Members
Milk
*Commonly known as: Niu Nai
*Stage Name: Ye Yi Hua
*Real Name: Ye Nai Wen
*Birth Date:
*Left the band as of 10 October 2005
Joe
*Commonly known as: Shu Wei
*Real Name: Zhang Shu Wei
*Birth Date:
Toro
*Commonly known as: Toro
*Real Name: Alvan Guo Wei Yun
*Birth Date:
*Left the band as of July 2003
Penny
*Commonly known as: Kun Da
*Real Name: Xie Kun Da
*Birth Date:
Ady
*Commonly known as: A Di
*Real Name: Xiao Jing Hong
*Birth Date:
Xiao Gang
*Commonly known as: Xiao Gang
*Real Name: Tang Zhen Gang
*Birth Date:
History
Early years
Five-member Energy had a distinctive Hip-Hop sound, which is sometimes mixed with electric guitars, like in their breakout hit "Let Go" . Energy uses dance to perform their fast tracks, often compared to Korean boy bands. They also recorded chart topping ballads like "Love Me for Another Day" and "One Day" . Energy's popularity grew at a time where other mainstream boy bands like 5566 and K One emerged. Energy had a fan base of mostly fans or people who liked Japanese rock. However, Energy also attracted mainstream radio play with their pop ballads.
Energy's first studio album ''Energy! Come On!'' was released within the same year of the band's formation. The cover of Korean boyband Shinhwa's "Come On" had huge publicity in Chinese pop culture, but this caused controversy between Shinhwa's and Energy's fans. Shinhwa fans claimed that Energy copied Shinhwa's dance moves and musical style. However, the two bands were not in conflict. The album also contains pop ballads such as "Loving You the Second Time" and "Never Say Goodbye" .
Their second album, ''Invulnerable'', features the title track "Invulnerable" , which is a cover of JTL's "Enter The Dragon". This track continues the band's signature rapcore cum dance sound. The single "Love Me for Another Day" is the best selling single throughout Energy's history, so much that Energy was labelled as a one-hit-wonder in view of this song. Other notable songs are "Boom", advertising Converse, which is a cover of Saliva's song. And "Ra-Men Song", advertising a brand of instant noodles. This song features Singapore's Terry Lee rapping with Energy in English. Ady injured himself while filming a music video for the album, and had to give their Asian tour a miss. He also missed out on the filming of music videos and promotional videos for the album.
Their final album as a five member band, ''E3'', was released shortly after. The single "Capturing Evil" , a Triple 8 cover, is the theme song for an online computer game. Like the previous two albums, ballads were the minority of the tracks. The music video for "Only Me" shows Toro behaving coldly towards the other bands members. Although the scenes in the video are obvious acting, Toro left the band not long after this video was released. He formed a new trio called "Typhoon" , of similar musical style to Energy. This other band has only one album - titled Overflow - to date.
Four members
Without Toro, the band's popularity declined. The musical style of four-member Energy was softer then before, and lacked the Rapcore sound which attrated most early fans. The remaining members continued their career with a Greatest Hits Collection entitled ''Energy 4 Ever'', which includes previous songs like "More Than Words" and "Loving You The Second Time" . A second disc contained four new tracks and two remixes of their previous title tracks. A limited edition of this album contains a VCD advertising ''Michael's Dance'', a television drama Energy was shooting at the time. Touring by the band proved "tough" as Toro's lines had to be covered by the remaining members. Energy expressed that they were optimistic about the situation, and even joked about Toro's departure during public events.
In 2004, Energy launched their first idol drama serial titled "Michael's Dance" . This was seen as an attempt to revive their popularity. Its original soundtrack released contains songs recorded by them, including "Hey You" and "I Hear the Angels Sing" . "Hey You" featured heavy rapping while the latter track was a melodic ballad. Both songs, and "Dark Times" had slight Biblical references. The soundtrack also contained songs by other artistes like Sugababes or . A notable track is "Let's Go" , which is performed by Energy and their good friend Show Luo . A "Behind the Scenes" VCD of this drama serial is previously included in ''Energy 4 Ever'' as a bonus disc. This disc acts as an announcement of the show. Penny sang a solo track for this drama serial titled ''It Isn't Raining'' . This song is not listed in the soundtrack, nor released on any other CD. This song was performed by Penny himself in Energy's FINAL FANTASY concert.
The album ''FINAL FANTASY'' , released in 2005, signaled the end of a four member band. The hits "Heaven and Earth" ( and "Taste of Tears" had a more pop sound compared to early Energy music. This album ''FINAL FANTASY'' was criticised for using an excess of freestyle battle. The popular music video for ''Heaven and Earth'' has Ady trapped in a castle, and the other three members saving him. This seemed to allude ''Only Me'' and Toro's departure, telling fans that Ady was leaving the band. During Energy's Asian tour, fans tried to persuade the band to not disband. A documentary of this effort is released in the second edition of "FINAL FANTASY". After a series of FINAL FANTASY concerts, Milk turned to his solo career, which included hosting, advertising, and recording his first EP, titled "Puppet", which was released in 2006. Milk released his first solo album in 2008.
