YES, I caved in and bought it in the end. It was one of those ‘unsure’ albums for me but I thought what in the world so went ahead anyway.
So first things first, this one went back to the traditional packaging so I didn’t need to be a ninja, unlike the last time. (Read here to get what I mean.) I got the commemorate edition so it was red all over the place with the packaging and lyrics booklet. No special edition photos. But I guess it was all right. I knew what was coming so no need to gripe over that.
The theme seemed to be seduction or something. NOT sure, lol. It seemed that way with the pictures included. Or was it supposed to be red for love (obvious, I know) or heartache? So moving onto the songs before I rip it up completely.
1. Love? Or Not? 3D Intro ( 愛不愛 3D intro). It sounded like a cult with the repeated chant of “Cyndi”, at least it was to me.
2. Love? Or Not? (愛不愛). It was a flop for me to say the least. Typical song with the cliched love formulas. Yet it was taken on a more upbeat version this time around. Though it seemed catchy with its chorus, somehow it just didn’t appeal to me.
3. Become Strangers ( 變成陌生人). Perhaps this one will grow on me in the future because I actually liked the lyrics. Yet I couldn’t get into it. Or was it because of how it was sung? I felt like it was dragged out too much. And the background mix just didn’t seem special at all.
4. Your Previous Addiction (上了你的癮). Another song that seemed so dragged out. The mix wasn’t that special either. Again, with a different mix and arrangement, it might work.
5. It’s All Right To Forget Me 3D Intro (忘了我也不錯 3D intro). More cult activity going on. Around 24 seconds or so, it started playing the song’s tune, which was suitable for the supposed ‘intro’, I guess.
6. It’s All Right To Forget Me (忘了我也不錯). Just when I was hanging on a thread of wondering if it was just ‘me’ with being SUPER picky or if it was really the previous tracks being not that special, this track saved it all. That was so good. So sad yet not too pitiful either. It contained a great sense of longing for someone. The background music–though seemed soft like the previous two tracks, the arrangements just flowed along with the lyrics and how she sang it. Just hearing the first few tunes and I actually stopped what I was doing and had to see which track it was when I was listening for the first time around. Her emotions were more real in here for some reason. Though it seemed like she dragged her voice out at times too, I felt it wasn’t as ‘trying’, it fitted with the mood of the song. I ended up repeating it several more times before moving on during my supposedly ‘first’ listen. As I was writing this review and paid even more attention to the tracks to be a little more ‘fair’ (if possible) to the songs, I repeated this song twice before moving on.
7. Capricious Lover (任性情人). I clap the production team for making a successful upbeat song for the album since it did catch on. But on a personal level, I didn’t like it. It’s me actually with still in the morbid trance, that’s all.
8. Love’s Pattern (愛情句型). This song was actually quite good. But for some reason, I could imagine a guy sing it more. NOT in a ‘cutesy’ voice, lol. But it might make it even more bitter? Oh well, that’s just me being weird.
9. Anonymous Consolation (匿名的安慰). I actually liked the background music composed by JJ Lin more than the lyrics. It just flowed nicely along but the words didn’t quite appeal to me. But it was indeed crafty so it might just be me after all.
10. Where Are You? (你在哪裡?) Cute song. Japanese song, supposedly from the credits. She penned the lyrics. We all know how I feel about cute songs of recent? YES, couldn’t get into it. Some fans might like it though. It’s not bad. Just that I got impatient with the whole repeating of the words at the beginning and somewhat throughout. It reminded me of the ‘ai’ trends in her previous album.
11. Perfect Match Intro (絕配 3D intro). It took 29 seconds to hear some popping sound. And the point of this one was?
12. Perfect Match (絕配). Upbeat song. Another Japanese one with the lyrics do-over. Just when I thought it was me, it wasn’t me. A certain set of words were repeating once again.
