In the April of 1996 ,Jeff finishes his new English album “The Color of the Night”.This is his brand new English venture two years after his last English album “Somewhere in My Broken Heart”.Jeff hopes these moving love songs in a universal language can make a larger world get to know him and share his joy in the field of music.

 

With his charismatic personality and artissry .Jeff Chang has become an irreplaceable voice in the industry.But when his record sale has easily surpassed many “superstar” artists ,and he has become the most eagerly awaited voice in Asia ,rhe man in person is still simple and easy to be with,just like years before .We are happy to see Jeff achieve uniqueness among such commonality .His power is all in his songs.And the heart that has been touched by them have no words to convey.

 

THE COLOR OF THE NIGHT

看最美的夜色 听最真的情歌
             ________________________________________________________
                   张信哲最新西洋专辑[夜色]


夜晚，往往因为有了情歌而更加出色。

张信哲在这张筹备多时的英文专辑中，特别为[夜晚]量身订作了这些情歌，以最动人心弦的嗓音，为原本单调的夜幕绘上多样的色彩，而有了最丰富的面貌：

[初恋的时候，夜晚仿佛穿上水兰色的糖衣。]

[热恋的时候，夜色有如玫瑰般的火红。]

[忧郁的时候，夜晚也染上一层深深的蓝。]

[失恋的时候，星星和月亮不见了，夜晚变成了一片漆黑。]

[在月光下许下承诺，夜晚有金黄色的闪烁。]

[没有你的夜晚，像下雪的冬季，夜晚是白色。]

[是一见钟情？还是一次激情？夜是一片迷濛的灰色。]

十首西洋金曲，代表十种不同的夜色，十种不同的情绪。

今夜你的心情如何？今夜应该是什么颜色？
听张信哲的[夜色]，你会看见最美的夜色！

SEE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL
COLORS OF THE NIGHT
THAT ARE CLOSEST TO YOUR HEART

JEFF CHANG’S NEW ENGLISH ALBUM

非常英国风  非常畅销曲
__________________________________________________
                         张信哲不一样的英文歌


在这张[夜色]专辑筹备之初，阿哲的心态就是抱持着要作一张不同以往的英文唱片。本张专辑的选曲，都是以英国艺人或团体和歌曲为专辑精神。英国艺人的音乐曲风，在流行乐坛举足轻重，但本身又具有其特殊的英伦调性，冷傲中带着人文气息，这也是张信哲一向偏爱英国艺人的原因之一。
本专辑中所有的歌曲，都曾在英美二地排行榜名列前茅，并深为国内听众所熟悉，是近来少数兼具市场流行性及强调音乐制作物的英文大碟。


VERY BRITISH ，VERY HOT HITS

Since the very beginning of the production of this album , Jeff has been wanting to make a different English album . As compared to his previous English works , the selection of songs in this album has been focused on the songs by British artists . British music industry has always been pioneering among peers . And Jeff Chang has always favored British artists for their unique intellecctualness.

All the songs in this album have achieved excellent chart record on both sides of the Atlantic and are well acquainted by local consumers . This is a rare English album which shares market publicity values and the integrity of music production.

 

张信哲的英文歌非常R&B

这张专辑特别邀请了三位不同的制作人，陶喆.RICKY HO.ALVIN LEONG，分别远赴美国.新加坡及香港三地录音，三位名师掌厨调味，不但保留了英伦歌曲的属性，更以多变的编曲，使专辑呈现丰富的内容：

RICKY HO的制作偏向FUSION曲风，他让阿哲尝试了比较软性的唱法，也让我们发现阿哲声音中另一种不可思议的柔软度。

ALVIN LEONG 的制作充满实验性，阿哲在边唱边尝试的想法下完成了目前在英欧最热门的另类摇滚音乐及舞曲，绝对让歌迷有耳目一新的感受。

陶喆制作的部分，则是阿哲首次尝试R&B的唱法，在制作人的要求及引领下，他不但唱出R&B的味道，更被制作人陶喆称为合作过之歌手中领悟力最高且最敢尝试新曲风的歌手。而在美国录音时的

