ShuiMei
08-13-2006, 05:25 PM
When Nan Quan Mama had its dramatic member change with their second album I was open to the change but found myself sorely disappointed. While it was clear with their debut album that the group needed to carve an identity for itself outside of Jay Chou, after hearing their "Meal No.2" album I wasn't sure if I was going to like where they were headed. The introduction of the two new members certainly brought a new sound to the band, but it wasn't exactly a sound that I was particularly fond of, and I found myself becoming rather indifferent towards them.
Nan Quan Mama's "Color Palette!'" album on the other hand, is great and a delicious listen. I wasn't crazy about their second album, it seemed to lack musical direction, and there was so much Lara (read: too much), but this third album, and the second since the member change, is surprisingly good. I had put off listening to the album for a month or so, not too eager to hear it, and after finally listening to it, I was actually impressed.
The male vocals really get their own time to shine this time around, with songs like "Hua Lian Die," (Track 4) which pleases me greatly because I'm not crazy about Lara's voice and Yu Hao and Devon have a great sound, I'm also increasingly fond of Chang Jie, whose guitar hook in "Qiang Yu Mei Gu," (Track 6) is insanely catchy. Lara dominated too many songs in their previous album, at least that's what it felt like as her pitchy, overbearing voice stood out like a violently flashing neon sign washing out everything around it.
With this album, not only have I discovered that I can tolerate her, but I can actually like her, it's just a matter of her sounding better when she's singing with the other guys, her voice isn't nearly as grating, as demonstrated by "Qiao Qiao Gao Su Ta" (Track 2). To give her credit, she has her own strengths and in my opinion, she just sounds better in songs like the very charming "Tonight" (Track 1) or the laid-back "Li Jia Bu Yuan" (Track 12), where she's not screeching throughout a whole song on her own with the guys only there to back her up. The mellow vocals from Yu Hao and Chang Jie balance her really well, though she needs better control as she often runs the risk of drowning them out.
One notable weakness of the album are the solo tracks at the end of the album. Vocally speaking, I don't think any of the members of Nan Quan Mama can hold their own very well on a solo song. What makes Lara so unbearable in their previous album comes at full force with "Shui Jing Qing Ting" (Track 9), while Chang Jie's offering lacks life, it's unexciting and is pretty much the same from start to finish. The veteran members' solo tracks are the better of the bunch, but it just makes me wish they did the songs together.
While I still love the original Nan Quan Mama, despite the identity-crisis that plagued their first album, I'm finally starting to open up to "version 2.0." This album was much better than their debut, which I really consider a sort of experimental album, where they were "testing out the waters," after the member change. In retrospect, there wasn't even that much Lara on their previous album, she just stood out like a sore thumb, like they didn't know what to do with her yet. Thankfully, this has since been remedied with their newest album, and I hope that I can expect this much-needed balance in future albums to come.
Overall, I was seriously impressed and pleasantly surprised by this album. I think they're really starting to carve their own musical identity now, following a more mellow pop-rock inspired direction, with less of a Jay Chou influence, though it's definitely still there, particularly on tracks like "Ren Yu De Yan Lei" and "Qiang Yu Mei Gui" not that I'm complaining, after all, isn't Jay the reason why we all loved them in the first place? With several great, quality tracks that I could listen to again and again, this album really showed me what Nan Quan Mama could be after a little fine tuning.
Favourite tracks: Li Jia Bu Yuan (Track 12), Qiang Yu Mei Gui (Track 6), Ren Yu De Yan Lei (Track 5), Qiao Qiao Gau Su (Track 2)
I don't understand Mandarin so I can't be a fair judge of the lyrics, I have read the translations for three songs and thought them to be pleasant, which is what I've based my rating on
Nan Quan Mama's "Color Palette!'" album on the other hand, is great and a delicious listen. I wasn't crazy about their second album, it seemed to lack musical direction, and there was so much Lara (read: too much), but this third album, and the second since the member change, is surprisingly good. I had put off listening to the album for a month or so, not too eager to hear it, and after finally listening to it, I was actually impressed.
The male vocals really get their own time to shine this time around, with songs like "Hua Lian Die," (Track 4) which pleases me greatly because I'm not crazy about Lara's voice and Yu Hao and Devon have a great sound, I'm also increasingly fond of Chang Jie, whose guitar hook in "Qiang Yu Mei Gu," (Track 6) is insanely catchy. Lara dominated too many songs in their previous album, at least that's what it felt like as her pitchy, overbearing voice stood out like a violently flashing neon sign washing out everything around it.
With this album, not only have I discovered that I can tolerate her, but I can actually like her, it's just a matter of her sounding better when she's singing with the other guys, her voice isn't nearly as grating, as demonstrated by "Qiao Qiao Gao Su Ta" (Track 2). To give her credit, she has her own strengths and in my opinion, she just sounds better in songs like the very charming "Tonight" (Track 1) or the laid-back "Li Jia Bu Yuan" (Track 12), where she's not screeching throughout a whole song on her own with the guys only there to back her up. The mellow vocals from Yu Hao and Chang Jie balance her really well, though she needs better control as she often runs the risk of drowning them out.
One notable weakness of the album are the solo tracks at the end of the album. Vocally speaking, I don't think any of the members of Nan Quan Mama can hold their own very well on a solo song. What makes Lara so unbearable in their previous album comes at full force with "Shui Jing Qing Ting" (Track 9), while Chang Jie's offering lacks life, it's unexciting and is pretty much the same from start to finish. The veteran members' solo tracks are the better of the bunch, but it just makes me wish they did the songs together.
While I still love the original Nan Quan Mama, despite the identity-crisis that plagued their first album, I'm finally starting to open up to "version 2.0." This album was much better than their debut, which I really consider a sort of experimental album, where they were "testing out the waters," after the member change. In retrospect, there wasn't even that much Lara on their previous album, she just stood out like a sore thumb, like they didn't know what to do with her yet. Thankfully, this has since been remedied with their newest album, and I hope that I can expect this much-needed balance in future albums to come.
Overall, I was seriously impressed and pleasantly surprised by this album. I think they're really starting to carve their own musical identity now, following a more mellow pop-rock inspired direction, with less of a Jay Chou influence, though it's definitely still there, particularly on tracks like "Ren Yu De Yan Lei" and "Qiang Yu Mei Gui" not that I'm complaining, after all, isn't Jay the reason why we all loved them in the first place? With several great, quality tracks that I could listen to again and again, this album really showed me what Nan Quan Mama could be after a little fine tuning.
Favourite tracks: Li Jia Bu Yuan (Track 12), Qiang Yu Mei Gui (Track 6), Ren Yu De Yan Lei (Track 5), Qiao Qiao Gau Su (Track 2)
I don't understand Mandarin so I can't be a fair judge of the lyrics, I have read the translations for three songs and thought them to be pleasant, which is what I've based my rating on