Canto Albums
Well, I didn't think many would be interested in Cantopop, but since there were a couple of emails asking for my Canto picks, here are my favs. Cantonese albums are generally inconsistent. They tend to have a couple of big singles and the rest are so-so. Hence many of my fav artists don't get their albums up here (e.g. Sam Hui, Eason, Jacky Cheung, Alan Tam, Sammi, Anita Mui, etc.. to name a few). The following are the few rare ones which I deem as indispensable. There are a few of Danny Chan's which made the grade mainly because he takes a lot of care in putting in everything to producing great albums. Many artists suffer from being uneven. Beyond is too great to miss out but there's not one album alone which do justice, hence their compilation made the cut. Of the entire lot, George Lam's black n' white album, to me, was and still is, the best Cantonese album ever.
6 comments:
George "black and white" album is one of the all time favourite, he wrote 11 out of the 12 songs in That used LP command high price in the current market.
Danny Chan 1st (Tears Flow in The Heart) is the classic:
http://www.vinylparadise.com/4pop_can/2/ChanPK1A.jpg
This Danny LP (a compilation) is the most spin after:
http://www.vinylparadise.com/4pop_can/2/ChanPK21.jpg
Sam Hui 1st 3 album are the best, very meaningful to working class people:
http://www.vinylparadise.com/4pop_can/2/HuiKK01A.jpg
http://www.vinylparadise.com/4pop_can/2/HuiKK01B.jpg
This "Half Kati and 8 Taels", track 2 (The Drifter Song) guided my life:)
http://www.vinylparadise.com/4pop_can/2/HuiKK01C.jpg
This LP of Liza Wong, give great impression of what is vinyl sound
http://www.vinylparadise.com/4pop_can/1/WongMC2I.jpg
The Canto-pop era peaks between late 70s and mid 80s and I respect the contribution by Joseph Koo and James Wong.
I have to say exclusion of Alan Tam albums in canto pop all time great list is not acceptable. How can the 3 Love albums "Love in the Mist", "Root of Love" and "Love Trap" be excluded? These are "The Best Sound Ever" and one of them has been reproduced this year.
stock,
lol, i did say that many did not make the list because their albums were uneven ... plus albums with a lot of covers of Japanese or English songs also did not meet my standards ... I like Alan and have been to his concerts twice ... Sam Hui is great but his albums are ok only, dragged down by his commoner-lyrics ... great albums need the entire album to be cohesive and listenable and that effort has been poured into every track ... at his prime Alan has 2-3 albums a year ... Danny's once a year showed the difference n u can sense them too
If your criteria is original HK production from melody to lyrics, then it would be a different ball game. Alan Tam's song has a high degree of Japanese influence but some of those are not covers. He's got a Japanese composer which wrote most of the songs in "Love Trap" and "Lorelei". But HK record industry has a high degree of foreign content. By limiting the criteria to everything made in HK, it will be a totally different thing. Maybe one which would not have flourished. In terms of great HK Cantonese album (no originals restrictions), the following is my list:
1.) The Root of Love - Alan Tam
2.) Love Trap - Alan Tam
3.) "Zhang Qing Lao Lou" - Jacky Cheung
4.) Love in the Mist - Alan Tam
5.) "Wai Nei Zhong Qing" - Leslie Cheung
6.) "Ngoi Bak Yun" - Andy Lau
7.) "Ngoi Fo Fa" - Jacky Cheung
8.) "Mai Wak" - Alan Tam
9.) U87 - Eason Chan
10.) Coming Home - Faye Wong
Please buy "The Best Sound Ever Reborn - Root of Love" and watch the documentary accompanying the production. You would have a better idea on the record industry of Hong Kong and the significance of "Root of Love"
stock,
i say foreign content not as an exclusion factor, but rather as a balancing factor, all things being equal... thats why George Lam's albums generally do not make the grade ... why that is, can a good singer like Lui Fong have an album made up of entirely top 2 songs from Korea, US, Japan, Australia and Brazil.. and get Lam Jik to write all the lyrics and Mark Kui to produce ... will it get to number one?? Maybe, but covers have to add to it not replicate the feeling... I really like Alan a lot and I have all his albums seriously , even the pathetic last 3 albums. You cannot put everyone on the list, these are my choices.
You have yr choices, and thats good ... but for my life how can anyone buy Andy Lau?? But thats another issue altogether.
List will not be agreeable, don't get riled up.
Nice to exchange view even though do not agree with everything. I do not think Andy Lau is a good singer too but I cannot deprive him of his contribution to the HK music industry. HK music industry is not in good shape at all. Of the younger group, only Hacken, Joey and Eason are challenging the Mandarin singers. I really hope Ronald Cheng can become more active in singing again. This is a good singer with good command of both Cantonese and Mandarin. It's been a few years since the " Mo Lai" album.
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