Listen To Eason Chan (SACD)

With no lyric booklet or album credits, various sources have suggested that Eason was completely in charge of the album, and he has certainly, as usual, assembled an impressive team to back him up. The biggest name of all is veteran songwriter Michael Lai who supplies the sole ballad on the album, "Crying in the Party" (Track 6), surely used as a way of promoting Lai's own recent concert. Eason admitted that he only included the ballad in the album because it was written by Lai. Lyricist Wyman Wong tries to fit the mismatched song into the album by making the lyrics involve the happenings in a party. The result is an affecting, but ultimately contrived ballad that works effectively as a breather between the energetic fast songs rather than an energy-killing party pooper.

Eason has attempted to do the type of fast dance songs that Sammi Cheng and Leon Lai excelled in before, but never has he used it as an album motif. Thanks to producers Davy Chan and C.Y. Kong, the dance songs are more fun than bombastic. The party starts off with "Mario Party" (Track 1), an energetic Latin-style dance track that is not unlike something George Lam might have sang in his heyday. The energy is elevated even further with second track "Tropical Island Serenade" (Track 2) written by Single. Produced by Zhang Yadong, "Tropical" is a breezy disco-style dance track that has an addictive hook like a good dance song should. It balances Eason's adaptable vocals and the high-spirited arrangement without letting one overpower the other.

Leaving fun behind and heading more into bombastic territory, "Concert Live Gig" (Track 4) takes Eason straight into the Cantopop "rave" genre that has already seen its heyday. The result is a high-powered audio workout that serves as an excellent theme song for his upcoming concert. But among the more serious dance tracks, "Waterloo Station" (Track 5) and "Chameleon" (Track 8) are the top picks, thanks to the superb arrangements by Steve Welton-Jaimes/Tony Swain and Carl Wong.

Much like Yumiko Cheng's excellent Yumiko Space album from 2005, Listen to Eason Chan is an album much more focused on production over vocals, proven by the addition of the second remix album. The exception to the rule is fan favorite "Wheel of the Era" (Track 9) from Yumiko Space co-producer Eric Kwok. A dark ballad disguised as a piano-driven mid-beat track, the melody allows Eason to give his versatile vocals a workout, which probably explains why traditional Eason fans would love it. However, the arrangement feels forced and clashes with the grandiose melody. Like "Crying in the Party", "Wheel of the Era" seems to belong on a different album.

I call Listen to Eason Chan Eason's most alienating Cantonese effort yet because it's essentially an album of side tracks. The most exciting part of past Eason albums have been these non-commercial alternative side tracks such as "My End of the World" (from God Bless My Lover) and "Aspirin" (from The Easy Ride). When amplified to the length of an entire album, these tracks may not be as exciting as they can be when placed around karaoke-friendly ballads. Nevertheless, Listen to Eason Chan gives a much-needed energy boost to 2007 Cantopop, which has once again been flooded by pop idol ballads. For an artist at the peak of his music career to make his fans adapt to his liking rather than the other way around, Eason Chan is not only one of the most talented artists in Cantopop - he's also one of the gutsiest. Thanks to his adventurous spirit, Listen to Eason Chan may be noise to some, but a feast for the ears for most.

by Kevin Ma