You Don't Mean It (CD+VCD)

Ease Through Experience: "You Don't Mean It" ~ Kelly Chen

Hidden from the Broadway light for over six months, dynamite Canto-pop princess Kelly Chen comes back with two brand new albums at a time, one in Cantonese and the other in Mandarin. The Mandarin masterpiece "Xin Kou Bu Yi" first springs into action in Taiwan and offers 11 sensational solo melodies and one duet love song with Li Chuan.

The fresh tunes from the recently released hit-loaded album, of which half are of the emotional kind and half fast-paced, stay on the main stream. Besides, Kelly has truly developed finer skills in performing and become more stable in getting herself into rhythms through a long but fruitful 8-year process. As a matter of fact, Kelly has never been mediocre among the star female singers. For someone like Kelly who has started her career as an idol singer rather than a musician, this is certainly quite an achievement.

The creation of the poppy commercial theme song "Shake Shake Rock" (Track#6) is one-manned by the Canto-pop diva's long-time partner Mark Lui, as he writes, composes and produces the whole song all by himself. Frankly, his production was poor in quality though neat in quantity a few years ago. Nevertheless, this electronic fast-paced "Shake Shake Rock" is much more appealing as it is with catchy lyrics and lighthearted rhythms.

With regard to Kelly's performance, she does sing with ease through experience. After all, she has been singing up-tempo dance songs for ages.

"It's My Fault" (Track#4) should be the Mandarin version of the Cantonese album's leading track "She Is Uglier Than Me", though the present reviewer is not sure. Its lyrics were written by Xu Shi Zhen, whose writing style is as charming as ever. "It's My Fault" is no exception either. The song describes a person who constantly regrets his past mistakes but prefers not to move on. Perhaps the attitude it depicts may not be generally agreed, still it does disclose the inner feelings of certain people.

When the present reviewer earlier came across the song title "All I Want Is Love" (Track#3), he mistakenly thought that it was the same song Daniel CHEN XiaoDong sang two years ago. He mixed them up because of a number of incredible and unbelievable coincidences: Firstly, the two song titles are exactly the same. Secondly, both artists are from Universal. Thirdly, both tunes are re-composed from Korean songs and finally, both were written by Lin Xi! Yet, the two are completely different songs.

Kelly's "All I Want is Love" is a tender and touching ballad, while Daniel's was a fast-paced dance song.

"Formula of Worry" (Track#5) encourages people to aim high and lead a sparkling life. The present reviewer simply loves the line which says "there are things in life which even robbers could not rob". "Cupid Smiles" (Track#2), "I Love You Most" (Track#9) and "Gentle Tears" (Track#11) are also on top of the reviewer's list of recommendation.

To the fan's great disappointment, the title song "Xin Kou Bu Yi" (Track#1) and especially the duet "Scripted Travel" (Track#10) by Kelly Chen and Li Chuan turn out to be huge disasters as their voices "destructively interfere" with one another. That is why "Scripted Travel" is far worse than Kelly's recent smash duet "To Love a person" with notable Hacken Lee.

Recommendations: "It's My Fault" (Track#4), "All I Want Is Love" (Track#3), "Formula of Worry" (Track#5), "I Love You Most" (Track#9)

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