Verdict out of 5: ✌ ✌ ✌ ½
Fun fact: The last track features school children singing from Sierra Leone.
Label: Sony Music Taiwan; preview the album here.
Release Date: 2010-08-12 (China) and 2010-08-13 (Worldwide)
Language: Mandarin
Artist’s Official Website: www.wangleehom.com

Being busy is an understatement for 王力宏 LeeHom Wang.

This weekend, the American born, Taiwan-based, multi-hyphenated, musician, singer, songwriter, conductor, producer, actor, writer, and director, will unleash new material for your auditory and visual senses.

Yes, Asia buckle up your seat-belts and get ready for some major LeeHom overload as he releases his new album 十八般武藝 The 18 Martial Arts, and his directorial debut 戀愛通告 Love In Disguise.

十八般武藝 The 18 Martial Arts, seems to serve as the film 戀愛通告 Love In Disguise‘s soundtrack as it features two theme songs 你不知道的事 The Things You Never Knew and 伯牙絕弦.  This album marks the return of LeeHom’s “chinked-out” musical style that infuses traditional musical elements of the east, with the beats of western hip-hop.  Unlike chinked-out songs off 心中的日月 Shangri-La (2004) and 蓋世英雄 Heroes of the Earth (2005), some of the heavily computerized tracks in this album tend to force my brain to send signals to my fingers asking them to please press “skip.”

Don’t get me wrong, the album has several ingenious moments as well.  His talent in composition is evidently displayed when he cleverly arranges for, I am assuming – eighteen different instruments – including Chinese traditional instruments like the double stringed erhu (二胡), harp like guqin (古琴), guitar like pipa (琵琶) and Chinese bamboo flutes.

Lyrically, 徐若瑄 Vivian Hsu‘s heart-warming lyrics for title-track 柴米油鹽醬醋茶 The Daily Necessities, expose LeeHom’s dreams of trading in his hectic lifestyle for the simple life.

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