Sunday, September 30, 2007

粵語唱片/單曲

和這個BLOG的主人認識十多年了,一直都知道他最喜歡的女歌星並不是王菲。但正如很多人所說,你可以不太喜歡王菲,但是你永遠不可以否定她音樂的價值。無論如何,我是答應了這位朋友幫他完成王菲這一部分的音樂介紹,介紹的前兩部分分別是關於王菲的粵語唱片和國語唱片,為了使不諳中文的人士瞭解王菲的音樂世界,在第三部分,我又不厭其煩地將王菲的音樂旅程以英語作簡單說明。

粵語唱片/單曲

1989《王靜雯》

一九八九年的一個夏日晚上,香港無線電視台轉播了一個流行音樂作曲比賽,其中一位上台表演的歌者名為王靜雯,她所演唱的參賽歌曲是《仍是舊句子》,雖然這首歌曲最後只拿到第三名,但是觀眾們都被演唱者優雅超脫的歌聲所吸引。 這位王靜雯小姐就是後來鼎鼎大名的流行歌手王菲。 當年,王菲在參賽後不久便在唱片公司新藝寶旗下推出了她的首張粵語唱片《王靜雯》,其中除收錄了她這首參賽歌曲外,還有流行作品《無奈那天》和《籍口》。 如果你喜歡八十年代香港的中西日混雜式音樂的話,你會覺得這張唱片很不錯,唱片的選曲比較保守,這也是一般為新人做唱片的手法。總體來說,《王靜雯》是為了迎合香港聽眾口味而推出的唱片,王靜雯是為了迎合市場而採用的藝名,唱片公司還給了王菲一個當時很多香港女性用的英文名:Shirley。


1990《Everything》

這張唱片是王菲在一九九零年初推出的,主打歌《Everything》是翻唱Jody Watley的同名歌曲,唱片內更為人所熟悉的可能是《巴黎塔尖》。 由於《王靜雯》的銷量只屬一般,新藝寶決定王菲的第二張唱片要冒險一點,他們為她選擇了Soul/Pop 路線,唱片內無論是翻唱的或是原作的歌曲,王菲都刻意將尾音拉長,加入大量黑人音樂元素,可惜,對於當時香港的市場來說,《Everything》實在是太冷門了,而且,王菲在掌握這類音樂方面略嫌幼嫩,唱片最終沒有得到歌迷的認同。唱片內最後一首歌曲《激流》是我認為比較特別的歌曲,這首歌由八十年代香港很紅的作曲人林敏怡作曲,文井一作詞,是一首很勵志的歌曲,王菲演繹得輕鬆自然,一點兒也不像唱片內其他歌曲那樣做作。那些認為王菲的音樂只代表消極和抽離現實的人,不妨聽一聽這首歌曲,或者,你會對她有另一番的感覺。


1990《You’re the Only One》

王菲的第三張粵語唱片《You’re the Only One》於一九九零年底推出,唱片監製並沒有因為上一張唱片《Everything》的失敗而放棄Soul/Pop 音樂,反而為王菲選擇了多首輕快的具R&B風格的作品,他這一種堅持在香港也算是比較特別,或者,他在王菲身上看到了一些與別不同的東西。 在《You’re the Only One》中,王菲最大的進步就是歌唱技巧的大大提升,大家從來沒有想到一個香港歌手翻唱外語歌曲的時候,竟然有貼近原創甚至比原曲唱的更好的效果,王菲的唱腔充滿了激情和憂怨,一首《多得他》所演示出來的唱功便把同期的女歌手們比下去了。 唱片內《靜夜的單簧管》是比較流行的作品,我個人則比較喜歡另一首翻唱歌曲《又繼續等》,王菲也是以這首單曲奪得在那個時代最權威的無線電視《勁歌金榜》的冠軍位置,可惜,在一次現場電視表演後,她便悄悄地離開了香港樂壇。當年王菲沒有繼續出唱片,有說是因為經理人那邊出了問題,又有說是新藝寶看錯了市場,一些報章報導王菲是去了美國進修音樂,無聊的八卦雜誌則暗示她墮胎去了。


1992《Coming Home》

王菲雖然暫別香港樂壇,但是她的歌聲卻沒有離開過。在一九九一至九二年那段其間,香港商業電台的一些DJ們不停播放王菲首三張唱片裏面的歌曲,他們似乎找不到其他更好的選擇去播放,新藝寶也趁機推出王菲的個人精選唱片,其銷量非常好,而王菲的知名度也不斷上升。 有見及此,新藝寶便邀請王菲回到香港,繼續她的音樂事業,從王菲後來對新藝寶愛理不理的態度來看,她一定是開出了比較苛刻的條件,新藝寶不得不接受。 無論如何,王菲在一九九二年下半年以她的第四張粵語唱片《Coming Home》回歸樂壇,這是一張製作很完整,概念很清晰的唱片,依然是Soul/Pop路線,依然是王菲更上一層樓的歌唱技巧,這張唱片得到了專業界和普通樂迷的一至喜愛,可能唯一的瑕疵是收錄了令王菲走紅香港的那一首極度商業化的單曲《容易受傷的女人》。在這張唱片裹我有兩首推介:分別是《Missing You Night and Day》和《把鎖匙投進信箱》。


