5th Avenue Karaoke (VCD) VCD

She Delivers:　"Fifth Avenue" ~ Hsiao Ya, Elva

On the up and coming Valentine's Day (14 Feburary 2004), Elva will hold several concerts with such talented songwriters and singers as Eason Chen, Tao Che and Wang LeeHom in Taiwan. Not before long has she released her 7th Mandarin album "Fifth Avenue", there are ten new tunes and one more in dance version. Among the eleven songs are several theme songs of various movies, TV dramas and animations, they have certainly made "Fifth Avenue" even more popular.

New quality album consists of various musical genres. Though it may not be as groundbreaking as her previous albums were, it has met most of her fans' expectation.

The leading track "Sound Of Colors" (Track#3) is the theme song of its movie. Both the music and lyrics are brilliant, however, Elva did not do her best in the song. Afterall, the fact that the particular song demands too much for a singer to master, of which not even Elva could have, is tricky.

"Postcard From The Fifth Avenue" (Track#4) starts with classical music by piano and then comes the modern music. It obviously aims to repond as echo to the album poster taken on The Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Many different artists contribute to "Passwords For Love" (Track#1), which is also a quality "Elva song". Yet, unlike Elva's previous tunes such "Let It Go" and "How Brilliant To Be Alone", it could sound boring after you have repeatedly listened to it.

Animation theme song "You Are My Amazement" (Track#10)is a common emotion-venting song. The well-written blessing tune reminds us of "I Found It" by HE YunShiby. This may not be the best theme song for the animation, but is certainly a cool love song. As for other pieces, "Speechless" (Track#9) and "Losing You" (Track#5) are good too.

Recommendations: "You Are My Amazement" (Track#10), "Postcard From The Fifth Avenue" (Track#4), "Sound Of Colors" (Track#3)

Reviewer: Stephen Lee (Li ZhongYan - Hong Kong)
Translator: theDan (Chen EnNeng)