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Tuesday, July 01, 2003
F4: More than your average boy band
By Annie Alejo
Dao Ming Shi is halfway in convincing Shan Chai that they're meant to be together and the popular TV series called "Meteor Garden" is about to end its first season. But there is no saying goodbye to F4.
The four boys have successfully established themselves as a singing group beyond their fame in Meteor Garden, backed by their albums Meteor Rain and Fantasy 4Ever.
Boy bands are a dime a dozen these days but each F4 member has always been presented as an individual in his own right and not just a member of a band.
For example, the songs given to Vanness Wu (known to Meteor Garden followers as happy-go-lucky Mei Zhuo) tend to have that Rn'B/hiphop feel as he grew up breakdancing on the streets of L.A.
Meanwhile, rock and funk infuse the songs performed by Jerry Yan (the popular Dao Ming Shi) and Ken Zhu (who plays the gentlemanly playboy Xi Men) while most of the sad songs go to Vic Zhou (the sensitive Hua Ze Lei), who is the most serious of the group.
"Meteor Rain," the group's first album, has ten romantic songs, featuring each member of F4 in the spotlight for two songs each. Jerry Yan sings "I Truly Love You," the ballad that's been receiving massive airplay on music channels. He also sings another love song, though more upbeat, "Got To Have You."
The album is in Mandarin, but smatterings of English lyrics abound, especially in the raps inserted in Vanness Wu's song, "Everywhere," which is 80 percent in English. Vanness also wrote his rap for this song. While this track has a steady slow hiphop beat, his other song, "Who Made You Cry?" is a slower, gentler song of heartbreak.
Although Vanness speaks English best, he's not the only one who can converse in it. Ken Zhu had grown up in Singapore and knows how to speak in English, but not as well as his American-born friend can. The resident rocker of F4, Ken feels as comfortable singing with a full rock band backing him in "Here We Are" as he does with the acoustic "Show Me Your Love," both songs with a smattering of English verses. Ken also plays the guitar when he sings "Here We Are" during their live concerts.
Vic Zhou holds his own as the most soulful of F4. As a special case of life imitating art, Vic and his TV alter ego Hua Ze Lei seem to be the same person. And like his character, Vic's singing can convey different heart-tugging emotions. The sentimental "Persistence For You" shows his melancholy side while the gently percussive "The Most Special Existence" displays Vic's sweet side.
The second album "Fantasy 4Ever," on the other hand, better displays the four singing together as a group. They also have their solos in this album but they seem to shine more in the group songs, such as the highly popular "Can't Lose You (Oh Baby Baby)," and their second single from that album, "Season of Fireworks."
Other highlights include the ballad "Love's Terrain" and the upbeat "Ask For More" an anthem written for their Pepsi campaign. Also, there are surprising versions of Chayanne's "Te Amo," and "Can't Help Falling In Love."
You can catch live performances of these songs in F4's "Fantasy Live Concert" VCD and visual accompaniments to the songs in Meteor Rain in the Meteor Rain Karaoke VCD, both available in your nearest record stores.
Even after Meteor Garden, let F4 surprise you again and again.
(July 1, 2003 issue)
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