1993《執迷不悔》

由於《容易受傷的女人》在香港大熱,王菲已經成為當地一線歌手,不知為何,大家都改稱她做王菲,棄用了王靜雯這個藝名,王菲也很樂意接受自己得以正名。 一個人紅了,她的唱片銷量也就很容易得到保障,新藝寶也很快地為王菲推出她的第五張粵語唱片《執迷不悔》。唱片以《紅粉菲菲》承繼上兩張唱片的黑人音樂風格,但為了迎合潮流和市場口味,監製請來了臺灣音樂人為王菲作曲,所以,這張唱片聽起來風格有點怪,沒有像《Coming Home》那樣一氣呵成的感覺,這就是遷就市場的代價。這張粵語唱片最走紅的一首歌曲是一首國語單曲,是由袁懷仁作曲王菲親自填詞的國語版《執迷不悔》,這首歌曲公認是王菲的代表作,也奠定了王菲在香港一姐的地位。 除此之外,我也推介唱片內由另一位臺灣音樂人陳小霞作曲的《季候風》,這首歌基本上就是菲式情歌的一個倒模,王菲自此以後唱的情歌就是按這個模式編曲製作的,陳小霞也因而收到不少來自王菲的訂單。


1993《十萬個為什麼》

《十萬個為什麼》這張唱片是王菲音樂旅程上的一個轉捩點,在這張唱片當中,王菲作出了新的嘗試,她將Pop/Rock元素融入自己的音樂裏,這主要是體現在主打歌《劉飛非》,《Summer of Love》和《長大》幾首歌裏,她選擇翻唱搖滾樂隊Police的歌曲《DeDoDoDoDeDaDaDa》也算是很有膽量。 樂迷非常喜歡王菲的轉變,“王菲”這兩個字更代表了前衛和時尚,《十萬個為什麼》賣個滿堂紅。王菲還在唱片內首次創作歌曲,她寫了一首國語單曲《動心》,我則比較喜歡另一首國語單曲《誘惑我》,此曲乃出自劉以達的手筆。 然而,我要在這裏推薦的是在這張唱片內最使人驚喜的單曲《冷戰》,這首歌曲改編自Tori Amoris的歌曲《Silent All These Years》,王菲的唱技巧再一次被肯定,而《冷戰》似乎要比原曲來的更貼近聽眾心靈,自此,王菲也自然地被歸納為實力派歌手。


1994《胡思亂想》

王菲在她的第七張粵語唱片《胡思亂想》內繼續她多方面嘗試的創新精神,這一次她翻唱了英倫樂隊Cocteau Twins 和Cranberries的歌曲,她更大膽地以《知己知彼》這類非常另類的歌曲作為主打,這首歌曲高音部分相當考功夫,是王菲歌唱技巧的另一次演示,當然,聽眾一時間難以接受,他們還是比較欣賞另一首具有英倫風格的《夢中人》。 為確保銷量,新藝寶在唱片內加插了大量菲式情歌,相信這是違反王菲個人意願的。 我認為這類歌曲加插得太多了,如果你從頭到尾聽一次這張唱片,你會覺得每首歌都差不多似的,有一點悶的感覺。《胡思亂想》的另一個亮點是竇唯的出現,他和王菲合寫了《誓言》一曲,該曲有很強烈的竇唯色彩,王菲將其電子化並以自己獨特的唱法去演繹,是一首很不錯的王菲式另類歌曲,此曲後來也被收錄在王菲同年推出的國語唱片《天空》內。這麼多年來,同一首歌曲(同樣的編曲和演繹),能夠兩次出現在王菲的個人專輯裏的就只有《誓言》一曲,可見竇唯在王菲心目中的地位。

1994《討好自己》

這張唱片應該是在一九九四年底王菲在香港開演唱會時推出的,值得一提的是,當年王菲在開完演唱會後便無故自動失蹤,連經理人也沒有辦法與她聯繫。 在沒有宣傳的情況下,《討好自己》的銷量依然強勁,因為這時的王菲已經在亞太地區打響名堂,再加上唱片內收錄了驚世情歌《愛與痛的邊緣》,有沒有宣傳已經不重要了。 當然,這張唱片最大的特色是王菲自己做了兩首具自己風格的單曲《討好自己》和《出路》,後者的歌詞更引來很多人對王菲心理狀態的推測。 我認為,《討好自己》是王菲自我突破的一張唱片,她觀摩了很多其他音樂人的作品,希望找到自己音樂的出路。 在這張唱片內,我的推介是由張亞東作曲的《飄》,此曲調子比較另類,王菲唱法若然自我,大有帶你脫離煩囂的意圖,這也是張亞東和王菲歷史上的第一次合作。一個題外話,是關於這張唱片的第六首歌曲《平凡是最浪漫》,用香港俗話說,這首歌“好梁”(非常老土),我不明白為什麼監製會把這首歌收錄在這麼前衛又有創意的一張唱片內,它和其他歌曲格格不入,我覺得如果把王菲在差不多同期發行的單曲《一人分飾兩角》放在這張唱片內更為合適。

