By Winghei Kwok
When it was released on October 15, Jay Chou's latest album Capricorn sold over a million copies within a week. With 4 million albums expected to be sold worldwide and his MV production budget projected at NTW$2 million, this album is definitely Chou's most extravagant, in terms of publicity and scope. Known for his innovative blending of the classical and the contemporary, his dramatic narratives and his unpredictability in style, Jay Chou's recent albums seems lackluster compared to his older ones. Capricorn is more spectacular in its hype than in substance, yet it satisfies all the basics for a typical Jay Chou album.
Here is a breakdown of the Jay Chou formula.
1) The Fantasy Battle song
Previous Examples: "The Orcs," "Double Blade," "Dragon Fist," "Blue Storm"
Current: "Dragon-Riding Warrior"
The Fantasy Battle number is usually a rock-mixed-with-hip-hop track with bombastic sound effects that narrate a video game-like epic battle. Unfortunately, Capricorn's "Dragon-Riding Warrior" is a little too upbeat for a narrative of such dimension. "Dragon-Riding Warrior" sounds very similar to "Blue Storm," which sounds similar to "Dragon Fist," which sounds similar to "The Orcs," his tribute to Lord of the Rings. You get the idea. But "Dragon-Riding Warrior" pales in comparison to "The Orcs," whose majestic instrumentals gives the song a grandiosity that "Dragon-riding Warrior" lacks.
The Fantasy Battle category has always been a trademark that showcases Jay Chou's creativity and his lyricist Vincent Fang's craftsmanship. Even before Jay started composing these particular types of Fantasy Battle songs, he was constantly whipping up hip hop numbers that called to mind ass-kicking ninja-fighting, nunchuck-blasting action. The corresponding MVs would have Jay Chou single-handedly taking down 10 gangsta dudes in Chinatown. With only one of these tracks in Capricorn, these fun and adventurous tracks are increasingly traded in for more sellable karaoke ballads.
2) The Tear-Jerker Karaoke Power Ballads
Previous Examples: "Black Humor," "Can't Speak," "Silence," "Stranded," "Step Back," "I'm Not Worthy"
Current: "Flower Sea," "What about the happiness we promised?"
"What about the happiness we promised?" is one of Chou's best breakup songs so far, more impressive considering he also composed the lyrics. With its slow melancholic piano score and a refrain that loops in your head like all those happy memories with your ex, this karaoke ballad is best sung alone in a dark room with a box full of tissue paper. While ballads may not be known for creativity or innovativeness, these songs always produce the best MVs. For instance, "Stranded" involves a dying girl, a janitor and a hospital bed; "Step back" features a gangster romance starring Hebe from S.H.E; and the recent "I'm not worthy" laments a celebrity sacrificing his sweet and considerate girlfriend for relentless paparazzi chases.
3) The Sugarcoated Love Song
Previous Examples: "Lovable woman," "Simple love," "Secret Signal," "Carnival," "Malt Candy," "Rainbow," "Sweet"
Current: "Time Machine"
The Sugarcoated Love Song used to be a R&B track. With a sexy beat that works perfectly with Jay's famously slurred speech and straining vocals, the effect is similar to someone whispering in your ears, and yes, it was very mesmerizing to listen to, as a teenage girl. Recently, the R&B love song has evolved into a candy pop ballad that really redefines Jay Chou as a commercial pop star, as opposed to the artist he used to be. "Time Machine" has ODed on sweeteners, and the song is simply forgettable. Referencing Doreamon's time traveling gadget, "Time Machine" is almost comparable to Rainie Yang's "Anywhere Door" in its cuteness.
4) The Vintage Chinese Number
Previous Examples: "Wife," "Shanghai 1943," "East Wind Breaks," "Hair Like Snow," "Beyond a Thousand Miles" feat. Fei Yu-Ching, "Blue and White Porcelain," "Chrysanthenum Flower Bed"
Current: "Orchid Pavilion Preface"
Along with the Fantasy Battle number, the Vintage Chinese track is a staple that not only showcases Jay Chou's special blend of the past and present, but more importantly, Vincent Fang's talent for using archaic Chinese language in contemporary songs. With an excellent mastery of rhyme and the ability to manipulate words within proper meters, Vincent Fang is a lyricist in the classical sense. While the language is inevitably lost in translation, the music in this category is always experimental, mixing traditional Chinese instruments with rap and hip hop/R&B elements.
