The Chinese pop star the world knows as Faye Wong was someone quite different when she started out in show business – literally.

Her first three records with Hong Kong’s Cinepoly Records in 1989 and 1990 saddled her with Cantonese covers of American and Japanese hits, and the moniker Shirley Wong Jing Man.

Even then, the pristine quality of her clear, unsullied pipes shone through.

It was with 1992’s Coming Home, released after a study stint in New York, that she officially became Faye Wong. Musically, the album was more adventurous than typical Cantopop fare but her big hit was still a cover. Fragile Woman was a remake of the Japanese song Rouge and was a winner both on radio charts and during awards season.

Even as Wong began to explore different genres over her next few albums, she also continued to record the no-brainer commercial numbers. There seemed to be a tussle between what she wanted and the dictates of the record company.

When she began releasing Mandarin albums with 1994’s Mystery, the split was along language lines. True, she delivered beautiful ballads such as I’m Willing and Chess, but it was the Cantonese releases which proved to be more satisfying.

Even the album titles indicated her musical restlessness, such as Random Thoughts (1994), Ingratiate Oneself (1994) and Di-Dar (1995). These were alternative pop records in the sense that the music differed from mainstream offerings and the lyrics were more enigmatic than the usual musings about love.

One criticism often raised by detractors is that Wong is a mere copycat. In particular, she not only modelled her vocal stylings after Irish singer Dolores O’Riordan, she also covered The Cranberries’ Dreams in both Cantonese and Mandarin.

It is not true that she was content to simply emulate, though. It was a way of absorbing new ideas and influences and it paid off in spades on her most audacious album, Restless (1996).

She went from covering the Cocteau Twins’ Bluebeard to collaborating with the Scottish alternative rock band as they contributed two original tracks to the album, Fracture and Spoilsport.

The rest of the atmospheric electropop album was composed and written by Wong and featured made-up sounds such as the “la cha bor” refrain on the title track, to her scatting her way through Imagine. It is her most daring and cohesive effort to date.

Her next few albums were less experimental. Instead, they managed to strike a balance between musical exploration and commercial concerns. Her voice sounds deceptively delicate but it was a powerfully expressive and versatile instrument. It could be disarmingly child-like on You’re Happy (So I’m Happy), poignantly tender on Red Bean and then showily operatic on Face.

On Fable (2000), that schism between her and a by-now-different music label once again emerged. She composed the music for a cycle of five songs dealing with Buddhist concepts, with frequent collaborator Hong Kong’s Lin Xi providing lyrics. But the rest of the album was jarringly radio friendly.

Her last two studio albums saw her working with some new partners such as Taiwanese rocker Wu Bai. In the case of the techno-rock of Two People’s Bible off 2001’s self-titled record, the end result feels more Wu than Wong. More heartening were the songs on disc two, her most substantive offering of original Cantonese material since 1997’s Toy.

To Love (2003) marked a return to the template of her late 1990s albums but did not quite reach the same heights. Her compositions here include the throbbing title track as well as the exquisitely written Leave Nothing: “I gave the cinema ticket to you, gave the seat to him/I gave the candlelight to you, gave the dinner to him”.

Since then, there has been the odd soundtrack contribution to whet fans’ appetites but no sign of a new album. Hope springs eternal that she will some day decide to embark on another musical adventure.

Mystery (1994)

Faye Wong had previously sung in Mandarin, most notably on the track No Regrets off the 1993 album of the same name. Mystery is her first all-Mandarin disc and is best known for the ethereal ballad I’m Willing. However, it contained too many remakes of her Cantonese hits, including a new cover of Tori Amos’ Silent All These Years. Regardless, it was a huge hit and sales went past the 800,000 mark in Taiwan alone.

Random Thoughts (1994)

At this point, her Cantonese releases were more daring and playful both musically and in terms of packaging. Unusual for a release by a major pop star, there was no sign of her face anywhere on the CD. Instead, there were fragments of phrases such as “No new image” and “No photo booklet”. While the anglicised name Faye had already appeared on 1992’s Coming Home album, this was the first time she used her actual Mandarin name Wang Fei.

Chungking Express (1994)

Critics say that Faye Wong can only act as herself. True, but given the right role and director, her natural charisma comes through on the big screen as well. Her turn as a quirky snack-bar worker in Wong Kar Wai’s stylish drama won her the Best Actress award at the Stockholm Film Festival. Wong’s Cantonese cover of The Cranberries’ Dreams is played over the end credits.

Decadent Sounds of Faye Wong (1995)

This is how a covers album should be done. Wong took the songs of her idol, Taiwanese songbird Teresa Teng, and made them her own. It helped that the two shared the same clear and sweet vocal qualities but the appeal also lay in the unexpectedness of the arrangements. They even breathed new life into the dated folksiness of a track like Sentiments Of A Native Village. On the poetic Wishing We Could Last Forever, though, little more than Wong’s pure voice was needed.

Restless (1996)

The title song clocked in at under three minutes and the lyrics consisted of just 22 words, and it was probably one of the more conventional tracks here. Given the experimental nature of the disc, it did not sell as well as previous albums. It was critically acclaimed though and after its release, Wong became the first Chinese singer to feature on the cover of Time magazine. The headline: The Divas Of Pop.

Scenic Tour (1998)

She has never looked as serenely beatific as she does on the album cover here. And the record also contains several classics including the tender Red Bean and the showstopping Face, which sees her explor ing different ways of singing on one track. The track Tong was written by Wong for her daughter with her first husband, China musician Dou Wei. Gurgles of that daughter (Wong has two), Dou Jing tong, can be heard on it. The album sold more than 2.5 million copies in Asia.

Eyes On Me (1999)

It was the first time a Japanese video game, Final Fantasy VIII, had a Chinese singer performing the theme song. The single sold over 400,000 copies in Japan and paved the way for her entry into that market. She later became the first Chinese singer to perform at the Nippon Budo kan venue. She even starred in a Japanese TV series Usokoi (Love From A Lie) and recorded the Japanese theme song, Separate Ways, for it.

Fable (2000)

Her regular collaborators, Hong Kong’s Lin Xi and China’s Zhang Yadong, both play prominent roles here. And while the cycle of five songs written by Wong marked another step in her growth as a composer, it was Cantonese track Love Letters To Myself which set tongues wagging. The ballad was supposedly about Hong Kong singer-actor Nicholas Tse, whom she was dating, and the fact that he never sent her love letters.

Chinese Odyssey 2002 (2002)

Faye Wong had a silly side to her as well and this was perfectly captured in the loony Chinese New Year comedy by director Jeffrey Lau. She was once again paired with her Chungking Express co-star Tony Leung Chiu Wai and their easy chemistry showed onscreen. Wong won the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards for Best Actress for her role as a runaway cross-dressing princess.

To Love (2003)

Despite the widespread acclaim for her singing and music, it was not until 2004, on her fifth nomination, that Wong won the prestigious Golden Melody Award for Best Female Vocalist. She quipped in typical straightforward fashion: “I’ve known that I can sing, therefore I will also confirm this panel’s decision.” Not counting the six low-cost cover albums she released in China as a high school student, this is her 19th and, to date, final full-length studio album.

(ST)