1995《DIDAR》

《DIDAR》推出的時候,王菲只在香港短暫停留了幾天,電視台和電台都做過訪問後,她又沒有了蹤影,但這並沒有影響唱片的受歡迎程度。《DIDAR》總共收錄了十首歌曲,其中六首都登上了香港各大流行榜的榜首,香港無線電視台更為此頒了一個特別獎給王菲,大概是為了增加其音樂節目的收視率吧!這張唱片的成功之處是,它既滿足了死硬派菲迷對王菲/張亞東作品的極大需求,又以菲式情歌留住了普通菲迷,再加上一些似是迷幻似是流行的創意單曲,基本上就是大小通吃,它就是一張要你掏錢買的流行唱片。我認為這是一張粵語流行歌壇其中一張最經典的唱片,王菲將另類和流行已經很好地磨合,沒有太多複雜的思考,沒有太多音樂實驗!我的推介是全部歌曲。在這裏,我還要提幾個名字。 首先是林夕,他包攬了《DIDAR》唱片內九首粵語歌曲全部填詞,他是當代一個不可多得的才子。然後是C.Y.Kong,Alex San,和Adrian Chan,此三子積極參與了《DIDAR》的作曲或編曲工作。許多人一提到王菲的音樂就會想到張亞東和竇唯,其實,Kong/San/Chan這三位音樂人也是王菲的另一個強而有力的音樂製作班底,他們的製作非常認真,是香港本地很出色的音樂人。


1996 ??《還原》??

歷史上並沒有這一張唱片的推出,這本來應該是王菲在新藝寶旗下推出的最後一張唱片,也應該是王菲的第十張及最後一張粵語唱片,但始終未能面世。一九九六年底,王菲與竇唯秘密結婚及懷孕的消息曝光後,新藝寶知道王菲又多了一個缺席宣傳的籍口,便首先將單曲《暗湧》收錄在一張多個歌手參與的精選唱片內發行。一九九七年初,王菲誕下女嬰,新藝寶推出EP《玩具》,其中包括單曲《暗湧》,《約定》,《敷衍》,《玩具》和《我信》。王菲在九七年中決定轉投EMI,簽約當天,新藝寶便推出EP《自便》來湊熱鬧,其中收錄新單曲《守時》,《守護天使》和《自便》。 同年十月,王菲在EMI旗下推出首張國語唱片的同時,新藝寶推出了一張王菲個人精選唱片來打對台,以王菲全新單曲《不得了》作招徠。五年後,在二零零二年,王菲和EMI的合約結束,新藝寶又來曾慶,推出另一張王菲精選唱片,其中收錄了她未曾曝光的單曲《心驚膽戰》。 我沒有監製過唱片,並不知道上述十首歌曲是否應該收錄在同一張唱片內,但對於新藝寶因“市場策略”而分割王菲最後的粵語唱片感到非常憤怒。科技進步,以上歌曲我都擁有,便將它們重新刻錄在同一張光碟上,命名為《還原》,自我欣賞。 我的推介是《約定》,很多人覺得這是一首情歌,或者也真是,但我聽起來,除了愛情,也可以有友情和親情的感覺。


1997以後

離開了新藝寶之後,王菲已經沒有再推出粵語唱片,她的粵語歌曲改由以單曲形式附送在她的國語唱片內發行。 王菲在EMI旗下推出的粵語單曲共十一首:1998年的《原諒自己》,《償還》和《情戒》;1999年的《守望麥田》和《郵差》,2000年的《螢火蟲》和《給自己的情書》,2001年的《迷魂記》,《色盲》,《不眠飛行》,《心路》和《女皇的新衣》。 2003年,王菲在SONY旗下推出了三首粵語單曲:《MV》,《假愛之名》和《花事了》。(在新藝寶時代,王菲也有一些粵語歌曲收錄在非她的個人唱片內,在這裏我就不一一介紹了。)

最後,上述九張王菲個人粵語唱片都是由梁榮駿(Alvin Leong)監製的。

國語唱片

第一張國語唱片??

談到王菲的第一張國語唱片,必須從她的歷史說起。 王菲於1969年8月8日在北京出生,她自小便很有音樂天分,在1985/86年間,王菲曾經在內地錄製了不少“口水歌”錄音帶,其中包括翻唱鄧麗君的歌曲。那時候的錄音水準甚差,又缺乏正式發行渠道,這些錄音帶不具備成為唱片的基本條件,最多只算是“歌曲集”。(後來,王菲紅了,有心人將其中的一些歌曲從新以CD形式推出市場,這些CD的錄音部分算是合格了,但知識產權的問題沒有解決,因此也不可以算是王菲的首張國語專輯。)1987年,王菲移民香港,她在1989年正式加入香港樂壇,她的第一首國語歌曲是1993年的作品《執迷不悔》,這也是她的經典之作,因此,有一些人以為唱片《執迷不悔》便是她的首張國語唱片,這是錯誤的,《執迷不悔》專輯是一張粵語唱片,內裏收錄了《執迷不悔》國語版罷了。 王菲的第一張國語唱片,還是要等到她進軍臺灣市場開始計算。


