MUSIC REVIEW: My Love - Janice Vidal

This album came out in Hong Kong at the end of 2005, but I didn't really have much opportunity to listen to it properly until 2006.

This is Janice's second album - her first album was exclusively cover versions of Leon Lai's songs (though the lyrics were re-written in English in some songs). I found her first album uninspiring, and the breathing was just a tad too heavy. This second offering, however, was a major improvement - her singing has dramatically improved and sounds a lot more natural. There's a half-cover version of a Leon Lai's song, "You Won't Come Here Tonight" (Track 3) - I still didn't like the idea of covering Leon's classics. However, the album is packed with a whole load of good songs - "Big Brother" (Track 8), which was featured in the 2nd edition of the first album, and the opening track of this album "Ten Of Him Is Not As Good As One of You" (Track 1) were both hits in their own rights. "Confused and Disturbed" (Track 6) reached the top spot in Hong Kong charts in January 2006. But the most impressive track by far is "My Love My Fate" (Track 7) - the emotions she has put into this song just came across in a very powerful way. Even the more upbeat songs such as "I Want To Fall In Love" (Track 9) were more than satisfactory.

Overall, Janice has come a long way since her first album. If she makes another big improvement in her next album, her third album could well become a real classic.