David Tao [David Tao] (First Album)

Airport Take Off
Fei Ji Chang De Shi Dian Ban (Airport 10:30)
Airport Arrival
Ai, Hen Jian Dan (I Love You)
Sha Tan (Blue Moon)
Shi Qi Sui (Our Love)
Wang Chun Feng (Spring Wind)
是是非非
Shi Shi Fei Fei (Yes No Song)
Liu Sha (Everything’s Gone)
Take 6 Minus 3
Xing Luan Fei (Do I Do I)
Zai Jian Yi Qian Xian Shuo Zai Jian (Say Goodbye)
Suite Blue Moon

The album starts off with the intro Airport Take Off. Its pretty self-explanatory.

The next track on the album is the lovely Fei Ji Chang De Shi Dian Ban (Airport 10:30). This is one of my favorite songs ever and one of the first I heard by David. I just love the whole flow of this track and when it starts with his smooth heavily dipped in rnb vocals, I get shivers. This was such a good first track to start the album on and its definitely a memorable listen.

The next track is the interlude Airport Arrival. Its pretty self-explanatory as well.

The next track on the album is the heart-warming Ai, Hen Jian Dan (I Love You). This is one of the very first David Tao songs I heard and I’ve always really loved it. The arrangement is minimal but smooth and has a nice and easy flow to it. David’s vocals are good as well, he sings in such a soft and sure way and I always love when he says: ‘i love you’

The next track on the album is the gorgeous Sha Tan (Blue Moon). This is another first David Tao song for me and its one I honestly never get tired of listening to. The arrangement plays like water and it seems to just flow over you in the most nicest of ways. I just love how it gave me the impression of someone looking up at the moon and feeling content. It also gave off a very romantic air. David’s vocals were just as lovely as the arrangement, I had no problem and I really wish that the song would have been longer than its four minutes running time, this would be just the best song to fall asleep too.

The next track on the album keeps the down-tempo’s coming with Shi Qi Sui (Our Love). This is another song in the same vein as ’sha tan’ its really quite the lovely little track. The woman talking in the beginning was very brief, but if I knew Mandarin it would have probably made sense to me. The arrangement sounds very traditional Chinese and I always love that. David’s vocals were of course good, he has such a smooth and un-hurried way of singing that always gets to me. This song really embodies a feeling of love.

The next track on the album is the wonderful Wang Chun Feng (Spring Wind). I love this song and though its short its like the perfect length. This was one of the first songs I heard by David and I remember I use to listen to it as frequently as I could. The song is nearly acappella and David’s voice shines, its one of his best vocal performances ever. I love the amount of emotion and feeling he put into this, it always touches and impresses me. Also, I always have the sudden urge to cry when I listen to this, but I never do.

The next track on the album is the mid-tempo 是是非非. I’m wondering if this should have been up-tempo, but it never really gets to that point. The arrangement is light, but a tad aggressive at the same time. I really liked the drums. It gave the song a very casual feel. David’s vocals were nice, but it did surprise me when it went for that hard rock note towards the end. I don’t know, normally I wouldn’t like a song like this, but I guess its because I like the flow.

The next track on the album is the hit or miss Shi Shi Fei Fei (Yes No Song). This song is pretty flat an uninteresting in a way, even though the verses are passable, it can still come across to most as very boring. The chorus is the high light, even though it stays mellow, David gave a rather heart-warming vocal performance: ‘no no no no, i say yes yes yes yes, i’m your baby’ its a rather cute and touching song.

The next track on the album is the down-tempo Liu Sha (Everything’s Gone). This is another first David Tao listen for me and quite honestly if tired enough this track a put you straight to sleep. The arrangement is rather serene and a bit romantic, but it doesn’t do much of anything. David’s vocals are nice, but like the arrangement he doesn’t really do anything with it. This song can come across as boring to most, because its pretty boring to me, but I like it. Its a nice wind down type song.

The next track is an interlude Take 6 Minus 3. Who thinks up stuff like this and decides to slap it on albums? Anyways, David and some of his buddies I guess are harmonizing and then they laugh and David says something in English that I can’t quite catch… yup, that’s it.

The next track on the album is the mid-tempo Xing Luan Fei (Do I Do I). We get our first semi danceable track, I’m kind of kidding, but this is pretty up-tempo and all I’ve heard since now have been down-tempo’s and ballads. The arrangement is fitting. David’s vocals are really good, I really love when he gets into the song, though his voice gets way high and its kind of off-putting, but he still did his thing. The chorus was cute, its like another version of the ‘yes no song’.

