Yes, 迷/Me is out. Apparently, in China, their release dates vary depending on the province. Only Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea have official release dates. So I really didn’t know when to expect it. But yes, I managed to get a hold of it and I listened to it. It consists of six Super Junior remakes, one Sandy Lam remake, and five brand new songs. The album goes by Super Junior’s original style – except it’s in Chinese.
The title song, 迷/Me, is a charming, upbeat start to the album. It leaves the listener eager to hear what’s next. The U remake, as I’ve said in a past post, is a big improvement on the song. The song is more mature than its original and makes us feel as though Super Junior is only maturing and improving. 至少還有你/At Least There’s Still You is a lovely remake of Sandy Lam’s song, reinterpreted to fit the image of these seven handsome young men.
However, there are a few down sides. 愛你愛你/Love Song didn’t stand out. It sounded too much like Miracle and Happiness. I didn’t even notice that the song changed from Miracle to Love Song. 我抱着我/In My Arms has a different, unusual style. I’m not too sure what to think of it, but it may be a good guinea pig for something new. As for the Super Junior remakes, some were slightly awkward to hear in Chinese. Vocals from Han Geng and Henry aren’t very strong. Han Geng should probably stick with dancing, and Henry may have a blooming voice and needs more time to grow and gain experience. Zhou Mi, although he sings well, doesn’t stand out at all. Forgetting that Zhou Mi is there seems to be a growing pattern in not only the album but in public appearances as well. That’s something they should work on. Next to that, the mixture of various Chinese accents – Han Geng’s Northern accent, Henry’s Taiwanese-Canadian accent, and the many Korean accents – is unusual but not really a major setback.
Overall, the album is alright. It is definitely a huge step up for Super Junior. I hope to see them improve and release more in the future.
Track listing:
1. 迷/Mi/Me
2. U
3. 至少還有你/Zhi Xiao Hai You Ni/At Least There’s Still You
4. 你是我的奇蹟/Ni Shi Wo De Qi Ji/Miracle
5. 愛你愛你/Ai Ni Ai Ni/Love Song
6. 我抱著我/Wo Bao Zhe Wo/In My Arms
7. Don’t Don
8. Marry U
9. 我的二分之一/Wo De Er Fen Zhi Yi/Full of Happiness
10. 渴望/Ke Wang/Man in Love
11. 這一秒/Zhe Yi Miao/The Moment
12. The One
Personal highlights:
1. Ryeowooks singing. I do believe that Kyuhyun has the strongest vocals, as do most people. But I really love Ryeowook’s voice because it’s very stimulating and spirited. Even though he’s singing in a foreign language, he enunciates the words as though he understands them.
2. Donghae’s Chinese rapping. It’s a wonderful effort indeed. I really want to applaud him for taking that risk and succeeding.
3. Henry’s English rap in 這一秒. Despite being Canadian, we’ve never heard him speak English before. It was about time.
4. Henry’s Chinese rap in 我的二分之一. It gave the song a sweet boyish feel. In my mind, I’ve always referred to Happiness as “the queer song.” But with Henry’s youthful voice, it’s feels more boyish than gay. So I suppose that’s an improvement.
Miss Chiu’s Rating: 3
Since this is my first review, I’ll explain my scale:
5 – Amazing
4 – Pretty good
3 – Moderate
2 – Okay
1- Not too great
0 – Fail
I’m pretty tough with music, especially if it is mainstream pop, so don’t go into a tantrum if you don’t like my ratings.
Picture Credit: superjunior-m.iple.com
Super Junior China was renamed Super Junior M, standing for Mandarin. I suppose that any attempt at other Chinese dialects are out of the question? They will release an album called 迷 (fans?). And they will appear on 非常大明星 on April 10th.
HONG DOU 