Ho Hoang Yen – Bao Tinh
I got mad love for Ho Hoang Yen’s sensuous vocals (something about that slightly smoky timbre) as well as her voluptuous figure. In fact, I got so much love for her that I treated her debut, Bao Tinh, from a clean slate, as if I have not heard of the songs she performed on Asia’s video before. It really is a damn shame that her first album is nothing more than a collection of tracks Asia production gathered from its various video series.
Even if I try to get past the repackaging scam, I can’t get over Asia’s sleazy method of recycling old beats. At least two of Truc Ho’s arrangements have already been used in the past. “Mot Mai Em Di” and “Khuc Thuy Du” were taken straight from Thuy Duong’s version. Ho Hoang Yen just has to sing over the same old productions. Her version of “Hanh Phuc Lang Thang” and “Bao Gio Biet Tuong Tu” is just flat and uninspiring. The “Lien Khuc Vu Thanh An” with Tuan Khanh sticks out like a soar thumb.
I am so glad that “Xin Thoi Gian Qua Mau” has been rearranged and not reusing Ngoc Lan’s. While Ngoc Lan’s gorgeous rendition remains matchless, Ho Hoang Yen’s version takes on a different direction. It’s more tender and the jazz keyboard adds some nice touch to the tune. The title track is decent as if she has brought the quiet storm to the sentimental lyrics and her version of “Bai Tango Cho Rieng Em” is simply sexy, not sure if it’s the tango or the dress.
Bao Tinh is a disappointment because Asia places her in such a rigid template that she has very little room to wiggle, let along the space to be creative. With such a hypnotizing voice, Ho Hoang Yen can offer much more than this if she is willing to explore outside of the Asia’s box.
Fake face. Fake boobies. Fake voice!
i like ur non-apologetic reviews of viet cds, especially this album. ho hoang yen’s voice outshines those of her competitors. i like bai tango rieng cho em’s song because it showcases her versatility and professionalism. she can successfully branch out from soft ballads to tango. also, she did extremely well with her solo performance on the new asia’s dam cuoi dau xuan dvd (it’s a beautiful song with meaningful lyrics, but i forgot the title of the song)
Have u seen thuy nga’s new xuan’s dvd? I wonder what’s ur feedback on it. I still haven’t finished it. Despite being a loyal fan of thuy nga’s production, for some reasons, this dvd doesn’t attract my full attention. I still don’t get the xuan sentiment from it compared to asia’s xuan dvd.
Hi Allison, no I have not watched neither. Probably this weekend.
allison – the song is called “Nhu Giot Sau Roi”
i really enjoyed her performance in the DVD.
Ho Hoang Yen’s voice is so intoxicating. I really liked Xin Duong Co Mua Dong and Mot Mai Em Di would have been great if they updated the arrangement
Hi Donny
I can appreciate your frustration about the “recycling” old arrangements. However, I also think you’re a bit too harsh. Thuy Nga, and especially Asia, are no Sony Music or EMI or RCA records. They don’t have the capital to invest into each and every of their singers’ album. Don’t you think Truc Ho would love to be able to afford brand new arrangements for each of the singer? It costs money and time. You can argue that if they can’t make a good album then don’t make one at all. True, but what about the singers who also rely on selling their CD’s at concerts to make a living?
I know you also feel strongly about recycling old songs in these programs. The reason why these songs get recycled because they’re worthy of listening to. Would you prefer to listen to the crap “nhac thi truong” coming out of VN?
We need to show more support to the music productions here instead of keep asking them to have new music, better arrangements, swanky stages and yet continuing to condone the practice of buying fake products.
I watched an interview of HHY on SBTN and she mentioned that this album was released because she and people wanted her to release the songs she sang on Asia as one cd. She then mentioned that she’s going to release another album later on though (I’m assuming she means with newer material).
james- thanks for finding the song title that ho hoang yen performed on the asia’s xuan dvd…cool cover of afterschool’s song. how & where did u learn korean?
Steel Magnolia- i agree w/ ur comments about asia & thuy nga’s limited budgets on producing new songs/arrangements. we should appreciate & support their products.
donny’s bold & blunt reviews may seem harsh sometimes, but he’s entitled to his opinions.