1994《迷》

《迷》是王菲主打臺灣市場的第一炮,我不是一個寶島菲迷,到底這張唱片在那裏有什麼反應,我真的不知道,在華語歌手還沒有“全球同步發行唱片”的時代,臺灣以外的國語唱片市場都只是配角,所以,當我評論這一張唱片的時候,可能並不是那麼全面。從一個香港樂迷的角度去看,《迷》並不是一張很完整的唱片,唱片內收錄了大批粵語歌曲的國語版本,給人的感覺好像不是那麼有誠意,有一點精選唱片的味道。 舉個例子吧,聽過了粵語版的《冷戰》然後再去聽同樣編曲的國語版《冷戰》,你會覺得沒什麼特別,而從新編排的慢版《執迷不悔》又失去了原裝版的那份激情。 唱片最成功之處是收錄了《我願意》這首歌曲,王菲清新優雅的歌聲感動了很多人,我在這裏推介另一首比較少人留意的單曲《我願為你守著約》,這是王菲多次作現場演繹的一首歌曲,看來,此曲對她有著很特別的意思。


1994《天空》

《天空》的製作很認真,是經過嚴謹策劃下出產的唱片,無論從選歌和編排上都很一致,聽上去很有那種抒情浪漫的意境,內裏收錄的大熱之作《天空》和《棋子》均是菲式情歌的代表作,王菲再一次打動了樂迷的心靈。 其實,在這張唱片內還有一首滄海遺珠的情歌《矜持》,是我的推薦,我覺得王菲在這首歌裏的感情運用比上述兩首更用心,她似乎唱出了自己的真實經歷。當然,王菲也在唱片內表現她的與別不同,《誓言》和《天使》的唱法真的是只此一家,我相信王菲在演繹時參考了一些北方民謠的唱腔。如果你不嫌監製太照顧市場需要的話,《天空》是一張很不錯的女性戀曲唱片,不過,王菲所表達的情感和意念可能只有那些多愁善感的女菲迷才能夠完全理解,男士們要明白個中含義可能會有點吃力。順帶一提的是,自《天空》發行後,華語樂壇多了一個新名詞“亞洲天后”,王菲是首位亞洲天後。



1995《菲靡靡之音》

不知道是什麼時候開始,王菲和鄧麗君扯上了關係,我覺得她們除了都擁有一把甜美的歌聲外,在音樂理念上,還有她們的世界觀,並沒有什麼相同之處。《菲靡靡之音》是王菲重新演繹鄧麗君歌曲的一張唱片,也應該是向鄧麗君致敬的唱片,不過,唱片內王菲所表現出來的霸氣已經告訴全世界,她並不是某某人第二。 全新的編曲,前衛的演繹,王菲為這十三首鄧麗君歌曲賦予了新生命,就好像帶我們跨越了一個世紀。我敢說,如果不是王菲,很多人都不會知道鄧麗君原來有一首歌曲叫《但願人長久》,王菲演繹的《但》灑脫輕鬆,她表達的不只是懷念惋惜,還帶你去想像一個豁達的遠景,我認為王菲的演繹更加貼近一千年前蘇軾寫這首詞《水調歌頭》時的心境,這也是我極力推介的歌曲。每逢中秋佳節,大家不妨拿這首歌出來聽聽,抒懷一番。

1996《浮躁》

知道王菲的人相信沒有多少個不知道《浮躁》,因為這是一張純王菲個人風格的唱片,唱片內一首情歌也沒有,王菲創作了其中絕大多數的歌曲,她還邀請了她很喜歡的英倫樂隊Cocteau Twins為她寫了兩首歌曲,透過張亞東和竇唯的編曲,《浮躁》唱片給人一種迷幻,自由和一點頹廢的感覺,從技術上,這根本就不是一張流行唱片,是一張音樂實驗唱片。 據聞,這張唱片是王菲唱片中銷量最差的一張,但是,在絕大數菲迷眼中,《浮躁》的地位數一數二。 有人說,《浮躁》的出現是王菲向新藝寶發起的女皇反擊戰,因為過去她多次屈服於唱片公司的壓力,在國粵語唱片內收錄大量迎合市場的歌曲,《浮躁》是她最後一張和新藝寶合作的唱片,她一定要來一次大反擊,製作一張完全由自己話事的唱片,她也向那些被寵慣的樂迷和DJ們說明她王菲做唱片不需要看誰的臉色。我的推介是:全部歌曲。

1997《王菲》(快樂不快樂)