Capricorn's "Orchid Pavllion Preface" isn't bad, but sadly, it's just not as good as its predecessors. Nothing quite beats "Chrysanthemum Flower Bed," the theme song for Curse of the Golden Flower, "Beyond A thousand Miles" which features the Taiwanese favorite ballad king Fei Yu-Ching, and the simple yet highly poetic "East Wind Breaks" and "Blue and White Porcelain." Though the lyrics are tightly constructed in "Orchid Pavillion Preface," the melody fails to make an impression. Despite Jay's daring efforts to attempt opera-like vocals, the result is awkward and not even half as good as what The Shin did for "One Night in Beijing".
5) The High Concept Track
Previous Example: "In the name of the father" for Ye Hui Mei, "Nocturnes" for November Chopin, "Twilight's Chapter Seven" for Still Fantasy, "Cowboy on the Run" for On the Run
Current: "Mr. Magician" and "Uncle Joker"
No matter how disappointing the rest of the songs in a Jay Chou album may be, we can always count on the High Concept Track to redeem the album with something that blows your mind -- in both a good and a bad way. Given the high publicity over the years, Chou has been generally merciful, making this entry a safe track that guarantees a tolerable experience. However, ever since last year's "Cowboy on the Run," Jay has been a lot braver in producing bolder High Concept Tracks that leave audiences either singing or cringing along.
I was a big fan of the tongue-in-cheek "Cowboy on the run," so I am a fan of the "Mr. Magician" and "Uncle Joker" tracks on Capricorn. The two songs are conversational, featuring Uncle Joker's complaint of losing business to the Master Magician. With the yodelling, the Yeehah!, the marching band carnival music, "Master Magician" continues "Cowboy"'s spoof on American culture. With creepy laughs interjected in between, "Uncle Joker" has a Latin-inspired tune that is upbeat in a depressing way. Fantastic and terrible at the same time, the two songs compliment each other and entertain like a seamless circus act.
6) The Lecture
Previous Examples: "Dad I'm back," "Terraced Field," "Grandma," "Listen to Mother's Word"
Current: "Fragrance of Rice"
Before I called this category The Lecture, I almost wanted to name it The Family Tribute. Then I realized that Chou putting his family members on the spot is actually his way of preaching the importance of family values. Perhaps knowing that his fan base is young, Chairman Chou often takes the opportunity to preach in between the raps and the falsettos.
"Fragrance of Rice" is an encouraging song about appreciating what one has in the present. With a steady, mellow beat, the song makes me picture high school kids swaying away at a campfire. When it comes to social commentaries, "Dad I'm back" is still The Lecture at its best. With a pushy drum base and a confessional narrative sprinkled with Taiwanese dialect, the portrait of a child from an abusive household was so poignant that many had suspected that it was Jay Chou's own experience. (It was not.)
Jay Chou's boy-next-door persona is long gone, and so is the unrefined sweetness in his ballads and the adventurous spirit in his hip hop. Long time fans like me often complain about the lack of surprise in his latest albums, partly because we think Jay Chou is having a creative crisis and partly because we are nostalgic for the Jay Chou we once knew: the shy kid on the block with a baseball cap, a guitar and a bottomless imagination. Throughout the years, his quickly gathering fame has forced him to forgo simplicity for elaboration, to sacrifice personal style for popular demand. He has also shifted the attention from the purely experimental to the synthesis of the audio and the visual.
Around the time he starred in his debut film Initial D, Chou directed his first MV for "November Chopin." Bitten by the director bug, he simply couldn't stop. In 2007, he directed his first movie Secret, and he has just helmed 9 out of the 11 MVs for Capricorn. With his newfound passion for directing, his recent songs contain more striking visual imagery, stronger dramatic narratives, and much more elaborate videos. He might be safe for now with great marketing campaigns and publicity stunts. However, as a longtime fan, I fear that he is not living up to his past glory.