After the four man split, Energy attended several award ceremonies without Milk. They only performed their award winning hit "We" . The announcement of a new album ''New Generation'' confirmed that Milk was no longer in Energy.
2006 to Present
After a year of inactivity, the three-member Energy released an album titled ''New Generation'' in mid-2006. This album has a more pop-rock sound, slightly different from what Energy had always been. The cover song "New Generation" features them dancing with extended arms, matching the ape-man theme of the album. The hit ballad, "Love Went Out of Control" , is a cover of "One" by TVXQ, a Korean boyband. The lyrics for ''Love Went Out of Control'' is written by Penny, the rapper of the trio. This fact was emphasized by the band during live performances because Energy was criticised for not writing their own songs, and repeatedly covering other band's singles. The most notable track, "Quick Kill" is written by Taiwanese rock band . The two bands met in a charity drive in Singapore, and MayDay agreed to compose a song for Energy. MayDay sings in the song and appears in the music video. The last song of the album, "Defeat" is written by well known songwriter Chou Chuan-huing . He, too, lends his voice. In this album, Energy distinctively dropped the rapcore attitude they had in their previous years. However, Penny still gets to show off his rap vocals despite the band changing its musical style. The band's logo is also revised, despite having an iconic logo for five years. China's release of this album has two songs taken out because of "inappropriate content". One of the removed songs was ''Quick Kill'', Energy's collaboration with MayDay. The band remarked in an interview that it was a "pity that the China audience don't get to enjoy the full album".
In mid-2007, Xiao Gang came as an addition to three-member Energy. Xiao Gang had helped Energy and K ONE to come up with dance moves, and reportedly is Penny's close friend. On tour, Energy described the addition as a move to make the band "more complete".
Energy's latest 2007 album, ''Born To Be Bad'' was released on 22 October 2007 in two versions, one of which is a limited edition. The album received generally positive reviews. Energy was praised for being 'more vocally sound', and having unique musical ideas. The title track "Born To Be Bad" received huge radio play and publicity because of its unique mix of hip-hop and . Energy's recording company initially didn't want the band to dance for this song, but Energy managed to convince them otherwise. To train their dancing skills, Energy came up with an exercise routine called the "Requires three thousand lives" The title track ''Born To Be Bad'' enjoyed huge publicity due to its unique mix of hip hop and rock. "Too Much Freedom, Save Me" , a track similar to ''Born To Be Bad'' contains heavy drum beats and guitar riffs. This album enjoyed commercial success also because of the pop ballads. The lyrics of the hit single "Stars" are entirely written by Joe and Ady. Another melodic ballad, "Promise Me" had a musical style that was described by fans as the 'Energy flavour', similar to that of their earlier ballads.
Associated Acts
T-Rush, a hip-hop girl group is featured in two of Energy's songs, namely "You Better Not Come Home" and "Live It Up", of heavy rap influence. This group toured with Energy during their first Asian tour and made a guest appearance in Energy's first concert in Taiwan.
Energy performed a song with Show Luo in the "Michael's Dance OST" called ''Let's Go''. This song makes use of 'Freestyle battle', where Energy and Show taunts one another in rapcore. The music video for this song has Energy and Show outwitting each other in breakdance, which takes place in what seems like a dance hall filled with fans. The video ends with the two sides becoming friends, which mirrors the real life situation. There's the interesting mention of 'U2' in this song, if it refers to the Irish rock band is not clear.
Other Featured Artists
* Terry Lee in ''Ra-Men Song''
* in ''Quick Kill''
* Vanessa in ''Got to be Real''
* Chou Chuan-huing in ''Defeat''
* Wilber Pan & Evonne Hsu in ''Universal Love''
Toro/Typhoon
Toro has been a great influence on Energy's music for their early years. He wrote a few songs for the band and was the rap firepower for most of the fast numbers and power ballads. Shortly after the release of Energy's 3rd album ''E3'', Toro left the band. This caused Energy to have two unfinished music videos, and rumors that a great argument took place within the band. Nevertheless, the band finished filming the two videos without Toro, and even toured as a four member group. This took place at a time where boybands rarely had single members leaving them.
In a solo career, Toro had several gigs where he performed Energy's hits like ''Invulnerable''. He also recorded a single called ''Give It Up''. Toro had several major acts in his new management company, including writing songs for other boybands like 5566 or K ONE, which were assumed rivals of Energy. However, he is reportedly still friends with his ex-bandmates. In 2004, Toro formed the Hip Hop trio "Typhoon", together with Darren & Xiao Chun . This band's music style is similar to early Energy's, and has only one album to date - ''Overflow''. Although Typhoon's popularity peak wasn't as high as Energy's, the trio gained recognition through variety programmes and acts with 5566.
Ady's Injury
Ady, the lead singer of the band, injured his back badly while filming a video for the album ''Invulnerable''. It was in the middle of an outdoor dance sequence when Ady fell to the floor in pain. He was rushed to the hospital immediately. Because of this, he was unable to tour and promote that album with the rest of the band. He also couldn't dance in the music video of ''Boom'', but appears in some scenes.
