Just Listen... "聽" 趙學而

聽 - 趙學而

My Rating: 84/100

Track List:

01. 我可以抱你嗎
02. 長夜 My Love Goodnight
03. Be Your Love
04. 情深緣淺
05. 曾在你懷抱
06. 許願樹
07. 對一個人愛錯
08. 某月某夜
09. 如果這是情
10. 吻別
11. 祝君好


I am not too familiar with Bondy Chiu's music. Over the years, I've had a few glimpses of her TV appearances in different sit coms. Heard her nice voice in individual music projects covering well known songs with new jazz arrangements (most notably 偏偏喜歡你 in 一期一會 Soundtrack). I thought her voice is really soothing, but was not about to spend $20 CAD to buy just that one song.

In Dec 2008, she released a long awaited album, covering Chinese pop hits and classics of the 80's and 90's. And she transformed and spiced up all 11 songs with jazz arrangements, giving each track a new look, and a new life. It's a great trend to see many talented singers coming back out asking the audience to "just listen" to our music, and not doing stupid things for making headlines... and getting attention the wrong way.

Amidst the plummeting record industry, Ms. Chiu personally invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in producing this album. What a bold and gutsy move... but I am sure she would be very happy at this moment, as reviews for the album have been very positive... not exactly sure how the sales numbers are, but I read CD stores in HK are jacking up prices for it... so that should be a good sign...

What I like the most about "聽" is the team work and collaboration between Bondy and her musicians. One person's power is very limited. No matter how good Bondy's voice is, without the world class guitarist, bassist, pianist, cellist, drummer, brass players, etc... who participated in this project, it could've turn out to be a lackluster, mediocre work. It was a very nice gesture to have all the musicians and their profiles/resumes displayed in the complimentary booklet...

Is the album entirely perfect? No. Especially in some of the song choices of the album... Despite the new arrangement, some melodies and lyrics are just hopeless and no matter how you try to change its face, the best it can get is a mediocre grade... I'm now gonna talk about some of the outstanding tracks from the album...




我可以抱你嗎

This big band jazz track acted as a cool opening for the album... the song talks about the parting of a pair of lovers, instead of whining though, Bondy puts of a smiling face throughout the song... saying "I miss the good times and I don't think about the bad ones..."

我可以抱你嗎　寶貝　容我最後一次這樣叫你　
你也不得已　我會　笑笑的離去



Be Your Love

What a sweet song... it makes me feel like I'm in love, that's how nicely handled this song is... Kudos to Bondy. It's nice to have the acoustic guitar, flute, and light drum beats supporting her throughout the song... One consistently handled element in Bondy's vocals is the new phrasing she reinvented with the new jazzy arrangements...

逃避你　接近你　惟願挑起一點是跟非
I Wanna Be Your Love　怎麼說起...




情深緣淺

Umm... This is what I was talking about earlier, if a song is hopeless, it's hopeless no matter what you do to it... Bondy's vocals were nice, but the lyrics and the over the board mellowness of the melody just doesn't work for me.... The only part I like is the long saxophone solo session towards the end..




許願樹

Just like Be Your Love, the acoustic arrangement gives this song a fresh and sweet taste. Her musicians steps to the foreground in the sound, providing some vocal harmony in the chorus.

Trees of the Bayou...　我的愛像純真的小孩




對一個人愛錯

This is probably the best example of spicing up a boring song... I love the slight Latin influenced arrangement throughout this piece. I love that her musicians have the freedom to show off their guns in the extended bridges and outros... of this song (and many others, making them at least 5 to 6 minutes long! great stuff!)... The only complaint is that... Bondy could've used a tougher tone... she could've bitch slap the guy instead of just doing a little whine... if you get what I mean.

恨什麼　沒什麼只不過一個人 對一個人愛錯




如果這是情

The new arrangement and phrasing, again, gave this boring song an extreme makeover.... It's now a song that you can play in a lounge while you're savoring a nice glass of wine... Leon Lai's original version? You can probably hear it being slaughtered by some drunk dudes at a karaoke bar...

讓我的美夢　換你一世情始終都等到一串好光景
願你可快樂　像我癡情尋獲最愛不必怕任性





祝君好

Probably the only song of the album from "my times" (I was in grade 8 when it came out, I think). The new arrangement is way simpler than the original, and way better. Just the piano, cello, and Bondy's amazingly calm voice. Not much emotion, it's like reflecting on a long lost love... there's no more pain, just a lot of regrets, and some tears...

只望停在遠處祝君安好... 雖不可親口細訴...






Strongly Recommended Tracks (in order): 祝君好, Be Your Love, 我可以抱你嗎, 如果這是情, 對一個人愛錯, 許願樹