A Magician Who's Lost His Magic Touch?

I couldn't wait to get my hands on Jay's latest album, Capricorn but wait, I had to. I've been busy marking essays and preparing the final lessons for my Form 5 classes these past few weeks. So, I was glad I finally had the time to visit my local cd seller and get a copy.

I inserted the cd into the player as soon as I got into the car and was immediately hooked onto the fast crunching sounds of 'Long Zhan Qi Shi'. It was a tune that was at once familiar yet new - a signature Jay Chou song.

Back in my room, I continued listening to the cd over and over again on my computer. It was a strange musical journey. Some songs, especially the ballads, were easy on the ear but some others were weird and incomprehensible. The track listing was such that a nice song and an odd-sounding one played alternately. So, it was a somewhat unsatisfying listen. Songs such as 'Mo Shu Xian Sheng' and 'Qiao Ke Shu Shu' were quite awful and didn't warrant a second listen. It wasn't until I ripped the cd onto my computer and put my favourite songs in order that the musical journey became satisfyting.

Some have complained that his musical style has hardly changed in recent years. To me, if you're comfortable doing something you like and it's still good, there's really no need to change anything. Of course, there's the view that you need to constantly challenge yourself to improve and move forward but then, there's also the widely held mantra of 'Don't fix what's not broken'. On this one, I'm with the latter.

Getting some feedback from fans and other music enthusiasts alike, it seems most agree that while still considered 'good', 'Capricorn' pales in comparison to 'On The Run' (and indeed many of his previous albums). However, I think it's still too early to judge Jay's ninth album. As my students and I neared the end of our casual discussion, it was clear that his songs seem to grow on you the more you listen to it. Still in my room with the songs repeating for the 29th time, I find myself swaying and singing along... maybe Jay's still got the magic touch afterall.


Recommended Tracks:
Long Zhan Qi Shi, Gei Wo Yi Shou Ge De Shi Jian, Hua Hai, Shi Guang Ji, Dao Xiang, Shuo Hao De Xing Fu Ne