The second to last track on the album is the down-tempo Zai Jian Yi Qian Xian Shuo Zai Jian (Say Goodbye). This is a really gorgeous song, but its also rather depressing. The arrangement is of course slow-paced and appropriately wistful. David’s vocals are very gentle in this, it was almost as if he was being considerate even though he was telling the other person, ‘good-bye’ it got a bit awkward towards the end when he went for that higher register and came off sounding like a girl, but I really enjoyed this track, definitely.

The last track on the album is Suite Blue Moon. This song is incredibly lovely, but if you’re not into this kind of slow-paced, un-hurried type of music it will most likely bore you. I loved the piano, it really gives off the feeling of the moon, lonely and cold against the night sky, but at the same time it gives off a very romantic vibe. David’s vocals were love, he sung this song in such a slow, soothing way and it really brings on the contentment and leaves the album off on a good and quiet note.

-GRADE: B+
Rating: ** stars

David Tao’s first album David Tao is a pretty good album, for those who like down-tempo crooners. The majority of the songs on this album are down-tempo and ballads, that give off either a romantic atmosphere or one of melancholy and I know that is not everyone’s cup of tea. At one point this use to be my favorite David Tao album, but in all truth he doesn’t really have a good one, though The Great Leap was a pretty good album as well. I gave this album the grade I did because it doesn’t really offer much outside of what I already said, and I believe only one song was borderline up-tempo and that’s the one with no direct name. David’s vocal performances were some of his best on this album my favorites being: Airport 10:30 and Spring Wing. The arrangements, though simple, were quite lovely as well. David Tao is not an album that everyone will enjoy, but its definitely one of his best. I wonder when he’ll release another? If so, I really hope its a lot better than Beautiful.

David Tao [Black Tangerine] (Fifth Album)

Hei Se Liu Ding (Black Tangerine)
Jin Tian Wan Jian Xing Wen (Tonight’s News)
Dear God
Angel
Tao Yan Hong Lou Meng
Hu Die
Gong Bao Ji Ting
Melody
Yue Liang Dai Biao Shei De Xin
Er Shi Er (Twenty-Two)
My Anata
Yao lan qu
Katrina

The album starts off with the rock tune Hei Se Liu Ding (Black Tangerine). This song comes across as very weirdly arranged to me. The arrangement is soft during the verses, and then it becomes very loud and grating during the chorus. The whole contrast is just unsettling. I loved David’s vocals when they were soft and the music was calm, but then when he gets to the blaring, ear-drum rupturing chorus, his voice is still good, but it also sounds like he’s constipated. I would actually like this song, if the rock aspect of it wasn’t so annoying. It makes me leery of the rest of the album, but its not an entirely bad start to it.

The next track on the album is one of the most pointless interludes I have ever heard, Jin Tian Wan Jian Xing Wen (Tonight’s News). I don’t know Mandarin, but even if I did I would still have to wonder why David saw it fit to put a whole bunch of news clips together and tack it on his album. It played like filler, very bad and pointless filler. WTF!?

The next track on the album is the mid-tempo Dear God. I’ve actually never liked this song, and it didn’t go the way I expected it too. I actually thought it was going to be more rock oriented, but I was most likely thinking of another one of his songs. The arrangement is pretty calm, and I liked that, made it tolerable. David’s vocals were also nice and tame, only rising slightly and this song really gave you the feeling that he was talking to a higher power as weird as that sounds. I pretty much like this song now.

The next track on the album is the down-tempo Angel. This is one of the first songs by David Tao that I heard, so I’m very fond of it. The arrangement is incredibly slow-paced and smooth, I just really love how laid-back it is. David’s vocals are really lovely, especially during the ‘angel’ part of the chorus where his voice gets very high. This song can easily become boring and forgettable, but I take it for what it is.

The next track is the mid-tempo Tao Yan Hong Lou Meng. This is nice little song, that I very much so enjoyed. The arrangement is what I’d equate to as smooth rnb, because even though its somewhat fast paced, it still retains this mellowness that is pure rhythm n blues. David’s vocals were love, just as smooth as the beat, and brought life and energy to a song that despite its pace could come across as very dull.

