Music: Jacky Cheung's "Life is Like A Dream"

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Music: Jacky Cheung's "Life is Like A Dream"

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Album Review:
LIFE IS LIKE A DREAM
Jacky Cheung

FINALLY! It?s been three years since Jacky?s last Cantonese album! As much as I like his mandarin songs (and I really did like his last mandarin album ?Where is He? quite a bit), I still prefer Jacky singing Cantonese songs?it just sounds more?JACKY! I downloaded (yes I?ll buy it when I actually get a chance) this album a day or two after its release and my initial reaction after listening to it once was?a bit disappointing, but after a few more listens, certain songs really grew on me and now I can truly say that I am quite satisfy with it. Like Mavis wrote in his review, the gimmick for this album is that Jacky composed all the songs and wrote 4 of the lyrics too. So let see what we got here?

1. Brave Story
- We start off with a fast track with a few catchy lines?and really nothing else that?s worth noting. A theme song for a cops show on TV. Probably the worst track of the album.

2. Wanna Get Drunk
- Another fast song, but much better. A punk-rock track with catchy beats and a very fine performance by Jacky. Jacky?s lyric is also quite good and fitting for the style of the song.

3. Frustrated
- Third consecutive fast track. Style similar to track 2 and Jacky?s performance is great again. Compare to the last track, this one isn?t as well written and doesn?t have as much of that ?free & wild? feeling.

4. Life is Like a Dream
- Title track of album. And another fast song. It has sort of a musical feel to it and reminds me of songs from the movies ?Chicago? and ?Moulin Rouge?. Very thoughtful lyric by Lam Chik. Fine performance by Jacky. I really like this song, it?s so relaxing. It?s probably the most catchy and standout track of the album.

5. Taking the Time
- Wow! Another relatively fast song?am I listening to a Jacky album here?! This one has some very catchy rhythm and carries a taste of salsa. It reminds me of some of those faster tracks from his English album.

6. Her
- Finally a slower song. Jacky?s lyric fits the song but nothing really interesting. This is a jazz track. Don?t know if it?s because of all the fast tracks preceding this, but I do find this song a little boring.

7. For My Friend
- This track starts off with a voice-over talking about the death of a friend. I believe this is a song dedicated to Anita Mui. A very slow and emotional song. Jacky?s singing is absolutely flawless here, this is the type of songs that he?s been doing all his career. His voice-overs are also very good, you can just feel the sadness in his voice.

8. Rather Be Wrong
- The most typical Jacky song of the album, he even co-wrote the lyric. Slow emotional love song. I thought nothing of this song at first, but it has really grew on me the last few days. It reminds me quite a bit of his hit ?I Should? from a few years back (a song that I really loved), but just not as good. Still a very good song if you like the ?typical Jacky?.

9. Tell You
- First plug of the album. A slow and romantic love song dedicated to his wife. Jacky?s lyric is very romantic, the song is very melodic, and his performance is excellent, all this equals to a great track that?s probably going to be quite a popular pick for people at the karaokes.

10. Yiu Yiu
- This one is dedicated to his daughter Yiu-Yiu. This sounds very much like a lullaby?NO! This IS a lullaby. Very cute lyric, a surprisingly good track to end the album.

Overall, I think this is a pretty good album. It?s not going to be a classic like many of Jacky?s older albums, or is it musically as good as his last couple of Cantonese albums (?Top of the World? and ?There?s a Person?), but I think it?s definitely more special and defines more of what Jacky really likes. No surprises whatsoever in the styles or performances of the tracks. This album is for the more mature listeners?haha?like me?who considers the music in the 80s and early 90s were the best and still ARE the best stuff around! There?s no rap or hip-hop here which I don?t mind one bit. Jacky?s voice has matured through the years and is a lot ?rougher? than even in his last Cantonese album. It?s really suited for the punk-rock tracks. The only disappointment I have about this album is the fact that it doesn?t really have that ONE track that has huge hit written all over it which is unusual for Jacky?s albums. This album marks a new stage in Jacky?s career: Singer-songwriter!

Buy the CD here

Recommendations:
Track 9 - Tell You
Track 4 - Life is Like a Dream
Track 5 - Taking the Time
Track 8 - Rather Be Wrong
Track 2 - Wanna Get Drunk
Track 7 - For My Friend
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