where should i start?

i've said goodbye not too long ago, because i gave up hope, that alan can sing again, then someone said, i should wait until the new album is out - fair enough... but now i feel i have to voice my opinion.

so here we are, thanks to pommy, we can listen to the new "album" and i hate to be so right, but i knew it, so knew it... when "i'm back" thing came out... i was sure that it's the end, at least till she's been with this company

the bad:

after listening the songs, a fundamental question came to my mind, are these song written by human beings or they are computer generated? the music is so absolutely nothing, that i seriously think they are coming from some music software. poor alan isn't required to use her voice at all, and i don't feel any emotions in her voice, when i listening her japanese "love songs" or "ballads" or whatever, especially the live shows, her concerts, i can hear her heart as well. on this album she's just there and like a well behaved child, singing what she has to, but she is somewhere else...

the good:

the intro is good, has its own style and sounds unique - doesn't match with the album at all though... the third song "以愛相宜" is the only one where she actually start singing a bit, yet the song is very mediocore...

once again i'm the opposition here, i totally and absolutely disappointed in this album. anyone could sing these songs, if we can even call them songs. i know many people's answer, that cpop is like this, and it's fine if some pretty chinese girl sings them who otherwise has to talent, but goes well with the show... but for alan, who has so much more potential, incredible voice, very hard work behind her...no, no and no, for me, this is an insult towards her.

this time i really bid farewell, i will watch alan from the distance every now and then, and if one day someone give her a chance for a professional carrier again, i will be the first to cheer for her.

good bye everyone

What do you mean by "man or machine"? Where the songs came from?

"I'm Back" set my expectations for this album extremely low, so I'm over the moon to hear songs I like. I don't think this album is an insult, but I can understand your disappointment. She's definitely being held back!

Hopefully we'll see you again some day!

She should have gone Tibetan crazy with some songs, but she doesn't reach her full potential >_<

And it's weird that she sounds more natural in Chinese, so give her some time on getting more familiarized with chinese before she sounds emotional

Though only a handful of Alan,s Japanese songs sound emotional...and it's just not the route this album was going

I get what you're saying here. I am a bit disappointed they held her back because I was expecting something that will blow me away like she always has. Only 2 songs blew me away, but that was it.

As I do find the other songs quite relaxing, I also would like to hear songs that will give me the shivers every time I listen to it. (Her Tibetan.)

Hopefully this doesn't mean it's the end for her. She has a bright future with that voice of hers in the music industry. I wish companies would stop for a second and learn what their artists truly has in them.

Sesshy wrote:

Hopefully this doesn't mean it's the end for her. She has a bright future with that voice of hers in the music industry. I wish companies would stop for a second and learn what their artists truly has in them.

I wouldn't be so melodramatic. If you listen to most of Cpop, there are so many idol-types. Some of them can't sing, but their companies still let them sing.

alan can actually sing, so she's not going anywhere.

She will be in a movie so I think not japanese works this year and at next half year, since we don't know the status of avex contract!
And for say the truth after hear Kitto moichido I realized alan says she'll comeback but it seems for so long, maybe she's just on a japanese hiatus and not givin' up!

Her Avex contract ended~ She's not with Avex anymore

^Pommy, I don't doubt it but has it been officially announced anywhere? Was it in the press conference?

Nope...I don't really think they announce things like this, but only Alan/her company can change her verification on Weibo, so yeah...

And we've known from the beginning that Alan's contract with avex was for 5 years and she debuted in 2007

Ahh.. I see. I wonder if she'll ever sign with them again, or anyone in Japan.

I would hope that she can still release work in Japan via Avex etc. Like technically Amuro - who doesn't belong to Avex [she's with Vision Factory] but releases through Avex etc.

BUT I do not want a Japanese version of Love Song the album etc. I think despite what we may want from her to release in Japan, she's gonna focus on China and I can understand this.

... the only problem you have with it is not the fact it's computer generated or whatever, it's just that it's made by a Chinese company and Cpop has bad reputation.

Imo this album is better than 60% of her Japanese songs... Without losing faith in her I was progressively getting disappointed by every release after Kuon no Kawa, afterwards she was singing songs that did not have her identity, 80% of "my life" doesn't sound like it's alan, it was even more generic than the whole "Love Song" album... It was precisely at that time that she was singing like any Jpop idol would sing.

And alan is only sort of beginning in China, she needs to be promoted, so let her sing some "generic' songs to create a solid fanbase, and then she will maybe use more of her Tibetan identity... She's doing better in China than in Japan anyway, she'll have more freedom afterwards.

I hate how everyone is bashing that album just because it's "Chinese"... even if it does have a subtle traditionnal feeling.

^ lol seriously? Most of her best songs sound ethnic and I was hoping this album would have a lot of it and Im glad I got my wish!

since i've started this, it's only fair to answer some of it...

