alan – 1st concert -voice of you- in Tokyo 2010.01.24 March 24, 2010

1. Tennyo ~interlude~ (天女) 2. Gunjou no tani (群青の谷) 3. One 4. Beauty 5. Sora Uta (空唄) 6. Lost Child 7. Swear 8. Call my name 9. Sennen no Niji (千年の虹) 10. BALLAD ~Namonaki koi no uta~ (名もなき恋のうた) 11. sign 12. Ashita e no Sanka (明日ヘの讃歌) 13. Nobody knows but me 14. Qing Zang Gao Yuan 15. Shiawase no kane (幸せの鐘) 16. Kuon no kawa (久遠の河) 17. Xin Zhan ~RED CLIFF~ (心•战) 18. Kizuna (絆) 19. Megumi no ame (恵みの雨) 20. my life Encore 21. Together 22. Diamond 23. Natsukashii mirai ~longing future~ (懐かしい未来)

I only recently realized that alan was able to hold her first concert earlier this year, and I immediately decided to watch it. I haven’t been too impressed by alan in the past year unfortunately, but I’m very happy I did decide to take notice, because she is absolutely incredible.

The first part of the concert actually was kind of a dud. The first 10 songs or so were supposed to get the audience pumped up. I really enjoyed Tennyo ~interlude~. alan definitely knows how to make an entrance. Unfortunately, the following songs weren’t as impressive, either because they simply weren’t great tracks to begin with, or alan’s lack of technique while singing it (ahem, Gunjou no tani for example). She struggled vocally through the very early tracks, fighting to stay in tune. In terms of costume, she basically had one outfit, although it was hidden under a white gown to start with. Halfway through Gunjou no tani she removes it and reveals a very cute (and sparkly) outfit. There was one song that really caught my attention, which was the collaboration between alan and Tomoca of Rin’, Sennen no Niji. Both ladies were energetic and delivered a great performance. I was thoroughly impressed. Even though this first part wasn’t as good as it could have been, alan definitely showed that she could rock the stage, even if she was the only vocalist up there. She did cute little dances paying no mind that sometimes it looked even a little silly. Truthfully, it was her natural charisma on the stage that save the performances and was a good set up for what was to follow.

The second part of the concert was marked by a long introduction to sign. Initially I thought it was only going to be the band playing, but then alan makes her appearance in extravagant Tibetan fashion, and sings the second half of the song (although the introduction was extended). I don’t think I ever liked the recording for sign very much, but I was in shock with how well alan pulled off the live. She followed that with a mind-blowing performance of Ashita he no Sanka. This concert is probably the best I’ve seen her perform this song, giving me goosebumps! She had great control from beginning to end. She then sang a great rendition of her own composition, Nobody knows but me. Like sign, I didn’t care much for it when I first heard it, but she definitely changed my mind about that. She sang a short Chinese song in great style next (and again, fantastic technique). It really highlighted her unique vocal talent. Lastly, she closed this section with Shiawase no kane. After some incredibly epic performances, Shiawase no kane seemed a little dull next to all of them, but it was very touching, so I can forgive that. =D (I had to mention all the songs because it was a short section, and they were all memorable. XD)

The third and final change (before the encore), alan came out in a glamorous pink gown (and a giant flower headpiece). I don’t know how she managed to get her hair curled in that time, but she managed it and looked great yet again. She started off with a very intense performance of Kuon no Kawa, followed by the Chinese version of Xīn.Zhàn ~RED CLIFF~ (yes, that’s the Chinese version). I love how alan expresses herself in Chinese. The live arrangement wasn’t as flourishing as the original, but equally as haunting. alan decided to treat us with an erhu solo of Kizuna, and let me take this time to correct myself. I love how she expresses herself on the erhu, and I’m not just talking about the facial expressions (although that is a part of it). There’s a noticeable difference in her performance with the erhu over a singing, and she possesses a certain mastery that surpasses her vocal ability. I was left speechless (for a while – I can’t shut up right now, I realize that. XD) Finally, alan closed her concert with two very technically and musically balanced performances of Megumi no Ame and my life, reaffirming my love for both ballads.

alan earned a well-deserved encore performance (I don’t care if it was planned, some people shouldn’t even have one -_-) and got called out again. She sang Together, another one of her compositions. Very pretty, very touching, as expected. She followed it with her “Ayumi-esque” Diamond (couldn’t help it, reminded me too much of Hamasaki Ayumi). Her final song for this concert was an interactive Natsukashii Mirai ~longing future~. She revealed a youth choir to support her, and asked the audience to sing along (even providing the lyrics on the big screen). It was a fantastic ending piece, and I thought it was cute that she thanked everybody during the bridge (including her parents)!

What have I learned from alan’s first concert? First of all, that girl is incredibly grateful to everyone, as she thanked them multiple times throughout the concert, even in the middle of her songs. She is a natural on stage, and it was such a delight to watch her perform. She really connects well with her audience. It was evident that she had a lot of fun performing (she didn’t want to leave the stage at the end of her encore) XD! The venue was a little small, but she rocked the staged regardless of size or turn out. The first half of the concert wasn’t very strong, but it definitely got better as time went on, as she blew me away by her technique and musicality in the latter part of her concert. She’s undoubtedly worth the watch, and immensely talented. I hope she holds many concerts in the future.