True, Thuy Nga and Asia are no Sony Music or EMI or RCA records. Producers in Viet Nam are no Thuy Nga and Asia either, but they manage to create new arrangements all the time even for old songs. Duc Tri, Hoai Sa, Tran Manh Hung and Le Minh Son, just to name a few, always come up with fresh arrangements for old songs. I embrace with old and new music, but I am looking for the creativeness that go into it. Tossing the same beat to different singers is just plain lazy. Asia and Thuy Nga already make money with their over-used beats for the karaoke market.
Who say you need a big budget to create a great album? Norah Jones made her debut right in her home studio and sold over 30 million copies.
allison – you’re welcome, it’s one of my favourite performances from her now.
and as for learning korean…i just kept listening to korean music, and became familiar with how words sounded..and then i practice reading song lyrics (romanized). I don’t actually know if how accurate my pronunciation is, or what the words even mean unless I look up a translation.
Donny
I understand what you’re trying to say. However, I think you’re comparing apples and oranges when it comes to VN producers. Don’t get me wrong, I love Duc Tri and Hoai Sa. Hoai Sa’s arrangements for Tuan Ngoc’s Live in VN and Duc Tri’s arrangement for some of the songs in Tran Thai Hoa’s “Bao gio biet tuong tu” are some of my favorite arrangements of all time. But don’t forget that they’re independent producers who are paid by singers to produce their albums. Asia and Thuy Nga, on the other hand, bear the majority of the cost for producing their singers’ albums (unless that singer has their own production and only require Asia or Thuy Nga to distribute their albums). It costs money and time to hire musicians, run a recording studio, and of course pay the musician to do the arrangements. I imagine it’s much cheaper to do the same job in VN!! And the market for albums produced oversea is so much smaller than the VN market. Not to mention that market is ever shrinking thanks to people listening free to the albums online or ripping a copy of somebody else. I guess what I’m trying to say is that producers here are very capable of coming up with fresh arrangements, but they are constrained largely by the bottom line which is unfortunately the $$.
Please check the credits for Nora Jones’ record “Come away with me” to see where the recordings were done. BTW, it won a Grammy for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. Nora Jones must have one heck of a home studio!! Oh yes, this record was produced by Blue Note Records, a subsidiary of either EMI or Capitol Records…
With that said, I believe you and I do share the same vision and hope for the Viet productions here to be more innovative and creative! I’m all for excellent music, and so are you.
Allison – this is Donny’s blog, I’m just a visitor sharing her disagreement in a, hopefully, respectful manner :) Donny is entitled to say anything he wishes.
Cheers
I don’t see how recycling same old arrangements would produce more creative innovative work. Music produced in Vietnam isn’t necessary cheaper, if that’s the case why not make an album in Vietnam? Cheaper in investment, much better quality.
Because of the shrinking market and the free online listening, making a quality album should be a top priority. Listening online is like getting sample before making the purchase. Even before the digital age, music stores, particularly one in my hometown, allowed you to listen to the entire CD before you buy. I am not ashamed to admit that I listen to many albums online, but then I’ll purchase the ones that I want to keep and delete the ones I don’t. I purchased quite a bit of CDs in Vietnam through my cousin, but have not spent too much on Thuy Nga’s and Asia’s products.
Yes, Blue Note is Jones’s label, but check the album sleeve again where the tracks were recorded. In fact, check her 2nd and 3rd album as well. Blue Note was smart to let Jones and her band did their own things.
I don’t think it’s fair to compare “nhac thi truong” in VN to “Nhac thinh phong” in the US. Let’s compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. What we call “nhac thinh phong” in the US might be the equivalent of Phu Quang, Duong Thu and Le Minh Son in Vietnam. I myself prefer the latter ones because I think they got what people call the “Vietnameseness” in the way they incorporate folk melody and folk vocab in their songs while Ngo Thuy Mien, Van Phung, etc tend to imitate European tunes and ways of thinking.
That, of course, leaves us with Dan Truong, My Tam to be compared to Thuy Nga’s singers. And I don’t know enough about any of them.
Wouldn’t mind them recycling the arrangements if they weren’t so outdated. The arrangement for “Mot Mai Em Di” was done for Thuy Duong’s first appearance on Asia and that was decades ago
-thanks for ur response james.
-Steel Magnolia: i appreciate you sharing disagreement in a respectful manner.