零六年我一張唱碟的樂評也沒有過寫過﹐不知是因為人老了對流行曲沒有年輕時的興趣﹐還是近年的中文歌曲水準每況越下﹐沒有一碟唱片讓我有提筆推介的意慾。去年雖有少了聽歌﹐但駕車或上班時總會放點mp3作解悶﹐一年累積下來也聽過不少的唱碟。
平常我很喜歡聽台灣女歌手﹐大部份除部了名字外我一無所知﹐有些連樣子也沒有看過﹐吸引我就只有她們的聲線和歌曲。我就是這樣發掘出很多在香港不太流行的好歌。香港歌手方便我主要聽那些在九十年已經代已成名的歌手﹐偶然也會聽有實力的新人。不過這幾年已經越來越少聽粵語流行曲﹐可能歌曲平均質素比國語歌差﹐也有可能因為自己想練習國語。在這裏我想為去年聽過的唱碟作一個總結﹐寫幾句簡評並為讀者推薦些可能錯過了的好歌。
潘朵拉 – 張韶涵
她是去年才出道的新人﹐帶有點蕭亞軒的影子﹐歌路走中快版路線﹐主力是節奏強勁的跳舞歌。
推薦歌曲﹕隱形的翅膀﹐真的﹐口袋的天空
I’m 蕭蕭 – 蕭蕭
聲線一流﹐歌曲輕快溫柔。
推薦歌曲﹕忽略﹐握不住的他﹐只能靠想像
遇上愛 – 楊丞琳
大慨我對聲線可愛的女歌星沒有免疫力﹐竟然連偶像歌手水準一般的唱片也聽了差不多一個月。
推薦歌曲﹕可愛﹐遇上愛﹐過敏
No Protection – 側田
側田是去年出道紅得最快的男新人﹐還以為他只是虛火會後繼無力。今年再推出新碟仍然人氣高企﹐肯定了他的音樂才華。不過這隻碟水準與上集差不多﹐希望他可以明年有新的突破。
推薦歌曲﹕ 決戰二世祖﹐情永落
黑白世界 – 何以奇
台灣女新人﹐聲線讓人聽得很舒服。這隻碟應該是今年我聽得最多的唱碟﹐差不多由年中聽到年尾。
推薦歌曲﹕ 黑白世界﹐讓你飛﹐別疼我﹐對不起我很頑固﹐反正﹐證明
Love Notes – 胡琳
英皇女新人﹐風頭給泳兒完全蓋過。她的歌曲有很重的R&B與Jazz風格﹐在香港樂壇十分少見﹐就是這個賣點吸引了我。很可惜她的唱功一般﹐相貌更加一般﹐恐怕新鮮感過後沒有人會記起她。
推薦歌曲﹕自由像你﹐一杯新鮮的愛﹐害怕回家
Ksus2 – 謝安琪
不得不佩服她未婚懷孕的勇氣﹐在香港女明星中沒有多少人試過﹐希望她不生會仔後銷聲暱跡。不過就算她不會復出也沒有關係﹐這集碟其實誰來唱也可以﹐因為精髓是幕後班底。全碟作曲作詞由周博賢包辦﹐每首歌都言之有物﹐不像時下只懂談情說愛的流行曲﹐今年少數有深度的唱碟。
推薦歌曲﹕亡命之途﹐愁人節﹐菲情歌﹐我愛茶餐廳
戀愛初歌 電影原聲大碟
與其說這隻是原聲大碟﹐不如說是劇中歌星的精選碟。難得大部份歌也好聽﹐特別是方力申同Kary那兩首。聽了這隻碟﹐就不用聽他們自己的大碟﹐反正也只有這兩首歌值得聽。
推薦歌曲﹕ 無雙譜﹐座名銘
潮騷 – 藍奕邦
自藍奕邦出道以來﹐我一直十分欣賞他的歌曲。在商業元表充斥樂壇的今天﹐他還能堅持用心填詞﹐把想表達的說話唱出來﹐這份誠意很難能可貴。
推薦歌曲﹕蓬萊﹐盲年﹐三十不惑﹐爸爸今天不歸家
演奏廳2 – 李克勤
這集碟真的很行貨﹐去年演奏廳好賣﹐就照版煮碗再做一次﹐完全沒有些少誠意﹐上張大碟填詞差的情亦沒有改善。若果我不是從中學開始已經開始聽李克勤﹐我絕不會聽這集碟﹐所以李克勤今年沒有獎是應該的。
推薦歌曲﹕ 仍是老地方 (始終還是他的舊歌好聽)
飛行部落 – FIR
去年一出道立即成為最受歡近組合﹐主唱Faye的超高音唱功令人讚嘆﹐在她背後行行企企彈結他的兩個阿叔也功不可沒﹐沒有他們就沒有FIR這樣多元化的音樂編曲。
