Jay's Era
I finally got Jay's new CD yesterday. *Yay!* So, my thoughts on the album are as follows:
Overall, this is the best album Jay's released since I started listening to him around 3 years ago! The music could have been better and more original, but at least Jay didn't sound like he had a cold this time. The last two albums were really nasally!
跨时代 (Stepping Through an Era) - Autotune haters will not like this track. Jay hasn't used autotune in his songs before, so hopefully this isn't the start of a new trend for him. If you like vampires, though, you should enjoy this track and also the MV, which hasn't been released in full yet. (It's going to be released in one of Jay's concerts, which means those of us who live on the other side of the world will get stuck watching bad fancams of a screen until HQ versions hit the Internet.) Despite the obvious similarities to "威廉古堡"/"William's Castle," I think this song is more like "龙骑战士"/"Dragon Rider" in style.
说了再见 (After Saying Goodbye) - A ballad, but not like those nasally ones in the last couple of albums! The lyrics play on the Chinese phrase for "goodbye," which is more like "see you again." ("Only after saying I'll see you again do I realize that I won't see you again.")
烟花易冷 (Fireworks Cool Easily) - This track is different from Jay's other songs in that it's kind of like a ZGF song without the Chinese instruments. There's a guzheng in the lyrics, however, and the overall lyrics are what you'd expect in one of Jay's ZGF songs and are written by Vincent Fang, of course.
免费教学录影带 (Free Instructional Video) - A fun, cute song in the spirit of "牛仔很忙"/"A Cowboy Is Very Busy." The MV is also very funny. XD It's not the strongest song on the album, but it's great to listen to, especially when you can understand the lyrics. (In the intro, Jay walks into a music store wanting a guitar. The owner, ex-NQMM G-Power, is being kind of snobby with him. When Jay points and says, "I want that guitar," the owner says, "That's not a guitar! That's a pipa." Jay's other choice is "too expensive.")
好久不见 (Long Time No See) - A part-Hokkien/Taiwanese R&B-style song with lyrics by Jay. I <3 Hokkien songs, so I'm kind of biased when it comes to this song, even though Jay's not a really good Hokkien-speaker. (It's the effort that counts!) Anyways, this song is much better than "流浪诗人"/"Wandering Poet."
雨下一整晚 (It Rains All Night) - This song starts off as a pretty normal ballad, but then it turns into a ZGF song. In the MV, the transition is also shown through changes in costumes, setting, and instruments. The lyrics also combine the old and the new. (Vincent mentions the TV in one line and a paper parasol in another.)
嘻哈空姐 (Hip-Hop Flight Attendant) - I didn't really care for this song and neither did Mainland China's censors, apparently. I checked Chinese Amazon and this song isn't listed in the tracklist for the Mainland version of the album. This track is another hip-hop song with autotune (if I'm sure by now that I know what autotune sounds like). Funny thing is, Jay always sleeps through flights, so he doesn't really have that much time to think about how hot the flight attendant is.
我落泪。情绪零碎 (I Cry. Emotions Are Confused) - Starts off like "花海"/"Flower Sea," which I hated. This is another ballad, but unlike "Flower Sea," this is done right. I think this song will stay on my MP3 player a lot longer because I really like it.
爱的飞行日记 (Love's Flight Diary) - This track is kind of a pop rock ballad. It's a duet with Gary, as I thought it was when I first heard it. It's the best Jay/Gary duet by far!
自导自演 (Directed by Myself Starring Myself) - I wish "给我一首歌的时间"/"Give Me the Time to Sing This Song" had been more like this. It gets kind of cutesy in parts, but too much.
超人不会飞 (Superman Can't Fly) - If you aren't a big fan of Jay, you probably won't like this song at all. The lyrics are all about Jay's career and the music isn't really exciting. Another instance of censorship on this album: The lyrics in this song included the word "屌," which is replaced with the word "好" in the Mainland version. You can download the Mainland version of this song here. (See if you can find the difference in the lyrics now that I've pointed it out. It took me a few listens to even notice because it was such a small thing.)
Another Mainland Chinese difference: The cover. I like the way they wrote the title as "跨旪代". (You can write "旪" by typing "xie," but it's not a common character so you really have to search through a bunch of characters on your Pinyin input to find it!)
Album download
Album purchase
Download the MV for "免费教学录影带" ("Free Instructional Video") here (AVI format!)
