CD Review: Jay Chou (周傑倫) - November's Chopin (十一月的蕭邦) (Rating: 7/10)

Track Listing
Track 01: 夜曲 (Nocturne)
Track 02: 藍色風暴 (Blue Hurricane)
Track 03: 髮如雪 (Snow Like Hair)
Track 04: 黑色毛衣 (Black Sweater)
Track 05: 四面楚歌 (Beseiged from All Sides)
Track 06: 楓 (Maple)
Track 07: 浪漫手機 (Romantic Cellphone)
Track 08: 逆鱗 (Counter Scale)
Track 09: 麥芽糖 (Maltose)
Track 10: 珊瑚海 (Coral Sea) Featuring Lara
Track 11: 飄移 (Drifting)
Track 12: 一路向北 (All the Way North)

Review
Before buying this album, I never really listened to any of his songs before and when I saw this album on the store shelf, I thought to myself "What the heck - let's see why they call him the King of Mandarin pop".

I wasn't expecting much, as I thought that most of his songs were going to be like Chinese "rap" (which I still can't bring myself to like). After listening to the entire CD for the first time, I was actually quite impressed!

This album has songs that can fit in several categories - there are some slow love songs, some rock songs, some R&B songs, and some rap songs. In fact, I rather enjoyed some of his R&B type songs, but the ones that I really enjoyed were his slower songs.

After listening to this CD several times, I started looking for some of his music videos (on YouTube) and managed to find most of them. There were several tracks in which I didn't really have feelings for (i.e. didn't think they were special or catchy), but after watching several music videos, I started liking those songs!

I don't know why, but music videos have that effect on me - sometimes when I hear a song, I don't really like it, but after watching the music video, I instantly fall in love with the song!

In particular, Track 06: 楓 (Maple) had this effect on me. Initially I thought this song was rather dull and I found myself pressing the "Skip" button on my CD player, but after watching the music video several times, I couldn't listen to this song enough!

Similarly, I didn't really have an opinion about Track 12: 一路向北 (All the Way North), but after seeing the music video, I loved it. This track is off the Initial D soundtrack - one in which Jay Chou himself starred in.

And the songs I liked, I liked even more after watching the music video!

Of course, with any album, there are always songs that you don't like - and there were a few on this album that I didn't really like.

I base my ratings on the number of tracks I like, the tracks I have no real opinion of (i.e. I neither like nor dislike), and the tracks that I don't like. The more tracks I like, the better the rating. And so here is the list broken down in those categories:

Tracks I Like:
Track 01: 夜曲 (Nocturne)
Track 03: 髮如雪 (Snow Like Hair)
Track 06: 楓 (Maple)
Track 07: 浪漫手機 (Romantic Cellphone)
Track 10: 珊瑚海 (Coral Sea) Featuring Lara
Track 12: 一路向北 (All the Way North)

Tracks I Have No Opinion Of:
Track 05: 四面楚歌 (Beseiged from All Sides)
Track 09: 麥芽糖 (Maltose)
Track 11: 飄移 (Drifting)

Tracks I Don't Like:
Track 02: 藍色風暴 (Blue Hurricane)
Track 04: 黑色毛衣 (Black Sweater)
Track 08: 逆鱗 (Counter Scale)

Overall, I really enjoyed this CD and I find myself reaching for this album most of the time when I'm driving. Some of the rap was bearable and some were actually not half bad. There were some songs that, upon hearing it for the first time, you liked, but there were others that you had to listen to several times before you even began liking it.

Based on this CD, I can certainly see why he is considered the King of Mandarin pop - especially since he's written and produced most of his own songs. Jay currently has a new CD out called "Still Fantasy" and based on this CD, I'll probably buy that one as well.

Overall Rating: 7/10