Customer Reviews

Fable

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I think this is Faye Wong's greatest album yet. This is the first album of any artist that I have listened to in which all the tracks are good. Whenever I pop it into my CD player, i can't help but listen to the whole album because it's so good!!

"The Cambrian Era" gives a great introduction to the album, with a lot of mysteriousness.
"The New Tenant" has a great backbeat rhythm.
"Xiang Nai Er" is probably my most favorite song of all time. No matter how many times I listen to it, I still love it all the same.
"Asura" tells a story (if you get the translation) and is very classical.
"Flowers of Paradise" is hauntingly beautiful, totally orchestrated, and has a beautiful melody.
"If You Were Unreal" is very cute with a little reggae rhythm in it.
"I Don't Love Anyone Who Doesn't Love Me" is a great song which really captures her emotions in it.
"You Like It, So I Like It" is also very nice and is a very calm song.
"Firefly" has a rock mood and captures her anguish and captivating melody.
"Book of Laughter and Forgetting" is a really great song, with just her, the piano, and strings.

I really love her singing in this (she's a total genius) and this album is definitely a must-have, even if you don't speak one word of Chinese (like me)!!!!!!!!!

Faye Wong's 2000 release FABLE simply negated all the previous releases except for EXASPERATION in 1996. This album is probably the best in Faye's career, and one of the very best in contemporary Asian music scenes. The first five tracks weave (also the best five tracks) weave into a tale that dated back to pre-historic times. Faye Wong composed the music for all these five tracks with Lin Xi's poetic lyrics. The music was recorded in Beijing. All five tracks were arranged, programmed, and mixed by long-time music partner and friend Zhang Ya Dong, who also played drum. The Beijing Symphony Orchestra performed strings and Yue Hao Kun took the bass. Faye Wong inthis album once again demonstrated her senses for an alternative music that redefines the mainstream Hong Kong/Taiwan music, which is mostly characterized by soft ballads and sappy love songs.

Track 01-PRE CAMBRIAN ERA features trip-hop groove that creates a haunting mood. Faye's vocal is high and solid, with abosultely no fault. The song kicks off the album with a love-at-first-sight encounter of the prince and princess. The Beijing Choir performed the background vocal and enhances the ominous disposition.

Track 02-NEW TENANT is no doubt the best track in the album. I personally think NEW TENANT is the best song ever in Faye's career. The refreshing note attributes to use of breakbeat arrangement. The song is a clever mix of electronica with orchestrated rock and breakbeat arrangement. Zhang Ya Dong deserves the credit for creating such a scintillating acoustics listening experience. Lin Xi's lyrics is simply arousing: I've seen a tsunami but never seen your smile. I've caught a bird but never caressed your feather.

Track 03-CHANEL is a more upbeat, jubilant track of the quintuple. CHANEL proclaims the flamboyance of the flourishing love affair. The music is much simpler and weaker than PRE-CAMBRAIN ERA and NEW TENANT but still not a bad selection. CHNAEL features trumpet by Wen Zhi Yong.

Track 04-ASURA is one of the eight celestial dragons in ancient Chinese fairy. Asura is belligerant, envious, jealous, and destructive. ASURA symbolizes the destruction of relationship. The Beijing Woodwinds Ensemble performed woodwinds for this piece, joined by Wang Mei on harp and Wang Zhi on French horn. ASURA exudes a melancholy, disappointing mood.

Track 05-FLOWER FROM YONDER SHORE is an old Buddhist saying referring to the wings of flowers take off and fly after the flowers wither. The soil filtered out love and hatred will again burgeon with new seeds. The instrumental beginning of this track go on for about 1:55 before Faye began the vocal performance. FLOWER FROM YONDER SHORE strikes me the most with Faye's chanting. Percussion and French horn add to the ethereal mood.