Enjoy and remember to buy the album if you really like it!
Overall, this is the best album Jay's released since I started listening to him around 3 years ago! The music could have been better and more original, but at least Jay didn't sound like he had a cold this time. The last two albums were really nasally!
跨时代 (Stepping Through an Era) - Autotune haters will not like this track. Jay hasn't used autotune in his songs before, so hopefully this isn't the start of a new trend for him. If you like vampires, though, you should enjoy this track and also the MV, which hasn't been released in full yet. (It's going to be released in one of Jay's concerts, which means those of us who live on the other side of the world will get stuck watching bad fancams of a screen until HQ versions hit the Internet.) Despite the obvious similarities to "威廉古堡"/"William's Castle," I think this song is more like "龙骑战士"/"Dragon Rider" in style.
说了再见 (After Saying Goodbye) - A ballad, but not like those nasally ones in the last couple of albums! The lyrics play on the Chinese phrase for "goodbye," which is more like "see you again." ("Only after saying I'll see you again do I realize that I won't see you again.")
烟花易冷 (Fireworks Cool Easily) - This track is different from Jay's other songs in that it's kind of like a ZGF song without the Chinese instruments. There's a guzheng in the lyrics, however, and the overall lyrics are what you'd expect in one of Jay's ZGF songs and are written by Vincent Fang, of course.
免费教学录影带 (Free Instructional Video) - A fun, cute song in the spirit of "牛仔很忙"/"A Cowboy Is Very Busy." The MV is also very funny. XD It's not the strongest song on the album, but it's great to listen to, especially when you can understand the lyrics. (In the intro, Jay walks into a music store wanting a guitar. The owner, ex-NQMM G-Power, is being kind of snobby with him. When Jay points and says, "I want that guitar," the owner says, "That's not a guitar! That's a pipa." Jay's other choice is "too expensive.")
好久不见 (Long Time No See) - A part-Hokkien/Taiwanese R&B-style song with lyrics by Jay. I <3 Hokkien songs, so I'm kind of biased when it comes to this song, even though Jay's not a really good Hokkien-speaker. (It's the effort that counts!) Anyways, this song is much better than "流浪诗人"/"Wandering Poet."
雨下一整晚 (It Rains All Night) - This song starts off as a pretty normal ballad, but then it turns into a ZGF song. In the MV, the transition is also shown through changes in costumes, setting, and instruments. The lyrics also combine the old and the new. (Vincent mentions the TV in one line and a paper parasol in another.)
嘻哈空姐 (Hip-Hop Flight Attendant) - I didn't really care for this song and neither did Mainland China's censors, apparently. I checked Chinese Amazon and this song isn't listed in the tracklist for the Mainland version of the album. This track is another hip-hop song with autotune (if I'm sure by now that I know what autotune sounds like). Funny thing is, Jay always sleeps through flights, so he doesn't really have that much time to think about how hot the flight attendant is.
我落泪。情绪零碎 (I Cry. Emotions Are Confused) - Starts off like "花海"/"Flower Sea," which I hated. This is another ballad, but unlike "Flower Sea," this is done right. I think this song will stay on my MP3 player a lot longer because I really like it.
爱的飞行日记 (Love's Flight Diary) - This track is kind of a pop rock ballad. It's a duet with Gary, as I thought it was when I first heard it. It's the best Jay/Gary duet by far!
自导自演 (Directed by Myself Starring Myself) - I wish "给我一首歌的时间"/"Give Me the Time to Sing This Song" had been more like this. It gets kind of cutesy in parts, but too much.
超人不会飞 (Superman Can't Fly) - If you aren't a big fan of Jay, you probably won't like this song at all. The lyrics are all about Jay's career and the music isn't really exciting. Another instance of censorship on this album: The lyrics in this song included the word "屌," which is replaced with the word "好" in the Mainland version. You can download the Mainland version of this song here. (See if you can find the difference in the lyrics now that I've pointed it out. It took me a few listens to even notice because it was such a small thing.)
Another Mainland Chinese difference: The cover. I like the way they wrote the title as "跨旪代". (You can write "旪" by typing "xie," but it's not a common character so you really have to search through a bunch of characters on your Pinyin input to find it!)
Album download
Album purchase
Download the MV for "免费教学录影带" ("Free Instructional Video") here (AVI format!)
Enjoy and remember to buy the album if you really like it!