推薦歌曲﹕雨櫻花﹐飛行部落﹐北極圈﹐你很愛他﹐I don’t care﹐我最愛的人
Do U Know – 衛蘭你
人靚聲靚﹐女新人中全靠她一個撐起下一代香港樂壇。不過我始終看不慣她的鼻環﹐與她走的清純玉女形像不夾。
推薦歌曲﹕離家出走﹐愛才﹐等﹐拍錯拖
Unlimited – 楊千嬅
還以為今年千嬅不會出碟﹐從年頭望出秋水等到年尾﹐大碟來珊珊來遲。我從狼來了﹐二丁目年代已喜歡千嬅﹐她的大碟幕後陣容一向強勁﹐加上她懶洋洋的獨特聲線﹐她的唱碟總是很耐聽。
推薦歌曲﹕她成功了他沒有﹐大傻﹐如果可以不停相愛
我生 – 古巨基
古巨基今年一首愛得太遲唱到街知巷聞﹐這首歌的歌詞很感人﹐講中很多生活忙碌城市人的心事。不過這隻碟中的其他歌曲只是一般﹐特別是快歌不能充份表現古巨基的唱功。不過豬肉實在太好吃﹐搭幾舊豬頭骨也沒有大所謂。
推薦歌曲﹕愛得太遲﹐重覆犯錯
習慣 – 卓文萱
另一個我不知道是誰的台灣女歌手﹐老實說她的唱功只是中上﹐不過聽起來感覺不錯就是了。
推薦歌曲﹕梁山伯與茱麗葉﹐長衣袖﹐幸福贏味
Shine On – Shine
正常情況下我是不會聽死靚仔唱歌。老實說他們的唱功只是一般﹐我不是妹妹仔對靚仔也沒有興趣。不過這碟中兩首主打歌的歌詞很有意思﹐值得一聽。至於碟中的其他歌曲則只是平平﹐可以放棄。
推薦歌曲﹕俗﹐鼎鼎大名
詩情﹐畫意 – 王菀之
王菀之是香港聲線最靚的女歌手﹐同時也有可能是樣子最不上鏡的女歌手。她自己負責全碟的作曲﹐風格有別於一般流行曲﹐給人耳目一新的感覺﹐聽厭了K歌的朋友不容錯過。
推薦歌曲﹕詩情﹐融了時間的鐘﹐與愛人飛﹐滿天星
弦子 – 箭在弦上
弦子是中國大陸歌手﹐在香港應該不會太多人認識。她不是新人﹐不過我今年才第一次聽她的歌。駕車在收音機她的歌﹐驚為天人﹐回家馬上找這隻碟來聽。她的國語有別台灣女孩的甜膩腔﹐帶點硬朗的味動很有動力。歌曲風格比較搖滾﹐編曲中帶點中樂的曲調﹐別樹一格的配合。港台的歌手可以要小心了﹐中國有很多人靚聲甜的歌手還未被發掘出來﹐絕對勝過那些只靠宣傳造勢的偶像派歌手。
推薦歌曲﹕不得不愛﹐西藏天邊﹐風箏﹐不睡覺
You really listen to a lot of music, and so many I have not heard of!
I have to strongly disagree with you about Hacken’s new album. Whether people like it or not is a matter of taste, and I am not here to judge whether they are good songs or not. But you can never accuse him for lack of sincerity or effort. You cannot deny that the arrangement of every single tract on the album was a result of effort and heart, and I am quite surprised you did not appreciate that.
