I have always associated Tracy with Sarah. In terms of voice, somehow I feel that they sound alike, especially in slow songs. As for looks, I guess no one will deny that both of them are real beauties. In fact, at certain angle in some photo shoots, they can look quite alike too. Does anyone out there share the same view as me?

With the release of this compilation CD pack of Sarah, I can't help but to compare to Tracy again. Sarah, like Tracy, has kept a low profile in recent years. She, too does not do any publicity appearance with each release of her album. In fact, every release of her album is rather quiet, to the extent that not many people even notice it. However, her record company still makes it a point to release this compilation, together with songs from her previous company.

Last year, when I got news that Tracy was doing a re-mix version of 2 songs from her "Crazy for Love" album, I called up Universal Music and suggested that perhaps they can do something special for Tracy. One of the suggestion I put across was to have the album re-packaged, with totally different pictures and probably accompanied with a free calendar or VCD. However, nothing was heard of then and the re-mix version of that 2 songs died a natural death.

A few months back, I heard that someone is writing a book on Tracy. Will this materialise? I guess it is too early to answer that now. Let's hope that when Tracy release her next album, it comes together with the book. How about that, fans?

Poh Lee replied:

I agree with you on a lot of points about Sarah and Tracy. They look alike from certain angles and their voices also sound similar in some songs. But that's where the similarity ends.

I remember that when Tracy left EMI Singapore in 1982, Sarah was sort of like her substitute. EMI Singapore tried very hard to make Sarah another "Tracy Huang". I don't think they succeded.

In my view, no one can replace Tracy and no one ever will. But that's just my personal opinion. Sarah's english songs were pale in comparison to Tracy's. I never really paid much attention to Sarah then and also now.

Tracy is still surprising us with her experimentation and creativity into new music waves while Sarah seems to have stagnated. I don't mean to be harsh but Tracy has that special X factor whereas Sarah seems to be lacking in that department. Maybe I'm just biased but that's how I feel in a comparison between Tracy and Sarah.

In retrospect, I have always felt that Sarah Chen never lived up to the popularity that Tracy had and still has. Even today, Tracy is making waves while Sarah is sort of like fading into the shadows.

Reynard Cheok then wrote:

Funny how people from both this website and the Chinese website are all talking about this latest compilation. The Taiwanese fans are more vocal in their views though, and some of them are rather unhappy that ROCK has not decided to release Sarah Chen's albums in their entirety, but has instead chosen to release a compilation. Others have complained that many of the old songs found in this compilation have already been included in the previous compilations released by EMI and so there is nothing really original about the selection of songs.

I bought this compilation recently, because I was tempted by the price, and also because many of Sarah Chen's songs have become signature pieces which have made their mark over the years. However, I agree that the selection of songs is rather uneven and inconsistent, with newer songs being clustered together with much older songs

Yes, I agree that Sarah Chen has never been successful as Tracy Huang. My impression of Sarah Chen is that she is a dutiful singer who does not not desire to stray too far from the mainstream, this explaining why all her works under ROCK have a similar texture and flavour.

Comparing her to Tracy, I think it is clear that the latter has more versatile and dynamic vocals. The latter is also more adept and eager in exploring new musical directions and new dimensions to her voice.

Sarah Chen's voice has naturally grown deeper and lower over the years. Her re-recording of QIU YI SHANG XIN TOU in 1994 is distinctly deeper and mellower in shade than the original which she recorded as a rounger singer, when her voice was brighter and more radiant. Her 1994 rendition also appears to be more subtle and emotionally restrained, in contrast to the more exuberant and uninhibited original version. It is therefore interesting to hear the same singer reinterpret her old songs, to observe the flowing of years and life's experiences impact the growth (or decline) of a singer.

However, what is clear is that although Sarah Chen's voice may have dimmed a little in terms of its brightness, it still has the suggestion of a slightly husky and gritty edge. It still has the pure and clean radiance as she hits the high notes, even when she sings in recent years (her most recent album was released in 1998). In other words, her more mature voice does not pale in comparison with her younger one. This, unfortunately, cannot be said for Tracy Huang, whose numerous vocal experimentations have led to unfortunate exposures of the weaknesses in her voice. Given Tracy's present vocal range, it is questionable whether she, like Sarah Chen, can even capture the glory of her old songs (Love's tears etc) should she decide to sing them again. Tracy's mistake I think is that she is trying to hard to sound different; she tries too hard to move away from the mainstream, without having a clear grasp of the character of her voice. In this respect, she is very different from Sarah Chen who sings with her direct and uncluttered style, and who therefore shows off her voice to better effect. In this sense she is ironically superior to Tracy, for the mark of a good singer ultimately lies in the quality of her vocals.

Poh Lee replied:

While I agree with you that Tracy's vocals seem a bit weak, especially in Crazy for Love, you must remember that a year before in the We ah We album, Tracy demonstrated that she was capable of handling materials of extreme variation and agility. Tracy really surprised me in that album.

To me, Tracy's still has powerful vocals, just that it is not evident in some of the songs in the Crazy for Love album. I have to admit that her vocals there were quite "thin" and disappointing. But she has still managed to demonstrate her signature deep, st times powerful powerful and haunting voice in songs like "Tell me something I don't know", "We were both wrong", "So near yet so far away".

I suppose it is the overall inconsistency of Tracy's vocals in the "Crazy for Love" album that detracts me from remembering the otherwise still very powerful voice of Tracy. Maybe like you said, she has been trying too many styles without having a clear grasp of the natural strengths and weaknesses of her vocals.

Like you, I think that We ah We is one of her best albums in terms of the materials selected, voice control and capability, and even the album cover. That is Tracy at one of her best moments, the consistently excellent vocals of Tracy Huang is evident in nearly every song. Her voice is powerful, deep, and/or very haunting in parts. I think Tracy put in a lot of herself into that album.