Pinguu wrote:

And alan is only sort of beginning in China, she needs to be promoted, so let her sing some "generic' songs to create a solid fanbase, and then she will maybe use more of her Tibetan identity...

very true, and we all know this is about business, but it's killing me... and the "she will maybe" part what makes me sad, because what if... (better not to say)

Pinguu wrote:

I hate how everyone is bashing that album just because it's "Chinese"... even if it does have a subtle traditionnal feeling.

i have no problem with chinese albums, i have quite a few chinese singer i like (barely any of them mainstream cpop though) and my favorite tibetan singers often sing in chinese. in fact if you could see my favorite playlist, you could see more songs sing in chinese than japanese. i never judge people, albums, or anything based on the country of origin. same true when it comes to different genres, again mainstrem pop is not my favorite, but i have some, generally i'm open for almost anything if it's good, i have song which almost sounds like an opera or some like an old folk song, i don't mind if they are quality music in their own genre, i listen, then judge...

pommy48 wrote:

Most of her best songs sound ethnic and I was hoping this album would have a lot of it and Im glad I got my wish!

i agree with the first part, but i fail to see the second part, which song are "ethnic" on this album...

pommy48 wrote:

And it's weird that she sounds more natural in Chinese, so give her some time on getting more familiarized with chinese before she sounds emotional

i think it has nothing to do with the language, since alan is good at chinese, tibetan, and even in japanese now... also she is a professional performer already. best proof is her early japanese songs, when she was struggling with the new language, yet many of her songs were "alive" i think "love song" missing "love" even if the lyrics are romantic (which i don't know, since i don't speak chinese, and haven't checked any translation yet) the music is just hmmm... grrr... i think she can sings her heart only when everything is together, like any performance need all of it components to be perfect to able to catch the audience.


and finally

pommy48 wrote:

Sesshy wrote:

Hopefully this doesn't mean it's the end for her. She has a bright future with that voice of hers in the music industry. I wish companies would stop for a second and learn what their artists truly has in them.

I wouldn't be so melodramatic. If you listen to most of Cpop, there are so many idol-types. Some of them can't sing, but their companies still let them sing.

alan can actually sing, so she's not going anywhere.

is it really enough for you? i do understand that it's important to keep her iin business, and many of us happy that she can have something, but i would like to see her shine like a star.

She can shine like a star, but you can't expect Jpop quality in a Cpop world. You must understand there are a lot of limitations in mainland china's music industry, so it's not enough to just be a singer. She understands that and her company wants her to do other things.

For me, Alan always sounded awkward in Chinese. Being a professional singer doesn't mean she can always sing with emotion, it just means she know the proper technique for singing.
I find Love Song (the song) to be emotional, but everyone relates to different things in songs. 經過南青山 is also another emotional song for me since the lyrics relates a lot to the loneliness alan felt in Japan.
Even for a song like 鳳凰 that I didn't feel anything for, the live performance felt a it emotional to me.

There are a lot of things in the lyrics that gets lost in translation, so I feel non-chinese speakers miss out on a lot.

鳳凰，窗外，水晶蓮 are ethnic. Thats about the same amount of ethnic songs on my life.

Pinguu wrote:

. Imo this album is better than 60% of her Japanese songs.g.

You do know that your comparing a huge margin of her previous song with this new album, I'm sorry but Their are some good song in this album, but the way your stating it sound pretty much biases, Let pin this out, their some good song I agree that have a great arrangement like 以愛相宜, but their are song that by far that aren't that great for example "baby baby", also to say that this album is better then 60 % of her song, it's like saying that this album is far superior then Voice of Earth. Now let get back to what your saying, if anyone who doesn't agree with this album, is solely on that everyone is biased toward The Chinese and so on, that what your implying. Now let get back to the real argument here, Like I stated before not everyone going to like what everybody like, Yes Some people do perfer her Jpop song, while other prefer her Cpop song, and the cycle continue, maybe one day majority will get more into Cpop one day but not now, maybe it can be do to anything, but isn't do to what your stating. Now not everyone going to listen to Alan if she doesn't deliver on pier with their expectation in their tastes of music EVEN IF SHE'S ALAN. Yes probably Alan have created new fans, and some old fans probably have enough with her changed of style. What really matter if she happy with the direction she going for, Hell if the CPOP market is a huge success for her then so be it, not everyone going to agree.

From what I've heard, a lot of fans are disappointed, but she gained a lot more new fans and I think it's because they just haven't heard her Japanese works

So in the Cpop market, she is good~

^ A Lot of people do have high exception, I think it alright in it own right from a CPOP album , but in a sense I think i kind of for saw this coming, just think it like your used to hearing songs coming from Enya to huge changed in gen to something like taylor swift ..... bad comparison, but it something like that haha

Has anyone talked about the stark contrast between the two versions of Love Song? The original seems almost timid, but the Japanese version has some obvious power behind it. I wonder if she's just more comfortable singing in Japanese and has to find her footing with Chinese songs. That, and I wonder if there's more weight to being a celebrity in your home country. Everyone's so quick to compare her to Sa Dingding, for example... whereas in Japan she was a Tibetan princess.

the intro is totally Sa Ding Ding's style...her other intros never sounded as weird/unique as this before lol

@Hmonks; it's not that big of a change after we had the my life album...at least these pop songs are more enjoyable than all the ballads on that album X_X