This album, in my humble opinion, is great because:
1) This album pay a lot of attention to the details of each note, of each ‘real’ instrument. Of course the music being played with real instrument by real musicians is one main selling point of this album. I think in the days of electric/pop/commencial/throwaway-music this is a very brave move.
2) I think Hacken’s voice has never been better. In the past he just sang well but (argueably) often lack of the depth or emotion of Eason or Jacky Cheung. Say, if I want to make a musical, I would prefer Jacky Cheung or Eason to star in it as Jacky or Eason not only can do ‘acting’ with their voice, they can do ‘acting’ in their singing as well. But for Hacken in the old days every song sounds pretty much the same. But I cannot say it with these two albums. For the last two concert hall albums I think when his voice is more sincere and conveys more emotion. It sounds like as if he is telling a story in the songs, rather than just sounding very nice and delicate like his previous songs. Technique vice he is flawless, as usual.
3) There is a theme in this album, and I think the theme is quite unique this time. Nowadays there are so many ‘concept albums’, as if each artist has to produce one to be fashionable. Very often, the albums are plainly stupid. Eg an album using people’s name as the song titles, or using numbers as a theme. The worst are those with the songs completely different from each other but they just use some irrelant background music between each track and pretends they are linked to each other. For this album there is actually a theme, and the theme is pretty noble: the theme is about the place he was born! It strike a cord in my heart when I listen to it.
4)Very few artists actully pay attention to the songs themselves these days. In this album there are quite a few tracks of which the artists and the musicians attempted to mix the style of pop and classical together to create a new sound. Not all of them work; some sound better than the others. Eg 天水．圍城 is pretty successful; 香港仔 isn’t. But you cannot acuse him for lack of trying. There is limitation in Hacken’s voice: he can never be as diversible as Eason or even Andy Hui; for example he cannot do fast songs or rock song. His voice is too refine to do anger or excitement. But he knows his strength and limitations. With his ultra fine voice it fits perfectly with an orchestra (or mini-orchestra in these two albums). So he fuses classical with pop, and no one in HK is brave enough to do it right now. You don’t see Leo Koo doing something like 天水．圍城 .
5) Besides, how can you acuse Hacken for a lack of effort when he wrote all the lyrics himself?
I actually paid money and bought the album itself. If you consider recording an album for the second time live with real musicians means a lack of imagination, I seriously suggest you listen to the album carefully again.
I just put the above comment, with a few sentences changed, in my blog!
Maybe I should give Hacken a second chance.
Can’t agree with sleepiest more. Using 行貨 to describe this CD is not right. The songs are actually not 行貨 and not commercial. Whether the melody sounds pleasant is another story. As compared to Concert Hall I, the asian and western instruments are mixing much nicer together in Concert Hall II. In fact, they have the particular instrument in mind when they write the song. This is unlike Concert Hall I where the have the melody first and then play it out with asian and western instruments afterward.
The use of Korean drum in 天水．圍城 is so beautiful. Play the CD with a very good hi-fi system, or use a home theatre system with subwoofer. It makes a big big difference. You may not even hear the power of the song in MP3 with even a “reasonably good system”. The child vocal in 公主太子 is good too. I like 香港仔 too. Listen to the CD carefully and you’ll find the arrangement of all songs is very rich.
BTW, 愛得太遲 is very commercial. If not the good lyrics, the song is not special at all. I am a little disappointed about this Leo Ku’s CD.
潮騷 – 藍奕邦
Can I also mention about your comment about this album. As much as I like this artist and this album, I have to say that non of the lyrics on this album is written by himself. He wrote all the melodies himself, which is something brilliant. But he got someone to write the lyrics.
I agree with Michael that 愛得太遲 and Leo Ku’s album is not as brilliant as people think. The lyrics is really brilliant though.
Can I alo make a correction in my first comment that non of the lyrics is written by Hacken himself!
Pat has made the final jurisdiction. Hacken’s CD is very good, his voice match the orchestra very well. She agrees that there is problem in my music taste.