Let's experience 張惠妹 aMEI's Utopia in her 1st thread!
 

~ Let's experience 張惠妹 aMEI's Utopia in her 1st thread! ~
http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/56...738ad4e65b.jpg

~ Short introduction ~

~ Studio albums ~

~ Links ~

Thank you so much, Linoa!

She has Instagram, didn't know. Gonna follow her.
And gosh, there's so much old stuff from her music I still don't know.

And I only put studio albums in that list! I didn't include her bests (sometimes they contain unreleased songs), her standalone singles...

Fancams from today's concert in Bangkok:




Utopia World Tour's setlist
[setlist of the first 10 dates in Taipei (without the covers)]


Bangkok's setlist
"Only" 32 songs... Maybe she had to scrap several songs for time constraints?

Does it seem likely she'll wait another four years before releasing new music? I know her last releases were the videos from AMIT2, but she did take quite some time between R U Watching? and PARANOIA.

That's a damn long setlist for her tour!
How long is the show? 4 hours?

It was 3 years between R U Watching? and Paranoia, but yeah, I hope we get something next year.

Is it just me or she looks like a mixture of Namie and Janet Jackson? In the first pic, she really resembles Namie.

The cover for Faces of Paranoia looks nice. I may download something from her. What are her main genres?

Maybe you should try her YouTube channel first? It has all MVs from her latest albums Faces of Paranoia & AMIT 2.
Faces of Paranoia
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...7fgTDk8EVem3TR

AMIT 2
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...YKDHKQgUVKhfGu

I give this thread a little bump so once again thanks for creating her thread, Linoa! ;-)
I do not "feel" her older stuff (only the debut album), but I like her stuff since Star album (2007). R U Watching & Faces of Paranoia are great, but especially her rock alter ego AMIT and AMITII! One of the best albums I have ever heard.

aMEI added 2 dates in the US!

aMEI is not utopia_amei on Instagram anymore but AMIT_feat_aMEI:
https://www.instagram.com/amit_feat_amei/

Same goes for her official Facebook page (formerly starmei):
https://www.facebook.com/aMEI.feat.Amit

And a song from Jay Chou's new album is featuring her:


Her performance at the Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan:

Unfortunately she lost in every category she was nominated in...

Utopia World Tour 2.0 has started last week!
The most important dates:
You can already buy tickets for the concert in London: http://www.eventimapollo.com/events/detail/amei
The concert in Milan: http://www.ticketone.it/a-mei-milano-biglietti.html
The concert in Madrid: https://www.ticketbell.com/musica/en...mundial-madrid

So if you live in the UK, in Spain or in Italy, this is your chance to see her live!

The first part of her World Tour, Utopia Word Tour, had 55 dates including 1 in Tokyo, 2 in Australia, 1 in New-Zealand, 2 in the US and 1 in Canada.

EDIT: Utopia 2.0's setlist according to KKBOX.
https://www.kkbox.com/tw/tc/playlist/WpKolYtfyQz_oi7fQl

aMEI has recorded a new album, its release is expected for October or November!

And she scrapped her first idea pour Utopia World Tour DVD/BD.
The first dates in Taipei (April 2015) were supposed to be the ones used for the DVD, but she didn't like the result...
...So she decided to film Kaohsung dates instead from Utopia 2.0 (August 12th, 13th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 25th, 26th, 27th 2017).

New album coming on December 12th called 偷故事的人 Story Thief !
Title song of the same name will be revealed on November 21st.

I love her! Bad Boy is my favorite album.

Oh yay, a new album!
And so soon.

What's with the Utopia World Tour DVD now?
Anything up yet for information?

Nothing yet. Still working on it, I suppose !

Promo pics for the upcoming album
http://www.wownews.tw/newsdetail/motion/153004

I was super happy to hear this news. And I love that this will be another dark album from her. I think Faces of Paranoia and Amit2 were great, but I feel their stories weren't completely tied up. I hope Story Thief closes Paranoia on a solid note.

Please, please, please aMEI... make this the best album of 2017. I need something for this year to end on a good note. I really do. And she saved 2014 and 2015 for me. So, I would love her to be the big record for me again for 2017.

I checked her out on youtube last night. Her music was relaxing! Which album of hers do you recommend to start with?