The next track on the album is the rock ballad Hu Die. I could say its a power ballad, but it has a lot of rock elements in it. The arrangement is a bit soft rock, that gets aggressive at climactic moments in the song. David’s vocals were really great in this, he really got into the song and brought a lot of depth and emotion to it. You can just feel the intensity in his vocals especially towards the latter half of the song. This was one of the first David Tao songs I ever heard, and still one of the most memorable.

The next track on the album is the rock acoustic Gong Bao Ji Ting. Oh, I really like this song and I’m very surprised that I do. When the song first started I wasn’t really paying attention to it, but I noticed that at one point David sounded like Jay Chou, which was weird. Luckily the moment passed. The arrangement is very acoustic, with a guitar that sounded like David was playing it and singing at the same time. I think he was. David’s vocals were pretty darn good in this song, he showed a lot of personality which really made this song stand way out and is what in the end captured my attention and allowed me to actually enjoy this track instead of writing it off as forgettable.

The next track on the album is the down-tempo Melody. This is a good song, though one that may take a while to grown on you. The arrangement is very slow-paced and smooth. It really sets the right type of somber mood, to really absorb you into the song and the emotions that David is trying to convey. David’s vocals are good, but when we get to the, ‘melody’ part of the chorus, he stretches out the word and it sounds almost whiny in a sense. I still loved his vocals though, especially during the chorus. This is a smooth little laid-back rnb track, that I find I quite adore and fills me with an almost desperate longing.

The next track on the album is the brief Yue Liang Dai Biao Shei De Xin. This is also another one of the first David Tao songs I heard. I still like it now, even if it does sound a bit oddly dated. The arrangement is pretty basic, but nice. David’s vocals were nice as well, I really loved the tones, brought a lot of warmth to this track. This is one of those every once in a while songs, that you just pop on and enjoy. It’d be a pretty boring and forgettable track otherwise.

The next track on the album is the down-tempo Er Shi Er (Twenty-Two). This is a really lovely song. I loved how smooth and un-hurried the arrangement is, it really does give you this feeling of an romantic love. David’s vocals are gorgeous, I love his tone changes, they bring a lot of charm to this song. I believe this is another first of David Tao songs that I heard. This is also one that I wouldn’t listen too often, but definitely one I’d never get tired of hearing.

The next track on the album is the weirdly arranged My Anata. This song is really just a bore. The arrangement is very old fashioned sounding, and I mean throw-back in tribute to the 30’s sounding. David is singing in the way I would suspect they sung back in the day, when you’d have to perform on stage; his voice was very controlled and he sounded aged or something. It gave me the impression of a broadcast. That was the verses, on the chorus the arrangement picked up becoming more modern and rock, and David’s vocals were aggressive and he sounded normal. The transition from thirties broadcast to nineties soft rock was very odd and glaring and really just ruined this song, making it not only confusing and annoying but mediocre and forgettable at the same time.

The second to last track on the album is the down-tempo Yao lan qu. This is a pretty quiet song, that doesn’t have much going for it, but still manages to play nice enough. The arrangement is simple, its sole purpose is to give the song something to stand on. David’s vocals are nice and un-hurried. This song can get boring really fast, since it doesn’t really go anywhere, and plays at the same slow pace throughout–those who don’t too much care for slow jams, will find this a tedious listen, but I rather enjoyed it. Its nice mellow atmosphere is comforting.

The last track on the album is one of my favorites, Katrina. Its the only song on this album sung in full English. David is another artist whose English is near perfect, I didn’t notice an accent at all. I really love this song, and its one of the first David Tao songs I heard, so I hold it in high regard. I love how he talks about letting the girl know his feelings before the chance is lost to him forever. Its a nice song, with a great vocal performance from David.

-GRADE: B
Rating: ** stars

David Tao’s third album Black Tangerine is a bit better this time around than it was when I first listened to it. I don’t recall liking many songs, but this time around I enjoyed practically all the songs on this album. That doesn’t mean that this was a good album, because despite the fact that most of the songs appealed to me this time around, it didn’t stop this album from being a bit bland and forgettable. There’s no variety on this album, and none of the songs truly jump out at you. I was a bit disappointed by that, because by the third album you should really be going all out and not playing it safe. The song that surprised me the most was Dear God. The others, though good, were pretty much typical David Tao fare. Black Tangerine is a decent album, though its not a particularly memorable one.

