JJ Lin(林俊杰) - Message In A Bottle(偉大的渺小) Album Thoughts(Mandopop)

 

   

01. 聖所 
02. 偉大的渺小 
03. 穿越 
04. 四點四十四 
05. 我繼續 
06. 剪雲者 
07. 黑夜問白天 
08. 丹寧執著 (feat. 消除聯萌) 
09. 身為風帆 
10. 小瓶子 
11. Until The Day
 


   I'm moving right along with these posts about stuff from 2017. I didn't get the chance to write a post about these things yet so bare with me. JJ Lin is a huge star in Taiwan. None there would think otherwise. He climbed up to being one of the best selling artists in Taiwan with each album release. He also made time to be in films and start his own clothing line for his fans. Message in a Bottle is his thirteenth album if you can believe it. After a two year long break, JJ Lin still seems to be alive and kicking.

   I held out hope for a long time while I listened to Message In a Bottle. My hope was for the album to pick up the pace a little bit. Tracks are majorly on the slow side except for a few ones. JJ Line opens the album with a new electronic dance pop number that does the ears good. Many fans where hungry for some new music and the first few tracks are created with flawless production that reminds listeners who the hell they are listening to. JJ Lin has always released music created in a strong professional manner. I enjoyed how his version of the dance pop music thats super popular in the world right now plays to introducing a new side of him to fans. The repetition of the vocal phrasing doubles down on the beat perfectly for an all out catchy number. Message's ballads come in more than enough forms. His slow songs are slick in detailed musical progression but they really stop the album from being a show stopper for me. There's so many ballad tracks that I didn't even care by the time I got to another upbeat track. I did however get lost in the slower tracks's instrumentals. Their violins, pianos, and guitars all together make a dark emotional sound that match Lin's vocals. I'm not sure what he went through during his two year absence however, Message in a Bottle feels more like therapy for Lin himself. People can relate to a singer when they are most honest in their music. Music that comes from the heart always sounds the best.

   Lin was having a good old time singing in his high range on this album. If there was one positive quality that came out of all the ballad tracks, it would have to be the huge growth of Lin's vocals that he showed. He comes in ready to show us what he can still do. Only he is a more improved version of the vocalist that he was since the last album. I was clutching my shirt at one point……

   Message In a Bottle would probably cause me to get in a fight with Lin's hardcore fans simple because I think this was overall one of his weaker albums. I'm sure there's some fans out there that could spend forever and a day telling me reasons I should love this album based off the lyrical content. Just save it please. I understand. Really. My opinion still won't change though.