Restless (Faye Wong album)

Fu Zao is a 1996 album by the C-pop singer Faye Wong; the Chinese title 浮躁 is variously translated into English as Restless, Impatience, Anxiety and other similar words. The Japanese release included the English translation Anxiety on the obi strip.

Many consider it her boldest and most artistically coherent effort to date. Some tracks are wordless or use self-created sounds, including the cheerful-sounding refrain "la cha bor" of the title track.

This being her last album with Cinepoly, Wong felt she could take on more artistic risks. The album contains mainly her own compositions, with an aesthetic inspired by the Cocteau Twins, who actually contributed two original songs to the album, "Fracture" (分裂) and "Repressing Happiness" (掃興). As Wong had previously covered their work on Random Thoughts in 1994, she had 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.

The album was received favorably by critics.^[1] A Buddhist herself, Wong weaves in teachings of transience and disengagement that can also be found in her previous and later albums. However, sales figures were less enthusiastic.^[1]

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.

In 2008, Universal Music re-released the album in a paper ECO Pack as part of its Asian series of 20th Century Masters.^[2]

Track listing

Album covers

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

References