Album Review: Z-Chen – ‘May I Love You’, ‘3a.m.’, ‘Listen To Me’

Album release date: 2002, 2003
Genre: R&B, Cpop     
Review by: jct

Note: This is a review for Z-Chen’s first 3 albums since debut in Taiwan. All in 1 review!

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Z-Chen is truly a talented R&B artist as his vocal is natural regardless of fast or slow songs. Despite being underrated, he always delivers smooth and romantic love ballads that are well-sung. In these albums, he does a great job of establishing the emotions in all the songs, and it never gets dull.

Subtle Romantic Charm

One of Z-Chen’s trademarks is hopeless romantic and broken heart songs, as can be seen from the title tracks of all three albums, “May I Love You”, “3 a.m.”, and "Listen To Me". The title track of the first album, “May I Love You” is a hopeless romantic R&B/pop song, where he sings smoothly, “ After giving the key to you, you turn and lock me up/ into a door called ‘waiting’/ You have already tried so many ‘lock of heart’, why don’t you come and open my love?/ Love you, love you, may I love you, tell me what to do?/ How can I let you and myself not be alone, finding happiness together/ when the world slowly become from luxury to a wasteland/ please don’t worry, I’m still your believer”.   The title track of the second album, ‘3 a.m.’ is a slow-tempo R&B song about a broken heart as he sings: “However, after a heart is broken, how to put it together/ Baby, baby, love can be so beautiful/ Can only blame that moment, the words were too harsh/ Everything was out of control/ baby baby, love should be so beautiful/ You give too much and now I understand.” 

The title track of the third album, “Crossing the Line” is also a slow-tempo song about a broken heart as he sings: “The sky will only leave behind the spiral of soundless loneliness/ Will time be able to rewind a little/ And stop at your smile on a clear day.” Some notable tracks from the three albums include “時間剛剛好 (Perfect Timing)”, “Forever”, “重返寂寞 (Return To Loneliness)”, “刺心 (Barbed Heart)”, “請問愛情 (Please Ask Love) “,“很想妳 (Thinking of You A Lot)”, “說 (Speak) “, “回憶錄 (Memories)”, and “傷心換日線 (Sadly Crossing the Line)”.

There are also some upbeat songs, like “Cap Girl” and “完美 (Perfection)”. However, they aren’t quite as good as the slower material, but to Z-Chen’s credit he manages to sound comfortable on these songs and not awkward or out of his element at any time.  

In all of the songs, his vocals are on-point and he’s able to tell a story through his music. If you take the time to listen to the albums, his music with its subtle romantic charm will grow on you. Overall, 3 a.m. is more of a solid album compare to the other two. However, all three albums are definitely enjoyable and demonstrate Z-Chen’s strong and smooth vocals.

Overall Rating

May I Love You – 3.5/5

3 a.m. – 4.5/5

Listen To Me – 4.5/5

Tracklist

May I Love You
1. Intro
2. May I love you
3. 梁祝 (Butterfly Lovers)
4. 沒有你 (Without You)
5. 完美 (Perfection)
6. I Need Love

7. 後來才知道 (Realizing It Later)
8. Easy Come Easy Go
9. 忘年 (Miss The Year)
10. 時間剛剛好 (Perfect Timing)
11. 名字 (Name)

3 a.m. 1. 凌晨三點鐘 (3 a.m.)
2. 在KTV過夜 (Overnight At KTV)
3. 下次再見 (See You Next Time)
4. Forever
5. 重返寂寞 (Return To Loneliness)
6. 愛情 (Love)
7. 明知故問 (Asking the Obvious)
8. 不夜城 (Never Sleep)
9. 刺心 (Barbed Heart)
10. 耿耿於懷 (Brood)
11. 請問愛情 (Please Ask Love)
12. Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton’s cover)

Listen To Me
1. 換日線 (Crossing the Line)
2. 詩人 (A Poet)
3. 莫非定律 (Following Rules)
4. 完全明白 (Completely Understand)
5. 三千 (Three Thousand)
6. 很想妳 (Thinking of You A Lot)
7. Cap Girl
8. 老歌手 (Old Singer)
9. 說 (Speak)
10. 回憶錄 (Memories)
11. 傷心換日線 (Sadly Crossing the Line)