Do read this as I don't know how many will get to read it.
I am writing in response to Samuel Lee¡¯s music review on David Tao¡¯s latest album The Great Leap 2005, dated Friday February 4th 2005. I think that this review is not a fair one.
Firstly, saying that his fans 'point' to the song Ghost as a track in the album that proves his break away from R&B is not fair because not all of his fans think that this song is a 'break away' song. Different people have different views. If you ask me, I think the break away song in this album is Sula and Lumpa. It is abstract, great to listen to, extremely different from what David Tao usually does and has a spicy pinch of humour (which is rare in Asian pop). Why is such a great song not mentioned in the review? Is it because of the meaning behind the word 'Lumpa'? Is this where censorship and hindrance of artistic freedom comes into the picture? I thought Singapore has opened up more?
Secondly, comparing songs in this album with those in Black Tangerine is utterly unthinkable since David clearly stated in his album that this album 'marks the end of the trilogy (first three albums) and the birth of new feelings, ideas and struggles¡' This album is not a continuation of his previous albums but a starting point to new ones. Why is it compared to the previous albums, then? Please compare apples with apples. David Tao did not write such words in his album for nothing.
Another unfair comparison made is of that between David Tao and Jay Chou. David Tao started years before Jay Chou and does not 'mumble' in his songs. I am sure that they do not compete in 'mumbly delivery'. Thus saying that Jay Chou is a 'leading proponent' of 'mumbly delivery' as compared to David is not fair either. David Tao mumbling in songs? It simply does not sound right. And why is David being compared to Jay in the first place? If one has listened to their songs one would know that they do music as similar as black and white. They are not the same. They have different thoughts and feelings. Stop comparing them.
Lastly, it does matter if Ghost or The Art Of War are statements made into music because they raise more awareness, especially among the youths, who make up majority of David Tao¡¯s listeners. Youths cannot always expect music to be mere entertainment and have to also see it as a channel to express certain feelings. If all songs are ear candies then music is not worth as much as it is today. Statements and honest feelings do matter.
To keep things simple, understand what the artiste or musician is doing and know enough about him or her before throwing comments, especially if it is someone like David Tao.
-- Edited by tangerine_slices at 00:51, 2005-02-06
-- Edited by tangerine_slices at 00:55, 2005-02-06
tangerine slices, what a great response, u should post @ DT forum, including the original review so ppl can see what an idiot that Samuel Lee is
May go to the library today to read the review as I haf given up Strait Times, not worth buying really when I get all my news online, but if sumone kind enough to post it plse. I think english speaking fans should do more cos David obviously pay more attention to chinese fans as they are more active. He is even having a special edition of Great Leap in mainland China to thank them.
I feel we should do more to show David that we care abt his music vry much, just my humble opinion anyway
Thanks tangerine_slices for writing in to straits times. Thumb up for you. Zhaodi, i tried to type out the below review of Samuel Lee on friday's straits times since you want to know how he bashing david because i'm in a rush typing this out maybe there's some typo errors. really can't tolerate this guy. All the reviewer i have seen like zaobao, u-weekly and 8-days all give 4 stars except this idiot samuel lee.
The way of David Tao
asian pop
Samuel Lee
The jury is still out on whether david tao's latest album is as momentous a milestone as it is being marketed to be.
Loyalists in the Tao camp say The Great Leap 2005 breaks away from his straight-ahead R&B past by delivery deeper into new musical directions only hinted at previously.
They point to the industrial rock opening track - lead-off single Ghost - as the basis for saying so. The chinese opera-meets-modern Mando fusion of Susan Said is also preceived by supporters of the Amercian-raised and Los Angles-based Taiwan music maverick as another benchmark of his consistency in quality.
More listeners, however, feel that there is little novelty in Tao's first release under EMI and his fourth full-length offering.
After all, he had consciously embraced rock on 2002's Black Tangerine, thus deliberately deviating from the R&B blueprint of hus first two albums.
And the east-meets-West pop pollination is a device used so consistently and repeatedly on each of Tao's CDs that it is now certainly nothing to shout about.
While there is some truth to both perspectives, it has to be acknowledged that The Great Leap 2005 is still listenable.
The gags may be predictable, but the tunes are definitely still worth giving some time and attention to.
As with Black Tangerine, certain aspects of The Great Leap 2005 strikes you as trying a tad too hard to br profound and cerebral.
For instance, the title may have been intended as a dig at a certain period in the history of the People's Republic of China which was anything but progress.
Ironically, however, it may end up being misconstructed as pomposity on his part.
This is hardly surprising, because Tao is respected not so much for his world views or opinions about the current state of the human race but rather, for his monster melodies and his signature mumbly delivery which Jay Chou is now leading proponent of.
So, does it or should it matter if Ghost is a clever indictment of the media in the current millennium? Or that The Art of War is about the ills of warfare?
I'll pass. I'd prefer the ear candy of Catherine and Who Do You Love any day, any time.
Okay, skip the tracks you don't like, but overall, David Tao's latest album is a easy listen.
