Damn it, this Wang Leehom album falls so far short of what I expected… It’s bad, bad, really bad. Especially that song “Loving Properly” — the lyrics seriously gross me out…
To each their own. Even if I don’t think it sounds good, I still want to show some support.
About:
Close your eyes. Quiet down. His heartbeat. Do you hear it? A heartbeat born of days and nights without pause, creating a musical life force that never dies out. The peak of Wang Leehom’s love songs — hear the most tender beat of his heart before anyone else. In his life, the number of times he has heard someone say “I love you” to him far exceeds that of an ordinary person by ten millionfold. A single concert might have tens of thousands of people shouting in unison: “Wang Leehom, I love you.” On stage, amid the passion and the frenzy, he is a radiant superstar. Yet “I love you” is also, for him, the hardest sentence to come by. A glance, a moment of tenderness, a memory of a heartbeat — Leehom wrote this song. It digs out, as never before, what he truly feels about love deep in his heart. This song sat on Leehom’s computer for months; he only brought it out when album production had entered its final stage. Perhaps, for a musician who has always been clumsy at putting inner feelings into words, a song like this is like laying his inner world bare in front of the public. Leehom struggled with it for a long time. In the end, we heard “Heartbeat.” This musical work, built around Leehom’s inner world, became all the more complete because of this song. The story of this song begins like this… That night, Leehom walked out of the concert rehearsal room. It was already some unknown number of days into his busy schedule — he often woke up unsure of where he was, needing a few seconds to recall before he could be sure whether he was in Taiwan or overseas. The August night was still sweltering. Every cell in his body was already too exhausted to think, yet notes surfaced in his mind — only that fragment vanished before it could go on, while the moving melody of that moment stayed deeply imprinted in his heart. Then came rehearsals spinning on like a top without stopping, commercial shoots, performances, recording songs for the new album… Once again he buried himself in his music work, and whatever care or contact came from friends had to rely on email or text messages. He remembers that on the way back to Taiwan after finishing a commercial shoot overseas, he closed his eyes to rest — and suddenly recalled the melody that had flashed through his mind so long ago. It was only a short bit of melody, but he felt it should be more than that! The first “MUSIC-MAN” show at Taipei Arena was an unprecedented success, and the second won unanimous praise and acclaim from media at home and abroad. After it ended that night, his ears were filled with the music that had just finished and the fans’ screams still echoing; his heart was full of an indescribable mix of feelings. He was happy — he had once again successfully completed a challenge. And he was also lost: it was as if this farewell would bring yet another new beginning. A complicated, contradictory mood filled Leehom’s heart. When he stepped into the building’s elevator with the gait of someone who has spent every last ounce of energy, it was already past three in the morning. Suddenly the melody sounded at his ear, flying at him like snowflakes — out of order, regardless of length or tempo — overflowing with incredible notes, as if it had been piling up in his heart for a long time and was now pouring out. Never mind that his flight overseas was less than five hours away — Leehom went straight into the studio, picked up a guitar and wrote the melody down. As he wrote, the lyrics came out at the same time. By the time he put down his pen, it was already light out; in another hour he would have to leave for the airport. This song made Leehom’s heart race from start to finish, and left a deep impression on him. Leehom Does It All Himself: Crafting “Heartbeat” by Hand, Playing Every Instrument Leehom personally handled nearly every part of “Heartbeat.” Beyond writing the melody, the lyrics and the arrangement, he played every instrument on the song himself — guitar, bass, piano, drums and more — conveying the song’s most genuine inner emotion with a purely hand-crafted, warm touch. International Mixing Master Mick Guzauki Brought On Board; Leehom Demanded Dozens of Mixes in Pursuit of Perfection To make the instruments and tones of “Heartbeat” deliver the most moving listening experience, he specially brought in international mixing master Mick Guzauki (who has worked with such international stars as Mariah Carey, Brian McKnight, Micheal Jachson, Cekine Dion…). During the process Leehom repeatedly demanded that the mix reach the most heart-racing emotion, almost setting a record for the most mixes Mick Guzauki has ever done on a single track — showing just how extraordinary the challenge and difficulty of “Heartbeat” are, and making this 2008 peak love song from Leehom all the more anticipated!
Tracklist:
- Loving Properly
- Heartbeat
- The Sun Washed by Spring Rain
- Everything
- I Have Absolutely No Reason to Pay You Any Mind
- Another Heaven - Wang Leehom + Zhang Liangying
- Doll
- Script
- Competitor
- What’s Wrong with Rock