life and Death) in 2003, hocc’s songwriting ability, having already shown potential at the beginning, has come a long way, almost like a raw diamond that has been polished clear. It is no coincidence that “出生入死” and “如無意外” turn out to be my favourite songs from “Dress me up” and “glam” respectively. And I suspect it is hocc’s love for Anita that inspired her to come up with such heartrending melodies.
The title track “艷光四射" (Glamorous) was the first single and I have already heard it umpteen times last year. It is one of those songs that I like very much from the moment I first heard it. In my opinion, it has the makings of a chart-topper. Maybe I am a little biased, but I do think that it was the best song I have heard in 2004. I don’t know why it didn’t do better than it did in the charts and can only say that they don’t know a good song when they hear it! It is said to be a tribute to stars of the 80s, especially Anita. I don’t think it is a coincidence to find both ‘艷 or yim’ (Mui Yim Fong) and ‘韻 or wan’ (Ho Wan Sze) in the song. The slight distortion of the opening line is supposed to be a tribute to Queen, one of hocc’s favourite bands. Yay, “Bohemian Rhapsody”! I like Queen too, though I really only started appreciating them after my stint in the UK. Despite the death of Freddie Mercury, British radio is pretty supportive of the band and their songs could still be heard regularly on radio. When there are two versions of a song, most people will tend to prefer the original version, in general. After listening to the original “艷光四射” and its slow-tempo sister, my conclusion was ‘I can’t decide’. (You can say I’m cheating, but that’s the truth!) They are each special in their own way. I love the way the fast-tempo version ‘catches you’ but I also love the piano and orchestra arrangement of the slow, anthemic version.
The Danny Chan-inspired "明目張膽" (Daring) seems popular among fans and I’m no exception. Hocc re-visits the theme of ‘secret love’ but it is no reprise of "未來" (Future) or “喜歡喜歡你” (Like to Like You), songs from previous albums, but a fresh take on the age-old subject. I find myself humming along with the chorus in my head and I had hoped that it will be the next single after "如無意外". But actually, it doesn’t really matter which song becomes the next single for they are all wonderful songs that deserve more airplay. It would be great if MVs could be made for all of them!
"花迷戀" (Flower Mystic Love) is another touching melody. While the lyrics may be a little difficult to comprehend and I could not really detect the references to Sandy at first (blame my poor Chinese), once again, the phrase ‘music has no borders’ is proven to be true. The melody speaks for itself. If I may just use a Japanese adjective to describe the tune, I would choose ‘setsunai’. (I cannot think of an English equivalent that can convey the exact same meaning.) As an afternote, after reading another fan’s comments and studying the lyrics again, I'm just wondering if the song has anything to do with Sandy's hit song "愛上一個不回家的人" (To Love A Person Who Doesn't Come Home), as the metaphor of a flower loving a bee (unfortunately always busy visiting other flowers), as explained by that fan, seems to bear similarities to the theme of "愛上一個不回家的人". Just my wild thoughts...
It was the perfect choice to get Chet Lam to compose "失戀日記" *(Diary of Lost Love), as his folksy style is just so compatible with Sam Hui’s. A few phrases from some of Sam’s more famous song titles were also cleverly incorporated into the lyrics, yet without seeming contrived, and even one of hocc’s cats geelee was roped in to join the boisterous chorus! Yeah, music should be meaningful but fun at the same time!
I love the carnival/fairground atmosphere of "明星夢" (Dreaming to be a Star), another song with a playful element imparted into it. I especially like the first line of the chorus, which I believe hocc sang using a style similar to Leslie’s, for it so reminds me of him the instant I heard it. That really makes the song ‘come alive’. Leslie’s spirit and dreams will live on…
I didn’t expect "你是八十年代" (You are the 80s) to be written by Yingcfoo, as the melody is really quite different from his previous works (think 兄弟 Brother, 千千萬萬個我 Thousands of me, 絕對 Definite etc). It was definitely a pleasant surprise to see the variation in style. The way which hocc handled the funky melody bears certain resemblance to Roman Tam, argurably the pioneer of chameleonic stars. In fact, she could inject each song with just that little signature bit of each star and yet retaining her own characteristic performance at the same time.