Darn.. I juz wrote one really really long reply to show my agreement on tis unfair judgement of DT, esp his new album. Bt unfortunately, d electricity got cut off for a moment juz now b4 i could submit it. *cries* sigh.. I cant recall exactly wat i wrote.. Argh.. I know i hav all those points 2show tht samuel lee is pea-brained.. Haha.. Anyway, thanks nlayhua 4 posting d review, though i object to tis unjust towards DT's music. Tangerine slices, i agree totally. Media is a powerful tool to educate, bt it can b misleading too. Juz like tis article.. It's really giving negative perceptions on DT's when he's being true to music, fans, the world, and himself too.. About d comparison made between DT n Jay, i believe even Jay's fans r tired of it. Even the two musicians hav high opinions on each other's work n effort. To the media members: give them a break, will ya? Even if u r x tired of it, ppl like me r dying of boredom wif all tis repetitions! Pls x kill innocent lives! =P anyway, i juz wanna say all of us hav diff views on diff aspects of things in lives. All these are opinions of my own. And lastly, though i x like a single thing tht was written in d review n disagree wholeheartedly, it's still d writer's perception. No matter wat he says, i feel DT is a dedicated n responsible musician n i'm happy to be a part of tao family.. :)
__________________
"To DT or not to DT, that is the question..." To DT---to sink into the world of DT, nothing but David and Tension...And to spread love and peace by spreading DT's music!
I think Samuel Lee's review of the Great Leap has done more injury than anything else. He deliberately points out non-factual statements and turn them against DT. From what I read it's obvious he knows his facts but then again why the need for insults? His writing infuriates me more than anything else.
Loyalists in the Tao camp say The Great Leap 2005 breaks away from his straight-ahead R&B past by delivery deeper into new musical directions only hinted at previously. They point to the industrial rock opening track - lead-off single Ghost - as the basis for saying so.
What did he meant by new musical direction? Industrial rock eh? What did he label tracks like 'I'm ok' and 'Black Tangerine'? Another form of rock? So far, DT has never called his music r&b-ish. In fact he doesn't even categorise his music in any genre. It's his music and he calls it his own compositions. As simple as that. An industrial rock opening? I think Mr Sam here got his musical influences mixed up. The intro of 'Ghost' sounded more like a beat from hiphop/rNb clubs. It then continued with subtle singing and into the a rock-ish beat. There is no distinct new musical direction in 'The Great Leap'. I would put it as a new purposeful direction. To send out a message to listeners. To encourage ppl to make a difference. Like how he did using his music.
After all, he had consciously embraced rock on 2002's Black Tangerine, thus deliberately deviating from the R&B blueprint of hus first two albums.
As above, this guy know nuts about DT's first 2 albums. Try 'Bastard' and 'I'm OK'. If DT is deliberately deviating from the r&b blueprint, what does he call tracks like '2night' and 'love can'.
He said this.... And the east-meets-West pop pollination is a device used so consistently and repeatedly on each of Tao's CDs that it is now certainly nothing to shout about.
after saying this.... Amercian-raised and Los Angles-based Taiwan music maverick.
It's not a fcking east-meets-west pop pollination. It's his fcking life you're talking about. He was raised in LA born in HK. And it's also not a fcking device. He's mocking the very existence of DT's music. Consistency and repetition is because he's assure of the person he is, his beliefs and his fans. Reading more of this horse**** is really tickin me off.
little novelty, listenable, predictable, trying a tad too hard to br profound and cerebral, misconstructed as pomposity on his part.
As a journalist of the straits time he's is nothing but negative and contradictory. Any person reviewing an album, a movie, etc gives a fair opinion. If for any reason they feel inadequate or dissatisfied, they state specific reasons. Here, mr SAM openly blasts DT and then reinstating that his album is worthy, ear candy and an easy listen. Fck off dude. We don't need your sympathy comments. It's either a good album or not.
Signs of comparison... This is hardly surprising, because Tao is respected not so much for his world views or opinions about the current state of the human race but rather, for his monster melodies and his signature mumbly delivery which Jay Chou is now leading proponent of.
I didn't see the need at all for bringing Jay Chou in. What? To measure the level of success? To see who's the better singer/musician? Anyway it doesn't matter..
I remember reading DT saying... good music does not reflect on album sales
All SAMUEL LEE did was just write a bunch of untrue things in a very cynical and bombastic way. Expecting to have readers agreeing to his article. A person in the reporting line should be especially objective. There he goes aggravating the fans and provoking more rifts. I'm tired of expressing my fury, it just solely differs the whole idea of peace & love preached by our idol.
Hey hey zl, long time no hear but guess I am the only one who think Sammie's review is ok, I mean he kinda irrirating in his longwinded way and of course dun agreed with him at all, but in a way he reflected a different perception David & his music which should be tolerated as its not possible for every single person to be in love with David's music. I have posted the review at DT forum so its good if u guys can reposted yours there and maybe get a discussion going ok
hey all... well i finally got down to reading the review... and while i agree with most of you that it was a fairly bad review (cos he wasn't been very objective) but i also agree with zhaodi that he provided another perspective... and while it's not fair to compare the previous albums to the present ones, i think all reviewers do the same for all other albums... and besides, it's human nature to compare... and when i do compare, i realised i like the previous one more... true that DT does have a variety of genre in this new cd, but to me, only certain songs stood out, and it gets a bit uninteresting after a while... or rather, i didnt play it over and over again, which i did on the previous album... nevertheless, i'm still waiting for him to come SG and get his autograph!!! lolz
GGRR>..i so hate at Samuel ~ how could he said Dt like that? I hope one day when that Samuel is out to work, hope he hav sum gud kick from the music lovers and his fans...
__________________
L!ke is simpl3, L#v3 !s hard. That's why w3 can lik3 z!ll!ons of p3opl3, but w3 0nly can l#ve 0n3, not z!ll!ons..
hiya zhaodi! i read your blog regularly and then stumble upon this thread, felt i have to say something. I finally found my way around the davidtao.com site. Am going to post this there..
but guess I am the only one who think Sammie's review is ok, I mean he kinda irrirating in his longwinded way and of course dun agreed with him at all, but in a way he reflected a different perception David & his music which should be tolerated as its not possible for every single person to be in love with David's music. I have posted the review at DT forum so its good if u guys can reposted yours there and maybe get a discussion going ok 
