Chapel Of Dawn (CD+DVD) DVD Region All

Proto, Juno's first album under Silly Thing, saw the singer blending commercial pop with a unique style of his own. But the result was uneven, with the album's two styles clashing against each other too often to form a coherent whole. Two small releases followed that can be considered dry runs for his latest release Chapel of Dawn, a concept album about the inner battle between good and evil and the destruction of genre borders. Considering its first single, "Road to Evil" (Track 2), contains lyrics like "The world cannot be saved when it's ruled by Mr. Nice Guy," the concept is a bit gothic for a market saturated by catchy love songs. However, it still makes for a great hook, and is even fairly well-executed in the hands of producer Carl Wong. It is however lyricist Wyman Wong who really makes the album come to life with ten endlessly inventive meditations on good and evil.

Juno takes on two personalities in Chapel of Dawn, singing as himself and a character named Mr. Scanner (based on the classic horror film Scanners). This gives Wyman the opportunity to develop two different personalities - the Juno trying to resist the dark side and the deliciously evil Mr. Scanner. The two "characters" even meet in Poor U (Track 7), in which Mr. Scanner plays the devil, while Juno plays his antithesis. As the only ballad of the album, Poor U is also the most intriguing track. It is essentially two versions of the same song put into one, and kudos to composer Vicky Fung for balancing this "one-person duet" with two similar melodies that complement each other effectively. Too bad Juno's vocals aren't experienced or layered enough to actually create these personalities convincingly. Unlike most Hong Kong pop albums, the draw of Chapel of Dawn does not lie in the vocals, which is at points even lacking. The star here is the concept and the team that translates those ideas into a small musical epic. Carl Wong, who has a hand in every track except for the interludes (more on that later), consistently takes the album into surprising directions, moving from electronic to atmospheric hip hop to ballads without missing a beat.

Chapel of Dawn, however, also often sees itself overwhelmed by the Mak family's sheer ambition. The album features no less than five guest stars - pop trio Grasshoppers, Japanese rapper Takagi Kan (who also composed the interludes and several tracks), pop diva Denise Ho, popular radio personality/part-time musician Jan Lamb, and another Japanese rapper named YOU THE ROCK - and it mostly feels gratuitous. The Grasshoppers and Denise Ho collaborations are solid (especially Grasshoppers as "The Priest" on Track 1), but Jan Lamb's rap on the remix of "Road to Evil" (Track 8) feels unnecessary and contrived. Though the Japanese rap sections provide a refreshing international sound to the album, the rap lyrics are not even provided in the booklet, making the rappers' presence appear to be a way to show off Juno's ultra-hip Japanese connections rather than adding anything significant to the album and its concept. Furthermore, the Takagi Kan-produced interludes, while extremely well-produced, kill any effective rhythm the album had set up without any discernable purpose. In the end, Chapel of Dawn tries to be far too much, especially when it calls itself the first chapter of a long-term project. Like Proto, Chapel of Dawn fails to become a coherent whole.

Nevertheless, Chapel of Dawn is more than just an effort with good intentions. The album is produced by people who sincerely want to raise the bar with each new effort, and would literally go to the lengths of hiring a Hungarian orchestra to do so. Even when the album moves at an inconsistent pace with less-than-stellar vocals and not so-catchy tunes, it still deserves a lot of credit for everything the team has done right. Even if the music doesn't cater to all tastes, I can't imagine anyone with anything less than respect for what Juno & Co. have accomplished here.

by Kevin Ma