Change Me (Commemorate Edition) (CD+DVD) (With Shopping Bag) DVD Region All

Despite the supposed focus on ballads, Change Me still features four fast tracks, showing that Leehom cannot fully leave the "chinked-out" genre alone after all. This is especially obvious in "Long Live the Chinese" (Track 11), where Leehom dives straight into the hip-hop genre by rapping about being proud of Chinese culture and the upcoming Olympics in China. However, Leehom and co-lyricist Yang Li-Tai's inability to even write rhyming lyrics show perhaps Leehom is better off leaving the "chinked-out" genre alone for good. More effective is opening title song "Change Me" (Track 2), yet another environmental awareness song that gives the album an energetic opening without writing preachy lyrics. Another bright spot is "Encouragement of Love" (Track 10), with Leehom channeling David Foster for a late 80s style American pop that is surprisingly fun with the piano-driven arrangement.

Otherwise, Change Me is dominated by Leehom's signature style of R&B ballads. One standout is "Our Song" (Track 5), in which Leehom takes three sections that sound derived from every R&B ballad ever written and blends them together for a fluid love song that works better than it should. However, the best among the R&B tracks is actually "You Are the Song in My Heart" (Track 6), a duet with S.H.E.'s Selina that yet again puts a traditional Chinese folk melody up against a Western R&B arrangement. Despite taking what can now be considered to be a tired Chinese pop cliché, the back-and-forth nature of the melody makes for a cute romantic duet. Unfortunately, its lyrics are not nearly as effective, suggesting that the song might not have been originally written as a duet.

Meanwhile, ballads that try to complete the trifecta of hit lovey-dovey ballads started by "Forever Love" (from the 2005 Shangri-La) and "Kiss Goodbye" (from 2006's Heroes of Earth) are not very successful this time around. While "An Incomplete Melody" (Track 9) and "Late Saturday Night" (Track 12) are well delivered and well produced, both feature pedestrian melodies that cannot measure up to the excess expectations put on Leehom after two ballads that excelled in every aspect.

In fact, the album's only track not written by Leehom, the beautifully written and arranged "Fallen Leaf Returns to Roots" (track 3), happens to be closest thing that comes to matching such expectations. As the longest track of the album, Leehom's vocal is at its most affecting, building up its emotions despite arranger Wu Ching-Long opting to not go for an overblown musical climax in the end. If "Roots" was actually written by Leehom like his two previous hits, it would've made the perfect ending to the trilogy. Nevertheless, "Roots" is easily the best song in Change Me, and is a worthy addition to Leehom's pantheon of hits.

Undoubtedly changed by his experience on the set of Ang Lee's Lust, Caution (the singer mentions the film several times in the liner notes), Leehom is showing a greater degree of maturity with Change Me. As the musical director of the album, Leehom is taking his music into the direction that pleases him, not what pleases the critics or his ambitions. No longer focused on making breakthroughs, Leehom shows that he is a continually evolving artist who is happy with just doing what he wants. While Change Me may not be the best album of his career, it's definitely his most confident one yet.

by Kevin Ma