I am actually a little disappointed that there is no Mandarin version of “艷光四射”. Perhaps they are aware that the Mandarin market tends to favour slow ballads rather than up-tempo songs like that. On a side-note, I notice that the Mandarin songs by many Hong Kong singers tend to be weaker than their Cantonese ones. Their less clear diction and Cantonese-accented pronunciation may have affected their performances, but I feel that the main reason is because they (or rather, their record companies) think that the Taiwanese market is less adventurous so they adopt a certain tried-and-tested music style, obliging with ‘safe and formulaic’ melodies. But as a result, such Mandarin songs are often criticised as bland, colourless and uninteresting. I believe such problems should not occur with hocc. “玻璃蒼蠅” (Glass Fly) and “降落之前” (Before Landing) are both brilliant melodies with the former being especially suitable for Mandarin lyrics, and I hope they receive some airplay on local radio soon.
Earlier, when hocc first revealed her “Glamorous” image, some fans were taken aback by the drastic change and were even desperate for her to return to her former casual, androgynous rock image, something which hocc has confirmed she would not do. Actually, looking at the album photos, I believe that she isn’t only ‘glamorous’ now. ‘Cool’ is quite an abstract quality. If you don’t have it, you can’t really fake it; if you do, even if you try to hide it, it will still show. Hocc clearly belongs to the latter category. Under the gaudy outfits and loud makeup, her ‘cool’ intrinsic nature is still very much alive and conspicuous.
And so my initial fears proved to be unfounded. “Glam” turns out to be a masterpiece and a touching tribute album to stars of the 80s. But even if you are not familiar with the 80s Cantopop scene, it will not affect your listening, for the album is hardly just a pastiche of former stars' music styles but much, much more. Besides her usual quality-assured and varied melodies, the most unique thing about hocc, which is also the thing I admire most about her, is how she always puts her heart into making her albums. She injects her own feelings, thoughts and stories into her songs, resulting in their always exuding a genuine, heartfelt quality. I admit that I’m a bit lazy sometimes such that I don’t always pay attention to lyrics. But when I listen to hocc’s songs, I always study the words carefully. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this, but Wyman seems to reserve many of his best works for hocc and they always 'speak' as if they were written by hocc herself.
Do I like “hocc2” or “glam” better now? At this point in time, I don’t have an answer yet. I suppose many artists hope that their latest or next album will always be the best, so that they will not stagnate. “Glam” is indeed an excellent album, but I also have a special place for “hocc2” in my heart. Perhaps it is not so important to have definite answers to everything after all.
Due to East Asia’s limited network, “glam” is currently not available in local shops yet. Hopefully they will find a local distributor soon so that more people can hear hocc’s effort. I don’t see how the world can continue to ignore her much longer!
Remarks
“Glam” is hocc’s tribute to the stars of the 80s, namely the following:
1. 序幕~ Opening ~
2. 艷光四射 Glamorous – stars of the 80s in general, especially Anita Mui, her teacher
3. 如無意外 If not for the accident – Anita Mui
4. 明星夢 Dreaming to be a Star – Leslie Cheung
5. 你是八十年代 You are the 80s – Roman Tam
6. 花迷戀 Flower Mystic Love – Sandy Lam
7. 明目張膽 Daring – Danny Chan
8. 失戀日記 Diary of Lost Love – Sam Hui
9. 艷光四射 (美不艷到不行) Glamorous (As Glamorous As Can Be) (slow version)
10. 謝幕 ~ Ending ~
11. 玻璃蒼蠅 (國) Glass Fly (Mandarin version of “Flower Mystic Love”)
12. 降落之前 (國) Before Landing (Mandarin version of “If not for the accident”)
The ‘glam’ here refers to the latest album by hocc (Denise Ho), released on 5 January 2005. I got my copy much later as I had ordered it online together with another item that wasn’t in stock, so I only received it two and a half weeks later.
Before the appearance of “glam”, “hocc2”, an EP released in 2002, has been my undisputed favourite hocc album. Subsequent albums were unable to dethrone it from the no. 1 spot and I was wondering if “glam” might be the one to do just that? The problem was I KNEW that "glam" was critically acclaimed and well-received among critics and fans in general, even though I had tried my best to avoid reading their reviews because I didn’t want their comments to affect my listening. I wanted to form my own opinions and interpretations of the songs and had no desire to spoil the pleasure of savouring the album for myself. For “hocc2”, I did not have any expectations beforehand so I was completely taken over by the high quality of the album. On the other hand, my expectation of "glam" was sky-high and I was actually a little afraid that I might end up being disappointed.
