Fuzao (浮躁)
Studio album by
Faye Wong
ReleasedJune 3, 1996
GenreC-Pop, dream pop
Length35:10
LabelCinepoly
ProducerZhang Yadong
Faye Wong chronology
Di-Dar
(1995)		 Fuzao (浮躁)
(1996)		 Toy
(1997)

Fuzao (Chinese: 浮躁; pinyin: Fúzào; lit. "Impetuous") is the fourth Mandarin-language studio album (thirteenth overall) by Chinese singer Faye Wong. It was released on 3 June 1996 through Cinepoly. Wong took more artistic risks with her work as she approached the end of her record contract, resulting in the experimental nature of Fuzao. The album was positively received by critics, with The Straits Times considering the album as Wong's boldest and most artistically coherent effort to date.

An alternative record, Fuzao was largely written and composed by Wong, with arrangement and production done by her husband, Dou Wei, and Zhang Yadong. The album features two collaborations with the Scottish dream pop band Cocteau Twins, whose sound and aesthetic was a heavy influence.

English names

Translated names used in English-language sources are Restless,[1][2][3] Exasperation,[4] Anxiety[5] and Impatience.[6] The term was widely used in relation to the cultural anxiety of the period.[7][8][9]

Composition

As she was approaching the end of her recording contract with Cinepoly, Wong took more artistic risks with this highly experimental album.[3] Some tracks are wordless or use self-created sounds, including the cheerful-sounding refrain "la cha bor" of the title track. It contains mainly her own compositions, with an aesthetic inspired by the Cocteau Twins, who contributed two original songs to the album, "Fracture" (分裂) and "Spoilsport" (掃興). Wong had previously covered their work on Random Thoughts in 1994, and established a remote working relationship with them – even laying down vocals for a special duet version of "Serpentskirt" on the Asian release of the group's 1996 album Milk And Kisses, as her voice blended well with Elizabeth Fraser's ethereal soprano.[6] A Buddhist, Wong weaves teachings of transience and disengagement into the album. These themes can also be found in some of her other albums.[10]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Pitchfork8.3/10[11]

Paying less attention to the demands of the mainstream market, the album's sales were lower than for Wong's preceding albums.[3] However, Restless was received favorably by critics.[4] The Straits Times considered the album as her boldest and most artistically coherent effort to date.[3] Southern Metropolis Daily described the album as "very harmonious and unified", and stated that the second song, Restless, was similar with Di-Dar albeit simpler.[12]

After the release, Wong became the second Chinese artist (after Gong Li) and the first Chinese singer to be featured on the cover of Time magazine, under the headline "The Divas of Pop".[3] The title track is featured in the 1998 film Restless.

In a 2023 review of four reissued Wong albums (Please Myself to Fuzao) by Pitchfork, Michael Hong wrote that "the album's producers steep the music in the sounds of Beijing's nascent rock scene" and felt that Faye's "reserved yet playfully mischievous nature permeates the album".[13]

Packaging

The Hong Kong edition, including the back panel, shows three photos of Faye Wong in the pose of the three wise monkeys.

In 2008, Universal Music re-released the album in a paper ECO Pack as part of its Asian series of 20th Century Masters.[14]

Track listing

All written by Faye Wong, unless otherwise.

  1. "Wúcháng" (无常), "Sporadic" or "Unusual" – 2:35
  2. "Fúzào" (浮躁), "Restless" or "Anxiety" – 2:58
  3. "Xiǎngxiàng" (想像), "Visualize" or "Imagine" – 3:36
  4. "Fēnliè" (分裂), "Fracture" or "Divide", composed by Cocteau Twins, lyrics by Lin Xi – 4:00
  5. "Bùān" (不安), "Uneasy" or "Unstable", instrumental – 2:10
  6. "Nǎr" (哪兒), "Where" – 3:50
  7. "Duòluò" (堕落), "Decadence" or "Degenerate" – 3:40
  8. "Sǎoxìng" (扫兴), "Spoilsport" or "Disappointment", composed by Cocteau Twins, lyrics by Wyman Wong – 4:08
  9. "Mòrì" (末日), "Doomsday" or "Judgment Day" – 4:00
  10. "Yesanpo" (野三坡 Yěsānpō), literally "Wild Three Hills" – 3:52
    Based on Yesanpo National Park

References

  1. ↑ Shane Homan, Access All Eras: Tribute Bands and Global Pop Culture 2006-. p223. "The 1997 self-titled Faye Wong was predominantly more low-key and spare in its arrangements than Restless, and, as with future albums, all the tracks were in Mandarin, in keeping with a strong involvement by Zhang Yatung as arranger and ..."
  2. ↑ Edward L. Davis, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture, 2012. "In 1993 Zhang Yadong moved to Beijing in search of bigger things and got his wish when Cantopop diva and Beijing native Wang Fei... invited him to produce several tracks on her album Restless (1996), a record .."
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Chan, Boon (28 October 2011). "Faye's back". The Straits Times. Singapore. p. C2. It is her most daring and cohesive effort to date.
  4. 1 2 Stan Jeffries, Encyclopedia of world pop music, 1980-2001, 2003, p224. "Between the release of her debut album in 1989 and her winning the award for most popular Hong Kong female singer in 1994, Wong released eight albums. In November 1994, Wong gave her first live performance in over five years in Toronto, Canada, before completing a tour of Asia as well as other shows in Canada and the United States. Wong was now writing more of her own material. In fact in her final album for Cinepoly, Exasperation (1996), she was responsible for all the songs. Winning huge critical praise, the album contained three tracks that had no lyrics but, instead, just utilized Wong's voice. It was unlike any song ever heard in Hong Kong to that date, and it showed Wong as a thoughtful and maturing artist."
  5. ↑ The Japanese release included the English translation Anxiety on the obi strip.
  6. 1 2 Woodworth, Max (26 November 2004). "Faye Wong is all woman". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  7. ↑ Ju-Chen Chen -Capital Dreams: Global Consumption, Urban Imagination, and Labor ...2009 - Page 61 "There were discussions regarding how in this newly arrived flourishing age, Chinese were simultaneously confident and anxious (fuzao)."
  8. ↑ Paul J. Bailey Gender and Education in China: Gender Discourses and Women's .- 2007 Page 25 "her reminiscences remembers that the school taught students not to adopt a self-important and arrogant (fuzao) attitude, not to speak or laugh carelessly,"
  9. ↑ Suisheng Zhao -A Nation-state by Construction: Dynamics of Modern Chinese Nationalism 2004 - Page 133 "In their book, Farewell to the Revolution, Li Zehou and Liu Zaifu suggested that "Chinese culture in the twentieth century was overshadowed by national crises and therefore characterized by tensions (jinzhang), anxiety (fuzao), radicalization
  10. ↑ Full review Archived 2011-08-09 at the Wayback Machine at douban.com, 2010-01-15
  11. ↑ "Faye Wong: Faye Wong: 讨好自己 Please Myself / 菲靡靡之音 Decadent Sound of Faye / Di-Dar / 浮躁 Fuzao". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  12. ↑ "女皇的二十四章经--王菲创作全纪录(多图)". Sina Corporation. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
  13. ↑ Hong, Michael (October 28, 2023). "讨好自己 Please Myself / 菲靡靡之音 Decadent Sound of Faye / Di-Dar / 浮躁 Restless". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  14. ↑ 2008 ECO Pack review at YesAsia.com
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