這是王菲轉投EMI後推出的第一張唱片,唱片名稱是《王菲》,當時的宣傳語是“王菲:快樂不快樂?!”,所以,我也慣性地稱之為《快樂不快樂》。保守是我對這張唱片的評介,可能是新唱片公司的第一炮,監製選擇了一些大路的抒情歌曲如《人間》和《我也不想這樣》,我覺得這些歌曲感覺上都比較蔭沉,缺乏生命力。至於那些比較另類的歌曲,調子和編曲都不夠奔放,有點兒不到肉的感覺。幸好的是,張亞東為王菲編寫了一首經典之作《你快樂所以我快樂》,扭轉了整張唱片的形勢。《你快樂所以我快樂》是一首另類/流行歌曲,旋律詭異,節奏輕快又有點不規則,王菲的演繹淡然隨意,她把自己那動聽的歌聲發揮到恰到好處,聽這首歌簡直是人生一大享受。有人說歌詞是寫關於母愛的,是王菲唱給她未滿一歲女兒竇靖童聽的,但林夕的詞向來模糊高深,你也可以套入其他感情關係。自然地,這首單曲是我極力推介的,也是我最喜歡的一首王菲歌曲。

1998《唱遊》

“唱游王菲大世界”是這張唱片的宣傳語。的確,這是另一張非常“王菲”的唱片,唱片內無論是王菲的自作曲或者其他人作給她的,都不多不少加添了王菲個人的風格,這個時候的王菲,比《浮躁》時的她更為成熟,或者應該說,王菲的音樂創作開始規範化,她丟棄了原來的隨意和放任,換來的是調理和細膩,當然,這也要歸功於張亞東和竇唯的編曲。 我覺得這張唱片是王菲音樂旅程上的另一個高峰,她終於完成了一張又有銷量自己又滿意的唱片,更重要的是,王菲創作人的身份開始加強,她不想做那個在舞台上接受萬千寵愛在一身的亞洲天后,她應該有更遙遠的目標,那可能是成為亞洲音樂女皇,事實上,王菲也是從《唱遊》開始正式打開日本市場的。 我在這張唱片裏的推介有兩首,一首是“菲東夕”合作的作品《臉》,王菲的音樂世界基本上可以在這首歌裏領會;另一首是《飛》,選擇這首歌曲是因為王菲的演繹給我很慘情的感覺,菲式情歌向來只是傷感自憐,很少有這麼悲慘的。試想想,連陪伴自己多時的那屋頂上的小鳥和白雲都要飛走了,那真的是孤獨到極點了,不悲慘嗎?

1999《只愛陌生人》

只看唱片名稱你可能認為這又是一張“菲東”色彩的唱片,因為《只愛陌生人》是張亞東的名曲;事實是,張亞東在這張唱片內被放在比較次要的位置,而剛剛和竇唯離婚的王菲也有點累不太想創作。或者,是監製認為應該製作一張有點新意的唱片,於是他便請來了王菲在香港的音樂製作班底C.Y.Kong和Adrian Chan等人為她創作了具有他們風格的作品,其中《開倒荼靡》和《百年孤寂》是比較有特色的作品;監製又請來臺灣音樂人寫了一些抒情歌曲,其中袁懷仁再次操刀,為王菲寫了一首《過眼雲煙》,不過,此曲並未能像《執迷不悔》那樣大受歡迎。唱片內我最喜歡的歌曲是另一首抒情歌《當時的月亮》,此曲不但旋律優美,林夕的詞還填的特別有意思,其中的一句“能夠呼吸的就不能帶在身旁”我最有感覺。當然,林夕自稱他最滿意自己填詞的作品《開倒荼靡》之歌詞也是很有深度的,只是大家可能需要多一點聯想力,才能夠很徹底地明白歌詞的精髓。

2000《寓言》

《寓言》要分兩部分來聽,唱片內前五首歌堪稱王菲創作寓言五部曲,這部分由張亞東監製,是王菲重拾創作信心後的作品,如果你聽慣了《浮躁》和《唱遊》,你會很容易接受寓言五部曲,那是王菲音樂的昇華,不然,你可能會懷疑王菲是否有點兒走火入魔。 唱片的這一部分我的推薦曲是《香奈兒》,此曲雖然王菲,但卻有不少流行元素,我又特別喜歡這首歌的超低音鼓聲,經常用它來測試喇叭音響。至於唱片的後半部分則交給了香港的音樂創作班底,他們的責任就是加大這張唱片的市場吸引力,結果,C.Y.Kong為王菲寫了一首紅遍亞太地區的《笑忘書》,連帶這首歌的粵語版《給自己的情書》也不只在粵語地區流行起來。我個人比較喜歡《給自己的情書》,主要是因為歌詞,兩首歌曲都由林夕填詞,但《給》的歌詞比較堅強硬朗,我認為這才是我心目中的王菲。


2001《王菲》(光之翼)