偷故事的人 STORY THIEF MV


Pre-order links:
https://www.yesasia.com/global/story...0-en/info.html
http://www.5music.com.tw/CDList-C.asp?cdno=438485678859 (already sold out)

Bad Boy (for her earlier sound)
Brave
AMIT

^ thanks, I'll check them out. Now that I see it, I recognize the AMIT cover art from years ago :)

Her new song is absolutely gorgeous ! I also love her as a judge in Sound of My Dream, I really hope she'll include some dope rock songs in her upcoming album.

Dont!

Start with R U Watching? and go to PARANOIA and AMIT2. Maybe STAR. But Don't go back that far. Amei made a massive change in 2011, and she's literally unrecognizable from her old career.

Sorry but I disagree a bit on BAD BOY (at least the song) it's ICONIC

Her AMIT persona is still the best.
I'd always go with AMIT and AMIT 2. Especiay the 2nd one is awesome.

But I do have a problem with the Chinese love of (sappy) ballads. I'm just not the type for it.
So I also don't really like Story Thief.
Excited for the rest of the album nevertheless!

There's nothing wrong with getting familiar with her earlier sound. She had plenty of gems on her first few albums.

Totally. But A-mei from 2011 onward is a completely different identity. Even AMIT2 is more true to the AMIT idea than the first album was. She's just in a unique place now that she is universally considered THE icon of Taiwan's music scene. It's noticeably changed how she approaches her music, performances, and relationship with fans since 2011.

I would say certainly go back to Bad Boy and Sisters. I think anyone will see A-Mei today and in 1997 as two completely different people. So, to really fall in love with A-Mei, fall in love with who she has become, and then love where she came from. :)

Bad Boy is such a gem, oh my gosh, how could you tell anyone not to listen to it? hahah AMIT 2, though is >>>>>> previous works.

I got to know A-mei in 2015 and didn't give a sh*t. then, out of the blue, I wanted to listen to her again last year. Damn, AMIT 2 got me from the beginning. but my personal favorite of ALL is still Matriarchy and I DONT KNOW WHY ANY OF YOU TOLD THE USER TO LISTEN TO IT <3

so listen to matriarchy :P

Thanks everyone! I'm slowly getting to everyone's suggestions, but I listened to AMIT on Spotify and the first song blew me away! I like rock tracks like this.

They don't have all of her stuff, but I'm listening to what I can find from Bad Boy and Star on youtube, and I actually like exploring her music style changes :)

Ok, I checked out Matriarchy and I like how it sounds- haunting? but powerful. I have to say, her music videos are really interesting and captivating. It's refreshing to see this level of artistry in her work, because I'm so used to seeing how bland videos from the jpop acts I follow have become these days~

My favorite song of hers is probably 一個人對話

Her MVs are really of another level. I'd actually say c-pop MVs are. But amei ones are top notch

her top 3 album, which won her Best Female Singer:
Truth 真實, Amit1 阿密特, Faces of Paranoia 偏執面.

but among the fans her best album still 2006 album "i want happiness?"
the title track "我要快樂?" rescue her from huge commercial failure in previous albums, gave her massive success again.

but i love 旅程 Journey, a compilation album of unreleased tracks (released by Forward Music in 2001 after she join Warner Music). she sang the title track in her 2012 Ameizing Tour but chop off in DVD release, which filmed.

aMEI just released a new song, "Full Name". It's incredible.

https://youtu.be/qf09H2xFq2s

UP ! The tracklist is out :

http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/attach...1&d=1512946610

Seems like the new album is along the dark lines of Paranoia and Amit2. I was wondering if she would do a more hopeful album after the theme of the Utopia tour. Either way, I'm excited. Loving the new ballads! But I'm really curious to hear what her upbeat dance track will be and what that will sound like.

It's December 12th in Taiwan the album should leak in any minute now !
And I'm totally in for an AMIT2-like ! On of my fav album EVER

While waiting for the full thing you can listen to previews here: https://itunes.apple.com/tw/album/偷故事的人/1316785426

Haha thnaks ! As I thought, only ballads. But they all sound great !

Album is up on Spotify.
Spoiler : it's beyond amazing. Like, I have no words to describe how perfect it is. "Damaged" (壞的好人) made me cry. Very hurtful to listen to it ...

