Van Ness Wu's Greatest Hits "In Between" 2002 & 2008

How does one even begin to review Van Ness Wu's latest album "In Between" without going back in time and recalling how it all began for this incredibly talented artist?

"In Between" is supposed to be a "greatest hits" album of sorts... of the 15 tracks in this album, only 3 tracks are brand new, with the remaining 12 tracks being famliar ones to those of us who have been there with him throughout the journey of these last amazing 6 years!

I first heard about "In Between" right here at Alive Not Dead, and went on to pre-order it through one of V's many fan clubs... my pre-ordered copy hasn't reached me yet, but I went ahead and popped down into a music store near my workplace to get me a copy ahead of time anyways, just to listen to what was in it, and to add a little something more to the coffers of someone who is "makin' a dollar out of 15 cents".

Of course, these days, Van Ness Wu isn't just lookin' at a few extra dollars lining his pockets, and the songs on this album are testimony to what's been goin' down these past 6 years to make it so for him.

My Singapore copy of the album includes CD and DVD. The DVD comes with a "rockumentary" of sorts, giving the newly initiated an overview of the past 6 years of Van's career, beginning with his first solo album, "Body Will Sing"; taking us thru' to his collaboration with Kangta in "Scandal"; bringing us thru' lots of hot rhythms and flows with Jae Chong in "V.Dubb"; reminding us of his most recent work with the boyband that started it all for him in "Zai Zhe Li Deng Ni" by F4; and finally bringing us up to speed with Van's latest works, the new tracks done with Terry Tye Lee that complete what is Van's third solo album and greatest hits collection, "In Between".

Watching the DVD brought me back, all the way back to my very first encounter with Van Ness Wu...

I was brought up in a very Westernised family, everyone at home speaks English to the point where I was doing poorly in Mandarin when I was in school, and everything I listened to and watched was in English... movies, music, you name it... I was a "banana person"... a white person inside of a yellow-skinned body... I was brought up on "Sesame Street", "The Muppet Show", George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Walt Disney, and the Mickey Mouse Club... I listened mostly to popular music from the UK and USA, and I hardly ever listen to Mandopop music, so it is something quite unusual if I happen to see something Mandopop on TV and it makes me stop in my tracks to watch it, even if it is only for a few minutes.

Well, that's what happened with Van Ness Wu... my first encounter with him was when "Body Will Sing" first came out, and Van did a showcase concert, his first solo concert to go along with his first solo album.

At the time, I had vaguely heard of F4 and "Meteor Garden", but I just didn't bother with it enough to be into it, like the way it was apparently sweeping thru' the rest of Singapore like wildfire!

Van was performing the song "Sick" during that concert, and he had borrowed an idea from N'Sync's "Bye Bye Bye" music video by doing that puppet-like dance... that was what caught my eye, 'cos "Bye Bye Bye" is one of my favourite songs by N'Sync, and here was this Chinese dude on my TV screen copying one of their dance ideas... hmmm, I wonder if he's any better than they are at this dance???

Take a look and see for yourself......

"Bye Bye Bye" by N'Sync:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JoJqID-wJY

"Sick" by Van Ness Wu:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdyloMy79g0

Hmmm...... so I stopped to watch him.

And as I was watching him, slowly but surely it dawned on me...

Omigosh, who is this guy?!??
Some kind of Chinese Michael Jackson or what?!??
He's pretty damned good too!! hahhah! :-p

It's pretty obvious that one of Van's musical influences is Justin Timberlake, who was originally from the boyband N'Sync, before coming out on his own to do his own solo albums and to produce music for other artists with the likes of Timbaland.

Other than borrowing the puppet dance idea, Van has also performed the song "Pop" during the first F4 Concert in Taipei (with the dancing being choreographed by Kenny Chou from Machi), as well as performing "Like I Love You" during the F4 Fantasy Concert Tour at a concert that was held in Jakarta.

Now, if imitation is a form of flattery, then Justin must be AWESOLICIOUSLY FLATTERED to have one of Asia's biggest and brightest stars performing his stuff onstage in front of audiences numbering into the tens of thousands!