幕后工作人员，都是国际级顶尖的一时之选，如混音师MANNY MARRQQUIN，就曾为MADONNA.BABYFACE.SEAL.PAULA ABDUL.TONI BRAXTON等人的歌曲担任混音工作。

在本张专辑阿哲尝试完全忘记以往演唱国语歌曲的唱法及唱腔。其实在美国配唱期间，阿哲非常担心不能适应演唱R&B的音乐，第一次练唱更是出现史无前例的晃腔走板，连自己都吓一跳；但是在自我调整让心态归零后，他很快地进如状况；同样的情况也发生在选曲上，阿哲特别坚持挑选一些演唱难度高或者过去不曾唱过的曲风来诠释，这种力求突破自我既有曲风的企图心，是国内歌手中难能可贵的。



JEFF’S NEW ALBUM VERY R&B

This album recruits three producers with different musical tastes.David Zee,Rocky Ho and Alvin leong have each done the recording in respctively the U.S.,Singapore and Hongkong.They not only preserved the original temperament of these British songs but also present a wide range of album direction with their music arrangement.
The production by Ricky Ho tends to have a Fusion inclination.He made Jeff try a more flexible approach of singing and let us have the opportunity of finding an amazing softness in Jeff’s voice.
The production by Alvin Leong is highly experimental. Through a slow-evolving growing process,Jeff finised some alternative rock and dance music current hot in the U.K.and Europe,which would definitely give his fans a refreshing experience.
Producer David Zee made Jeff try the R&B singing approach for the first time in his life.Under the superb yet demanding supervision of the producer,Jeff not only grabbed the genuine essence of  R&B but was also praised by David Zee as the brightest singer he has worked with and the most daring singer to try new directions. There are some world-top of musical workers take part in this album,for example the mixengineer Manny Marroquin,he used to work with famous artists just like Madonna.Babyface.Seal.Paula Abdul and Toni Braxton.
In this album Jeff tried to forget completely the way he used to sing Mandarin songs.In fact during the recording session in the U.S.,Jeff was very much worried that he couldn’t accommodate himself to singing R&B songs.But after adjusting himself to the idea of starting from ground zero he was instantly in good condition . Jeff also insisted on choosing songs which are completely new or particularly hard for him.This ambition to break his old music fields and start developing new grounds is rarely seen among local artists.

 

 

张信哲飙车飙出新舞曲乐风

在这张新专辑中阿哲尝试了许多配唱经验中的第一次。像是在美国配唱的时候，因为制作人陶喆的录音室就设在自己家中，所以这是阿哲首次在非正式的录音室中配唱，并直接录在硬碟中，据阿哲自己形容是[在餐桌前配唱]，性情气氛都显得格外特别与温暖。其实在国外如果居家环境幽静，许多艺人如STING. ANITA BAKER等人都选择在家里设录音室，所以当第一次身处于宽敞的大餐桌中录音，阿哲觉得很新鲜。

在美国这段期间，阿哲也经历了出道以来配唱时间最长的经验，因为求好心切，为了抓出一首歌最好的表现方式，阿哲从中午配唱到半夜都没吃饭和休息，甚至一首歌录了七种不同的版本，再和制作人讨论，陪他一同前往录音的小艾说，阿哲很认真想让自己有所突破，换作是别的歌手很可能录不到一半就累垮了。

此外，在配唱舞曲的时候，阿哲的情绪总是有一点放不开，制作人陶喆为了让阿哲在精神上更RELAX，马上决定暂停手边的工作带他去飙车，阿哲不但首次坐上重型机车体验那种速度感和爆发力，更在意犹未尽之余轻松地完成配唱。


