I know
This is Jay Chou's album with the longest production period, which naturally gives everyone more expectations, but "Grandma" always comes to mind unexpectedly The lyrics in the song: "No surprises, no changes, I've been listening to it for three years." People have said so themselves, what more surprises do you expect? Thanks to unscrupulous people, the new songs were exposed online in advance, making such surprises even less.
But for me, basically there is no disappointment. Some of it is expected, as he continues the classic Zhou style with a few new twists; some of it is unexpected, because the love songs occupy an unprecedentedly large space. Therefore, if you are tired of Zhou or have too high expectations for him, then you don’t need to understand it in detail, just listen to it once, "not thinking about making progress", "the talent is exhausted"...these same classic JAY expressions can be used again , you can start scolding.
Sometimes I think about it, what do I want him to look like? A whole album of psychedelic electronic music, or death metal? Then why bother to listen to Jay Chou? Aren't there better options? Looking forward to Jay Chou is just looking forward to a new album with the Zhou label every year.
The name of the album "Chopin in November" gives more excuses to those who want to scold him. Jay Chou himself said that it was not a comparison, but just a tribute to the music idol. Therefore, the release date of his first hit song "Nocturne" was also specially chosen on October 17th, the death anniversary of Chopin (I am still used to this way of writing). This is like the album title of "Ye Huimei", although it uses the name of Jay's mother, the content of the album actually has nothing to do with this lady.
Let’s go back to this album. Although the expectations and surprises have gradually faded away due to previous listening to them one after another, when I get the genuine CD and play it continuously, the feeling is still very different.
Cold, this is the first feeling. In November in the north, the temperature is already low enough, and when this album is played continuously in my ears, the surrounding air seems to be two degrees cooler. This album is indeed suitable for release in the late autumn season. It is more lively than before A little more bleak.
"Nocturne" does not have much new ideas in terms of musical form. The combination of RAP and classical music has been done very well in "Stop the War", but the gentle and shallow guitar is not Without the latter, the vintage piano is more eye-catching. But in terms of artistic conception, "Nocturne" is certainly better. Even without the visual influence of the MV, it is easy to feel the sadness and sadness of the cold, quiet, gorgeous and weird under the moonlit night.
"Blue Storm" is actually the first song to be exposed. The dozens of seconds of commercial clips once made people sigh in disappointment. However, when it is presented in its entirety, it brings the biggest surprise in the entire album. The religious hymn at the beginning is mysterious and solemn, echoing the previous song "Dead Love". However, just when you are about to hold your breath and listen, the beeping phone dial tone comes with a strong metal soundtrack. In this noise, Messiah, tuneless guitar, scratching, electronic drums, cello, vocal rap , and even the Middle Eastern-style plucked instruments can all be in their proper places without being messy, and the dial tone that appears from time to time gives the whole song a tension that is difficult to express with other instruments. Don't question Jay Chou's singing skills in a song like this, because his voice is originally a kind of instrumental music. You can say that this song is like "Nunchaku" or "Dragon Fist", but the melody is more pleasing to the eye. Although it is very lively, the artistic conception is spacious and profound, and the addition of the harmony is somewhat tragic.
"Hair is Like Snow" continues the five-tone Gong tune route and continues the plaintive and graceful Chinese classical style of "East Wind Breaks". The addition of RAP and children's songs makes the music richer. Although it no longer has the surprise of "East Wind Break", in comparison, I actually prefer the exquisiteness of this song. Just from Mr. Zhou's ever-changing timbre, from desolate to peaceful to childlike, it shows that he has put more thought into it.
"Black Sweater" is a beautiful and catchy love song. The melody direction is not common in Zhou's love songs, and the arrangement is so simple that only chords and drum beats are left, completely becoming a dim background for the human voice, but The gentle sound of water splashing from time to time still made my heart ripple and feel the slightest chill.
Next, "Besieged on All Sides", the real-life MV incident, media doubts, and suspicions of "plagiarism" are far more topical than the music itself. If you look closely at the lyrics, they are actually humorous and inspirational, and even a bit tolerant and kind. It depends on how you look at them. It's just entertainment, whoever can't afford it will be the first to quit. Besides, paparazzi are not equal to reporters, so media friends don't have to rush to take their seats. As for "plagiarism", I almost sighed. Even a semi-musically blind person like me still vaguely knows what HIP-HOP sampling is all about. Professional companies must provide this kind of music sampling. What's more, the similarity is only a repeated measure. If plagiarism is established, then it seems that more than half of the HIP-HOP music I have listened to is suspected of plagiarism. And who copied whom of those love songs with the same piano chords? By the way, I would also like to expose that the choir music before "Blue Storm" is of course also "plagiarized", and the intro to "Black Sweater" plagiarizes three consecutive notes from "Hope" which has become popular recently.
The music itself doesn't have much to say. The long Korean rap adds a lot of humor to the whole song, and the clicking sound of the old-fashioned camera that sounds from time to time in the music makes people feel upset but wonderful. Although the lyrics of the tune are funny, the content is so helpless that I can only sigh.