Favourites:
Kizuna, Megumi no Ame, Ashita e no Sanka

alan – my life November 25, 2009
	1. reflection ~overture~ 2. Swear 3. One 4. Mitsumeteitai (見つめていたい) 5. Namida (Smooth Jam Mix) (涙) 6. Lost Child 7. Butterflies 8. Essence of me 9. Call my name 10. Shiroi Tsubasa (白い翼) 11. Nobody knows but me 12. BALLAD ~Namonaki Koi no Uta~ (BALLAD ～名もなき恋のうた～) 13. Kuon no Kawa (久遠の河) 14. my life

I think the majority of people who were fans of alan prior to this album will agree that this album was one of most disappointing products of 2009, but this isn’t always the case for everyone. Straying away from the more mature ethnic music from Voice of EARTH, Avex attempts to produce a pure pop idol with this next album, with mixed results.

The opening of reflection ~overture is really quite stunning, and probably something one would expect to find on her last album. It has an ethereal harp and piano work going on here that is really beautiful and played with a lot of delicacy but also a lot of energy at the same time. It’s all really beautiful until they decide to add alan in with a lot of voice distortions and trying to sing in tune, but failing miserably before the song attempts to transition into a more electronic mode. I suppose if you were to overanalyze this track, this is Avex trying to introduce alan’s “transition from her Tibertan wailing persona into a more mainstream artist”. Too bad the latter half of the introduction is utter garbage.

I still haven’t decided whether or not I like Swear. It’s cute, but it’s so average and uninteresting at the same time. It probably does not help that alan’s singing is sometimes I really bit hard to bear, especially in the way she ends some of her phrases with the little note trill (which isn’t particularly done well) and she tends to be a little sharp and the tone of her voice is really tight and unopened on these notes. She does this way too much throughout the track, to the point where it’s just annoying. One either likes or dislikes the lightness of alan’s tone on this song — I’m particularly impartial to it as I sometimes it sounds nice and other times it just sounds half-assed. It’s a cute song, though?

For some reason, alan’s starting to do R&B-flavoured mid-tempo tracks. Huh. Anyways, we’re talking about One, the next track on the album. The track starts off fair enough: standard beat with a bit of nice piano opening. It’s nice, and alan’s adlibbing isn’t bad — it’s when she actually starts singing the melody when I start questioning who on earth decided to make alan sing the melody this way. She’s basically pushing her voice on the last note, then letting her pitch fall substantially on the note, and it sounds absolutely terrible for her. Her voice is almost toneless throughout the track and when she does have tone it’s usually a really forced sound that lacks any sense of flow in terms of the overall feel of the track. When did alan become such a terrible technical singer? I’m crying in pain on the inside.

The repetitive echoey piano at the beginning is kind of nice — for like the first 15 seconds. Again, alan sings this song in the exactly type of tone as the previous track, but her singing is slightly improved as the notes are much more cleanly done throughout the melody. Although she still has a tendency to push single notes out a bit too much, so we get a random forte note in the middle of a really soft melody, which results in poor flow of the melody. Otherwise, this ballad is done decently and can be quite nice to listen to.

I don’t even remember the original version of 涙, but now we get a “Smooth Jam Mix” version of it. Okay then. And alan basically sounds the same as the previous track, as it’s performed in the exact same manner, which I guess okay for the track, but not okay for increasing the interest in this album. I’m practically falling asleep here because alan has close to no vocal presence in this or the previous track. It’s nice, but nothing more than that. I can say the same about the mix of this track: it’s nice and pleasant but really alan’s performance does absolutely nothing for me as I don’t find it in any way convincing.

Is this album done yet? Finally we get to something a bit more upbeat, because alan is boring me with her generic slow-tempo tracks. Lost Child goes back into something mid-tempo with a more frequent beat. It attempts to do something edgier but still keeping a bit of the chill quality of the past few track, and composition-wise I enjoy it a bit more. It has a more memorable melody, especially in the chorus. alan’s still half awake though. Girl still sounds bored out of her mind, kind of like how I am right now. Wake up, girl!

Butterflies is next, and I’m still bored and so is alan. Again, the introduction is nice wit hthe harp and all, but the accompaniment and alan’s singing is so bland. They try to change things up a bit by having a chorus (as in a group of people) do some background vocals at points of the song, and that’s probably one of more interesting moments in this song, other than alan singing that note that moves around before the chorus (Which isn’t particularly sung spectacularly as she still sounds like she’s struggling to support her own singing). Next please.

Everyone knows by now that Essence of me is an electronic track, and it’s probably one of the more interesting tracks on the album, partially because we can barely hear alan half-ass her singing once again. She spends most of her time sounding like she’s singing underwater and hidden under a multitude of synths. I pretty much ignore her because she’s been mostly boring so far on this album. Then whoever mixed this track suddenly decides to up the volume on her vocal track about halfway through for some reason and look, she’s still flat. The synth accompaniment is vaguely interesting? Oh, Ayu makes a “guest appearance” ;D.

Call my name is the second attempt at electronic music, but this time we can actually hear alan over the track. What was alan on when she sang the introduction of this track? The ending of it is absolutely terrible and something I would expect from someone who doesn’t know how to sing and is absolutely tone deaf. It’s realllyyy bad, poorly supported and really out of tune. Thankfully, alan recovers for the main melody and sings in tune for the rest of the track and, gasp, sounds interested in the actual melody of the track. The repetitiveness of the track makes me a bit sleepy, but overall I like the track.

We quickly leave the electronic back into the generic ballads with 白い翼 and immediately on the first few notes, alan sounds much more interested in what she’s singin and adding a bit of vibrato and more attention to general details of how she’s singing the track. Among all of the generic ballads on this album, this is probably one of the better ones simply because alan sings a little better on this track and she doesn’t sound so bored and her tone is slightly better on this track. The track is still a bit boring because the instrumentalists are still really stiff, but alan’s singing makes this track a bit more bearable.

