Oh, this is bad. Really bad. So, so, SO wrong. The Association of Music Workers in Taiwan has released its annual list of the top ten Mandopop albums and songs released in 2008. The problem is that they’re really wrong. You’d think they’d know better, but apparently they’ve been paid off.
The albums:
Jay Chou, Capricorn.
See, stop right there. The fact that a music professional could think ANYTHING about this album is worth celebrating automatically destroys his or her credibility. Seriously, what does Cowboy Jay have on these people that they are so unwilling to pass over an album that does not deserve the award? What, did they get in trouble last year? Except this album is even worse than On the Run. It just is, I’m sorry to Cowboy Jay fans, but it just is.
ARGH. Well, on with the list:
Khalil Fang, Orange Moon
Eason Chan, Don’t Want to Let Go
Sandee Chan, If One Thing Is Important
Joanna Wang, Start from Here
Crowd Lu, 100 Ways of Living
The Chairmen, Used Up All His Money
MC Hot Dog, Mr. Almost
30 Band, Horse-Faced Sailor’s Summer
Xiao Yu, I’m Classmate Xiao Yu
Okay, I don’t have huge problems with the rest of the list, to be honest. I’m happy to see Crowd Lu, Joanna Wang, and 30 Band on the list (I finally bought Horse-Faced Sailor’s Summer in Taiwan… love it). But… if I was Leehom, I’d be seriously pissed off. I didn’t think Heart.Beat was the absolute greatest thing ever, but it was better than the Monument to Mediocrity that Jay halfheartedly threw our way.
Now, the list of the 10 best songs:
Jay Chou, “Mr. Magician”
Seriously. They must have been high. Either that or Jay has blackmail pictures of them. There is no other explanation for calling this yodeling madness good music.
Eason Chan, “Don’t Speak”
Eason Chan, “Mr. Rewind”
Mayday, “You’re Not Truly Happy”
Now, I love Mayday – you know I do – but that was by no means the best song on that album. I’m just saying.
Cheer Chen, “Wing of a Loser”
Crowd Lu, “I Love You”
Aska Yang, “Onion”
Oh, score two for Ashin, at least – he also wrote “Onion.”
Yoga Lin, “Color”
MC Hot Dog, “Mr. Almost”
MC Hot Dog, “Ocean”
Okay, if you’re not thoroughly indignant yet, might I point out that not only did Poetry of the Day After and Heartbeat come out in 2008, but so did 1976’s Asteroid and Backquarter’s World. Heck, I wasn’t over the moon over Jam Hsiao, but I thought his work was significantly better than the stuff bandied about by the likes of Yoga Lin and Aska Yang.
Okay, I’m seriously disgruntled, and now very much in fear of the Golden Melody Awards nominations.
Ugh! Not only did they decide on Jay’s worst album ever, but they also picked out the cutesiest song in it possible?! They could at least point out a bright spot if they so firmly believe this album was worthy of awards, but “Mo Shu Xian Sheng” has no bright spot except when it’s ended! (Though “Hua Hai” was even worse vocally…) There were lots of better songs released last year. And why aren’t any of Khalil’s songs listed on the top 10 for that? They had his album in the 10 album list, that was an obvious choice (though so was Mayday’s album, which isn’t on there), but if his album was so good, why aren’t any of his songs listed?
When I try to listen to Aska and Yoga, I end up stopping because I don’t care. Jam’s vocals are way better, and the only thing I could really judge their songs by is their voices, since they don’t write most of their own songs and how do you judge Ashin versus Ashin?
‘It just is, I’m sorry to Cowboy Jay fans, but it just is.’
Er, maybe you can substantiate that? It’s just too….. Subjective. I personally thought this album was much better than On The Run which was just too commercialised.
I’m a Jay fan ever since he released his very first album. I’ve been following him since then but I know he’s losing his magic and I am really disappointed with every album he produces. I hate the fact that he’s always filming at the expense of his music. The movies were really mediocre (except Secret. I love it.)
I believe rational fans will agree with me. The fact that his music is going downhill is because he’s spending too much time on movies.
man… Jay is a such fraud, i don’t understand why the people don’t see it!
well… poor Leehom definitely his album heart.beat is better than Jay’s capricorn.
but i’m very happy that Joanna, Yoga, Sandee n Mayday was there! XD~
@cestlaviexx: I thought “On the Run” was better, though musically, they’re probably about the same. I think it was the vocals. I’m not sure what was wrong with Jay when he recorded “Capricorn,” but his vocals were far from what they could have been. He used a cute voice in most of the songs, which I didn’t like, as compared to just a couple of songs in “On the Run,” and I did prefer the “ye-hah” to the yodeling. At least “牛仔很忙” had more of a message than “魔术先生.” Usually, the Zhongguo Feng songs are the most stand-out tracks on Jay’s albums, but “兰亭序” wasn’t as good as any of Jay’s previous songs. Vincent’s lyrics were good, but Jay’s voice sounds too nasally in it and the “opera” parts are a far cry from “霍元甲.” Like with his last few ZGF songs, he tried to enunciate clearly, but this time it came back and bit him because he didn’t know how to say one of the words.
I really want the old Jay back, though. “Secret” was great, but all these roles he’s brought onto himself are messing with his original role as a singer-songwriter. He could do so much better if he had the focus he had before!
hobbielover: i like Jam & Yoga, both of them are good in vocal and special in their own way. i listened to Aska’s as well and his songs and vocal is good but i tink he try too much to sing well in the song than putting feelings in the songs
i hv nothing against Jay as well but i really duno wat to say abt his album/song made it to the list. hehe… i personally feels that Yoga’s album shld be in tat list rather than Capricon :p between jam, yoga & aska, i feels yoga hv the best album; gv it a try again, hehe….
merry: im waitg yr cmnt on the GMA nominations…. u are goin to ‘love’ it…. haha….
cestlaviexx – Well arguably, the whole point of saying “it just is” is that I’m refusing to substantiate it! I thought Capricorn was (more than ever before for Jay) alternately derivative and gimmicky, all the while demonstrating just how weak Jay’s vocals can be. But both Capricorn and On the Run mark a low point for the man, and even if on some sort of “objective” scale (is there such a thing in music?) Capricorn was marginally better, is was by no means anywhere near one of the top ten – or even twenty – Mandarin albums last year. Cowboy Jay is riding high on his past glories, and the entire industry is letting him get away with it.