David Tao [Beautiful] (Fifth Album)

Radio Beautiful
Can Get You Outta My Mind
Too Beautiful
The Chase
The Moment
Walk On
How Long?
I Don’t Wanna Know
Finally
Marry Me Today (Featuring Jolin Tsai)
Olia

The album starts with the tuning of a radio, and then a man starts speaking and it ends. The intro is, Radio Beautiful.

The first full track on the album is the mid-tempo, Can’t Get You Outta My Mind. It’s starts off on a forgettable note, what with Tao going, ‘I can’t get you outta my mind’ which got pretty annoying pretty fast. Luckily the song is actually enjoyable, with nice vocals, and a tolerable arrangement. I can definitely picture myself playing this in the car, while driving to nowhere really.

The next track is the down-tempo, Too Beautiful. A forgettable song and one I can’t even remember listening to, which is crazy because I listened to it twice. The arrangement is practically non-existent, and Tao’s vocal performance is very slow-paced and toneless so it adds nothing. The ending was quite beautiful however, and the only thing memorable about this song.

Next is the slower paced, The Chase, which in my opinion doesn’t sound like a chase at all. It’s much too slow for that. It’s not really mid-tempo, but not down-tempo either. Arrangement is simple, as well as Tao’s vocal performance; pretty decent song, though nothing special.

Tao keeps the slower-paced tracks coming with the next one, The Moment. Which plays just like the previous track in which it offers nothing new, or even exciting. No catchy or nice chorus, no attention snaring arrangement; just a bland beat and simple vocals. I did like how he incorporated some traditional Chinese music, though. The Moment is an all right track.

We pick up the pace with the next track, Walk On. A terribly generic up-tempo track, that fails at being anything other than forgettable. The arrangement is static, and Tao’s vocal performance is all over the place. I’m guessing he was going for some sort of inspirational dance track, but it just fails and falls flat.

The next track is a slow one, and perhaps the most interesting song I have heard so far, How Long? is a nice down-tempo track with a pretty heart-warming arrangement and nice vocals from Tao.

Tao brings the pace back up with the next track, I Don’t Wanna Know which sounds like another version of Walk On. It’s an up-tempo, dance-friendly track with a little Jazz thing going for it that isn’t all that impressive. Tao’s vocals are weird, especially when he starts hitting those ridiculous high notes, and the arrangement is fodder. Forgettable.

Finally is the next track, a down-tempo song, that isn’t really interesting, despite me listening to it three times in a row. It’s rather simple, with nothing really jumping out at you. I’m certain it was suppose to be a sad balled, but nothing about this song accurately conveys that. The arrangement is basic and so are the vocals. It’s a pretty boring ballad, which is a shame, because those are some of Tao’s best songs.

The next track is a duet with Jolin Tsai entitled, Marry Me. It’s a pretty nice song, though terribly generic. Jolin puts on a nice vocal performance, her tone blending in perfectly with Tao’s own light-sounding vocals. I didn’t too much care for the, ‘Jolin in the house/DT in the house’ it was pretty lame, and so was the wedding segment at the end, but other than that the song is passable.

The last track on the album is the down-tempo, Olia. It goes down the same path as Tao’s previous songs: Angeline, Catherine and Katrina, only difference? Those songs were good, Olia is mediocre at best. It’s pretty boring and safe, despite it having a rather nice and peaceful instrumental arrangement and good vocals from Tao. A rather forgettable way to end an album.

-GRADE: F
Rating: 1/2 star

I must admit out of all of David Tao’s albums, Beautiful is the worst by far. I cannot even fathom how this became one of his most successful albums when The Great Leap shits all over this, in terms of quality. There was not one song on this album that jumped out at me and caught my attention; all the down-tempo tracks were boring, and all the up-tempo tracks were generic, and every track on here was forgettable mediocre trash. I can’t remember being this disappointed with a Tao album since I’m OK and that album has my favorite Tao song on it, Tian Tian. This album has no saving grace, there is not one track on this album I liked, just some that were passable. It’s like Ami Suzuki’s AROUND THE WORLD all over again, but really, even I’d listen to that album before this one. David Tao has much better albums, David Tao and The Great Leap are perfect examples, and really showcase his talent. Beautiful on the other hand, is trash–leave this crap on the shelf, and if you were unfortunate enough to buy it, discard it! It’s not even worth a download, it’s just bad. Tao has no excuse for this album, and hopefully his sixth isn’t as pathetic.