I quite like the haunting piano line in Nobody knows but me despite its performance being really bland. The track would have done really well with a much better pianist — this one is just dull. Again, alan’s singing sounds more expressive on this track, partly because the melody covers a bit more of a wider range and the chorus allows her to belt out a bit more. alan’s Engrish is really hilarious and her wail was a bit shaky on the first few notes but her tone improves as she goes on. Oh, I like the flute — what a beautiful, full tone, even though it wasn’t even much to play.

It’s funny how one of the singles I completely ignored is actually one of the better ballads off this album. BALLAD ~名もなき恋のうた~, which is a ballad with a name saying that it has not name (*eye roll*) is one of alan’s stronger ballad performances on this album. The melody starts off with a lower range and she doesn’t sound as thin this time around, rejoice! The melody builds up well, and I especially like the gradual crescendo throughout the verse towards the dramatic chorus. Vocally, alan sings well on this track (unlike the majority of tracks on this album). However, the composition of the track isn’t particularly interesting and is generic and a bit bland in terms of alan’s accompaniment.

Like Tsuki, I do prefer the higher key of the Chinese version of 久遠の河 (partially because it shows off her higher tones), but the Japanese version is still equally as good. This is another track that shows off alan’s ability to sing really well if she puts her mind to it and is probably one of my favourite tracks off of alan’s discography. Vocally, alan pretty much as it down and her voice sounds a lot fuller and lively despite the melody mostly holding smooth, long notes throughout. I still would have done without the Tibetan wailing near the end as it really serves no purpose in the overall song other than appease those who insist that they must hear her wail for the sake of wailing. What I really enjoy in this track, other than alan’s singing is the arrangement of the song. Simply said, it’s absolutely beautiful and really capitalizes on the louder moments on the track and the softer moments. I especially love the little oboe solo after the orchestral interlude at around 2:42.

After the drama of 久遠の河, we actually end off with the title track of this album (which is, of course, entitled my life) and after listening to the first few seconds, it’s pretty clear to me why it was the title track (when compared to the rest of the album-only tracks). It’s a simplistic little piano ballad, but this time, it actually works for alan. Her tone is much less forced and has a very natural flow to it on this track, plus she actually attempts to support the ends of her phrases this time around, which results is a really pretty ballad as the final track of this album. She still ends up sharp on some of the long notes, which isn’t particularly pleasant but I enjoy the track overall.

It makes me sad when an artist manages to become worse between albums. Not only does the production and composition work on this album feel rushed, so does alan’s singing for most of the tracks. The style itself isn’t necessarily a problem as one can make a generic album but still make it interesting and fun; it is the lack of effort Avex put into this rushed album, which can be also heard in how similar and uninterested alan sounds like for most of the album tracks and how poorly she sounds as compared to her first album. alan can be a talented vocalist given the right circumstances, but really I couldn’t care less for most of the material on this album.

Favourites:
久遠の河

alan – 心的東方 July 22, 2009
	1. 天女 2. 愛看得見 3. 飛行誌 4. 細節 5. 加油! 你有ME! feat. Wei Chen 6. 三生世 三生路 7. 明日讚歌 8. 心•战 ~RED CLIFF~ 9. 赤壁 ～大江東去～ 10. Sign 11. 愛就是手

I was eagerly waiting for alan’s first Mandarin studio album after her major debut with Avex, thinking it would be epic and beyond my imagination. I was half correct about that, as it was definitely not what I could imagine. I thought any release in Chinese for alan would be infinitely better than her Japanese material because she could max out her potential musicality in a language she is familiar with. Unfortunately, I quickly realized that it was not meant to be… This album features mostly Chinese versions of her original Japanese releases, and I will be making references to them throughout.

The album starts off with 天女, which is exactly how Voice of Earth began. It was evident that they tried to minimize the Tibetan wailing technique that is a characteristic of alan’s voice with her previous release, so I’m quite happy with the fact that they decided to include this in its original form, as one of alan’s best wails is featured in this song. I particularly enjoy the way each part weaves into one section to the other, and it makes for a nice introduction to the album.

The first full vocal song off of this album is the powerful 愛看得見 (a.k.a. Gunjou no Tani). I have always loved this song for its arrangement and composition. It’s an incredibly moving song, with a continuous driving percussion, sweeping strings and a melody that builds (or maintains) intensity from start to finish. Now anybody who knows me knows that as much as I love this song, I hate the way alan performed it. I found her vocal technique absolutely sloppy throughout, despite the suitable nature of this song to alan’s voice type. I believe this song was written for her specifically (correct me if I’m wrong), but she has all these opportunities to play with the phrasing and colours of her voice to really bring out the character of the song. Instead, she opts to belt as much as she can with her chest voice, which isn’t very successful, and proceeds to fall off every single phrase beyond the first part of the song. She started off very strong, and just spirals downhill from there.

飛行誌 (Sora Uta) turned out so much better than the previous track, and it pleases me. I actually didn’t quite like this song overall when it was first released, but the Chinese version turned out well. alan’s tone of voice is a little heavier than the original and is missing that light lilt that really caught my attention the first time, however, she is very much in control throughout this upbeat number. I thought she did a great job with the interpretation of this song, demonstrating some great musicality.

I’m surprised she alan recorded a Chinese version to more of her B-sides, such as “Kimi omou sora”, or ??. Honestly, the Japanese version is pretty dull and not particularly notable. alan definitely turned that song around for this release, and this is more of what I was expecting from her. She effectively delivers a sweet, musical performance here and convinces me that this song is worth my time.