Yeah, it's a solid laid back album (reminds me of Lee Hyori's last album in style and execution).
Sadly lots of typical Chinese ballads.
BUT I love the untypical songs on the album - Whatever, Withdrawal Symptoms, Talk About It and Catfight are awesome songs!

Album uploaded here: http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123882

1. 偷故事的人 Story Thief
Music & lyrics by singer Eve Ai

2. 壞的好人 Damaged
Lyrics: Xiaohan
Music: Huang Chengfeng

3. 裝醉 Indulgence
Lyrics: Ding Qingzhi/Showan
Music: Showan

4. 你說了算 Whatever feat. 瘦子 E-SO
Lyrics: Zhang Huoning/Jian Minru
Music: URU/Felipe Z
Rap: Chen Yurong aka E-SO from rap band MJ 116

5. 戒斷 Withdrawal Symptoms
Lyrics: Soft Lipa (singer)
Music: Ryan Williamson/Rose/Jimmy Fung

6. 連名帶姓 Full Name
Lyrics: Du Zhenxi
Music: Jay Chou (singer)

7. 身後 Left Behind
Lyrics: HUSH (singer)
Music: JJ Lin (singer)

8. 光 Light
Lyrics & music by singer Shorty Yuan

9. 到底 Talk About It
Lyrics: Yuan Ruolan
Music: Showan

10. 傲嬌 Catfight feat. 艾怡良 Eve Ai & 徐佳瑩 Lala Hsu
Lyrics: Eve Ai (singer)
Music: Lala Hsu (singer)

Track 2-4 are LOVEEEEEE

definitely songs i need in my nights now

Song translations
1. 偷故事的人 Story Thief
https://www.asianpopweekly.com/lyric...ry-thief-trans

6. 連名帶姓 Full Name
https://www.asianpopweekly.com/lyric...ull-name-trans

10. 傲嬌 Catfight feat. 艾怡良 Eve Ai & 徐佳瑩 Lala Hsu
https://onehallyu.com/topic/623452-a...#23308;-proud/

Whatever feat. E-SO MV

Full Name MV


All songs from the new album will get an MV.

Her new album is amazing!!

I can't get enough of this record. I've racked up almost 20 full listens of the whole album and between Story Thief, Damaged, Indulgence, and Whatever, I've easily listened to those a combined 150+ times since the album was released.

I didn't like Whatever at first, but now I am enamored with it. Still, my favorites are the title track and Damaged. Damaged is just the perfect continuation of song styles like Insomnia, which was my second or third favorite track from AMIT2. I'd love for her to come back in the next year or two with a more balanced 20th album. The only gripe I have about this record is that she explores this kind of hip hop or trap style on songs like Catfight, and there's just nothing that's upbeat like Jump In or R U Watching Me? on the record.

Still, this is aMEI at her best. And I find myself getting emotional at how mandopop has given me back the experience I've lost from jpop over the years. I just didn't expect to be tuning in this late into aMEI's career and reliving what it felt like to be around for Secret when Ayu released it in November 2006, which was my first Ayu album.

I hope artists like aMEI, Sun Yanzi, A-Lin, Elva Hsiao, and Jolin become more popular internationally. There's just so much life in this music scene and any lack of attention easily translates to people missing out on these artists literally being in their prime.

Next MV will be for 身後 Left Behind. Lyrics by HUSH and music by JJ Lin.
JJ Lin composed the music in one week but it took aMEI one year and a half to find suitable lyrics for the song.

To be honest at first listen I didn't enjoy the album much. But now I love it more and more everytime I listen to it !
My favorites are: Story Thief, Whatever, Withdrawal Symptoms, and Catfight.

Oh yeah, my favourite ballad from the album!
I didn't like it at first, but it got me really hooked after some listens.
Sadly it's the only ballad that happened with.

So after a lot of listens I love about half of the album.
Love:
Indulgence
Whatever
Withdrawal Symptoms
Left Behind
Talk About It
Catfight

Dislike:
Story Thief
Damaged
Full Name
Light

But this already makes it to one of my favourite albums by her.

身後 Left Behind MV...
It's the most expensive MV of the album. aMEI cried several times watching it.


Here's the message she posted on her Facebook along with the MV: "Finally finished... This is not just a song to me [...]. To my family in heaven, I miss you so much."

Oh dear...didn't know it is so personal for her.
Do you have a translation of the lyrics?
The song felt bittersweet to me, but not without hope.

