Different Songs Of Alan Tam (Part 2)

On A Level: "Different Songs Of Alan Tam (Part 2)" ~ Alan Tam

First, there was the famous and outstanding "Alan Tam & Hacken Lee Live Concert 2003" at the beginning of this year; Then came his album "Different Songs Of Alan Tam (Part 1)." And now here is his fabulous return: The Principal's latest album "Different Songs Of Alan Tam (Part 2)." All these moves make it official that Alan Tam has roused himself from the "retiring-list." What an encouraging news to the huge fan group of Alan's!

As on Part 1, Alan teams up with different music talents who have grown up listening to his songs, and invites them to write and compose the songs for him, in hope of bringing creative sparks to each other. But to put it bluntly, the six newcomers on Part 2 come as no surprise, for they are generally common love songs. Yet, the works from the creative team of Alan & his acclaimed song writers and composers are of definitely assured quality.

The principal single "Meet By Chance" (Track#4) is the one only Mandarin song in the album. The music, which is "a la espanola", was written and composed by Huang Pin Yuan. If asked whether it is old-fashioned or not, opinions may vary . Erick Kwok teamed up with his old pal Lam Bo composing "Quilts" (Track#3), the music is so pleasing and the song is so good that it could have become the leading track of the album. Alan's passionate performance touches the bottom of the present reviewer's heart, especially when he sings the line 'Let me be a boat, drifting out in dreams.'

"Love Is Irrational" (Track#6) is set to become a favorite of Alan Tam's fans, though the song itself is a shadow of Alan's previous works and the music composed for it is not attractive at all. Feng Ying Qi has kept up her good lyric writing talents ever since she wrote and composed the brilliant song "Pair of Wings" for Alan back in 2001. This time she is back with "No Need" (Track#8), which is melodic and is accompanied by excellent stringed instruments.

"A Different Goodbye" (Track#7) is the original version of "Man Under the Mountain" (A tribute to the late great Roman offered on Part 1). The Yu Quan Yue Dui" composed this version of the tribute with lesser verve and more affection. Besides, Alan's masterful performance really manage to help us recall the anecdotes o memory of the late great Roman. Unfortunately, the skin-deep and unpolished lyrics have completely wasted the good and desirable melody of the song.

Recommendation: "No Need" (Track#8), "Quilts" (Track#3)

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