這是第二張以王菲命名的唱片,菲迷們通常用《王菲01》來區別于《王菲97》,由於這張唱片在日本推出時以其中的單曲《光之翼》作主打,又有人稱之為《光之翼》。 這也是王菲在EMI的最後一張唱片,她希望作多方面嘗試,所以請來了亞洲各地很出色的音樂人為自己創作歌曲,其中梁翹柏更和王菲一起監製了整張唱片,首八張國語唱片的監製Alvin Leong升格為執行監製。我不太喜歡這張唱片,因為它有一點像炒雜燴,草草收場的感覺,而且唱片的搖滾元素過多,那不是很適合王菲。 另外,這張唱片一下子將張亞東剔除,又沒有香港音樂創作班底的護航,感覺上好像失去了什麼似的,更要命的是,連林夕的填詞也不怎麼樣,就拿其中的歌曲《打錯了》來說吧,我聽慣了林夕深奧優美的歌詞,真的不能接受他寫一首那麼通俗的作品給王菲,反而,我比較喜歡這首歌的粵語版《女皇的新衣》的歌詞,是由香港另一位很出名的填詞人袁偉民操刀,大家不妨比較一下。我更希望我們的女皇,在換過新裝及唱片公司後,能夠邁向另一個高峰(這是我當時的願望)。

2003《將愛》

王菲在二零零二年轉投新唱片公司新力,簽了一紙四張唱片的合約。 簽約後,王菲並沒有立即推出新唱片,而是讓樂迷等了一年多,到二零零三年的十一月,她才推出個人的第十張國語唱片《將愛》,很多菲迷在那一年都等的有點不耐煩,不斷打電話“騷擾”新力唱片,從今天看來,那兩年菲迷已經算是幸福了,最起碼,他們還可以等,還有一個希望,他們又怎會料到《將愛》可能是王菲最後一張發行的唱片。 無論如何,這是一張由王菲和張亞東共同監製的唱片,其風格柔合了兩人的音樂取向,唱片的意念很簡單,就是愛。 王菲的演繹比以前要成熟穩重,怎麼說她已經是一個三十多歲的女人了;可喜的是,她的自創作品不再予人抽離人煙的感覺,我們的音樂女皇也可以創作一些貼近群眾的音樂。 我的推介是王菲自己作曲並填詞的作品《不留》,歌詞大意是:她幾乎把所有的東西都給了別人,她情願什麼都不留下,再也沒有什麼牽掛。 如果這是王菲所追求的事,我祝福她心想事成,只要她快樂,我們菲迷也就快樂了。


其他作品

多年來,王菲曾唱過一些國語作品而並沒有收錄在她的個人唱片內,在這裏我就不做全部介紹了。王菲主唱過一些電影/電視劇主題曲,其中金庸小說《天龍八部》系列的劇目和她比較有緣分,她一九九四年收錄在《迷》內的作品《只有我自己》是電影《天龍八部之天山童姥》的主題曲,而在二零零四年,她又為電視劇《天龍八部》唱了一首片尾曲《寬恕》。除了國語和粵語歌曲外,王菲也推出過/唱過一些外語歌曲,她的第一首英語歌曲《Kisses in the Wind》收錄在《Coming Home》唱片內,在《十萬個為什麼》中收錄了一首我比較喜歡的英文歌曲《Do We Really Care》,其他比較受關注的要數到她在日本推出的兩張單曲,分別是一九九九年的英語歌《Eyes On Me》和二零零一年的日語歌《Separate Ways》。

王菲篤信密宗佛教,這應該是她有了小孩之後的事,又或者,當她創作《出路》時已經開始有這個想法。 王菲在二零零一年與索巴寧波車(Lama Thubten Zopo Rinpoche)合作,為慈善推出了一張密宗佛教唱片《Loving Kindness & Wisdom》,該唱片分為兩部分,分別是由索巴寧波車“主講”的Invocation to Twenty-One Taras 和第二部分,由王菲和索巴寧波車合作的《Invocation to Maitreya》,其中由張亞東作曲/Adrian Chan編曲的《彌勒佛咒》是一首非常值得尊敬和細心欣賞的作品。
王菲於2005年再婚,她下嫁了演員李亞鵬,並於婚後一年產下她第二名女嬰,李嫣。可惜,小孩患有先天性兔唇,王菲和李亞鵬堅強地面對了這個不幸,經過整形手術後,李嫣的情況漸入佳境。 2006年底,王菲和李亞鵬成立了《嫣然一笑》慈善基金(http://www.crcf.org.cn/),為患有這類病患的孩童湊款,王菲並為此基金主唱了一首主題曲《愛笑的天使》。(我希望這不是她最後發行的一首歌曲。

The Music Tour of Faye Wong

Faye Wong was born on the 8 August 1969 in Beijing. Since childhood, she was found to be gifted with great talent in singing. At the age of 16, Faye Wong made a couple of covered-versions of pop songs of other artists including those of by then the most popular singer in the whole Chinese-speaking World, Teresa Deng Li Jun. Believe it or not, Faye also made a covered version of the English hits “Hey, Mr. Postman” and “Top of the World” by the Carpenters. These songs were compiled as cassette type for sale. No official selling record could be traced.

Faye Wong moved to Hong Kong from Beijing by the year 1987. She participated in some singing lessons and was discovered by senior management of Cinepoly, a local record Company in Hong Kong. Cinepoly gave Faye further training in singing and believed that she would be the next top female singer in Hong Kong. For marketing reasons, Cinepoly asked Faye Wong to use the name Wong Jing Man in her singing career. They also gave her a commonly used English name in Hong Kong in the 1980s: Shirley.

