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| MAY 17, 2000 | |
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Aaron Kwok goes
Latin
JOURNEY.CHEER IT IS always a tad frustrating to listen to Aaron Kwok's Mandarin songs without some music video clips. For one, the Chinese subtitles help you make sense of what he is singing about. Much has been said about Kwok's improved grasp on the language. But this album proves that he still warbles his way through the songs -- though with more finesse than his floppy-mane days. Also, you half expect him to break into slick dance moves during the fast numbers like Get Into The Action. Kwok does a Ricky Martin here -- hot thumping drums and screeching trombones. You can just imagine him shaking his well-toned bon-bon to the Latin-laced beats. Kwok should stop making CDs -- he should make only VCDs. He is too dynamic to just be seen on the sleevenotes, and too bland to just be heard. Sounds like Leon, only Lo-wer PERFECT VIRTUES GIVE Leon Lai a deeper and throatier register and you get Gallen Lo. Luckily, he does not share the same talent for colourless singing as the Cantopop King. A TV superstar in his own right, Lo manages to infuse the songs with the right mix of gusto and vibrato emotion. You have to commend him for trying to sound nuanced. He treads the safe path of having mostly soothing ballads on his album -- no overstretching there. But the album sparkles when he flashes his comedic flair in zany songs like The Gallen Lo Brand. An ode to his newborn baby boy, Lo deadpans, in his hilarious 1960s star Looi Kei impersonation, that "his son must grow up fast/like his father/of excellent quality". Lo's twangy 1980s singing style might appeal to only our parents. But a man like him, flush with so much love for his son, deserves our applause at every turn.
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