Evan Yo(蔡旻佑) - Metamorphosis(变心记) Album Thoughts(Mandopop)

   I'm about two months too late but I got around to listening to some Mandopop music that might have slipped passed me over the last few months. Evan Yo was one of those artists. This singer has been around since he was fourteen years old and has released six albums. Metamorphosis is his newest release after a four year absence. He is deemed by some as the second coming of veteran singer Jay Chou because of both singers's similarities in musical talents. Evan Yo majored in the Violin  and can play other instruments just like Chou. He also won Best New Artist in 2007.

Tracklist：
1.        装〈intro〉 01:45
2.        装 05:45
3.        变心记 03:42
4.        天真的蝎 03:26
5.        独占 04:38
6.        伞 03:25
7.        伎俩feat.艾怡良 04:09
8.        谁不想太多 04:45
9.        同一片风景 03:43
10.       过站不停 03:40
11.       Never Look Back 04:44




   I was a tiny bit weary of Evan's new music when I saw that he had another album. His last album only provided me with one track that I actually liked. The rest of the album was a jumbled mess of incomplete ideas that might of worked had Yo taken more time to make them consistent. Metamorphosis could've given me the same quality content served on a plate, which I wasn't ready for. Evan is an artist that is very multi dimensional when it comes to his music. So You never know what kind of mood or genres of music you will get when listening to an Evan Yo album. His been this way for the many years that I have followed his music. Metamorphosis was really just that: a evaluation of change from his last album into a stronger musical artist. The main styles of music this album focuses on are Classical, Rock, Pop, and Ballad. He also takes a try at doing the swing style that music people in Taiwan are used to hearing from Jay Chou. This sounds like a more perfected version of the tracks Jay has left, only with a different take on vocals. I'm not made at him to be honest. Some of his choices to mix classical music with almost every production of each track was genius in my opinion. Yo is showing that he has more room to grow and that he's constantly growing. The slow pop/ classic songs really take the charm of this album home. There such an emotional maturity to the producing on this album as a whole that you try to take all the small details in when you listen. From the hard beat drops to the violin intro rock anthems that I love Evan Yo for, He seems to be getting into the groove in preparation to keep experimental artistry going in Taiwan after the greats such as Wang Lee Hom and Jay Chou decide to finally call it quits.(I hope that's not anytime soon…. That news would really be the end of an era..)

   Evan Yo's voice always had the sound of youth in it's quality. Even though he has gotten older, there's still a bright energy when he sings. I need to add that his vocal range grew over the past few years too. I'm glad that he came back more experienced than before.

    I enjoyed Metamorphosis as a full album more than his last album. Evan Yo is one of those artists that I can tell will be around for a long time. Dude really is a super talented piece to Taiwan's pop music scene.