Faye Wong’s first appearance to the Hong Kong audience was in the Carlsberg Music Contest (for songwriting) 1989. While the song Faye performed on that night was awarded the prize of second runner-up in the competition, her beautiful voice attracted the attention of thousands of people. Faye Wong’s first Cantonese album “Wong Jing Wen” / 《王靖雯》was released in that same year. The selling record of this album was not bad for a new artist but the music style simply followed the mainstream Canton-pop music with nothing special.

The album producer suggested that Faye Wong should sing soul/pop music in her second Cantonese album “Everything” which was released in early 1990. But, it was too harsh to the general music fans and the album did not sell well. Later that year, Faye Wong released her third Cantonese album “You are the only one” which was still a soul/pop album with a touch of R&B music. The critics loved the album and some attention was received from the public. Nonetheless, Faye Wong disappeared from the music industry in Hong Kong after a wonderful performance in a music TV show. It was all beyond Faye’s control that her record contract with Cinepoly was not renewed by that time.

Interestingly, after Faye left, the air-play of her singles stayed very high thanks to the DJs of Commercial Radio Hong Kong. They seemed not being able to find better choices to play during year 1991/92. Cinepoly noted Faye’s popularity and decided to invite her back to Hong Kong to resume her singing career. Faye made a stunning come-back with her fourth Cantonese album 《Coming Home》in late 1992. The DJs and fans just loved another of Faye’s wonderful performance of soul/pop music in this album. The album became a big hit and was sold very well.

Faye then released two more Cantonese albums in 1993, namely “No Regrets” /《執迷不悔》 and “100,000 Why” /《十萬個為什麼》. “No Regrets” was again embedded with soul music but also some love songs written by Taiwanese songwriters. Faye changed her music style to Pop/Rock in “100,000 Why” for a fuller music experience. Both albums were sold very well but “100,000 Why” was highly rated by the critics. Starting from this year, love songs began to take a lead role in Faye’s music career and they were normally distinguished as Faye-ballads from the conventional Canton-pop. For no reasons, the name Faye Wong was even more popular than the converted name Wong Jing Wen during that period. So, Cinepoly switched the name back. The name of Faye Wong virtually became a trade-mark connoting advance, free-style and creativity.

The year 1994 was a busy year for Faye Wong. She all together released two Cantonese albums and two Mandarin albums. To start with, she released her first Mandarin album “ Mystery”/《迷》as her debut to the Taiwanese market. The album contained many Mandarin versions of her Cantonese singles. In that summer, she released the Cantonese album “Random Thoughts” /《胡思亂想》, in which she made a few covered-versioned songs of the British groups like the Cranberries and Cocteau Twins. Then, she released another Mandarin album “Sky”/《天空》which included a lot of Faye-ballads and a few Faye-alternative singles. She then held her first concert in Hong Kong in December. After finishing the concert, she simply disappeared out of nowhere. She did not even care that Cinepoly had just released of her eighth Cantonese album “Pleasing Oneself”/《討好自己》which had incorporated two songs composed by herself. May be she was so tired and needed a quiet place to hide away. Anyway, Faye by then was crowned as the first Tian-Hou(Diva) of Asia and all of the above four albums were big sellers. A point to note, Dou Wei and Zhang Ya Dong started to appear in the production of Faye’s album in this year. These two musicians had great influence on Faye’s music.

Cinepoly and Faye’s agent could not get in touch with Faye for most of the time in 1995. Faye again missed most of the promotion activities arranged by the record company for her third Mandarin album “The (Non)-decadent Sound of Faye” /《菲靡靡之音》。 This was a tribute album to Faye’s favorite singer, Teresa Deng Li Jun, who passed away early that year. Faye made 13 covered-versions of Deng’s songs in her own alternative style. In the autumn of 1995, Faye Wong was finally located by the Hong Kong paparazzi. Faye Wong, by then already a little rich woman, was found to be living a simple life with her boyfriend, Dou Wei, in a poor little hut in Beijing. The public in Hong Kong was just shocked by Faye’s crush for Dou Wei. Anyway, Faye then returned to Hong Kong to do a few promotions for her ninth and last Cantonese album “DIDAR” which was considered as her best Cantonese album ever. “DIDAR” was a simple but creative pop album compiling both of Faye’s alternative and ballad hits. Dou Wei, Zhang Ya Dong and Hong Kong musicians like C.Y.Kong, Adrian Chan and Alex San played an important role in the overall success of the album. Faye Wong asked her favorite lyric writer, Lin Xi, to write up the lyrics of all the nine Cantonese singles compiled in “DIDAR”.

