"I have to admit I'm not a very big fan of C-Pop. However, Jay Chou (and Faye Wong) are exceptions; they have lots of variety in their music and I love everything they do. In Jay's case, I love the ballads, the rap, the R&B, the alternative, all of it. Also, I don't understand a word of Mandarin and I don't even like American R&B or rap, but I absolutely love all of Jay's work. Anyone who is a fan of Jay's love ballads will love this album...there are quite a bit of them on here. But there are enough rap/R&B songs to make those fans happy as well.
November's Chopin didn't get great reviews when it first came out, but I'd actually put it near the top of Jay's work.
Highlights of this album are:
1. Nocturne (Ye Qu) - the best song of the album, imo.
3. Hair Like Snow (Fa Rue Xue) - addictive
5. Attack From Four Sides (Si Mian Chu Ge) - great dance song! makes me want to drop everything and get up and dance!
7. Romantic Cell Phone (Lang Man Shou Ji) - nice alternative song...great guitar riffs in this song and nice melody
10. Coral Sea (Shan Hu Hai) - beautiful duet with Lara Liang Veronin; nice harmonizing here.
Actually, all the songs are quite good, and I can listen to this album without having to skip any tracks. Well, except for track 2 (Blue Storm) which kind of gives me a headache.
But this is still a very nice introduction to Jay Chou. And it should keep fans of his older albums happy. What can I say, he really is amazing. He's a diamond in the mud of C-Pop."
Jay Chou is more than a singer..
B. S. Teo | New York, USA | 05/04/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've been listening to Jay Chou since he first released his first album.
His songs are not only interesting and very creative with funky beats.
He can rap, dance and act. There's no one else who can be as talented as he is in Asia.
I personally love Yi Lu Xiang Bei, Feng, Fa Ru Xue, Ye Qu and Shan Ru Hai with Lara.
Shan Ru Hai duet with Lara - is the most outstanding track.
Fa Ru Xue and Ye Qu are soothing.
I hope he could produce more albums. Can't hardly wait. Go, Jay Chou! :)"
Jay Chou's talent can't be denied. This is great music.
B. S. Teo | 04/22/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Jay's production is amazing. With Fang Wun Shan's lyrics, we can see why he music sells. Speaking of lyrics, I say there's great difference between Taiwanese pop music's lyrics and Amercian pop music's lyrics. American lyrics, especially rap, contains profane, viloence, and sex. But in Taiwan, lyrics are just like beautiful poems. I think Americans should get to know more about this Taiwanese music. My favorite song: Hair Like Snow (plus it's music video is awesome!)
Vincent from Taiwan"
Almost Perfect
anli | 01/21/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Taiwanese pop icon Jay Chou, known for his compositional skills, has once again managed to produce a stunning album, drawing inspiration from Chopin, one of his favorite composers, while continuing to fuse pop, R&B, and hip-hop together.
Jay Chou's enunciation is still not quite up to par (sometimes, even with the lyrics in front of me, I can't quite tell what he's saying); his voice, while melodic, is not as strong as, say, David Tao or Leehom Wang's. However, this album is still a beautifully constructed one, and definitely a good introduction to the world of Chinese music.
Favorite Tracks:
Ye Qu (Nocturne) is a catchy, quick-tempo track featured in the movie Initial D, with plenty of rap segments. This was the first single from this CD, and really caught my ear.
Fa Ru Xue (Hair Like Snow), a beautiful ballad, is structured around a mournful melody, heavily influenced by traditional Chinese music. The lyrics are a bit esoteric, but in all honesty, you don't even need to understand what he's saying to love this song."