Holding Hands (album)

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Holding Hands
Studio album by
A-Mei
ReleasedOctober 12, 1998
Recorded1998
Studio
  • Forward Studio
  • Platinum Studio (3)
  • Maestro Studio

譜麗音錄音室

Genre
Length48:10
LabelForward Music
ProducerChen Chih-yuan
A-Mei chronology
You Make Me Free Make Me Fly!
(1997) 		Holding Hands
(1998) 		Feel
(1999)

Holding Hands (Chinese: 牽手; pinyin: Qiānshǒu) is the fourth studio album by Taiwanese singer A-Mei. It was released on October 12, 1998, by Forward Music. The album was produced by Forward Music's then-music director Chen Chih-yuan and was A-Mei's first original studio album since the death of her mentor Chang Yu-sheng eleven months prior. On the record, A-Mei sang Chang's posthumous works "Are You Ready" and "After Knowing," and for the first time, she collaborated with David Tao on the songs "Don't Lie To Me" and "High High High," which allowed A-Mei to try out different kinds of music creations. The music on Holding Hands fuses pop music with other genres including R&B, dance pop, adult contemporary and rock music.

Commercially, Holding Hands was a success. The album was certified by Taiwan's IFPI as the top selling album of the year, selling over 790,000 copies sold in one month.[1] The album's sales exceeded 1.1 million copies in Taiwan,[2] as well as over 5 million copies across Asia.[3][4] To promote the album, A-Mei held a New Year's Eve concert titled "Sisters Acting, Singing and Partying Through 1999" at Nangang 101 in Taipei.[5]

Background and development

On December 29, 1997, A-Mei released the innovative album You Make Me Free Make Me Fly!, which served as an in advance listen for her very first concert tour that were to be held the following year in 1998. The album was a commercial success, shipping 800,000 units in Taiwan and 4 million throughout Asia.[6]

On January 10, 1998, A-Mei held her first large-scale ticketed concert titled "A-Mei In Concert Live In Concert 1998." It became the fastest-selling concert in Taiwan in the past 10 years and had a very fanatic audience,[7] with both shows at the Taipei Municipal Stadium and Central Park Kaohsiung being a full house. On March 21, 1998, and March 22, 1998, she held two ticketed concerts at Hong Kong Coliseum.[8][9] The two Hong Kong concerts were sold out within 8 hours after tickets going on sale, breaking the fastest ticket selling record in Hong Kong at the time.[10][11] The 2 shows at the Singapore Indoor Stadium also set a number of records, including the record for the fastest sold-out concert: the first show was sold out within 10 hours while the second was sold out within 8 hours.[12][11] In all, the tour drew in about 100,000 spectators. Work on her follow-up album began after the tour wrapped up.

Writing and recording

David Tao, one of A-Mei's collaborators on the album

"Are You Ready" and "After Knowing" were the two posthumous songs on the album written by the late Chang Yu-sheng.[13] The latter was originally sung by Chang on his 1994 album Karaoke Live - Taipei - Me. "Dreaming of Titanic" is a synthesizer heavy ballad written by Wu Yukang and Chen Chih-yuan.[13] "Lonely Bowling" is a reggae-style number written and composed entirely by Cheng Hua Jiuan.[13] "Surrender to Love" is a melodic pop ballad written by Wu Yukang and composed by Guo Zi.[13] Two songs on the album, "Don't Lie To Me" and "High High High," were written by David Tao.[13] Both of the songs carried strong Americanized R&B influences.

The power ballad "Blue Sky" was written by Yu Guangyan and composed by Ian Chen and Chen Zhengqing.[13] The album's title track is an upbeat pop rock song written by Chen Zhihan, also wrote the album's ninth track "Open Your Eyes."[13]

References

  1. ^ "IFPI認證紀錄" (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  2. ^ "張惠妹《牽手》、《三天三夜》幕後推手 音樂人阿怪逝世". tw.news.yahoo.com (in Chinese). 2019-04-07. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  3. ^ "韓人氣歌手Lisa個人專輯造型乘坐時光機　巧撞23年前張惠妹《牽手》". tw.appledaily.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  4. ^ "張惠妹『牽手』專輯介紹" (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  5. ^ "阿妹姊妹　唱鬧穿越1999". mypaper.pchome.com (in Chinese). 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  6. ^ "五燈獎回顧系列報導(十四)-華人國語歌壇的傳奇—張惠妹" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2006-09-02. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021.
  7. ^ "她把歌曲唱進你我的心坎裡！華語天后張惠妹的「妹力」人生" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). May 9, 2018.
  8. ^ "A-mei dazzles in right royal style". South China Morning Post. March 26, 1998. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  9. ^ "3-2-1 A-mei in Concert". South China Morning Post. March 25, 1998. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  10. ^ "1998年張惠妹在香港紅館舉辦2場售票演唱會征服香港歌迷,新聞媒體更是用"過江龍"大篇幅報導妹力旋風" (in Chinese). Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  11. ^ a b "张惠妹出道不久即成天后歌星". yule.sohu.com. 2001-06-19. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  12. ^ "张惠妹出道不久即成天后歌星" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). June 19, 2001.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g 牽手 (CD album; Liner notes). A-Mei. Forward Music. 1998. 98-20052.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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