The first original Chinese song off of this album is a duet with Wei Chen called 加油! 你有ME!. You can expect more typical Cpop music from this track, and true to the title, it’s as much cheese as one should be exposed at a time. It is still enjoyable to some extent, but only in small doses. Wei Chen doesn’t really do anything for me, and in fact, is underwhelming next to alan. alan carries tune with good tone throughout. The song doesn’t really do much to convince me that alan can be a pop star though. She sounds almost bored and unchallenged singing this.

When Voice of Earth left “Sakura MODERN” off the album, I was incredibly disappointed. I thought that song would have fit in perfectly, but that makes me even more appreciative of the presence of its Chinese counterpart, 三生世 三生路. I’ve previously mentioned that alan did a wonderful job with this song. She has superb phrasing the minute she begins to sing and sings with a lot of heart (and not so much chest). She has a beautiful head voice, and uses it to the best of her ability here. Gorgeous song paired with alan’s gorgeous voice – this is how track two should have turned out.

I think everybody anticipated that “Ashita e no sanka” would be one of the first major label Chinese songs alan would release. I have been anticipating this release from early on in alan’s career. alan finally presents us with 明日讚歌, and I have to express my disappointment yet again. I have every reason to believe that this Mandarin version was to be more epic than the Japanese, but alan’s vocals is the exact reason why I cannot stand this song. She struggles with tuning throughout, including being ridiculously flat in the verses and fails to impress me with her lack of control in the choruses where the wails are prominent. alan’s tone is horrible in this version, and it sounds like she’s pushing too hard with her “chest” voice, therefore screwing up the beautiful tone she usually carries in her head voice. An ear piercing rendition of her own song, I suggest all listeners to stay far away from this.

There are so many reasons to skip past the previous track, and one of them being a good Chinese song by our featured vocalist. 心•战 ~RED CLIFF~ is a beautiful, powerful ballad. alan really brought out nuances of this song through the melody. I love the way she builds each phrase and structures them with lovely dynamic contrast. There are moments where it sounds like she’s about to turn out flat again, but she quickly fixes them as she’s singing. The way alan performs the verses is so musical and gorgeous. I could have used just a little bit more from her in the lines leading up to, and including, the chorus. Other than those two minor things, there isn’t much to say about alan’s vocal performance here though. She really mastered this song and I definitely prefer this version of the Japanese because the removal of the wail really put emphasis on the beautiful string interlude towards the end of the song.

I don’t know about anybody else, but I’ve never really liked the intro of 赤壁 ～大江東去～ song for some reason, at least not the fast part. It sounds detached from the rest of the song. It is something I do look over whenever I listen to this though. I personally love the theme to RED CLIFF Pt. II more than the first, particularly this version. (I am one of the people that thought it was dumb that they decided to transpose the song to a lower key for the Japanese release in an attempt to have alan sound more diva.) Back to this song though, alan does a remarkable job with this song. There is no doubt about alan’s strengths as a vocalist, and she really showcases it here. She really shows that she doesn’t need to be singing folk-like Chinese songs to sound amazing. I’m absolutely blown away by her performance here and believe that it is her best to date.

Sign is sung in Tibetan, and is the same track from her Japanese “hitotsu” single. I’m not really sure I like the inclusion of this song for this album and as the second last track to the album. The song feels like it’s more of an interlude, intro or outro due to the repetition. I like the track itself as it is quite unique and has an enigmatic feel to it. The circumstances under which it was used however, doesn’t evoke much emotion from me, and its purpose to this album seems rather pointless.

愛就是手 is one of my favourite songs by alan overall. It doesn’t have her defining vocal wail, it is simply a ballad. That being said, it is one gem that should not be overlooked. I love the composition of this song, and it has one of the sweetest melodies I’ve ever heard. I really think this ballad is truly heartfelt, despite alan sounding a little congested in the recording. Yes, even though I love this ballad, I have a bit of beef with alan’s vocal performance in this version. I’m actually surprised that she delivered the Mandarin version with less musicality in comparison to the Japanese versions. She doesn’t really seem to grasp the moment with this ballad, though I have no doubt in my mind that she’s more than capable of doing so.

I’m really surprised by alan’s debut Chinese album. I was definitely expecting much more from her. Some of the minor issues with Voice of Earth could be passed off as potential language barriers and unfamiliarity, but I don’t think alan really had any excuse as to why this album did not meet expectations. She had basically the same material from her Japanese discography, so quality of songs should not have been a factor. I still alan is an immensely talented musician, she just needs to learn how to translate that talent into good performances and recordings. Avex also needs to stop making her sound like a pop diva because it is not working.

Favourites:
赤壁 ～大江東去～

Artist: alan
Album: Voice of EARTH
Release Date: March 4, 2009

1. 天女 ～interlude～
The opening track for this album is three minutes long, and features alan’s signature wailing at the beginning. at first I was rather startled by her sudden burst of sound at the beginning, especially since the strings at the beginning are so soft. We have a few erhu lines, that aren’t particularly in tune with the rest of the accompaniment, and tends to stand out in a negative manner at times. It’s a bit better when it’s somewhat hidden underneath alan’s wailing, the softer singing and the heavy drum beats.

