Tracy Huang's English albums released under the UFO label have been rather uneven in quality, both in singing styles as well as choice of material. It is also rather unfortunate that in several of her albums the choice of lacklustre numbers marred the overall quality of the albums. I personally feel that PRETENDING and TRUE BLUE were rather out of place when included in the same album with the sombre and haunting FIRST OF MAY and THE LOVE INSIDE.
SOMEWHERE IN TIME and CHARIOTS OF FIRE therefore appears to be attempts to bring Tracy Huang back to more mainstream and easily accepted songs, and there appears to be less of the urge to experiment with newer and more innovative styles. The choice of a movie theme provides the backdrop of nostalgia and memories, a common thread linking the songs together. The deliberate choice of well-known and popular songs from the movies and musicals across the years cannot fail in providing mainstream appeal. In other words, these two albums appear to be attempts at trying to recapture some of the old glamour and magic that Tracy Huang once weaved in her early English albums with EMI, with their unabashed delivery of the greatest hits of the day.
As a result, SOMEWHERE and CHARIOTS are the closest that Tracy Huang came, in her later English albums, to her glory days with EMI.
Personally, Tracy Huang's voice in both albums, particularly CHARIOTS OF FIRE, is one of the more sophisticated one that I have heard. ROMEO AND JULIET is a particularly good example. This is a wonderfully understated and quiet number, with the forlorn and solemn voice of the English horn weaving a haunting sadness that is particularly appropriate in conveying the passing of time and loss of youth: "A rose will bloom, it then will fade/ so does the youth, so does the fairest maid". Tracy begins wistfully, creating a lingering sense of regret before moving into the quicker middle section of the song where her singing voice exudes a sense of resolute strength and determination. Then, this note of strength dies down as again the song comes full circle and ends with it has begun: the passing of time and youth like the fading of a rose.
CHARIOTS OF FIRE is a brave attempt to add words to a piece of music which originally has none. This is not an easy endeavour since the wrong choice of imagery and words will not only fail to do justice to the sweeping grandeur and power of the music, it will also cause the entire song to fail. Fortunately, careful thought has been put into penning the lyrics and the theme of racing to the end and always challenging oneself to greater heights provides a seamless unity between words and music. And this is no mean feat, considering the fact that many of Tracy's experiments with singing original English compositions have invariably led to lacklustre results, for example, in ALL THAT YOU ARE and PARADISE IN MY HEART.
Tracy Huang's voice is the medium which provides the crucial link between music and words. Her voice here is luminous and sparkles with clarity and purity. The crystal clear quality that is her trademark is still present but it has clearly been modulated with maturity and sensitivity, so the purity of her earlier voice has taken on a deeper and mellower shade. There is a quiet conviction and a sense of power and confidence as she sings, and as her voice rises into the chorus, I sense an unfolding of immense space and broadening of the skies. Tracy's voice in CHARIOTS one of one of her grandest and most magnificent, and is reminiscent of similar power that she displayed in SET LOVE FREE and SOMEWHERE.
CHARIOTS OF FIRE also includes other memorable songs, among them, the lovely MELODY FAIR, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO LOVE HIM , COMING AROUND AGAIN and SOMEWHERE IN TIME/ OVER THE RAINBOW.
The album SOMEWHERE IN TIME, released before CHARIOTS, too contains its fair share of beautiful songs which showcase Tracy Huang's newfound vocal dimensions. One of my favourites is the folksy number, SCARBOROUGH FAIR. The careful counterpointing of two melodies within the same song, and having Tracy sing both melodies, is something that I have not heard before. Another poignant number which I remember well is THE ROSE.
I have written elsewhere that these are the last two English albums where I managed to hear some of the old finesse and vitality in Tracy Huang's voice. Her voice in these two albums was again in another stage of transition. In THE LOVE INSIDE traces of her old powerhouse singing style still lingered, as, for example, in EVERY BEAT OF MY HEART, where one can hear the sheer forcefulness of her voice, a quality which she has sometimes strained excessively, for instance, in PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and THE POWER OF LOVE. Her singing voice in SOMEWHERE IN TIME and CHARIOTS has however become distinctly lower and deeper in character. She has replaced the pure and bright tones of her early days with a heightened ability to interpret her songs. There is maturity and calmness in her voice, as if some of her understanding of life has flowed into her way of singing. Her singing in this period is therefore very memorable for me.
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