Andy Hui's "In the Name of..." Brief Review

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I had promised that I would write a review of Andy Hui's (許志安) newest CD, In the Name of... (2nd version), so here it is. I LOVE THIS ALBUM!!! Well, let me re-phrase. I LOVE HALF THIS ALBUM!!! There are a total of 12 tracks, 2 of which are remixes. There is also a DVD containing 5 music videos. This CD is more on the mellow side, so it's nice for a drive out in the country when you're pensive, or when you're hiding in on a rainy day.

To start, the songs that I LOVE, which are listed in RED below. Myolie Wu (胡杏兒) makes an appearance on this album, dueting with Andy in the theme song "Beautiful Unattractiveness" (Track #1) for their TV series "To Grow with Love" (肥田囍事). Myolie has a wonderfully bright and sparkling voice that I think actually outshines Andy's. I love how this song is about loving someone even if they are not the most beautiful. We all need love, so it's a very sweet message, if not idealistic at times. Track #12 is the remix for Track #2, and I think the string quartet version is really beautiful here (better than the original arranged with piano). The haunting notes remind me a lot of The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby. "Mr. Piggy" (Track #4) is the sub-theme for "To Grow with Love." I can listen to this song forever, it's just such a pretty song. Myolie sings the female version, titled "Ms. Piggy," but I'm still waiting for them to release the entire song on CD! The rest that I like, they are just soothing when it comes to the music, very catchy and easy to sing along (perfect for karaoke!).

The songs that I didn't like weren't because they were awful, but because they were bland. Track #5 wasn't bad, but Andy was practically singing off-key here. Didn't anyone think to use a pitch processor to fix, oh, the entire set of vocals?!? Maybe this track is the draft version and they accidentally left it in. Track #8 sounded like an old song they dug out from the early '90s. Filled with synthesized music and a faster tempo, I think Andy rises to the occasion more when he's singing with his heart, and not with a dance routine in mind. You should just skip this song entirely.

As much as I love his songs, I sometimes wonder if Andy really is trying too hard with his vocals. I wish he'd work on his lungs and high notes. He actually has a really nice, sexy, deep speaking voice, so instead of ~barely~ hitting the high notes, it would be nice if he worked on the timbre of his voice, and try to sing with his diaphragm.

It turns out that the songs I picked were actually written by well-known songwriters in HK, so half the battle in a beautiful song is not only the voice, but really, the melodies and arrangement.

All songs in this album are connected to the notion of "name" in one way or another. Composed by talented Hong Kong musician Pong Nan, the song "Mr. Piggy" (Track #4) will strike a chord of resonance in people in love. Another popular song "Great Love" (Track #2), written by the rising singer-songwriter Khalil Fong and with words penned by the famous lyricist Lin Xi, conveys an obsession with love which is the greatest love of all.

I would say that this album is only worth it if you love at least half the songs enough. I've listened to this album over and over for days now, so even if I had to go through some rotten apples, the diamonds I found in the midst were the brightest gems, so for me, I only have good thoughts about this album.

CD
01. 醜得漂亮 (無線電視劇 <肥田囍事> 主題曲)- 許志安 胡杏兒 (Beautiful Unattractiveness)
02. 大愛 (Great Love)
03. 任白
04. 豬先生 (Mr. Piggy)
05. 何慧愛
06. 陳大文
07. 孫果與了因
08. 諾貝爾的名單
09. 你是我的銀河
10. 李張聯婚
11. 豬先生 (Piggy Mix)
12.大愛 (Larger Than Life String Quartet Mix)

DVD
1. 醜得漂亮 (MV)
2. 任白 (MV)
3. 大愛 (MV)
4. 豬先生 (MV)
5. 何慧愛 (MV)

If anyone knows how to translate the song titles for the ones I have missed, please email me or leave me a comment. Much appreciated.

I have also included some of his videos so you can hear the songs.

Beautiful Unattractiveness


Mr. Piggy (TVB version)


Mr. Piggy (original version)


Great Love (TVB version)


Great Love (original version)


If you have heard this album, what do you think? Let me know your thoughts!

Lovin' Fat People

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I just finished watching TVB's "To Grow With Love" (肥田囍事, starring Andy Hui and Myolie Wu), and I'm not sure if I love it or not. OK, I love love love the music. So much so that I went ahead and purchased Andy Hui's In the Name Of... CD just so I could listen to the theme songs in their entirety over and over again. I think I must have listened to the entire album at least 5 times today while in the office. More on that later.

The series did a good job of saying that fat people have a right to love. Myolie gained 50 pounds to play the role of the fat but lovelorn protagonist who believed that her soulmate would understand a painting she vandalized by stamping a yellow handprint on it. If you don't get it, then you're not her soulmate. ~spoiler alert~ The gist was that her soulmate would interpret the handprint as petals of a sunflower, and would fill in the blanks, mainly, add the stem to the flower.

Anyhow, the series covered everything you can think that would concern a fat person. The ability/inability to attract someone from the opposite sex if you're fat. Dangers of anorexia. Stigma of designing fashionable clothes for fat people; in this case, adding the size LARGE to a repertoire of smalls and mediums. Healthy dieting and exercising vs. taking laxatives to lose weight. Stereotypes that fat people equal slobby and unprofessional. Is this a TV series or public service announcement?

Since this was supposedly loosely based on "Bridget Jones' Diary," there are comedic episodes throughout, but this version of Bridget lacks the wit and sarcasm of Renée Zellwegers' version. Also, I don't know how many times I had to stomach the super sappy love scenes that literally made me want to gag. I mean, there's hot romance, and then there's the "beat me over the head I get it they love each other beyond no comparison" scenes. There were some mad cheeeeeeesey moments that I never want to relive.

Goosebump Scene


Aside from the gut-wrenching moments, I found Myolie's character annoying in 50% of the scenes. I think if she was a real person who came into my life, I'd want to smack some common sense into her. And not 'cause she's fat. She was missing a common sense chip. Andy was much better. Everything he said was rational and realistic. So he discriminated against fat people. Not the most noble thing, but at least he was honest. This is the first time I've ever seen Andy act, but he's really natural in the role. His character was merged from Colin Firth and Hugh Grant's characters. The combination of making him not as frumpy as Colin or as suave as Hugh Grant meant that he could've just been as bland as vanilla, but he overcame that. He had enough "oomph" that you would fall for him, but enough arrogance that you can understand why Myolie would hate him. But you know how I feel about Mr. Darcy...(look at my moniker!)...I'd fall for him regardless of the pride and haughtiness. Haha...


So I guess in the end, I enjoyed the series for the messages and feel of it (it does have a nice romantic vibe in the series, like you're watching a very long romantic comedy), but obviously, they were also many scenes that I just couldn't imagine grown men sitting around a table could write, and that these actors could act w/ a straight face. But anyhow, I'm only even thinking about the series because of the music. The music! I will try to write a review on this once things are less crazy.