2. 明日への讃歌
The first full track off the album is her debut Japanese single, and I actually do like this a lot more than I first did the first time I heard it. It’s an elegant ballad, and unlike a lot of alan’s songs, the wailing actually has some kind of purpose within the main melody of the song, rather than just stuck into the song at random places. alan’s voice is nice and delicate in the verses, and she has a nice tradition kind of tone to her voice. Unsuspectingly, alan suddenly brings in a sudden burst of sound as the chorus comes in. One of the main complaints I do have musically in this song is the very mechanical development of the dynamics thoughout. It’s always a certain level of soft in the verse, then a sudden certain level of loud in the chorus, and very little development is made in between. In addition, when she’s not wailing, she lacks the intensity that her wailing carries in the chorus, so she basically ends up singing the chorus in a similar way as the verses when she isn’t wailing away. That said, the chorus of this song is still rather epic, and I still do enjoy the track, but I’m not nearly as fond of it as many people are. Again, I learned to like this track a lot more because the wailing is actually incorporated into the melody of the track.

3. 空唄
Yeah, this is what I mean by randomly throwing in her wailing at random moments of the song. Granted, this is one of the better moments. This upbeat song is actually rather cute. This song mixes traditional elements with a slight dance sound, and surprisingly, although alan has a light voice, she puts enough emphasis to carry this track well throughout. Some of the notes fall flat a bit, but the majority of the track is rather well-sung. My favourite part of the song is definitely the dramatic chorus with the fuller accompaniment and stronger, more emphatic singing from alan. The song is upbeat and quite cute, and alan performs this track very nicely throughout. The accompaniment for this track is also very gorgeous with the traditional instruments.

4. 懐かしい未来 ～longing future～
This is one of the ballads that kind of flew under my radar when it first came out because it was “yet another ballad”, but this song really stands out nicely after 空唄. The sounds focus more on the more typical string accompaniment, and a really pretty melody. alan sounds gorgeous in the verses with a light, sincere sound and she delivers the chorus well, although some of the tones become a bit harsh in the context of the song. Also, we have another one of those times where the wailing is randomly stuck into the song. In this case, it really bothers me, because it has no place in this gorgeous ballad. It’s like sticking suddenly singing like a metal singer in the middle of a heartfelt ballad for me. One thing that does stand out in this track is the inclusion of the choir background vocals (although they aren’t always in tune with each other, it’s still nice). The wailing at the end is incorporated a lot more smoothly as alan actually works her way into the higher notes, and the erhu solo in the bridge is really pretty.

5. ひとつ
While everyone always raves about 明日への讃歌, I must say that ひとつ is actually the song that got me interested in her, and not her debut single. The song is a pretty simple ballad, but in all it’s simplicity is an outstanding ballad that is sung exceptionally well. alan’s head voice is extremely pretty on this track, and she demonstrates her good interpretation skills. The dynamics are much better done here with both her vocals and the string accompaniment. I’m particularly addicted to the vocal trills in the chorus. The song is also cute that it has a bit of a celtic flavour to it near the ending with the erhu(?) and the little grace notes it plays. This is the first track without the wailing, and it’s excellent like this. This was definitely one of my favourite singles before listening to this album.

6. 風の手紙
While I would remember 懐かしい未来 ～longing future～ as one of the singles (but I wouldn’t care to listen to it much), I actually don’t remember 風の手紙 at all before listening to this album. This track is just really dull. While the arrangement is a lot more dramatic than a lot of the songs so far with the strings and a lot of percussion, I don’t care for alan in this track at all. The open melody is the same line over and over again, and seriously, this is probably the most unemotional and unconvincing singing alan has done to date. This is the kind of singing I do not want to hear from alan, especially since she usually expresses herself a lot better than this. The track itself does sound different what we’ve heard so far with the poppier arrangement, but alan does nothing interesting on this track.

7. BRAVE
Singing aside (I’ll talk about that a little later), I absolutely love the composition and arrangement of this song. It’s an upbeat track that mixes traditional instruments and electronic sounds. This is particularly interesting in the introduction where we get a short few bars of the traditional sound, then we get alan’s wailing under a vocoder. These parts are probably the best parts of the song because it brings a very unique sound that I’ve never really heard before. Most of the complaints I do have about this track is mostly in alan’s singing. Seriously, this girl is really dull throughout the song and very mechanical for most of the track. She mostly sings the track the exact same way the whole way through, and the song really fails to bring out the “upbeat-ness” of this track when the wailing sequence isn’t in the track. The verses all we get is alan’s uninspired singing along with a dry dance beat in the background. It’s probably the worse thing one can do to a supposed “dance track”. The chorus redeems this a bit with a catchier melody and an accompaniment that drives it forward a bit more with the addition of the traditional sounds. Also, the notes in her lower octave stink. This girl has very little chest voice to her, and it’s really evident when she tries to reach the lower notes and ends up sounding really unsupported and toneless.

8. 夢のガーデン
I love the dreamy quality of the opening of this next track, with the focus on the higher tones on the piano at a slower tempo. alan’s tone on the middle range is much prettier here than it was on the previous track, and much less shaky. The melody in the verse comprises mostly of short, accented phrases with a slight pause in between, while the chorus has a more dramatic, legato sound to it. It’s pretty obvious the sudden shift in comfort between this and BRAVE because she sings this song with a lot more confidence and more vocal variety than the previous track. The delivery is still a bit mechanical and the song itself doesn’t change much, but I much enjoy this over her attempt at the previous track. The arrangement is quite pretty.

