Jay Chou - 跨時代

So, Jay Chou released his new record yesterday, his 10th studio album since 2000. That's one every year, flying off the shelves into fanboy/girls' homes and KTVs everywhere. Sometimes i find this Mandopop tradition of an album a year abit much, but then again i find myself getting excited with news of Jay's release every year, so i'm not really complaining. Jay's built up quite a catalogue this 10 years, now that i think about it it's quite amazing how he manages to write so many good new songs in such a short time. And there are good songs on this album. Some forgettable ones too though.

The good: the trademark gems are all there. The requisite epic piano ballad, 說了再見. The super-catchy R&B track, 自導自演, which as hum says, harkens back to his Fantasy days. But my favourite at the moment is probably the '中国风' song, 雨下一整晚, with its plaintive vocal and lush instrumentation. At about 2:10, when the orchestra kicks into gear, its awesome on a pair of good headphones. Might be one of my favourite instrumental moments on a Jay song. I really like how happy track 5, 好久不見, is too.

The bad(ish): there are still some Jay cliches i could do without. Like the 'hip hop' song (嘻哈空姐), the 'playful' song (免費教學錄影帶), the 'fantasy-themed rock' song (title track, with surprisingly catchy auto-tune). It won't be a Jay Chou album without these, he always seems to want to squeeze as many different styles into one album, but he ends up seeming like he's playing to these formulaic cliches.

Sometimes i (or the pretentious indie geek in me) wish he'd come out with a more cohesive album, rather than just a collection of singles, and break the 'Mandopop' norm. But then again it really doesn't affect my enjoyment of this album, or any of his others, on a whole. As with the other albums, i always come to enjoy the 'cliche' songs in the end anyway, after a few more listens.

My first impression is probably that while this isn't his best album, it's still a good one overall and can definitely stand up to his previous work. Jay's set himself some pretty high standards, and maybe sometimes he's a victim of that. If he wanted to shut the critics up, like the lead single, 超人不會飛 says, then i think the album as whole achieves that. Can't wait for his concert in July!

周杰倫 - 說了再見
周杰倫 - 自導自演
周杰倫 - 雨下一整晚
周杰倫 - 好久不見