Logicgui.com

Dan Truong is irrevocably the most overrated singer, ever. His whinny crooning and unduly assertive vibrato sicken the ears and evoke auditory suicide to music fundamentalists. Cam Ly, while still maintaining a quality vocal, has relatively little new to offer. Yet somehow, I was thrilled when the two collaborate in Em La Hanh Phuc Doi Anh. I couldn’t wait to hit that play button. Stupid, stupid me. The album turns out disastrous in every facet, even with some spanking new tunes from Minh Vy.

Every track is befouled by either synthetic accompaniment, clumsy arrangement, or frivolous embellishment and off-key harmonization by Dan Truong. The album opens with a peculiar instrumentation that’s neither here nor there. The title track is well composed and would have been passable without Dan Truong’s anemic vocals. The massacre continues in “Hoi Long Them Lan Nua” and “Den Giay Phut Nay Day,” where sissy-ass Dan Truong once again destroys all that is good in Vietnamese music. “Chuyen Tinh Buon Con Gai” is simply a rescript of the familiar “Hoi Nguoi Tinh,” and while the lyrics flow freely, I still prefer Ngoc Lan’s rendition. Another strong track is “Ngay Mai Xa Cach,” where the sobbing saxophone perfectly transcribes the bereaved love story.

Em La Hanh Phuc Doi Anh is a failure from the get-go. Heck, any album with Dan Truong’s name on it is a failure. I hope this guy would just quit singing altogether.