Recollection 2005 (About CDs)
Haven’t bought many new albums this year. By ‘new’, I’m referring to those released in 2005. Not many good ones around anymore, and in any case I think I've become more selective. I believe that the total amount of attention one can give is more or less fixed so as I get more and more into a certain Ah Mi and Ah C, it seems only natural that some others fade away from my radar. Anyway, my list:
Butterfly Lovers (Denise Ho)
It may be impossible for me to be completely objective and I don’t deny that 我有點偏心. But honestly, based on meritorious grounds, this is indeed my Album of the Year. Excellent melodies, fitting lyrics, interesting arrangements, singing with heart, what more can you ask for? It certainly goes hand in hand with the musical but each individual song tells its own story well too. Although 化蝶 is the one that captures the essence of the musical, I have a soft spot for 勞斯.萊斯. Simple, warm, with a tinge of sadness but not without hope, I especially love its music arrangement of incorporating Chinese classical instruments yet retaining a modern feel. Btw, I would also pick this for my Album Cover of the Year.
Faves: All esp 汽水樽裡的咖啡/勞斯.萊斯/化蝶/有人跟蹤我
Glam (Denise Ho)
I may have picked Butterfly Lovers for my Album of the Year but for a long time, Glam was also in the running. An interesting concept of tribute to top singers in the 80s, the songs are just amazing and well-thought, though perhaps a tad more commercial-feel than her usual standards. I would pick 如無意外 for my Song of the Year for it is still the one that touched me most. One regret was not being able to hear 玻璃蒼蠅 on local radio. Hocc sang it very well, Mandarin not being her mother tongue never hampering in any way. I can only say that they ‘走寶’!
Faves: 如無意外/艷光四射/明目張膽/艷光四射(美艷到不行)
Bi-Heart (Joey Yung)
越唱越強 caught me the moment I heard it (not unlike 艷光四射 did the year before) and it was the only reason for me getting this CD initially. Despite me saying earlier that I’ll not buy Joey’s albums apart from best selections, I quite like this one. Criticised for singing mainly K-songs and having good technique but not singing with enough feeling, I thought it’s all pretty unfair to her. She does sing with heart and her songs are getting better. Yes, most are still quite ‘K’ but more meaningful and greater in variety, at least in Bi-Heart.
Faves: 越唱越強/ 天之驕女
Love Joey 3 (Joey Yung)
I still maintain that even for so-called ‘K-songs’, there are good and bad ones and I think that Joey gets a healthy proportion of the good ones. She also handles other styles well (e.g. 日安憂鬱) but it’s not really her fault that they receive less attention. Initially 一拍兩散 got my attention because she sang it at Chit-Chat last year but I soon discovered 最後一課, a moving tribute to her late teacher Roman Tam, written by Carl Wong and Lin Xi. And her vocal range seems to be getting wider than ever!
Faves: A lot e.g. 最後一課/一拍兩散/痛愛/我的驕傲/想得太遠/心病
U87 (Eason Chan)
I nearly didn’t buy this but a generous discount, coupled with my own desire to find out if it was living up to all that hype made me take the plunge. Apart from a compilation, it was my first time getting Eason's album and I can say that it isn’t hype for nothing. The first two plugs 夕陽無限好and 阿牛 are a little commercialised, with the latter rather convoluted and sounding suspiciously like either Edmond Leung’s or one of Alex Fong’s hits at certain parts, but they are still a notch above typical pop songs. On the whole, there are plenty of interesting and varied songs and the two Mandarin tracks aren't new versions of existing Canto ones but brand new songs.
Faves: 浮誇/爛/夕陽無限好/阿牛/遇見了你
Introducing (Chet Lam)
Chet’s first Mandarin album is a compilation of Mandarin versions of his stronger Cantonese songs. A good collection of soothing, touching, acoustic numbers but perhaps I am one who yearns for more exciting and unexpected stuff.
Faves: 離開古城/重回布拉格/離開，是為了回來/我和泡麵
Evolution Theory (Candy Lo)
Actually I haven’t listened to this very much. It isn’t as alternative and unconventional as I had expected, but perhaps still too profound and not quite melodious enough for me.
Clockwise Compilation (Gigi Leung)
This one also did not get much airplay from me. I was mainly attracted by two new songs 順時針 and 偏見 and a few old ones like 花火 and 新鮮. Perhaps I should have gotten a Canto-best instead.
Fantasia (Bobo Chan)
How I got this was a bit of an accident. Bought two copies for someone but kept one for myself because I remembered that hocc wrote, produced and sang backing vocals for 下個密碼. Ended up liking 你女友 best, but despite her improvement in vocals, think Bobo still needs to brush up on her singing.
Group Photo 2005!
That’s the lot for 2005, but I did buy lots of other albums (oops!) released earlier such as back albums of Anita, Beyond, Chet Lam, at 17 and Josie, and spillovers from 2004 – Ping Pung, Elva’s best album, Edmond’s Effort and Love etc. I would choose Ping Pung’s Love and Hate as the best among the lot. Pity that Kary seemed to have veered off in another direction for her solo effort, don’t think I like it very much.