Last Saturday afternoon I finally received the long-awaited CD and wasted no time in listening to it repeatedly. The song that was stuck in my head that night was the chorus part of “如無意外" (If not for the accident). I daresay I am quite a rational person and while there are many songs that I find touching, they don’t usually bring tears to my eyes. But “如無意外” is one such song. A woman who traded love for career by ‘accident’, who sold her life to the performing stage; I think the word ‘accident’ here seems to carry double meaning, as does the line ‘At this moment, I discovered in vain, your importance to me’. I am usually more affected by a song’s melody. While the lyrics and story behind “如無意外” are extremely touching, the melody alone has the ability to convey the emotions. From “由十七歲開始" (Since I was seventeen) in 2000 to "出生入死"(Life and Death) in 2003, hocc’s songwriting ability, having already shown potential at the beginning, has come a long way, almost like a raw diamond that has been polished clear. It is no coincidence that “出生入死” and “如無意外” turn out to be my favourite songs from “Dress me up” and “glam” respectively. And I suspect it is hocc’s love for Anita that inspired her to come up with such heartrending melodies.
The title track “艷光四射" (Glamorous) was the first single and I have already heard it umpteen times last year. It is one of those songs that I like very much from the moment I first heard it. In my opinion, it has the makings of a chart-topper. Maybe I am a little biased, but I do think that it was the best song I have heard in 2004. I don’t know why it didn’t do better than it did in the charts and can only say that they don’t know a good song when they hear it! It is said to be a tribute to stars of the 80s, especially Anita. I don’t think it is a coincidence to find both ‘艷 or yim’ (Mui Yim Fong) and ‘韻 or wan’ (Ho Wan Sze) in the song. The slight distortion of the opening line is supposed to be a tribute to Queen, one of hocc’s favourite bands. Yay, “Bohemian Rhapsody”! I like Queen too, though I really only started appreciating them after my stint in the UK. Despite the death of Freddie Mercury, British radio is pretty supportive of the band and their songs could still be heard regularly on radio. When there are two versions of a song, most people will tend to prefer the original version, in general. After listening to the original “艷光四射” and its slow-tempo sister, my conclusion was ‘I can’t decide’. (You can say I’m cheating, but that’s the truth!) They are each special in their own way. I love the way the fast-tempo version ‘catches you’ but I also love the piano and orchestra arrangement of the slow, anthemic version.
The Danny Chan-inspired "明目張膽" (Daring) seems popular among fans and I’m no exception. Hocc re-visits the theme of ‘secret love’ but it is no reprise of "未來" (Future) or “喜歡喜歡你” (Like to Like You), songs from previous albums, but a fresh take on the age-old subject. I find myself humming along with the chorus in my head and I had hoped that it will be the next single after "如無意外". But actually, it doesn’t really matter which song becomes the next single for they are all wonderful songs that deserve more airplay. It would be great if MVs could be made for all of them!
"花迷戀" (Flower Mystic Love) is another touching melody. While the lyrics may be a little difficult to comprehend and I could not really detect the references to Sandy at first (blame my poor Chinese), once again, the phrase ‘music has no borders’ is proven to be true. The melody speaks for itself. If I may just use a Japanese adjective to describe the tune, I would choose ‘setsunai’. (I cannot think of an English equivalent that can convey the exact same meaning.) As an afternote, after reading another fan’s comments and studying the lyrics again, I'm just wondering if the song has anything to do with Sandy's hit song "愛上一個不回家的人" (To Love A Person Who Doesn't Come Home), as the metaphor of a flower loving a bee (unfortunately always busy visiting other flowers), as explained by that fan, seems to bear similarities to the theme of "愛上一個不回家的人". Just my wild thoughts...
It was the perfect choice to get Chet Lam to compose "失戀日記" *(Diary of Lost Love), as his folksy style is just so compatible with Sam Hui’s. A few phrases from some of Sam’s more famous song titles were also cleverly incorporated into the lyrics, yet without seeming contrived, and even one of hocc’s cats geelee was roped in to join the boisterous chorus! Yeah, music should be meaningful but fun at the same time!
