林俊杰 JJ陆 Review

Another album which I have bought awhile ago. Look at what he is wearing! Chequered for everything! Gosh, I'm at a loss of words. Not to mention that bowtie of his too.

林俊杰《JJ陸》 ★★★☆☆
A power-packed ablum, 15 tracks in total, a must-buy for JJ’s fans. This CD has so much in it, definitely worth the price you pay for. Apart from JJ’s voice alone, you will get to hear voices including Charlene Choi, FAMA, Machi and Kym Jin. Contributors and producers of this much-goodness-in-one-album include Ah Shin of Mayday, Fang Wen Shan, Billy Koh, and this list goes on. Apart from the weird outfit JJ is in, this album is almost flawless, and definitely worth listening.

1. Sixology- An intro, JJ’s own words and feelings he wants to convey to people.

2.不潮不用花钱High Fashion- A little disco, a little techno, a little hip hop. The rhythm is heavy and punchy, while the lyrics are crappy. This song can get onto one’s nerves especially if put on repeat. I almost had a mental breakdown whilst listening to the song on repeat mode just to figure out what the lyrics meant. How irritating can it get when JJ sings “Kou Kou” for 12 times! What’s worse is that after so many times of listening to it while reading the lyrics, I still do not get the full picture. What is “叩叩 (kou kou)”, what is “扣扣 (kou kou)” and what is “抠抠 (kou kou)”? I do know that the first pair represents the sound of knocking, while the second is something like a button, or subtracting something, and the third one means digging. So? What has these got to do with fashion or money? I’m simply confused after listening to this song. However, I do have to admit that this song is quite a hit, especially with its catchy tune and lyrics (like you know, kou kou X12). Something different from the romantic ballades that JJ is good at, another playful and energetic side of him for us to hear. Miscellaneous info: This song has caused some hooha some time ago for plagiarism, the songs that netizens claimed JJ copied included [I Hate This Part] by The Pussycat Dolls, [Life is a Roller Coaster] by Ronan Keating and [碰碰] by IPIS. I specially went to listen to those above mentioned songs, and I have to say that Keating’s number does have a slight resemblance to JJ’s at the beginning of the song, but that’s just it. Plagiarism? Not quite. Coincidence, I suppose.

3.小酒窝 (feat. TWINS' 阿Sa) Dimples- A sweet and romantic duet with should-be-defunct-even-if-its-not Hong Kong girl group Twins’ Charlene Choi. Finally! A duet of JJ that is not sung with Kym Jin (金莎), that also means new chemistry. This duet is actually a prelude to the collaboration of Ocean Butterflies and Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG). It seems that in this dying economy, collusion is the way to survive. Hehheh, kidding. A definite karaoke hit.

4.黑武士Lord Vader- A marvelous pair, a surprising result, this song is great! Mayday’s lead vocalist, Ah Shin, is the lyricist of this song while JJ composes to this “dark knight”. The tune is very JJ-style, similar to his previous hits such as [木乃伊] Mummy, and the lyrics are also very Mayday, and voila, a unique and awesome collaboration.

5.醉赤壁 Tale Of The Red Cliff- From the title of the song, it’s not difficult to guess who the lyricist is. Bingo, it is Fang Wen Shan, Jay Chou’s good-friend-cum-exclusive-lyricist, and no prize for that. This song is simply like any other 中国风Chinese-traditional-oriental (gosh, is there any proper word for it?) songs, not much surprise in this song. I’m getting rather bored with singers trying out the Chinese-traditional genre kind of song because they are kind of repetitive and similar, worse off when they get the same old guy to write the lyrics for the song. Agree?

6.由你选择(featuring农夫FAMA) The Choice Is Yours- This song features yet another Hong Kong band group called FAMA, it incorporates Cantonese lyrics as well and sounds extremely like a HK street music. R&B plus a little techno, this song is sure something fresh in the Mandarin music industry. We sure can tell that JJ is trying to break into the Cantonese industry, now that he have already carved a name for himself in both Taiwan and Mainland China. It’s not difficult, especially for talented JJ who always has surprises for his supporters.

7.Always Online- From that cheesy title, it’s obvious that this song is written for some online gaming/portal/service/whatever advertisement. Likening a relationship to an online game? Wow, life sure seems easy, like, where else can you be blessed with three lives? Anyway, this is one pleasant song that has a catchy tune, “3, 2, 1 I’m always online…” How nice.

8.街道 The Streets- Fast and Hip song, rather different from what JJ usually does, but JJ’s distinctive voice makes this alien rhythm sound familiar. Love the "wakau (哇靠)" and "walau (哇唠)". This song proves to all who thinks that JJ can only sing safe smooth rhythms; he has a rough and wild side that wants to have fun too.

9.主角(featuring Machi) Centerstage- Is JJ trying to have as many collaborations with different people as possible? In this song he partners Taiwanese Hip Hop group Machi and came out with this extreme fusion, I hear Indian-style, Chinese-style, Hip Hop and R&B in this song! All praise for JJ for his boldness in producing this song, it sounds so out of the norm yet interesting. For people who find this song excessively noisy, I do have to agree with you, but why not listen to it and pay hard attention to its lyrics, cos’ it definitely holds much more than it seems.

10.我还想她 I Still Miss Her- A melancholic song, so romantic yet so painful. JJ’s slow ballades are very moving and can be very addictive. This song deserves to be listened over and over again, as JJ pours his emotions onto the song, singing out the struggles and denial of the dead relationship in the song.

11.点一把火炬Light the torch- A song written specially for the Beijing Olympics Torch Relay. I thought the Olympics Torch Relay was supposed to be energetic and fun? But why does this song sound so solemn? It initially sounds like a song written for the Sichuan earthquake, until you’ve heard the other song written for that purpose. No doubt, this song is pleasant and rather motivational. Something like a national day song, you know? Yeah.

12.期待爱(featuring Kym Jin) Longing- Not a new song, whoever that saw the advertisement of Wall’s Cornetto ice-cream will find this song familiar. It’s a duet with JJ’s usual partner, Kym Jin. This song is extremely catchy, it sounds so sweet and happy that it might simply explode with confetti bursting out all over the place anytime. A duet version of [期待你的爱]which is sang by JJ alone. And not to be confused with [发现爱], another duet by JJ and Kym that is also written for the same ice-cream brand previously.

13.Cries In A Distance- An English song with lyrics written by JJ himself. It is the English rendition of a previous track, Always Online. This version definitely sounds better and has more depth than its Mandarin counterpart. More emotions are felt in this song and that is all that makes any difference. Love this version; love how the lyrics seem so incomprehensible.

14.爱与希望（featuring 重庆市青少年宫银杏童声合唱团）Love, Hope- Tada, this is the song written specially for the Sichuan quake. How nice of JJ to write a song within such a short time after the quake, it indeed provided much warmth and encouragement for the victims and their family members. A simple tune with motivational lyrics, with the choir of children’s voices in the background, the most sincere form of music.

15.小酒窝(粤)(feat. TWINS' 阿Sa) Dimples- The Cantonese version of track 3. It has different lyrics and is rather different to the Mandarin version. I find this version nicer and way more impressive, JJ’s Cantonese sounds almost perfect, to me at least. Nice one!

Overall, it is a heavy-duty album that definitely excites one. Turn up the volume if you want to have fun and just immerse yourself in JJ’s wonder. Selling only for S$16.90 at CD-RAMA, it’s definitely a steal.