Faye released her fourth Mandarin album “Restless”/《浮躁》in 1996. Supposedly, there should be one more Cantonese album to be released in that year. But, due to marketing reasons, Cinepoly cut that album into pieces and released the singles thereof in EP format over a long period of time. Back to “Restless”, it was a total experimental album of Faye Wong who composed most of the Faye-alternative singles included therein. They were mainly produced/arranged by Dou Wei and Zhang Ya Dong. Faye also invited Cocteau Twins to composed/produced two singles for her in that album. The album was considered to be Faye’s classic album by most Fayenatics(Faye Music Followers or Hard-core Faye Fans) but unfortunately it made the worst selling record of all Faye’s Mandarin albums.

In 1997, Faye Wong decided not to renew her contract with Cinepoly. She signed a new contract with EMI for 55 songs and released her fifth Mandarin album “Faye Wong 97” / 《王菲97》. Singles with heavy Zhang Ya Dong/Faye Wong style and a few love songs were compiled in this album. The album was said to be Faye’s a little setback in terms of music creativity. Well, may be everyone was expecting too much and wanting to see what Faye would do next after her rebellious “Restless”. Nonetheless, the single “Happy be You, Happy am I” 《你快樂所以我快樂》 extracted from this album was considered as one of Faye’s greatest single all-time. The song was written by Zhang Ya Dong and lyrics by Lin Xi. It was believed to be a song that a mother would sing to her daughter. By this time, Faye Wong was already the mother of 9-month old child and married to Dou Wei. Her marriage did not seem to affect her popularity.

Faye Wong released her six Mandarin album “Scenic Tour” /《唱遊》 in 1998. She wrote a number of songs which were arranged/produced by Zhang Ya Dong and Dou Wei. The three of them really worked out as a good team and produced music of a class of their own. Somehow, Faye Wong divorced Dou Wei after this album was released. Anyway, the Fayenatics was crazy for the continuation of quality Faye-alternative music as it first sparked off in “Restless”. “Scenic Tour” was considered as another of Faye’s classic album which made another strong selling record in the whole Asia Pacific region. Faye also expanded her market to Japan with “Scenic Tour”.

In 1999, although Zhang Ya Dong was involved in the album “Only Love Strangers”《只愛陌生人 》, he was placed in some rather side tracks as the background. The producer acknowledged that Faye might be too busy with her personal affairs and had little time for song writing. He therefore invited the Hong Kong musicians like C.Y.Kong and Adrian Chan to produce singles with their own style for Faye Wong. Of course, a few love songs were also compiled for marketing reasons. In this album, Faye Wong kind of returned to pop/rock which was missed by the Fayenatics and non-Fayenatics for quite a while.

The album “Fable” /《寓言》 was released in the year 2000. It consisted of two parts, namely the “alternative part” produced by Faye Wong/Zhang Ya Dong and the “pop part” taken care by her Hong Kong musicians. The critics loved the alternative part. They were too glad to see that Faye Wong was back on track to create good music and they expected more from her. On the other hand, the ordinary fans loved the pop part because they were so easy listening and in the case of Faye, simplicity sometimes made her beautiful voice the most irresistible.

In 2001, Faye Wong released her ninth Mandarin album and final album under EMI. The album was titled “Faye Wong” again and the Fayenatics always referred this album as “Faye Wong 2001” /《王菲01》. Zhang Ya Dong and the Hong Kong musicians were replaced by musicians from other parts of Asia in the production of this album. It was supposed to be a chance for Faye Wong to experiment further in music via working with these musicians. Somehow, the magic did not really work out this time. The rock element was just too strong in this album and something was missing there. Some Fayenatics really wished the return of Zhang Ya Dong.

Faye Wong’s record contract with EMI ended in 2001. From 1997 to 2001, Faye released altogether 11 Cantonese singles with EMI. They were all included as bonus tracks in Faye’s Mandarin albums. Nearly all of them became hit singles in Hong Kong. During that period, Faye Wong also released two singles in Japan, namely Eyes On Me in English and Separate Ways in Japanese. She also co-released with Lama Thubten Zopo Rinboche an album which compiled Buddhism songs for charity purpose in 2001.

Faye Wong signed a new record contract with Sony in 2002 but she only released her tenth Mandarin album “Jiang Ai” /《將愛》one year later. The album compiled 10 Mandarin singles and three Cantonese tracks. Zhang Ya Dong came back to co-produce this album with Faye. The two of them composed most of the songs in this album. The Fayenatics discovered that Faye’s music, though still alternative, were more easy listening than her previous ones. But, what they did not expect was “Jiang Ai” might be Faye Wong’s last album.

Faye Wong married again in 2005 to actor, Li Ya Peng. She gave birth to a second child in 2006. It was unfortunate that this girl baby was borne with facial deformities. Faye Wong and Li Ya Peng bravely coped with the situation and took good care of their child. The couple also set up a charity foundation fund (http://www.crcf.org.cn) to help children with this kind of problem. The song “Smiling Angel” /《愛笑的天使》was dedicated to this fund by Faye Wong. (We hope that it is not her last song.)

As a final remark, Faye Wong released all together 9 Cantonese and 10 Mandarin albums up to date. Alvin Leong was the album producer of all these albums except “Faye Wong 01” which was produced by Faye Wong and Leong Qiao Bo and “Jiang Ai” which was produced by Faye Wong and Zhang Ya Dong.