I love the carnival/fairground atmosphere of "明星夢" (Dreaming to be a Star), another song with a playful element imparted into it. I especially like the first line of the chorus, which I believe hocc sang using a style similar to Leslie’s, for it so reminds me of him the instant I heard it. That really makes the song ‘come alive’. Leslie’s spirit and dreams will live on…
I didn’t expect "你是八十年代" (You are the 80s) to be written by Yingcfoo, as the melody is really quite different from his previous works (think 兄弟 Brother, 千千萬萬個我 Thousands of me, 絕對 Definite etc). It was definitely a pleasant surprise to see the variation in style. The way which hocc handled the funky melody bears certain resemblance to Roman Tam, argurably the pioneer of chameleonic stars. In fact, she could inject each song with just that little signature bit of each star and yet retaining her own characteristic performance at the same time.
I am actually a little disappointed that there is no Mandarin version of “艷光四射”. Perhaps they are aware that the Mandarin market tends to favour slow ballads rather than up-tempo songs like that. On a side-note, I notice that the Mandarin songs by many Hong Kong singers tend to be weaker than their Cantonese ones. Their less clear diction and Cantonese-accented pronunciation may have affected their performances, but I feel that the main reason is because they (or rather, their record companies) think that the Taiwanese market is less adventurous so they adopt a certain tried-and-tested music style, obliging with ‘safe and formulaic’ melodies. But as a result, such Mandarin songs are often criticised as bland, colourless and uninteresting. I believe such problems should not occur with hocc. “玻璃蒼蠅” (Glass Fly) and “降落之前” (Before Landing) are both brilliant melodies with the former being especially suitable for Mandarin lyrics, and I hope they receive some airplay on local radio soon.
Earlier, when hocc first revealed her “Glamorous” image, some fans were taken aback by the drastic change and were even desperate for her to return to her former casual, androgynous rock image, something which hocc has confirmed she would not do. Actually, looking at the album photos, I believe that she isn’t only ‘glamorous’ now. ‘Cool’ is quite an abstract quality. If you don’t have it, you can’t really fake it; if you do, even if you try to hide it, it will still show. Hocc clearly belongs to the latter category. Under the gaudy outfits and loud makeup, her ‘cool’ intrinsic nature is still very much alive and conspicuous.
And so my initial fears proved to be unfounded. “Glam” turns out to be a masterpiece and a touching tribute album to stars of the 80s. But even if you are not familiar with the 80s Cantopop scene, it will not affect your listening, for the album is hardly just a pastiche of former stars' music styles but much, much more. Besides her usual quality-assured and varied melodies, the most unique thing about hocc, which is also the thing I admire most about her, is how she always puts her heart into making her albums. She injects her own feelings, thoughts and stories into her songs, resulting in their always exuding a genuine, heartfelt quality. I admit that I’m a bit lazy sometimes such that I don’t always pay attention to lyrics. But when I listen to hocc’s songs, I always study the words carefully. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this, but Wyman seems to reserve many of his best works for hocc and they always 'speak' as if they were written by hocc herself.
Do I like “hocc2” or “glam” better now? At this point in time, I don’t have an answer yet. I suppose many artists hope that their latest or next album will always be the best, so that they will not stagnate. “Glam” is indeed an excellent album, but I also have a special place for “hocc2” in my heart. Perhaps it is not so important to have definite answers to everything after all.
Due to East Asia’s limited network, “glam” is currently not available in local shops yet. Hopefully they will find a local distributor soon so that more people can hear hocc’s effort. I don’t see how the world can continue to ignore her much longer!
Remarks
“Glam” is hocc’s tribute to the stars of the 80s, namely the following:
1. 序幕~ Opening ~
2. 艷光四射 Glamorous – stars of the 80s in general, especially Anita Mui, her teacher
3. 如無意外 If not for the accident – Anita Mui
4. 明星夢 Dreaming to be a Star – Leslie Cheung
5. 你是八十年代 You are the 80s – Roman Tam
6. 花迷戀 Flower Mystic Love – Sandy Lam
7. 明目張膽 Daring – Danny Chan
8. 失戀日記 Diary of Lost Love – Sam Hui
9. 艷光四射 (美不艷到不行) Glamorous (As Glamorous As Can Be) (slow version)
10. 謝幕 ~ Ending ~
11. 玻璃蒼蠅 (國) Glass Fly (Mandarin version of “Flower Mystic Love”)
12. 降落之前 (國) Before Landing (Mandarin version of “If not for the accident”)
posted by yung | 7:21 pm
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