Making Albums: Perpetually Missing the Mark

Instead of fixing this thematic clash between the image of his album, the sound of it, and the difference in singles to promote the album, Jay Chou continued working this way with The Era (跨時代), which was promoted with a single of the same name [MV] in a hip hop rock vampire romance concept that fit the album cover.

The Era continues its promotion with ballad Rain Falls All Night (雨下一整晚) [MV] and the mellow pop song Superman Can’t Fly (超人不會飛) [MV]. The album, however, also contained the music video for the country rock&roll Free Tutorial Video (免費教學錄影帶).

Has somebody told Jay that this particular song would have fitted better in the On the Run album instead of The Era? Because the guy has great ideas, but he seems to misplace them in albums that have nothing to do with his concepts.

So what has Chou done for his latest album, Exclamation Mark (驚嘆號)? He seems to be making the same mistakes. The album has a little bit of everything again, despite beginning the concept with a rocking animated album cover that became the first single, Exclamation [MV]. The autotune pop ballad Mine, Mine [MV], and the country hip hop sailor song, A Sailor Afraid of Water (水手怕水).

Once again, what is Jay Chou doing with the concept of his albums?

Though Chou has time and time again shown us that he’s able to put the goods out, he seems intent in never making a full album that sticks to one sole concept, and that is, I believe, what is keeping him from musical greatness. Despite winning all these awards for Best Album, his album craftsmanship is never fully there, thus releasing, year after year, one nonsensical album after another.