9. 群青の谷
This song is absolutely beautiful. It’s probably one of my favourite compositions out of alan’s collection with the upbeat sound mixed with beautiful string lines throughout the song. It’s also nice hearing a lot more energy from alan in terms of her vocals. However, like BRAVE, she’s not free of some vocal difficulties. alan has always excelled at beautiful high notes, but when it comes to her mid to lower range, some of her technical difficulties show more clearly (mostly because she isn’t trained to sing down there). Her voice in the verses aren’t as well controlled as I’m used to hearing from her in the higher range, and she ends up forcing her voice a bit too much that it goes out of tune and becomes toneless. It’s actually kind of painful to listen to her sing this track, especially considering how good alan can be vocally. Thankfully, this song is absolutely gorgeous despite alan’s troubles with her chest voice. The strings are excellent and are definitely the highlight of this track, and the chorus is definitely a lot better than the verses as she focuses more on her gorgeous head voice. I’m a bit surprised at how poorly she sings at around 4:08 with those short, high notes, though.

10. my friend
Seeing how I adore acoustic guitar tracks, it’s really nice to hear alan do one of these. Her light singing is quite pretty here, and I really love the harmonies on this track. The prechorus’ progression is a bit awkward, but otherwise, this song is quite pretty and alan sings very nicely on this track. It’s a simple track done well, again. The addition of the xylophone is really cute and fits with the soft, gentle sound of this track. Is that a yangqin I hear at around 2:45 in the background? =D (Sorry, I think the yangqin is the cutest Chinese traditional instrument, and I’ve been waiting for something like it to appear in the album XD). But yes, this song is pretty and adorable, and very well-sung on alan’s part.

11. Liberty
More ballads. Not that it’s a bad thing because alan is the best at ballads, honestly. This is another one of the ballads that don’t really stand out because of its standard string and piano accompaniment, mixed in with a bit of guitar at times. Nevertheless, it’s a pretty song in terms of the accompaniment and the melody. It’s not as good as some of the other ballads put out so far, and again, the lower notes on alan’s part tend to come out toneless and poorly tuned. To be honest, my interest eventually fades away during this track despite is sounding kind of pretty. alan’s singing is a bit too reserved and mechanical during most of the track, and it ends up sounding rather uninspired.

12. 月がわたし
The piano line at the beginning of this song is really pretty; the notes are delicately played. At this point, alan needs a bit more variety in the melodies of her ballads. Seriously. That said, at least the accompaniment is something different from the previous track and has some beautiful piano runs in the song. The melody in the verse at first bores me to death because it sounds very similar to what “Liberty” had as the main melody with the subtle lower notes, but the chorus for this song is actually quite pretty. It brings in a beautiful string backing and alan delivers the chorus with lots of emotion and nice phrasing.

13. RED CLIFF ～心・戦～
RED CLIFF ～心・戦～ is the second single which blew me away before the release of this album. Personally, I like the Chinese version a bit better, but it’s still gorgeous in Japanese. This song was featured in Part 1 of the Red Cliff movie, and it fit perfectly with it. The song is extreamly haunting with the “lalala” part at the beginning. I really like how that particular section ends with the high string note before going into the lower sounds. The tension builds up really nicely with the strings before alan comes in with her light singing. Like in the Chinese verse, alan does an excellent job with the singing of the verse, and does a great job of “pulling” the listener into the track. The chorus is only slightly loud than the verse, but she does a lovely job with the crescendo leading up to it. I personally think this song is fine without the wailing at the end, but it’s not as randomly suddenly as the one in 懐かしい未来. I know Tsuki dislikes it, but I don’t mind it that much because, again, she builds up on it a bit before crescendo-ing into the louder sound. It is a bit randomly placed, but the manner of which they put it into the track isn’t too bad.

14. 恵みの雨
The first time I heard of this song was when Brett suddenly said one day: “MEGUMI. YOUR SONG IS BORING.” In any case, I personally don’t find this song as boring as Brett did, although it isn’t very outstanding. It begins with a really pretty piano line. Of course, I have something to complain about within the first few seconds of the song. Seriously, the erhu line. It’s like a few seconds long, then it stops altogether (and hides in the background at parts of the song). Honestly, it’s abrupt, and really random. At the very least, the do add it into the background of the song, although it’s mostly hidden under a lot of strings. However, aside from the erhu, the arrangement isn’t very interesting nor is the melody of the song. Thankfully, alan’s voice is pretty throughout this track (although the chorus could have used a little more push as it ends up being over-performed by the strings), and the instrumentals are well-played, so they keep my attention even though the song isn’t really that original.

15. Together
“Together” stands out a bit more despite the slightly dull long string notes that go on in the beginning. What I like is the really interesting drum (by that I mean those giant drums) introduction. The song itself has a nice development throughout the song as the strings eventually get more and more interesting as the song goes on and play more interesting lines. I think the speaking part of the song, and alan’s singing is solid, and well-controlled throughout the track. Lovely and rather interesting track.

16. RED CLIFF ～心・戦～ (Modern Rock Version)
So uh, mix of the epicness of RED CLIFF with a guitar and piano riff that kind of sounds like something off an Evanescence CD. The piano adds a little hint of haunting quality to the track, but the guitar is probably the most uninspired lines I’ve ever heard. The verse is mostly played on the on-beat and changes by the chord progression, and it’s ridiculously dull. The vocals are basically the same as the original version, except it kind of sounds secondary to the guitar riffs as there’s a bit of an echo added to them. Basically, the focus ends up being more on the really dull guitars rather than alan’s singing. The whole mix ends up being a disappointment.