I don't, unfortunately. There's a blog out there translating her songs every time a new MV of hers gets released, so I think we'll get a translation soon.

That video was depressing for me :( but what does the last frame say?

It was a nice song and the only song I've heard from this album, but I am looking forward to listening to the rest.

You and I are absolutely never going to agree on good and bad music. And that's kind of cool, and kind of sad, but only because I think you're awesome but absolutely FREAKIN' CRAZY - HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE STORY THIEF, DAMAGED, or FULL NAME?!?! OMG Like, SRSLY CORVINA! COR-VEEEN-AH! COME ON! COOOMMMEEE ON! :P

I’m happy that there are so many international fans who listen to AMei’s music! I’m Asian and a die hard fan of AMei and supported her from her very first album. Her early career ballads are classic and fans will all sing together at her concert. Please listen to ‘Truth’ album. It has alot of gems like Remember, Truth, I Hate and Love You. And her signature dance song she has to sing at every concert is ‘Three Days Three Nights’.

For this latest album, she returned back to her original self - the AMei we all know who sings love wrenching ballads. Story Thief and Full Name is about heartbreaks and if you understand the lyrics, it will make you tear uncontrollably.

I'm so so in love with this album !
@Kid_Dream : I'm listening to Truth again, such a wonderful album !

Haha, but who else should agree on disagreeing in every other thread then? I also like it as it is, let's rant at each other another year. :P :)

I do listen to those other ballads, I just tend to skip them when I'm not in the mood and not listening to the whole album.

So I've finally listened to this album. My favorites are:
Indulgence
Withdrawal Symptoms
Talk About It
Catfight

The album got stronger with each track, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Unfortunately, the first 2 tracks don't stand out for me (yet)

Upcoming MVs:
01/10 裝醉 Indulgence
01/17 傲嬌 Catfight feat. Eve Ai & Lala Hsu
01/24 戒斷 Withdrawal Symptoms

Indulgence MV

This video is brilliant!

I assume all three MVs will be connected since the teaser says "The Story of Ladies Night"?

on a random note: I'm happy to say I can now appreciate the beauty of Damaged, since I found it boring before.

Damaged is probably my favorite track, but I bet she won't do an MV for it. Because COR-VEEN-AH probably did some voodoo magic or something and made it not possible...

1 more translation for Indulgence.

XD
I read an article saying she would do an MV for every song. Maybe it will be released at the end of the promotion period ?

Yep she's gonna release an MV for all the ten songs of the album ! I can't wait to have Damaged cause it's my fav song off the album too !

Catfight MV


Previous MVs

I guess my favourite is Catfight so far.
Left Behind is just a tad bit too heavy to wacth it often.

I assume I can wait for a re-release of the album with all MVs?

She doesn't release "repackage albums" anymore. Faces of Paranoia and AMIT 2 didn't have any, so I guess Story Thief won't either.

Ah, too bad.
Would have liked one.

But did she do MVs for all songs from the last two albums as well?
I remember for Amit 2 there weren't.

All songs from Faces of Paranoia had MVs, including AMIT 2 actually:

Ah, thank you.
Just remembered watching 6 or 7.
Have to check them now. :P

:D

Left Behind translation available !

I love you both rose and fall in my favor in one post.

Withdrawal Symptoms MV

Damaged MV


Previous MVs

amei's performance @ 13th KKBOX Music Awards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y22PP0AZSQ

Damaged MV - pretty video for a pretty song.

I can't find translations for it, so if someone comes across it and would post it here I'd be grateful. :)

Talk About It MV


Previous MVs

Damaged translation available !

^ thank you!!
Part of these lyrics are relatable to me right now, and I thought they would be just from the overall feel of the song.

You're welcome !!

Light MV, last MV from Story Thief.


Previous MVs

Story Thief LP coming on March 16th.
http://www.5music.com.tw/CDList-C.asp?cdno=439405678604

It seems to be trendy among C-Pop singers lately to release LPs a few months after the CD release instead of a repackage... Sun Yanzi did, Mayday...

aMEI is taking some time off since February because her mother underwent surgery at the end of February for colorectal cancer. Surgery went well, mother and daughter are relieved.

aMEI refused to attend several awards ceremonies, events and TV programs, basically she lost lots of money to stay with her mom. Her agent is communicating with her though messages only, and she told him that she didn't want to sing at the moment.

