姊妹 (1996)

Sisters (Chinese: 姊妹; pinyin: Zǐmèi) is the debut studio album by Taiwanese singer A-Mei. It was released on December 13, 1996, by Forward Music. The album was primarily handled by Taiwanese producer Chang Yu-sheng, with the assistance of Yu Guangyan, Ma Yu-fen, Baby Chung, David Wu, and Chen Fu-ming. Musically, it experiments with genres such as pop, soul music, R&B, adult contemporary and easy listening to exhibit A-Mei's vocal talent and versatility. On June 23, 2017, 20 and a half years after its initial release date, a vinyl reissue of Sisters was released by Forward Music.

Prior to the album's release date, the higher-ups at Forward Music were concerned that A-Mei's aboriginal heritage would negatively impact the performance of the album, due to widespread discrimination against indigenous people in Taiwan at the time. Nevertheless, Sisters was a massive commercial success in Taiwan upon release. The record topped the Taiwan IFPI chart for a total of nine consecutive weeks and sold a total of 1.21 million copies in Taiwan and 4 million in Asia.

To promote Sisters, A-Mei and Forward Music released five singles; "You Don't Want Anything," "I'm a Dreamer on Air," "Cut Love," "Release" and the title track, all resulting in commercial success. The album's success paved the way for future popular Taiwanese aboriginal artists such as A-Lin and Jia Jia. Sisters currently ranks as the fourth highest-selling album of all time in Taiwan.

Background and development

In 1992, A-Mei headed on a bus to Taipei and participated in the televised "Five Lights Singing Contest" on TTV Main Channel after encouragement from her father. She made it all the way through to the finals but lost in the final round. She was disappointed and considered giving up music until her father encouraged her to attended the singing contest again in 1993, which she later won in 1994. Her father died before getting to see her win, which affected A-Mei and inspired her to take a break from music afterwards. After her father's death, A-Mei struggled to recall her passion for music until 1995 when she started singing in local pubs with a rock band called "Relax" which was formed by her musician cousin. One of her pub performances impressed Taiwanese music producer Chang Yu-sheng and Chang Hsiao-yen, then-head of Taiwanese record label Forward Music. In March 1996, she signed a recording deal with Forward Music.

In order to let A-Mei be known to everyone earlier, before officially recording her personal album, Chang arranged for A-Mei to join him in the duet love song "The One Who Loved Me Most, Hurt Me The Most (最愛的人傷我最深)," and he also often took A-Mei to participate in variety shows. In November 1996, A-Mei was invited to sing "I'm a Dreamer on Air," the theme song for Taiwan's UFO Radio station, which further increased her popularity.

Writing and recording

Sisters was primarily handled by Taiwanese producer Chang Yu-sheng—who served as A-Mei's primary vocal tutor, producer and supervisor until his death—with the assistance of Yu Guangyan, Ma Yu-fen, Baby Chung, David Wu, and Chen Fu-ming. The album's music incorporates a range of contemporary genres with a mix of slow ballads and up-tempo tracks, having been influenced by various genres and styles such as adult contemporary, funk, jazz and R&B. There are 10 full-length recorded songs on the album in total, all of which feature vocals from both A-Mei and various backing singers.