Highway to the New Dance Beat

There are many first times for Jeff in this album. The recording session in the U.S.was done in the private recording studio in the house of the producer David Zee.This is the first time for Jeff to sing in an informal recording studio and it was done directly by digital recording technique.According to Jeff it was like “singing at a dinner table”,increddibly warm and comfortable. Many artists like Sting and Anita Baker have chosen to build a recording studio in their own houses. It was a refreshing experience for Jeff to record in a large dining room.
In the U.S.Jeff also experineced the longest recording session in his career so far. To capture the best possible result for one particular song,Jeff has worked non-stop in the recording studio from noon till midnignt and finished seven different versions for it. According to Ai Lin who accompanied Jeff during his stay in the U.S.,Jeff was serious and determined to give a break-through perfornabce this time. Any other artists would probably simply give up without making it half way through. When Jeff was recording for the dance songs,he was sometimes not in the right mood for what the music requires him to capture.To make Jeff feel adequately relaxed for the job,the producer David Zee would instantly stop the recording and take him out for a ride.This was the first time for Jeff to expaerience the thrilling sensantion of heavy motor-bike riding. The sense of speed and exlplosion would easily equipped Jeff with the right “mood”for the energy of dance music.

 

新专辑的设计精神非常装饰艺术

所谓装饰艺术（DECORATION ART），它是一种以探求工艺、建筑与绘画综合的一种艺术，以期综合建筑、工艺及造型艺术成为一种统一的样式。

装饰艺术，始于十八世纪末叶，迨至二次世界大站以后，装饰艺术的制作，才见普遍，例如大自建筑的装饰壁画，小自用器的装饰，如：陶器及五金的制品，艺术与工艺的结合，以显示了相当的成果。

装饰艺术的作品通常源发自一些异常的想像，或孕含着一些汎神论的幻想，而汎神论又称万有神教，其膜拜的对象，即天地自然，所以，装饰艺术的制作物，总带着那一些朴素的质地和人们的天真。

本专辑[夜色]的封面精神和服饰风格，即采撷[装饰艺术]的特质。封面构图上以绿白相间所组合的菱形几何，是最原始装饰艺术中构成因素的代表图腾；衣着方面服装上的纹路线条及色彩，乃有感自于装饰艺术时期的壁画图案，并将之抽象精简化；企图以如此的视觉，带出专辑中那份最朴实却又最浪漫幻想的精神，将人们引导至自然界般原始的[夜色]天地里，好结合[视]与[听]成为一致境界的精致享受。

JEFF’S ALBUM DESIGN INSPIRATION VERY DECORATION ART

Decoration art is an artistic style which combines the techniques of the industial arts,architecture and the fine arts and seeks to synthesize architecture, the industrial arts and the plastic arts into a unified art form.

 

Decoration art originated form the endof the eighteenth century and not until after the World Two did the production of decoration art become a widespread practice .The adoption of the spirit of decoration art can be seen from architectural fresco to everyday objects , such as pottery and hardware products and they embody the combination of art and industry.The works of decoration art are often derived from bizarre imagination and sometimes involve pantheistic fantasies.Pantheism worships Nature.The products of decoration art always carries with them grass-roots textures and a sense of innocence.

 

The album cover design and the clothing style of “The Color of the Night” album are inspired by the characteristics decoration art.The green and white rhombic geometric design on the album cover is a typical totem of some of the basic elements of primitive decoration art. The colors and the graphic designs of the clothes come from the abstraction and simplification of the frescoes of theDecoration Period. The general outlook of the album attempts to communicate the raw spirit of romanticism and fantasy and through both the visual and audio channels ,bring out a primitive world of Nature of “The Color of the Night”.

 

词曲赏析

1.HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY？最近我是否告诉过你？
本曲是爱尔兰民谣诗人VAN MORRISON 的情歌创作经典，却一直ROD STEWART以UNPLUGGED 形式翻唱之后，才在美国造成轰动。陶喆制作人的版本适度增加了节奏蓝调的都会色彩，张信哲的轻柔唱腔则固然与二位前辈的粗犷沙哑嗓音大异其趣，呈现出另一种年轻化的深情风格。
This song is one of the masterpieces of the Irish rock legend and poet Van Morrison. The “Unplugged”cover version by Rod Stewart finally helped pay it the deserved world-wide popularity.This new version produced by David Zee is comparatively lighter and slightly more “urban” in tone through its use of R&B elements.Jeff’s clear and soft voice makes his approach to the song widely different from histwo preddecessors and it reflects the style of romance of a younger generation.