The album ''FINAL FANTASY'' was announced when Ady's back injury started to worsen. This spawned rumors that Ady was leaving the band for good, and Energy was no more. In their FINAL FANTASY LIVE concert, Ady only danced sparingly and couldn't take part in other dance sequences. At no time during the whole concert did the band mention anything about disbanding.
"We"
The ballad "We" is the third single from Energy's ''Final Fantasy'' album. The lyrics of this slow number is made up of 15 Energy song titles stringed together. These titles are chosen by Energy themselves, and the tune is composed by Singapore's JJ Lin.
The music video of this song is released in 2 versions, one with more footage of the band members. Energy's 6 albums are featured throughout the video in order of release. The last part of the video shows Energy looking to a big screen where their first concert in Taiwan is being shown.
Both versions of ''We'' is in the bonus DVD of ''Final Fantasy '', which is the very last release of four-member Energy.
Chinese Covers
Energy is known to perform many Chinese versions of other songs, and has been criticised for this fact.
Discography
Albums
:''Released on 12 July 2002''
# Intro
# ''Let Go'' 放手
# Come On
# ''Loving You the Second Time'' 第二次?上你
# You better not come home
# More Than Words
# ''Kicked a Metal Plate'' 踢到?板
# ''Summer Time'' 夏令??
# 7 Days
# One Time
# ''Love Radius'' ?情半?
# Together
# ''Never Say Goodbye'' 永?不?再?
# Outro
:''Released on 7 January 2003''
# Intro
# ''Invulnerable'' ?懈可?
# ''Doomsday Show'' 末日秀
# ''Love Me for Another Day'' 多?我一天
# Boom
# Ra-Men Song
# ''Treasure Island'' 金??
# ''Through a Light Year'' 穿越一光年
# Got To Be Real
# ''Return Immediately'' ?上回?
# ''A Song for You'' ?你的歌
:''Released on 22 July 2003
# Intro
# ''Capturing Evil'' 退魔?
# ''Attitude'' 什??度
# ''One Day'' 某年某月某一天
# Live It Up
# Get Away
# ''Extreme Danger'' ?度危?
# ''Only Me'' 只有我
# One Last Chance
# ''Choke'' ?
# Oh! Yes
:''Released on 16 January 2004''
Disk #1
# ''Invulnerable'' ?懈可?
# ''Let Go'' 放手
# More Than Words
# ''Love Me for Another Day'' 多?我一天
# ''Loving You the Second Time'' 第二次?上你
# Come On
# ''Capturing Evil'' 退魔?
# ''One Day'' 某年某月某一天
# Ra-Men Song
# ''Doomsday Show'' 末日秀
# ''Only Me'' 只有我
# ''Never Say Goodbye'' 永?不?再?
Disk #2
# One Love
# ''Eagle Flying'' ?在?
# Missing You
# ''Continue'' ??
# ''Upholding Justice'' 捍?正?
# ''Protecting Love'' 守??情
Disk #3
# Idol Drama ''Michael's Dance'' - Behind the Scenes
:''Released on 9 July 2004''
# ''Fighting Michael'' 鼓?米迦勒
# Hey You
# ''I Hear the Angels Sing'' 我??天使歌唱
# Sweet Sunshine
# ''Let's Go'' 一起走吧
# Ride With Me
# Ghost
# ''Dark Times'' 黑暗?期
# ''Till the End'' 一直到最後
# ''I Hear the Angels Sing'' 我??天使歌唱
# Leave Me Alone
# Where the hood At
# ''Clown'' 小丑
# Hey You
# Round Round
# ''Song for Xiaolong'' ?小?之歌
# ''Song of Evil'' 邪?之歌
# ''Till the End'' 一直到最後
# Thong Song
:''Released on 3 June 2005''
# ''Heaven and Earth'' 天?地
# ''Taste of Tears'' 眼?的味道
# ''We'' 我?
# Cowboy
# ''Last Time'' 最後一次
# We Are Family
# Yeah
# Everything In My Heart
# Holiday
# 2005.06.03
# ''I Will Return'' 我?回?
:''Released on 25 August 2006''
# ''New Generation'' 猩人?
# ''Love Went Out of Control'' ?失控
# ''Quick Kill'' 秒?
# ''Rogue'' ??
# ''Best'' 最好
# ''Love Weather Balloon'' ?情?向球
# ''Floating Lies'' 漂浮的?言
# ''False Game'' ?假哂幸葬?br /> # ''Defeat'' 打?
:''Released on 12 October 2007''
# ''Born To Be Bad'' 天生反骨
# ''Addicted'' 上?
# ''Cables'' ?索
# ''Stars'' 星空
# ''Mega-Temptation'' ??引力
# ''Guerrilla Street''游?街?
# ''Don't Care'' 不管
# ''Fall in Love With You in One Second'' 一秒?上你
# ''Promise Me'' 答?我
# ''Too Much Freedom, Save Me'' 太自由救救我
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