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～