13. Immediate Departure (立刻出發). Okay, another save after the last few flops again. This doesn’t look too good. Tragic song yet not too over. It bordered on the ‘average’ actually, but after so many flops for this one (on my scale), this one was one of the better ones.
14. Immediate Set Off 3D Outro (立刻出發 3D outro). What? Another rip-off. Okay, listened to it again and there was the sound of a door closing around 6-7 seconds. It probably was signifying the ending of the album aka leaving hence closing the door. Duh, I know. But I felt it was sort of stating the obvious and an unnecessary one.
Okay, let’s tally up the points. 4 intro/outro related ones so that meant it wasn’t more songs, just another way to get us into thinking it was more. Only track #5 made sense to me, but near the end. As for the actual songs, 4 upbeat songs, and 6 sad/morbid songs. The typical 10 tracks so it wasn’t that much of a ripoff, lol. The intro/outro just became a little distraction, that was all. OMG! (I actually said the ‘omg’ part out loud.) My top songs only total to 2, which were 6 and 13. Tracks #3, 4, and 8 could be back-up for me, with #8 being the more favorable one. But honestly? I thought by the time I was done listening to them more seriously, I would end up liking more songs, but it only totaled to 2. YES, still couldn’t get over it.
Moving onto the MVs now.
1. Become Strangers (變成陌生人) MV. I think the song flowed better with the setup of the MV. Yet I got the message with the storyline, didn’t feel the other parts were necessary.
2. Capricious Lover (任性情人) MV. Half seductive, half cute. Lively indeed. And catchy. Yet I still couldn’t get into it. But the MV was creative enough, I guess.
3. Love’s Pattern (愛情句型) MV. The scenery was compensation for me. It helped a lot. I liked how the ‘pattern’ was on the walls too, so cool.
4. It’s All Right To Forget Me (忘了我也不錯) MV. OMG, I was so happy to do a quick check when I was listening to find there was an MV made for this song. But how was the MV itself? I was so scared it would turn into a flop, at times with not being able to have the best of both worlds, if anyone gets it. Yet it wasn’t disappointing at all. I liked her yellow dress. I liked the shadowy, disappearance effects as well. Then there was the scenery. Just a tad of the view but still effective.
5. Anonymous Consolation (匿名的安慰) MV. All right. I didn’t like the song so I didn’t expect much of the MV so no disappointment really, lol.
6. Capricious Lover Dance Version (任性情人舞蹈版) MV. I was wondering what in the world was the other version if this one was the ‘dance’ version. Yet I realized the difference as soon as it played. It edited out all the other effects and just show raw dancing, sort of like teaching us how to dance along with the song.
As far as MVs go, I vote for #4 and #3–in that order. I don’t care for the other ones.
Conclusions? I now am officially convinced that I’m just plain picky. Because I felt the last one was just plain trying to get by. But this one? What was that? I don’t mind about the MVs as much since it’s about music, in this case, more than visual, the MVs are just included as part of a bonus. Yet I felt the music part disappointed more and more. It wasn’t like the songs weren’t nice, but the mixing just didn’t bring out its intended effects, except for several.
Final decision? Remember that one ‘new year resolution’ thing I posted around let’s say ‘new year’? Yeah. Miss Wang is in her second strike. Perhaps in the future, I would listen and wouldn’t purposely avoid her stuff, if the songs are in dramas or if she’s in a drama. But I wouldn’t be purposely going out to seek her stuff either. For starters, no more collecting.
And we all know I operate on my own wavelength so if anyone’s upset about me abandoning the ‘princess’, don’t waste your time. (I’m serious, your time is precious.)
*All images were scanned by DTLCT
Well I guess it’s really up to the taste of the people. I actually liked the album (but swear I curse the MVs) 🙂
Like I said in the review and at times in my posts that my tastes are really weird and I’m sort of on a different wavelength so it’s just me really. Maybe if I listen to it some more, it might grow. But for now, that’s it.
Thanks for commenting, by the way.