The following tracks from 06 to 10 are mainstream Taiwanese ballads that don't deserve any much comment. I think Faye should have released the first five tracks alone in a maxi single to better preserve the unity of the fable. Tracks 06 to 10 obviously have nothing to do with the fable. The last track, Track 12-Love Letter to Self deserves some attention. Long-time music partner C. Y. Kong has bestowed Faye with one of the most elegant, beautiful tunes in recent years. Any brave move will be confronted with much criticism and even persecution. Many have found this album dispensable and not worthy of the wait. I persoanlly welcome this breakthrough in music style-with the introduction of new music element such as the mix of electronica with carefully orchestrated rock in NEW TENANT. Many Asian artists, espcially from Hong Kong and Taiwan, compromised too much and released music that will attract sales. Faye Wong obviously has chosen the road less traveled. I expect more music that digresses from the straight line, and more experimental music. I definitely recommend the quintuple.

pushing the limits of creativity and purity, faye has delivered another complex yet well produced album: fable. the album treads a fine line between commercialism and boldness and uses an appropriate combination of electronica and meticulously-orchestrated rock to tell an interesting story. building upon the simple premises of princes and princesses in ordinary fairy tales / folklores, the album explores love and passion in the 21st century. as time has changed, so have the endings of fairy tales and fables. there is no prince nor princess, and they don't live ''happily ever after''either. everyone learns to deal with disappointment and disillusionment. however, the album ends with a relatively self-reliant and uplifting note, which also corelates the artist's personal growth and current state of mind. all in all, a pop album that is both haunting and elegant. recommendations: cambrian period, firefly and a love letter for myself.

Another successful attempt by Faye Wong in her venture into some really alternative music. The first five tracks of Fable is composed by Faye Wong, herself, much to the excitement of many Faye Wong fans. The lyrics of the first five tracks, penned by Faye's good friend, Lin Xi, oozes much creativity as it takes listeners onto a journey of romance between a prince and his princess. And hence the name of the album , Fable. The linkage between these five songs is so strong that, the subsequent tracks seem to come from a separate album. Track 6 - 10 are more mainstream and generally more pleasant to the ears. My personal favourite is track 8, "I Like It More Than You Do". A must for all avid Faye Wong fans, but not a very good introduction to new listeners of Faye Wong.

When I first got my hands on Fables, I was truly amazed by... well, just everything on the first 5 tracks, and now, they are among my favorite Chinese songs ever! Ample stuff, simply superlative! What else can I say? The first song 'A Pre-Cambrian Period' showcases her operatic vocal once again, compare the vocal offered here with that of 'Face', it is a draw. However, this track topped `Face' by the arrangement. The trip-hop groove provided a more melancholic touch to the track, to get you into the mood, the fable. It sounds ominous I have to say, however, this only draws you closer to the track. It sounds like Elizabeth Fraser fronting Mono, beautiful and ethereal. In my opinion, this is the best track on the album. The second track 'New Tenant' is probably one of the best airport songs ever! Once again, the vocal here is amazing, absolutely brilliant, and the breakbeats do break some new grounds here. (It actually employs several sets of different drum loops to the track, which is totally unprecedented in HK) Faye's voice is smoother and more delicate than that of Liz Fraser, which is great, but the comparison between this album and any of the Cocteau Twins' album stops here, for the arrangement on this album is much more Portishead than Cocteau. The bittersweet 'Chanel' is, relatively speaking, weaker than the rest of the first 5 songs, but that doesn't mean it is no good, due to the sheer brilliance of the rest of the first 5, this one is a wee bit pallid in comparison. It is a typical drum&bass track with a slightly unusual opening, the string and trumpet in certain places does ameliorate the lack of some fantastic tune here. Still, the tune isn't that bad, it is a decent one, it is just that it does not stand out as much as the rest of the tracks do. 'Asura' sits on a totally different plane as `Chanel', it is placed after the seemingly jubilant track to give a contrast. The downbeat arrangement signifies the disappointment, the exasperation hidden inside that fragile heart, again, it sums up some of the best moments of Portishead and pushed the envelope even further. Fabulous! If `Asura' signifies disappointment, (no, not me, I am not disappointed at all! Not at all) `Flower From Yonder Shore' sighs in despair, It is decadent to the core, however, this shell of decadence made this an utterly essential track. This sense of despair is exactly the ingredient to this sheer brilliance. The second half of the album is definitely pale in comparison, in my humble opinion. Nevertheless, the first half of the album alone is good enough to make this album my second favorite Faye album of all time. It is only second to `Exasperation', which is still a stronger album than anything else she has ever done, including this one.