Overall -
Favourite Track: RED CLIFF ～心・戦～, ひとつ (from the new tracks: my friend)
I find it really hard to write an overall of this album, because it seriously feels like a single collection with extra tracks. This is one reason why people shouldn’t release so many singles before releasing an album; it ruins the experience a little bit. That said, alan is a talented girl, but most of the time I feel like the material does not showcase her ability as a singer. The album is filled with ballads that aren’t really that outstanding in terms of both singles and new tracks, and quite frankly, a little variety is needed between some of them. I have no problems with listening to ballads, but when they sound very similar, that’s when I tend to tune out. Even with the similarity of sound for some of the ballads, alan does sing the majority of them very well; it’s basically what she seems most comfortable doing, although some of the ballads do fall short vocally. Unfortunately, alan isn’t quite as successful with the upbeat tracks. 空唄 was the only track I did like, and the rest either had poor technique, or alan just didn’t sound very interested in the song. In addition, very few of the new tracks managed to impress me in any way and sounded mostly uninspired or average in execution. I love alan, but this album left me disappointed with most of the material, or just bored. I think I’ll just stick with select songs from this album, rather than listen to the whole thing from start to finish.

Artist: alan
Album/Single: 声声醉如兰
Release Date: August 15, 2005

Note: You must be joking if you want me to translate this (or bother finding a translation). XD

1. 翅膀
alan’s first Chinese release during her pre-Avex days is just a cover album, but I’m happy for a chance to hear her sing in her native tongue anyway. Immediately, I recognize a huge difference when she sings in Chinese. Even though this was done a good 3-4 years ago, I have to say for alan’s age, I’m rather impressed by how talented she was at this point too. I love her interpretation of this song. It’s a lovely number actually, and I adore the way alan performs the chorus. It’s the dramatic nature that I was hoping to get two tracks ago. She gets just a tiny bit sloppy at times (as she gets carried away), with some swooping where it’s not needed. She does has some very nice moments.

2. 遇见
alan follows up with a gentle ballad. Her singing is decent in this song, but her stronger higher register is evident against her unsupported lower notes. When alan gets to those low notes, it sounds like she loses the spark in her singing. She just sits lazily on those notes. I like the accompaniment for this track. It’s very simple but works well for the song. Unfortunately, the melody doesn’t really prove to be of much interest.

3. 栀子花开 (Chinese version)
I was right about another ballad. This song has a cuter nature to it, therefore it’s not as serious as the first two tracks. alan sounds better in this song, likely because she’s thinking “sing lightly” and she automatically uses her lovely head voice here without the temptation to belt. She did a pretty good job here, staying in tune all the way through. I think she could have used just a bit more lightness or bounce to her singing, but that’s just me. The song itself is kind of repetitive by the end unfortunately (and I still have to go through the English version).

4. 栀子花开 (English version)
Just to solidfy the status of yet another ballad (they’re really all starting to sound the same because they’re all similar in style), she decides to follow up the previous track with it’s English counterpart. The repetitive nature of this song ends up making me bored by the time this track comes around. I’m serious when I say it’s completely adorable. You might even feel like swaying to the main beat. alan’s English is better than what I could have imagined too. The way she sings this in English makes me think of a country song. XD

5. 玻璃杯
Some of the music on this album makes me think of something that came straight out of “Final Fantasy” (at least the accompaniment does). By this point, I don’t think we’re going to get anything else other than gentle pop ballads on this album. The good news is that the ballads get better with every track. This is the first song on the album that I truly like. If I described it again, it’s virtually identical to what I’ve said for the first four tracks, but the melody is nicer and alan’s performance is easy on the ears.

6. 宁夏
This one is totally adorable. I like the folk sound of this song, and it suits alan’s voice perfectly. I love the way she performs here. She uses a beautiful tone. It’s still very calming, but I happen to like the simplicity of this song. It just gives off a very pleasant feel to it, and the erhu adds a nice touch. You can just hear a touch of folk alan when she works her way up to those high notes. The entire song is made up of basically the same melody repeated over, with a few ascending lines and the descending background vocals. I think I could have used a bit more folk on this song and a little less pop, but it was done nicely anyway.

7. 醉清风
I ranted about her chest voice over at Two Moments a short time ago, and funny enough, alan gives me one of the biggest notes using her chest voice that I’ve ever heard her use, and it wasn’t that bad either. It was just a bit out of place considering the rest of the song is sung so nicely and in a gentle manner. Not much happens throughout this song musically. I pretty much lost interest in it midway, but alan does sound nice regardless.

8. 你到底爱谁
This really started off promising. I actually like the change in accompaniment here. It’s more standard pop with a mix of some plucked Chinese instruments that I’ve forgotten the names for. This song is clearly out of alan’s range. You can hear the change in tone from the lower notes to the mid-ranged notes. alan is a true soprano, and you can hear her get very airy the lower she gets. I’ll give her this, I’m impressed she managed to reach those low notes to begin with, but it really doesn’t do much to help me like her more.

9. 童话
Now this song, I completely recognize. It’s a very famous Chinese song sung by some other singer that I fail to recognize since it’s been covered so many times already. I don’t really like the arrangement of alan’s cover though. I definitely don’t like the trill that’s consistently in the background. This ballad is very dramatic, with a lovely chorus. The number key changes in the last part of the song is kind of ridiculous, but it does work to create the tension of the song. I’m not sure I really enjoy alan’s version at all. She can have such a powerful voice, yet there is no ounce of it present here. The lack of emotion present makes it a bummer to listen to. It’s a shame, because it could have turned out as the best song on this album.

10. 被风吹过的夏天
Unfortunately, things don’t get better with this song either. It’s bland and generic, again, but this time it’s accompanied by subpar vocals by alan too. She misses notes everywhere in this song, and her performance is as lacklustre as the previous track. Next.