 

2.TOO MUCH HEAVEN 天堂难寻
BEE GEES的作品旋律优美，使得它们被重唱的频率居高不坠，这次陶喆为这首词曲皆美的情歌重新打造了更具现在感的明快亲和风貌。在蓝心湄的甜美嗓音搭配之下，张信哲也首度展现了流畅洗练的R&B唱腔，制作人陶喆敏锐的流行触角，让人几乎忘了这首歌曲，原本是本专辑中历史最悠久的作品。
The beautiful melody of Bee Gees’s works makes them all-time favorites for covering artists.”Too Much Heaven”is virtually reborn in this album by David Zee with its modern up-tempo look.With the cooperation of pauline Blue’s sweet voice,Jeff for the first time shows a surprising deftness at singing R&B.The unequalled pop sensibility of the producer David Zee makes you even forget that this is actually the oldest song in this album.

 

3.AGAINST ALL ODDS (TAKE A LOOK AT ME NOW) 覆水难收（最看我一眼）
这首是国内听众耳熟能详的PHIL COLLINS招牌曲，在本专辑中却卸下了原曲抒情摇滚的激情风格，蜕变为以键盘为主的清新风貌。张信哲清亮的嗓音，孤独地在宽阔的空间中迂荡，适切地传达了歌词中无奈而不舍的情绪。
This love song has been well acquainted in Taiwan for some time . The version in this album dispenses with the more passionate approach of the original’s soft rock style and tries a more spare arrangement based on keyboards instead . The lonely soaring of Jeff’s clear voice in a hollow audio space aptly conveys the mood of helpessness and hopelessness so vividly expressed in the lyrics.

 

4.GOOD NIGHT GIRL 梦中女孩
此曲是英国四重唱WET WET WET出道以来最成功的创作曲。RICKY HO 的编曲忠实地维持了原曲精简的编排与优美的和声，适度点缀的萨克斯风则突显了张信哲歌声的温柔特质，并且使本曲和专辑名称[夜色]的气氛更为契合。
This is the most successful composition by the British quartet WET WET WET since they started their career in the 1980s.The arrangement by Ricky Ho faithfully preseves the simplistic design and the emphasis on vocal harmony of the original version.A spare addition of saxophone helps bring out the tenderness of Jeff’s voice and make the new version adhere to the overall nighttime atmosphere of thisalbum.

 

5.MISSING 思念
是英国都会民谣二重唱EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL 突破旧有风格的大胆尝试，不料却跨界成功，成了舞曲界新宠，精彩的单曲混音版本，更为他们创下成军十年以来在美国排行榜的最佳成绩。本专辑中的版本，同样地在混音编曲上表现出色，舍弃了英国电子舞曲的清冷调性，改换为流行轻爵士的明亮色彩，可说是本专辑中，在重新编曲方面最令人激赏的作品。
This is a breakthrough new vork by the British urban folk duet Everything But The Girl which unexpectedly made a crossover hit in the dance charts.The remix maxi-single even won them the highest position in the U.S. chart in their own chart record. The version in this album also distinguishes itself with its superb new arrangement and remixing,which abandons the coldness of the original British  electronic dance beat and tries a brighter pop light jazz flavor.In the aspect of rerrangement and remixing this is probably the most surprising song in this album.

终于拿到了四级的成绩单，陆老师说拿了厚厚的一打成绩单，就属偶分数最高。说实话自己听了很开心，也安心了。2年后穿上学士服毕业这个梦想离自己也越来越近了，接下来就是好好把余下的课程都通过。花了三年半的时间才走到今天这一步，当年的初衷和现在的想法也相差甚远，有成功的喜悦自信，也有失败的沮丧失落，更有失望后的迷茫放纵，一路坎坷，走的艰难，但好歹自己一个人还是走到了今天。一直不知道也没想过自己会走多远或是自己还能走多远，反正，还是句话，能走多远就走多远吧～