David Tao returns three years after the creative slump that was Beautiful with his 6th full-length album Opus 69. Taking on a predominantly rock flavor, Opus 69 strays a little bit away from the R&B style that has made him so influential, but it's also a return to the familiar genre-hybrid style of his earlier albums. However, the rock style here breaks loose from the angst and anger that initially drove his forays into rock in previous works like Black Tangerine and Ghost. For once, he actually sounds like he's having fun in the process, and the result is his best album since the 1999 game-changer I'm OK.

However, David still has some steam to blow off via rock, starting with the intro interlude Lyrie Eleison (Track 1). Meaning "God have mercy" in Greek, the chorus-delivered prayer leads into the ambitious and powerful opening rock track A Big Mess (Track 2), which immediately captures the listeners' attentions with its bombastic chorus and guitar-driven sound. The powerful opening doesn't exactly set the tone for the album, since Opus 69 is overall lighter than it suggests, but it does establish David's intention for the ambitiously-named album (named after 1969 - the year of his birth). Along with Black Tangerine and Ghost, David shows again with A Big Mess that he knows how to open an album.

The song that more represents the tone of Opus 69 is first single Zero to Hero (Track 5). With a bombastic guitar presence and a rebellious, but playful set of lyrics that mixes multiple languages, David lets himself loose with a strong vocal delivery that reflects the energy of the song. This may be the most fun David has ever had on a studio-recorded song, and it provides an early climax during the 65-minute album. Of course, preceding track Play (Track 4), which mixes bass-heavy techno with rock, also helps in setting up the energy with an equal amount of fun.

Of course, it's not all fun and games in Opus 69; it's also sometimes intensely self-reflexive about David's own life and his music career. Whose Oscar? (Track 11) sounds like a fun rock & roll track on the surface, but the lyrics actually reveal hidden depths, with David dismissing his critics by telling them that they have no say in his "script". The tone is a little more positive in the impressive reggae-progressive rock hybrid RE: DT (Track 7), in which David sings about his life, his family, and his gripes against the Chinese music industry. RE:DT is the most musically ambitious track on the album, blending in reggae, rap, and even a short diversion into power ballad for good measure, and it never breaks into an incoherent mess. Just that and the fact that it never turns into a narcissistic lovefest of David Tao celebrating David Tao makes RE: DT one of David's most impressive pieces of music in his career.

Despite the genre hybrids, Opus 69 is still mostly a commercial album, which means there's a requisite set of romantic ballads within. Second single Adoration (Track 3) features lines like "Here I am/ waiting just for you/Release my everything/I hope you can understand and accept", following the David Tao style of unabashedly straightforward confessions of love. With a certain sweetness permeating from its composition and David's vocal performance, Adoration is a romantic rock ballad that will surely go down as one of the more popular songs of the album. The album's other ballad, Your Song (Track 13), is equally solid with its simple, guitar-driven arrangement and affecting composition. However, its slow pace and mostly quiet sound will make less of an impression on listeners than Adoration did earlier in the album.

David also goes back briefly to R&B with Chinese Lady (Track 10), which leans more towards a bass-heavy funk sound, despite the presence of a guitar. As expected, David excels in the genre with his smooth vocal delivery, catchy composition, and a well-balanced sound. It almost makes listeners miss the old R&B days of David.

While the other side tracks are proficiently written and produced, David's composition on these side tracks vary little from his previous works, and with the same style of guitar-driven arrangement, they all begin to blend into the same sound. Thematically, Opus 69 covers plenty across the spectrum, making it an ambitious project for any lyricist. However, David mainly stays in the same sound whenever he hits one genre, and the result is an entertaining album from beginning to end that also overstays its welcome with its long length and mildly homogeneous style. Nevertheless, the latter problem is one that has plagued David's albums from the beginning anyway and shouldn't take away from the impressive achievements here. It's nice to hear David finally having fun with what he does best, and if he really follows through with his goal to devote his future time in film, it would be a great loss to Chinese music fans. Then again, if he comes back in three years with an album as strong as Opus 69, I'm fairly sure he'll be forgiven right away.

Recommended Tracks: A Big Mess (Track 2), Adoration (Track 3), Play (Track 4), Zero to Hero (Track 5), RE: DT (Track 7), Chinese Lady (Track 10), Your Song (Track 13)

by Kevin Ma