Butterfly Lovers (Denise Ho)
It may be impossible for me to be completely objective and I don’t deny that 我有點偏心. But honestly, based on meritorious grounds, this is indeed my Album of the Year. Excellent melodies, fitting lyrics, interesting arrangements, singing with heart, what more can you ask for? It certainly goes hand in hand with the musical but each individual song tells its own story well too. Although 化蝶 is the one that captures the essence of the musical, I have a soft spot for 勞斯.萊斯. Simple, warm, with a tinge of sadness but not without hope, I especially love its music arrangement of incorporating Chinese classical instruments yet retaining a modern feel. Btw, I would also pick this for my Album Cover of the Year.
Faves: All esp 汽水樽裡的咖啡/勞斯.萊斯/化蝶/有人跟蹤我
Glam (Denise Ho)
I may have picked Butterfly Lovers for my Album of the Year but for a long time, Glam was also in the running. An interesting concept of tribute to top singers in the 80s, the songs are just amazing and well-thought, though perhaps a tad more commercial-feel than her usual standards. I would pick 如無意外 for my Song of the Year for it is still the one that touched me most. One regret was not being able to hear 玻璃蒼蠅 on local radio. Hocc sang it very well, Mandarin not being her mother tongue never hampering in any way. I can only say that they ‘走寶’!
Faves: 如無意外/艷光四射/明目張膽/艷光四射(美艷到不行)
Bi-Heart (Joey Yung)
越唱越強 caught me the moment I heard it (not unlike 艷光四射 did the year before) and it was the only reason for me getting this CD initially. Despite me saying earlier that I’ll not buy Joey’s albums apart from best selections, I quite like this one. Criticised for singing mainly K-songs and having good technique but not singing with enough feeling, I thought it’s all pretty unfair to her. She does sing with heart and her songs are getting better. Yes, most are still quite ‘K’ but more meaningful and greater in variety, at least in Bi-Heart.
Faves: 越唱越強/ 天之驕女
Love Joey 3 (Joey Yung)
I still maintain that even for so-called ‘K-songs’, there are good and bad ones and I think that Joey gets a healthy proportion of the good ones. She also handles other styles well (e.g. 日安憂鬱) but it’s not really her fault that they receive less attention. Initially 一拍兩散 got my attention because she sang it at Chit-Chat last year but I soon discovered 最後一課, a moving tribute to her late teacher Roman Tam, written by Carl Wong and Lin Xi. And her vocal range seems to be getting wider than ever!
Faves: A lot e.g. 最後一課/一拍兩散/痛愛/我的驕傲/想得太遠/心病
U87 (Eason Chan)
I nearly didn’t buy this but a generous discount, coupled with my own desire to find out if it was living up to all that hype made me take the plunge. Apart from a compilation, it was my first time getting Eason's album and I can say that it isn’t hype for nothing. The first two plugs 夕陽無限好and 阿牛 are a little commercialised, with the latter rather convoluted and sounding suspiciously like either Edmond Leung’s or one of Alex Fong’s hits at certain parts, but they are still a notch above typical pop songs. On the whole, there are plenty of interesting and varied songs and the two Mandarin tracks aren't new versions of existing Canto ones but brand new songs.
Faves: 浮誇/爛/夕陽無限好/阿牛/遇見了你
Introducing (Chet Lam)
Chet’s first Mandarin album is a compilation of Mandarin versions of his stronger Cantonese songs. A good collection of soothing, touching, acoustic numbers but perhaps I am one who yearns for more exciting and unexpected stuff.
Faves: 離開古城/重回布拉格/離開，是為了回來/我和泡麵
Evolution Theory (Candy Lo)
Actually I haven’t listened to this very much. It isn’t as alternative and unconventional as I had expected, but perhaps still too profound and not quite melodious enough for me.
Clockwise Compilation (Gigi Leung)
This one also did not get much airplay from me. I was mainly attracted by two new songs 順時針 and 偏見 and a few old ones like 花火 and 新鮮. Perhaps I should have gotten a Canto-best instead.
Fantasia (Bobo Chan)
How I got this was a bit of an accident. Bought two copies for someone but kept one for myself because I remembered that hocc wrote, produced and sang backing vocals for 下個密碼. Ended up liking 你女友 best, but despite her improvement in vocals, think Bobo still needs to brush up on her singing.
Group Photo 2005!
That’s the lot for 2005, but I did buy lots of other albums (oops!) released earlier such as back albums of Anita, Beyond, Chet Lam, at 17 and Josie, and spillovers from 2004 – Ping Pung, Elva’s best album, Edmond’s Effort and Love etc. I would choose Ping Pung’s Love and Hate as the best among the lot. Pity that Kary seemed to have veered off in another direction for her solo effort, don’t think I like it very much.
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