If there was a bright side to Mayday’s 2001-2003 forced hiatus for national service, it was that it inspired the band to deliberately create an album by which it could be remembered. People Life, Ocean Wild is the band’s most ambitious pre-hiatus album, filled with sprawling anthems and philosophical reflections on the five lads’ short, strange trip. But it also has the widest variety of songs of any album to date. Just when the tone starts to turn too dramatic, a lighter song comes along.
Following the artistic and commercial success of its last album, the band’s confidence had grown enormously, and it shows. On Viva Love, they sound like five young guys who finally have the freedom to explore with all the resources they need. (The 1998 “Touch Together” has even more experimentation, but from a low-budget independent position and in collaboration with other artists.) That newness gives Viva Love a sound of joy and release, along with some rough edges.
Mayday never stops experimenting, but on People Life, Ocean Wild there’s more a sense of realizing visions than of doing things they’ve always wanted to do. For example, “Will You?” is a perfect love song with intricate vocal and instrumental parts playing off each other over the steadiest rhythm track this side of Motown. “Rainbow” is another example: By the time this album came out, Ashin was writing songs for other artists, in this case Fish Leung. Mayday’s own version is almost a different song from Leung’s. It’s a soaring, triumphant rock song, whereas Leung’s is a sensitive ballad. Both have their charms, but this is an Ashin who’s showing the world how the song is done. (Even more striking is the wailing live version on the 2001 tour CD.)
As the album starts, what always strikes me first is the clarity of the sound as Ming’s clean, tight drumbeats kick off “The Apple.” Mayday has taken another leap ahead in production, this time hiring an experienced American engineer, Craig Burbidge. All the instruments are sharply distinguished, and the sound is bright without seeming shallow as on some of the first-album songs. Even the hard-rock songs (not the band’s forte, in my opinion) are better on this album, because they don’t become a mass of competing loudnesses.
At less than three minutes, the opening song, which sums up the five lads’ whole odyssey of friendship, fame and impending separation in a few lines, is small, sweet and crunchy like its namesake. The momentum continues with “Don’t Tell Me,” a fast-paced rocker that takes the energy of “No One Else in My Heart” from Viva Love one step further. The arrangement is complex and the sound dynamic, and the clean production accentuates both. It’s one of Mayday’s best straight-ahead rock songs. Then “Will You?” comes in as Track 3, a perfect gem of an upbeat ballad. This is Ashin at the height of his powers as a musician and as a singer. The tune is tailored to his voice, which has a tendency to break when stretched, and he keeps it reined in until the chorus, when his question to the person he’s constantly thinking about (“Is It OK?” is a better translation) comes out as an anguished plea. This is Mayday’s best song and a monument to the craft of pop music.
The two other ballads here take different tacks. “Innocence” shows a debt to sometime collaborator Michael Wong in both lyrics (I sense a shared inspiration with Wong’s “First Time”) and singing style. Ashin is clearly out of his vocal depth with this song, but his heartfelt expression makes up for the strained voice. In any case, the melody is among his loveliest compositions, and the bridge of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” really works. “Buddha Knows” takes off where “Love of These Days” left off, all five members singing (with hilariously varying degrees of success) over an acoustic-guitar backing. It shows off Mayday’s boyish bond and their reverence for music beautifully. I put this track on every Mayday sampler I make for friends.
Two of the other rock songs here are better than most earlier efforts. "OK La" has a fun late-Sixties brass backing but unimaginative melody and vocals. It was great in concert, but on CD it’s a bit shrill. "Chu Chu Chu," on the other hand, is interestingly arranged, with a nice use of electronic bits and a J-pop bridge that combines elevator-music synthesizer with funky guitar riffs.
People Life, Ocean Wild has one true disappointment, “Forever, Forever,” a slow rock song that starts out promising but, like the original version of the song “Viva Love,” starts and stops and can’t get out of its own way. Fortunately, as with “Viva Love,” Mayday redeemed themselves with a better version, this one on the “Wings of a Dream” EP as “Chuang” (“Rush”) (the lyrics are different).
But it’s anthems that dominate this album, and if none of them quite matches “Fool,” they’re solid additions to the band’s repertoire. “Faith” is full of rock hooks, including a great break, though it’s a little overweight with refrains at the end. The children’s chorus is a nice touch. “Migratory Bird,” recorded with the Japanese band Glay, is nicely fleshed out from the version on Mayday’s movie soundtrack of the same title. The electronic tones and swirling guitars and strings, all full of surprises, keep the loud chorus from overpowering the song. It’s one of their best arrangements, and it’s obvious a lot of work went into it.
The title track, the last on the album, moves nicely from Ashin’s growled verses to an inspired chorus. The melodies are great. Like Elvis Costello, but few other pop composers, Ashin seriously could be enlisted to rewrite some of the more clanky national anthems out there. As on the other anthems here, there’s an endlessly repeated refrain at the end. But Ashin’s voice rising above it, singing, “Ming tian wo zai na li?” (Where will I be tomorrow?”) makes the close of the album an inspiring moment. I hope Mayday keeps coming out with better albums, but in terms of sheer grandeur, I doubt they’ll ever top this one.