But Chinese Michael Jackson or not, as with Lee Hom, all that ooh-ing and aah-ing still didn't make me go right out and get Van's "Body Will Sing" album... it was only later on, when I was bored and decided to rent "Meteor Garden 2" from my neighbourhood Video-Ezy store down at Parkway Parade that I started to really get into F4 and this guy Van Ness Wu... but hey, I'm seriously digressing here.

Coming back to "In Between"... if you do the math properly, you'll realise something about this album... let's just go thru' the numbers here...

Zero! --> There are no songs in the album "In Between" that are originally from the album "Scandal", or from F4's second album...

One! --> And only 1 song each from F4's first and third albums...

Five! --> Whereas there are 5 tracks in the album "In Between" that are originally from Van's first solo album, "Body Will Sing", and 5 tracks that are originally from Van's second solo album, "V.Dubb"...

Three! --> And finally, there are 3 brand new tracks done with Terry Tye Lee that are all Van Ness Wu in "In Between"...

What this adds up to is a tip of the hat in recognition of Van's beginnings in F4, but with a greater focus on Van's solo efforts, showing us where Van comes from, and bringing us right up to date as to what he's got goin' on these days.

Of course, being a greatest hits album of sorts, it doesn't cover EVERY SINGLE SONG that Van ever did throughout his musical career, nor does it even cover what may be some of our favourite songs like "Ji Mo Guang Chang", "Body Will Sing" or "Xing Li Che Yan"... but it is a good enough look at Wu Jian Hao as an artist and what he has done so far in these past 6 years from 2002 to 2008.

As I was working on this review, and doing my homework (so to speak) on YouTube, checking up all the music videos for the songs included for "In Between", I started to notice that almost every track in this album already has a music video or a live concert video available, with the exception of track 3 and track 5... so maybe the song list for this album was put together based on what was visually available, as well as having a greater focus on Van's solo works.

Here's a track by track look at "In Between"......

Track 1: Wo Bu Shi Zi Ji

A fast-paced song with some nuances of Linkin Park, pretty much hardcore stuff here, a good combination of Rap and Rock music in one song. I love the lyrics, 'cos they actually make sense to me, and I can relate to the emotions that they convey. Good job, Van! Good job, Terry Tye Lee!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T98DT_Qfayc

Track 2: Lucky Me

Another fast number, very danceable, with some parts reminding me of Fergie or Nelly Furtado... this track is pissin' positivity! I just can't sit still when this song is playing! Woooooo! Get on up & dance, y'all !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysgh4p-mJP0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-1BDIxQQY0

Track 5: Wu Ye Chang De Dian Ying

I love listening to Van sing ballads... he's got a good voice for ballads... but that doesn't mean that I have to like every single ballad he sings... like this track, for example... I love the way his voice sounds when he sings it, but I don't really like the song... oh well, you can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.


Track 6: Ling Shi Cha

One of my favourites, originally from the "V.Dubb" album, I tend to enjoy tracks that I can dance to, and this track is most definitely danceable! It's got a mean beat, and the beauty is in the little sound details that are dropped in all over this track... listen carefully with a good pair of speakers to get a clue as to what I'm going on about here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_oiAzPApe4

Track 7: Xun Zhao Zhu Lu Ye

I remember this song, 'cos of its music video... Van is searching for his lady love and dancing in what is supposed to be this wet castle environment... splashing about with every move... and then doing that Michael Jackson "Smooth Criminal" almost-impossible leaning move... and getting the chance to do some wirework and special effects stuff too. Not my favourite song, but most definitely a notable track in the mind of any Van Ness Wu fan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp4JUKDwCCU

Track 8: Wo De Wang Guo

Another favourite number of mine from the "V.Dubb" album... actually, I enjoyed just about every song that was in the "V.Dubb" album... or maybe it's just the fact that Jae Chong had worked on this album, and THAT has something to do with it... haha! Once again, this track has a mean beat, it's very danceable, and it's ALL VAN NESS WU here! There's not a doubt in my mind that it's HIS KINGDOM! :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyViIFCFjxY

Track 9: Fang Shou

Not one of my favourite tracks, but this is from the "V.Dubb" album... for those of you who are sentimental, enjoy love songs and ballads, go for the slower stuff, then you might have a greater appreciation for this song than I do... so I'm just gonna step out of your way, quit talkin' here, and just let u enjoy this track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is45vtZhAEs

Track 10: Xiang Xiang Shi Ge Ni

Kinda corny that the number mentioned in the song title is the actual track number for this song in this album... LOL! :-p  But seriously, I LOVE THIS SONG!!! When I said that I enjoy listening to Van sing ballads, this was THE BALLAD that I was referring to. I love singing this song whenever I'm in a KTV, and my friends are usually quite impressed that I'm able to actually nail the rap bits too! Whenever I hear this song, I am reminded of Van's performance of this same song during his Crazy In Love Tour of the Philippines, when I watched him at Araneta Coliseum in Manila.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjGAINzGshg

Track 11: Never Let You Go

Another hot track off the "V.Dubb" album! Mean beat, danceability, sweet lyrics! Enuff said! Just watch the music video! Apparently, the music video for this song was shot in the USA, so there are definitely some American influences and references goin' on here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-GODOGVO3Q

Track 12: Listen To Your Heart

This song saved my life, and brought me out of one of the deepest darkest places I'd ever been to in my whole life, so this song has become very very special to me indeed. If you wanna know more about that, you can just look for my earlier blog about this song. This is the only track from F4's 3rd album that made it into "In Between". Now, on top of what this song already means to me, Van goes off and shoots this INCREDIBLE MUSIC VIDEO for this song, together with Aisa! My love for this song just goes straight off the charts now, and is absolutely unprecedented and unparalleled by any other track! WOAH!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkHYYBybsfM

Track 13: Shui Rang Ni Liu Lei

Speaking of Aisa, this song off F4's debut album "Meteor Rain" somehow reminds me of Van's "Meteor Rain" episode that also stars Aisa... I get to a pretty nostalgic place when I hear this song now... it is one of the first few songs that we get to hear Van sing as a part of F4's debut album... and it is one of those songs that I enjoy listening to whenever I'm in need of some love and tenderness, because the lyrics are just so sweet and comforting! Now everyone, just say it with me... "awwwwww!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yf1t6fBrH8

Track 14: Yin Wei Tai Ai Ni

This song is off the "Body Will Sing" album, and it is one of those songs that I'm afraid I don't really enjoy. The lyrics are sweet, but I just don't dig the tune, and it is just way too slow a song for me, I'm afraid that I might fall asleep just listening to it. Not my cup of tea, but hey, this dull cup of tea might be a sheer coffee high for someone else, so what the hey!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vcqb0XIg6Y

Track 15: Ma Ma

One of Van's better ballads, dedicated to one of the most loved women in Van's life, this song off the "V.Dubb" album will always be featured during Mother's Day, and will probably end up being one of those songs that we will ALWAYS get to hear every Mother's Day! I think any Mom would be proud to hear her kid dedicating this song to her, 'cos it would probably strike her that her kid is all grown up now, ready to take on adult responsibilities, and perhaps able to reciprocate and take care of her in return.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eetqjjJYqFY

By the way, if you've read my previous entry about Wang Lee Hom... Van Ness Wu is one of the reasons I got distracted, and ended up not getting Lee Hom's CDs... of course, I'm trying to make up for that these days by paying more attention to Lee Hom, and putting my money where my mouth is by goin' back out to get his albums... after all, the man showed up to show his support at the album release for Van's "V.Dubb" album, and he is very talented too.

OK dudes, I've just about run out of steam for now... this has been a really really long blog entry about Van Ness Wu's latest and 3rd album "In Between"... I can't wait to get in between the sheets, and have a good rest for what's left of the night... perhaps I'll grab a page out of Van's book and leave you with a little N'Sync-inspired farewell......

"Don't really wanna make it tough
I just wanna tell you that I had enough
Might sound crazy, but it ain't no lie
Baby, bye bye bye."