Utopia 2.0 DVD/BD is right now in the editing process, aMEI hopes it will be done for summer vacation.

Utopia 2.0 DVD/BD CD is coming in August !

Utopia 2.0 DVD/BD has been postponed, aMEI is still working on editing.

She revealed a new song yesterday, 双影 Double Shadow, for a Chinese drama called 如懿傳 Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace. It's a collaboration with Sandy Lam !

According to her agent, aMEI won't release a new album this year.

As for Utopia DVD/BD, aMEI is not satisfied by the finished product and has been editing the concert for months. There is no scheduled release date at the moment.

aMEI has been spending most of her time with her mom for the past year.
https://entertainment.toggle.sg/en/e...cancer-9960278

aMEI new song 'Better Dayz' just released!
its a duet with rapper group 頑童MJ116,
and its a theme song for a game entitle '完美世界M'.

buy >> https://music.apple.com/tw/album/bet...gle/1467852228
full preview >> >> https://m.weibo.cn/s/video/show?obje...6036&fromWap=1

'Better Dayz' on spotify :P
>> https://open.spotify.com/album/7HRwqqYnXs1Yr5eVMJrxgq

Audio has also been uploaded on the game's official YouTube channel:


aMEI said recently that she's working hard on Utopia DVD/BD, she will definitely release it. She's still editing the video, progress is at 9.5% according to her agent...
Still according to him, a new album is in the works ! New album and new tour are expected before the end of the year.

That's great news!
Though I'm a bit sceptical as she's already taking so long for the Utopia tour DVD and 9,5% isn't much considering it's almost July. :laugh
But her mother and her private life are definitely more important.

Better Dayz MV:
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-st0hSo7tTw

aMEI has been taking care of her 83 year-old mother for 2 years now.
Her mother underwent surgery a couple of years ago after a tumor was found in her colon. aMEI has been accompanying her since then.
According to reports, she barely returned to her home in Taipei in two years and mostly stayed with her mom in Taitung. Her boyfriend went there to see her quite often.

Her mom:


Anyway, rumour has it that she might hold a solo concert in Taitung for New Year's Eve, and Taipei has invited her as well to participate in their New Year's Eve concert. Her agent confirmed this rumour, but said that nothing has been arranged yet. Everything is on hold at the moment until aMEI decides to resume work.

Concert officially announced (click to enlarge) !
https://i.postimg.cc/fkS7Chm9/202010220245155095.jpg
This concert will be a mix of her 4 previous tours, since she wasn't able to perform them in Taitung.
It will also air live on TV on TVBS channel.

aMEI's full New Year's Eve concert !
https://m.bilibili.com/video/BV12h41117yT

She also released a new single a couple of days ago:

any info about new album?

Nothing yet. Utopia DVD/BD is still not done (she apologized after a fan asked a question about it during the concert) so...
It's already a miracle that she released a new single lol

Thanks for the link to the New Year concert!
It's a nice surprise to be able to watch it.
Helps spending time till we get something new from her (like the single).

yes, it is truly a miracle :)
I was just asking because there was a rumor about a new album being released soon two years ago, but then her mother got sick and she took a break, left Taipei and went look after her, so releasing this new single at the beginning of this year was a complete surprise, that's why I was thinking maybe the album is finally coming :) but it seems it is not ..at least yet

aMEI seems to enjoy this time off, unfortunately for us ! Let's hope this free concert and the release of this single mean that she's ready to go back to work :P

well ... I am happy for her if she is enjoying it :) she gave us an amazing career lasting for 20 years now without any longer breaks, so she definitely deserves a few years off.

I´ve just got too excited when seeing a new single since it has already been 3 years since her last album (and especially considering she gave us a sequence of incredible albums in previous years - AMIT, R U Watching?, Faces of Paranoia, AMIT 2, Story Thief). But I guess, she will come back eventually ... unlike other artists she is not talking about retiring or releasing her last album. I just cannot wait for a new album and for AMIT 3 as well.

aMEI is working on a new tour, and on new songs (album I guess) as well !
If you are waiting for Utopia DVD/BD, her agent explained that they kept changing the editing, so basically they scrapped everything and really started working on it since last month.

aMEI had several tour dates this year in the US, in 2023 she will come to Europe and Australia !