I've waited a year for her new album and it doesn't disappoint me. Faye Wong has a brilliant voice. My favourite song on this album is track 12. But all the other songs are good to great. Track 1 to 5 is composed by Faye herself and written by Lin Xi. These five songs will form a story, a fable. Very original and both Faye and Lin Xi have done a great job. But unfortunately, it feels incomplete because it's just 5 songs and not a whole album. This album is also very different than her previous cd's, so maybe some people won't like it. It really sounds very different than the usual popsongs. But it shows what position Faye has reached in the music business. Which other singer in Asia dare to do it? Only Faye, because everybody will buy her album no matter what. And this album is great. The booklet is great too and every music-lover should get it now!! Recommended tracks: 1,2,3,8,9,12

As the first album in which Faye Wong wrote lyrics for her songs, it can be said that "Fable" was a new approach for the singer. This album was a little different in style and sound in comparison to her previous albums, but Faye's beautiful, clear voice marks the album as her own. I can't comment on the lyrical value of the album, as I'm not a native speaker of Cantonese or Mandarin, but the intrumental quality is relatively good and, in my opinion, an improvement as a whole from her previous albums.

The songs here are just great..Full of poetic lyrics and great music . Even for those who doesn't understand Chinese..I would recommended this CD..for all Faye Wong fans

"Fable" is really a 2.5-star album, but since Amazon's ranking system does not offer the reviewer the opportunity to make fine distinctions, I round up to 3 stars out of appreciation for Fei Wong's voice, her sometimes relatively innovative production, and the inclusion of perhaps two good songs out of twelve. Of course I am measuring this album largely in relation to Faye's other work and the potential she has shown, and not by the standards of the usual Mandopop crap next to which this is more like a 4-star album.

We have here a collection of mostly unexceptional songs which mix very good singing with less-good dramatic orchestral instrumentation, electronica, folk, and rock. In many of the songs there are both moments where the odd combinations work and ones where they don't. I often think I am about to hear a great song and get let down by something that devolves quickly into anachronistic, overwrought, and simply cheesy strings. (This problem becomes less common but is still present in some of Faye's more recent work). Although I doubt this is true, the album gives the impression Faye is trying to capture both the audience of Teresa Teng's era and the attention of those who long for innovative and unconventional music-making to be more prevalent in the world of Chinese pop. (But, uh... I guess that wouldn't make it "pop" then, would it?) It would be very hard to do both of these things well at the same time. The tendency on the part of Faye's producers to combine incongruous elements does not begin or end with "Fable" and sometimes goes so far as to drag in material from truly out-of-place genres like Latin guitars and watered-down Caribbean-style syncopation. Warning: You will find some of these excesses here.

At least Faye's voice and distinctive singing styles are given space to shine on this album, and there are hints of what is to come in terms of intelligent production and arrangement. The operatic rock song "Goodbye Firefly" actually rocks, for example, (and foreshadows the aggressive "Jiang Ai" of 2003 which really put Faye on the map internationally) although it also has those melodramatic strings in abundance as well as a guitar riff that was clearly borrowed from the James Bond theme song. "Flower of Paradise" could also make the cut for one of her superior albums.

Faye's voice is actually charming enough that "Fable" will grow on you if you give it a chance despite the relative mediocrity of most of the backing music, and you may find yourself enjoying it overall and even singing along with many tracks instead of just playing the two best songs over and over. Faye shows she has classical training and can sing in somewhat traditional styles (can you say vibrato?) while also applying the skill classical technique has given her to express herself powerfully in a more personalized voice characterized by the use of breathy phrasing terminations and near-whispers among other emotive techniques. It is in the latter case where her sincerity and creativity are most evident.

If you're becoming a Faye Wong fanatic and must have a copy of "Fable" you're probably better off picking it up at street prices in a Chinatown somewhere rather than buying what appears to be a Japanese import listed by Amazon.com. You could skip this one without missing much and go straight to "Jiang Ai," her 2003 release which is typically being translated as "To Love." [...]

This has to be one of my Favorite Faye Wong albums of all. Faye prooves againg that she is a great song writer as well as a great vocalist. She is always evolving and trying something new which set her apart from other pop divas in Hong Kong. The best songs in the album, not surprisingly, are the first 5 trippy ambient tracks written by Faye herself. The songs flow together beautifully and takes you on a journey. My favorites on the album are tracks 1, 2 and 3, especially track 2 with the breakbeat arrangement, and the drum and bass arrangement on track 3 is pretty cool too. To me her weakest tracks are the ballads toward the end of the album which are really not up to par with the creativity that was involved in the first half of the album. However, over all, it is still an excellent album.