Search - Ken Chu :: On Ken's Time

Stunning Debut

A. Parker | Houston, TX, USA | 08/12/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I picked up this album on a whim (as I was a fan of Ken's group F4 and his acting), and I was not disappointed. His Mandarin singing is well-crafted, though his Cantonese on Track 11 is lacking in pronunciation.



The album contains a variety of sounds, from piano-driven balladry (Track 6, 'Sha Qing Ren') to upbeat pop-rock (Track 3, 'LaLaLa'). The sound definitely is leaning toward a Western popular music sound. Chu had a massive staff of writers and musicians writing and performing with him on this album, and the quality shows. He even co-wrote some of the tracks, from what I've seen. His album is a nice intermediary from Chinese music into Western-style music, a good introduction for a Westerner getting into the Chinese music scene.



Chu is the last of F4 to release his solo album, and as two of his bandmates stuck to balladry and his third went to a hip-hop/r'n'b style, Chu breaks away from the syrupy music F4 is known for to add a rock edge to his sound. The album does have a few rough spots where his voice doesn't hold well, but the rest of the album more than makes up for them. It will be interesting to see what he does to follow this up.



Recommendations: Track 3 ('LaLaLa'), Track 1 ('Yong Ting Bu Zhi'), and Track 9 ('Ling Wu')."