Huang Chung

Huang Chung | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 19, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: One Way Records Inc
• ASIN: B000002R7F
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,170 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Hold Back the Tears

2. I Never Want to Love You in a Half Hearted Way

3. Ti Na Na

4. Straight from My Heart

5. Dancing

6. China

7. Rising in the East

8. Chinese Girls

9. Why Do You Laugh

10. I Can't Sleep

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ding? Dang Dong!, March 25, 2004

By 

Mark Champion "autumnfair" (San Antonio, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Huang Chung (Audio CD)

I'm not sure how far I want to go with this, but Wang Chung's first record isn't too bad in a sub-Midge Ure Ultravox sort of way. On this release they eschew synthetic rhythms and most keyboards and replace them with tasty saxophone. (A huang chung is a type of Chinese reed or wind instrument but I'll be darned if I can hear any such thing on this record, unless the particular saxophone in question happens to be Chinese-made.) Given their moniker, and the cover (a rather dour-looking bunch with fake names- -Darwin? Hogg?- -and the requisite silly hair that unfortunately renders them hard to take very seriously), and several song titles ('China', 'Chinese Girls', 'Rising In The East') you would think this would be an exotic sort of affair; as it is, it's rather mainstream. There's a lot of fretless bass, but the most 'Oriental' thing about HUANG CHUNG (the album) is that Huang Chung (the band) probably thinks it's Japan (the other band). Besides, they sneak in a love song called 'Ti Na Na' which is really 'Tir Na Nog', the mythic Celtic land of eternal youth or something. Tracks I like: 'Ti Na Na' (a dress-rehearsal for 'Dance Hall Days'); 'Dancing' ('and then your dead'!); 'China' (great drum sound, uh, Darwin). Tracks I don't like: well. . . .you figure it out, I'm busy tracing the band's travel itinerary.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vastly under-rated Debut Album, July 9, 2002

By 

Mr Richard Byatt (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Huang Chung (Audio CD)

Sporting an unlikely looking (and unheard of)line-up of Jack Hues (lead vocal), Nick De Spig (Bass), Darren Darwin (Drums) & Hogg Robinson (sax), this is an energetic yet thoughtful post-punk offering. Partially inspired by the whole punk movement, the classically trained Hues combines the rocking 'Straight from my heart' & 'Rising in the East'with the likes of 'Ti-na-na' with it's subliminal oriental-sounding opening and the contemplative 'I can't sleep'

For all the raw-energy of this album, you cannot fail to feel the innovation and creativity that shines through. With the occasional dreamy sound of fretless-bass in the background, use of echo, various bell&koto type sounds, you can feel temporarily transcended to some ethereal 'nether-world' only to be brought crashing back down to Earth with the likes of the up-tempo 'China' with it's uplifting tenor-sax.

Produced by Roger Bechirian & Rhett Davies (previously worked with Roxy Music), this is an unusual but ultimately rewarding album combining different styles and techniques with an unmistakable honesty transmitted through Hues' vocals.
The band metamorphised from Huang Chung to Wang Chung following this album and gained considerable commercial success.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Album- Deserves Better, May 13, 2004

By 

Joey (Chinkaria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Huang Chung (Audio CD)

I consider this album to be the best debut album ever made. This was a platter that stood out in 1982, among the keyboards and analog synths, because it has a saxophone at the base of the songs. It's not as versatile as a keyboard, but it works. Be sure to listen to "China", "Chinese Girls", and "Why Do You Laugh".

However, this has to be the shoddiest re-release I have ever seen in my life. The back of the CD looks like it was put together with Windows Paint, with the picture of the band taken, it looks like, straight off an orginal LP of the album. The sound quality.... well... it sounds... muffled. It sounds like there are pillows (albeit thin ones) in front of the speakers. Oddly, the only track that doesn't sound this way is "Ti Na Na", which is crisp and clear. If you have control over it, crank your treble WAY up on all the other songs. Last, this really seems to have been mastered in a rush, because "I Never Want To Love You In A Half Hearted Way" is cut off too early, with the last half second of the song at the beginning of "Ti Na Na". You don't notice this when you just let the album run, but when you jump to "Ti Na Na" you hear a weird noise before the song starts, which is really the end of "I Never Want To Love You In A Half Hearted Way". Call me picky, but that's just plain sloppy.

In the end, get it. It's dirt cheap nowadays, you should be able to get it for around five bucks. Pick it up to hear the Genesis of Wang Chung, to hear their second best album (behind Points On The Curve).