"Maple" continues the atmospheric love songs of "Black Humor" and "Stranded". The melody has ups and downs and is soul-stirring. Both the lyrics and music have a strong late autumn meaning. Singing this kind of song often exposes JAY's shortcomings in singing skills. However, when his usual careless voice reveals naked emotions, it makes up for this shortcoming to some extent. The rough texture is not necessarily bad.
When "Romantic Cell Phone" sounded, the whole album finally began to feel warm, making a transition to the cooler "Reverse Scale" that followed. No matter how many people despise this popular love song, it cannot prevent it from becoming the favorite of others.
"Reverse Scale" is one of my favorite songs. Perhaps influenced by the real and fake news about his ups and downs in the past year, I always feel that it is better than the laughing and scolding dog. This song truly carries many of his emotions: depression, anger, sadness, helplessness, and unyielding—of course, these reasons are actually insignificant in the eyes of normal listeners. The Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra's symphony is majestic and majestic, with the rap drum beats a bit like a storm is coming, while the interlude strings are hoarse and sad, which is another successful combination of classical and modern. Did the distant screams accompanying the lyrics make you shudder? As for the phrase "self-esteem", Jay Chou's tone became more and more like a Beijing gangster.
The cheerful "Maltose", when it comes to the end, actually jumps in with the prelude of dance music, as if the sky has suddenly cleared up in the evening after a gloomy day, giving the entire album a dark tone. Get a lot of sunlight. I thought that the last film "Garden Party" was the last memory of his youth, but I was wrong. By the way, the repeated Thai "I love you" in the chorus is said to be a reward for Thai fans, because they once sang with him in Chinese with thousands of people. Of course, this kind of detail is only relevant to fans.
The cold "Coral Sea" once again eroded the little warmth brought by "Maltose". It is obviously "Rooftop II" six years later, and the commercial purpose is obvious. To be honest, his voice doesn't match LARA's, and it's far less comfortable than Wen Lan's, but the contrast is used to hint at the fateful lovers described in the song. Similar to the previous song, the disappointment of many people will not affect the inevitable popularity of this song in KTV. Looking at the online comments, you can see that there are just as many people who like this song the most as those who are least interested in it, which proves that this song is a success.
"Drift" and "All the Way North", as BONUS CDs, have nothing to do with the style of the entire album, but as proof of another starting point of Jay Chou's career in 2005, they are of great commemorative value, not to mention, Two more songs out of thin air can be considered a profit. This song "Drift" is already the third version I have listened to. The former Nanquan member Big Cannon who must appear in every album appears again as a provocateur. His narration has appeared on every previous JAY album. And the phrase "Do you want to pick something?" "Whatever" once again quoted the classic plot of "Bullfighting". This is a kind of fault-finding game. Those who appreciate it will be surprised, while those who oppose it will feel that it is incompetent. Jay Chou is as stubborn as a child when it comes to these things.
To be fair, although there is no breakthrough, the melody in this album is the best among the recent albums in my opinion. It is obvious that more time has been spent to ponder it carefully, and from this The unity of style is also far better than the previous one. The biggest change is Jay Chou's singing. Although his singing skills have never been praised, and he himself has never expected to win the Golden Melody Male Singer Award, his unique tone is indispensable in the album. Listen to him humming nonchalantly in "Nocturne", constantly changing his vocal positions and playing with his various sounds in "East Wind Break", deliberately being gruff in "Maltose", singing hoarsely in "Maple", and in "Reverse". If he continues to play Beijing accent in "Scale", I will feel that his voice is also a wonderful instrument. The harmony part that he usually performs himself is used more in this album. Jay Chou's harmonies have always been better than the lead vocals, I've always felt that way.
When I follow the clues and discover these, I feel that Jay Chou is still the music naughty boy, and he has been trying to make small adjustments while sticking to it. Although the environment has changed and the position has changed, his attitude towards making music has always been the same as before. If there is a difference, it may be that there is less and less time to make music. However, I always believe that a month of hard thinking may not be as good as a flash of inspiration in one second. Time is not the biggest problem.
No surprises, no disappointments. When the media once promoted him to a mythical height, he did not follow their wishes to complete a larger mission, so more and more people were disappointed in him. In fact, he just completed another work in accordance with his own preferences and mentality, and perhaps there was some compromise with reality in it.
He has been careful to find a balance between musicality and popularity - although this will prevent him from reaching the peak of both - his songs are not the most widely played on the street. And his music is not the most highly praised by experts - but in any case, this is already the tangent point of the hyperbola, the point where profits are maximized. From this point of view, he has been successful enough.
Listen if you want to hear it, give up if you don’t want to hear it. As a fan, who am I to ask him what to do next? Jay Chou actually understands his situation far better than others. He has already given the answer a long time ago:
"It's not that I have regressed, but that your expectations of me are too high." < /p>
“My music career is a war, and my fans are my comrades-in-arms. In this process, some people will quit, some will join, and some will stay...but I will be the only one left in the end. My end is loneliness."
"When my music is no longer accepted by everyone, I choose to pass away gracefully.
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