Happy Love Sick

有时一首歌的畅销与乐团、歌手的成名，光靠实力是不够的，有时还得借着运气、机会来临阵一脚！还记得曾在排行各榜风光一阵的Nu-Metal 7人乐团Crazy Town，以取样Red Hot Chili Peppers 1989年的作品Pretty Little Ditty，获得摇滚榜冠军、流行榜亚军的Butterfly吧？他们首张专辑《Gift Of Games》于1999年底发行时，始终不获得青睐，推出之单曲在排行表现都显的欲振乏力，也许是当初一拖拉库同属性乐团，如雨后春笋般的冒出来，Crazy Town也就被“暂时”忽略了，直到2001年推出惊动万教的Butterfly后，才让Crazy Town咸鱼大翻身！但，好景不长，2002年推出第二张专辑《Darkhorse》后不久，Crazy Town终究走入历史下台一鞠躬！满身刺青、穿洞、金发刺剑头，团中最为醒目，也是主唱/创作核心的Shifty Shellshock，12岁便与家人由波士顿移居好莱坞，并醉心于西岸嘻哈饶舌文化，传陈艺术家父亲的才华(专辑封面设计、拍摄电影)，很快的Shifty成为当地知名涂鸦艺术画家。15岁成为嘻哈乐团The Whooliganz中最活跃的人物，对于心目中偶像Cypress Hill、 Rage Against the Machine与House of Pain的崇拜，Shifty决定在他热爱的嘻哈文化中渗入强而有劲的摇滚声韵，Crazy Town便是他一展身手的绝佳证明！转换新东家，入主Maverick发行首张个人专辑《Happy Love Sick》，将以阳光温暖声调，延续Butterfly流畅、朗朗上口之调调，带来夏日Party最适宜的美味酌料！与No Doubt的吉他手Tom Dumont合写的首支单曲Slide Along Side，犹如置身艳阳、海滩、美食、俊男美女……之场景，忘却生活上的不愉快，Shifty为人生旅途带来欢乐气氛！翻玩取样Minnie Ripperton 1975年冠军曲Loving You的EZ Cuz You’re Beautiful，换成男生版的绝妙演唱，别错过像似喝醉酒般的假音部分；帮腔助势在世界排行冠军DJ Paul Oakenfold 2002年专辑《Bunkka》中舞曲榜Top 10畅销曲Starry Eyed Surprise，特别超值加收其中；洋溢复古放客味的Turning Me On，后段则大量加入DJ刮碟声响，也是Oakenfold制作的单曲；十足夏日消暑清凉佳肴Magical，带出如Sugar Ray畅销曲Every Morning甜而不腻的轻松风情；抒发感伤情绪的A Better Place，Shifty则藉此曲追怀已逝好友。听Shifty毫无压力的开怀高歌，不时沾染时尚摇摆与欢乐满分的舞动节奏，少了怒金属那份狂野，却多了爽朗快活迷人色彩！ Happy Love Sick is the solo debut from Shifty, an impressively tattooed fella who was Crazy Town's frontman. He's traded in every last bit of that band's aggression and heaviness for a light, frothy pop-rap sound that also has traces of dancehall, funk, and neo-soul. Along with collaborator TC and others, Shifty has crafted a sweet summer album loaded with lilting ballads and love raps. Just about every song is about love and sex and is built around the same kind of bouncing hip-hop beats with acoustic guitar combo that worked so well for Sugar Ray, 311, and others. The best songs on the album sound like they've already been pumping out of car radios for weeks: "EZ Cuz You're Beautiful," a sticky love song based on Minnie Riperton's "Loving You," "Turning Me On," a slinky Neptunes lift produced by Paul Oakenfold, and the bopping "Slide Along Side." Actually the best song on the album had been on radio for a while: "Starry Eyed Surprise" is a glittering party track also produced by Oakenfold that was featured on his album from 2002, Bunkka. The two Oakenfold productions unfortunately show the weakness of the album as they are much more successfully produced and are quite a bit more exciting than the song after song of stoned grooves on the rest of the album. A little more variation might have served Shifty a little better and made the album much stronger. Also, even though it is a poignant song about his best friend who died, he probably should have left "A Better Place" in his lyric book, as its platitudes really throw a spotlight on Shifty's shallowness. Shallow is perfect for summer pop but just sounds dopey on the serious tracks like this and the ponderous and boring "Take Away the Pain." A couple missteps can't dim the good-time peaceful easy feeling though, and Happy Love Sick is a surprisingly good album that should be a feature at late-summer slow drags, beach bonfires, and freshman mixers.