Jay Chou 5th Album " Common Jasmin Orange

Common Jasmin Orange(Chinese: 七里香; pinyin: Qī Lǐ Xiāng) is Jay Chou's fifth studio album, which was released on February 3, 2004. The title of this album literally translates to "Seven Mile Fragrance". This album was also #42 in the Top 50 Global Best Selling Albums for 2004. The popular single, 七里香 Qī Lǐ Xiāngwas officially released on November 29, 2003.

Editor's Review
Reviewed by kelvin on 9th October 2006

Track 01 - Describing the behavioural style of youths who place themselves first. Jay opens the album with this song, echoing the first line: In my territory, you have to listen to me...as if a kind of confidence and declaration he has towards his own album. This is a song with a lot of style employing emphasis on "er" to give it a very chinese feel, also bringing with a slight Disney feel at the opening. This is the type of song that you either love or hate. You either love the way he uses "er" throughout the song or you hate it due to its repetitiveness. Personally it was not too bad at first but the number of "er"s is overused in my opinion. As the track one it surely gives a shock to listeners with its unique style, and perhaps even too unique of a style that may turn people off upon hearing the album from the start.

Track 02 - This is a piece by the partnership of Jay and his best partner Vincent Fang, it is a modern poetic song, it gives people a refreshing feeling like a breeze. The music is like an interesting poem, it is a new idea he longed to show. This the main ballad of the album, following the success of Fine Day from the previous album, this song goes for the same formula. The song starts off very nicely with good instruments and strong verses. The song is spoiled by the average chorus, also by the fact that the chorus is repeated too often. This is a good solid song that many will like.

Track 03 - A lyrical deep feeling rock song, it is also an easy to sing along KTV plugged song. Once again Jay writes about losing love in this song. It is very easy to listen to with nice and simple lyrics that one can easily sing along to. The song itself is nothing spectacular but worth a listen.

Track 04 - Through music, one can understand the relationship between grandson Jay and his grandmother, it is warm and endearing, the latter parts of the lyrics looks back on the Golden Melody Awards, sincerely talking about his feelings and regrets at that time. It also lets us see Jay's real temperament. There are two ways you can look at this song. Either you see Jay singing about his grandmother and being diao about not winning at the GMAs or you can see Jay as whining about not winning. However saying that, the song is mainly about his grandmother. Once again in this song we have a child's voice, only this time the child is in fact a 20 year old female colleague at Jay's company. Personally I do not like the child voices.

Track 05 - The new commercial song for Panasonic, the contents of the lyrics are taken from the topic of slaughtering battle of chinese chess. The rhythm is fast, not letting people have one moment of rest. The strange lyricist Ah Lang after In The Name Of The Father has once again written another representative work. The result is a very well written piece coupled with great rapping by Jay. The song has a strong eastern taste mixed with hip hop.

Track 06 - Jay challenges himself against the hard level of singing in "Black Humour" and "Silence", it is the song he has sung the highest note, it is more than enough to display his vocal abilities. Another slow sad love song, this time the lyrics are by Devon from Nan Quan Mama. This song can be very easily mixed up with Excuse (track 3) since they sound very alike. Personally I feel this song has the better lyrics and tune compared to Excuse and overall the song has much more feeling especially near the end when the song becomes very hard to sing.

Track 07 - From Wife, Nun-chuks, Dragon Fist to Double Blade, Jay used Chinese music to create a musical brand that no one can contend with, this song has even more spectacular creativity shown, letting the time machine of music bring you back to that fascinating dynasty. A commercial song for a popular chinese video game, Jay samples many video game sounds in the song and also inserting a comical phone call in the middle. The song is laid back and easier to listen to but it isn't a song you particular want to listen to. When you are running through the album you won't mind listening to it but usually you won't pick it deliberately to listen to. Also I think the track uses too much scratching that spoils the song slightly. This song definitely falls short in terms of a song for a video game compared to The Orcs for Warcraft 3.

Track 08 - A very strong rock song, the lyrics are by Jay's good friend Liu Geng Hong, showing off a cool Jay style storm. This song is one that is very unlike Jay to sing. Supposedly Jay first wrote this song for a newcomer at Alfa Music but after listening to it, he felt it was better suited for him to sing it himself. Personally, the song just doesn't click for me, perhaps it is because I am more used to Jay singing rnb. The song also sounds very depressing.

Track 09 - An rnb love song style, the rhythm is quick, Vincent Fang uses the school garden party as the topic that creates the vocabulary of students. Taking the listener back to the simple feelings of student period. This is a classic Jay style song, it is very obvious he took some inspiration from his past work Lovable Woman, the song is a welcome return to easy to listen to song with rnb flavour. Fans of his older albums will enjoy this song. The only flaw to this song is the lyrics, not because they are not good but because they are hard to memorise and sing to. Simple lyrics will suit this song better.

Track 10 - The battleground, children, hope, dandelion, theatre, storyteller and also old pictures...Jay has used music to direct the scene. Displaying the main vison of the entire album. It is an excellent piece of work that is very appealing and makes people think. A song about war, I have found with this song a mixed reception. Some people like it, some people don't. Personally the song is low on my playlist. The song gives off a certain uneasy feel to it with the music in the background.

Overall - A better album than the previous since it is much more closer to Jay's original style which is the style I enjoy more. The album is not without its problems, for example the inclusion of Excuse and Run Aground - two songs that just sound too much alike one another. The album is solid overall with a good balance of songs but it lacks truely classic songs that people remember.
Track listing

All music composed by Jay Chou.
Singles from Common Jasmin Orange

"七里香 Qī Lǐ Xiāng (Common Jamsine Orange)"
Released: November 29, 2003
"擱淺 Gē Qiǎn (Stranded)"
Released: March 8, 2004
"止戰之殤 Zhǐ Zhàn Zhī Shāng (Wounds of War)"
Released: June 17, 2004


No. Title Lyrics Length
1. "My Territory" (我的地盤 Wǒ De Dì Pán) Vincent Fang 4:02
2. "Common Jasmine Orange" (七里香 Qī Lǐ Xiāng) Vincent Fang 4:57
3. "Excuse" (藉口 Jiè Kǒu) Jay Chou 4:18
4. "Grandmother" (外婆 Wài Pó) Jay Chou 4:02
5. "Checkmate" (將軍 Jiāng Jūn) Jun-Lang Huang (黃俊郎) 3:22
6. "Stranded" (擱淺 Gē Qiǎn) Devon Song 3:58
7. "Chaotic Dance of Spring and Autumn" (亂舞春秋 Luàn Wǔ Chūn Qiū) Vincent Fang 4:37
8. "Duel of Trapped Beasts" (困獸之鬥 Kùn Shòu Zhī Dòu) Will Liu 4:27
9. "Carnival" (園遊會 Yuán Yóu Huì) Vincent Fang 4:13
10. "Wounds of War" (止戰之殤 Zhǐ Zhàn Zhī Shāng) Vincent Fang 4:34