11. 最浪漫的事
Now here’s the musical alan I was looking for. Right away, you can hear the difference in her phrasing with this song. I loved how she opened this song. Actually, she’s using her beautiful head voice. The little details in her singing make all the difference. She really works with the melody, slowing down on certain notes to emphasize them. All the held notes are fantastic as well. The song itself is not that fascinating, but alan really sells it here.

12. 一辈子的孤单
Finally, something that’s SLIGHTLY different, but hardly. It has a bit more movement in the arrangement than anything in this song, but the melody is highly repetitive. alan couldn’t sound anymore lifeless here. She just drags the melody along. After a while, it sounded like she just sang one note on one vowel. Even though it was different from the others, it easily fell in step with all the other boring tracks.

13. 十年
Hurrah, I mean, not. alan delivers yet another rather bland ballad again, in the same style as pretty much all her other songs, and not even the erhu or guitar helped save this song. It’s nice, but I’m pretty much bored right now. Plus, I don’t really like alan’s lower range here. It sounds like she has something stuck in her throat.

14. 忍不住眼泪
To close the album, it’s a BALLAD! I guess it would have been a nice closing for the album, if the rest of it didn’t already sound pretty much like this. For her vocal performance, surprisingly, it’s the higher chorus that gives her trouble in this song. She has the right idea when it comes to interpretation, but it sounds like she’s unsure of how she wants to sing it, as she is constantly changing her tone. The song starts off well enough, but got more shaky as the song progressed (and as she tried to belt more towards the end). At that point, she started to not follow through with her phrases and miss notes everywhere.

Overall -
Favourite Track: 宁夏
alan’s first Chinese album was a total bore. I don’t mind an album that’s entirely of one style, as long as the songs are interesting. That was definitely not the case for this album. Not only that, “ballads” is a rather wide category. I’m sure she could have included a bit more variety even amongst her ballads here. Some of the songs were given a more folk arrangement, and that style suits alan very well. She has a very typical Chinese folk type of voice. I wish she would use it a bit more. Pop alan is not bad either, but she needs to learn to be more musical when it comes to that style. She certainly is capable of more than what this album gave. Even if I was not familiar with her Japanese material, she has a certain raw talent that’s evident anyway. She just needs more practice and time to grow.

Artist: alan
Album/Single: 心・战 ~RED CLIFF~ (single/EP)
Release Date: June 20, 2008

1. 心・战 ~RED CLIFF~
alan’s first Chinese EP really got me excited, because I was eager to hear her sing some of her own songs in a language she is comfortable with (and this version was released first). One thing that’s present in this song that most of her Japanese songs lack, is phrasing and dynamic contrast. The way she uses the accompaniment (the strings being the most prominent, adding to the very moving and dramatic feel of the song) to her advantage is smart, and she has to be the perfect vocalist for this song. She builds her phrases nicely, and I especially love the details of her crescendo and descrescendo within each phrase. It creates a sort of pushing and pulling effect, as if she were trying to draw you into her performance. Throughout this song, she has fantastic tone, and hits beautiful notes in her midrange using her head voice. This is just me being picky, but I wished she had just carried through those higher notes a little more to have more sense of closure and improve the flow, but she’s done a fabulous job already.

2. 一个
Once again, alan really shines in this song where she failed to in the original Japanese song. Actually, “hitotsu” was done quite well to begin with, but alan singing this in Chinese just adds that little bit extra that the song was missing. She sounds much more convincing (naturally) and into the message she’s trying to convey. There is a noticeable level of comfort in her performance here as well. This song doesn’t have the majesty of many of her other ballads, but it’s a very lovely ballad. It’s a sounds like a very emotional love song, and my my sole criticism of “RED CLIFF” was not present here. She completes her phrases while giving the performance of her life. A rather simple song, this one is all about alan, as she stands out from the rest of the crowd here.

3. 三生石三生路
One of my favourite Japanese tracks from alan is “Sakura MODERN”, because she sounds believable despite it not being her comfort zone. Moments of this song actually has a very Chinese folk feel underlying the melody. Personally, I think this song sounds better in Japanese. I wish alan had sung this with a bit more lilt in her voice, because she sounds like she’s slowly plodding along here. The accompaniment of this song was done wonderfully, with the variety of the strings. The programming may have turned it slightly too robotic unfortunately, which is why alan’s singing was crucial to bringing much needed life to this song. Unfortunately, she doesn’t quite reach that point in this recording the way she’s capable of doing.

4. 迷失的祝福
Finally, we get a relatively generic ballad, which is why I never really liked the original. Even the accompaniment was arranged in the most predictable manner. I’ve never thought generic pop suited alan very much, because it’s like she suddenly throws out any sort of vocal technique she uses for the more challenging stuff. alan has some very nice moments in this song, which are outnumbered by the moments where she sounds strained. Granted, a strained alan doesn’t sound as horrendous as some other artists, but she just doesn’t need to be to begin with. I believe with the right motivation, this otherwise generic song could have been quite beautiful, but alan’s semi-boring performance just wasn’t quite enough to interest me. I’ll give her this though, it was more heartfelt than the original.

Overall –
Favourite Track: 心・战 ~RED CLIFF~
It is quite noticeable the shift in comfort level when alan performs in Chinese. She has a beautiful head voice, and completely breathtaking when she’s in full control of it. alan is possible one of the best Chinese vocalists I’ve heard in a very long time, and has a very nice traditional folk type of quality to her voice. This first major release from alan could have easily been a rehash single, but she managed to create some buzz with the material present. I think she could definitely work on her more relaxed pop voice, because she gets very lazy on the technique when she’s not required to make full use of her voice the way she’s used to. Shouldn’t be a problem for a talented and promising girl like her.