Energy (band)
Encyclopedia
Energy is a Taiwanese pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...

 boy band
Boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a popular music act consisting of only male singers. The members are expected to dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. More often than not, boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on...

 formed in 2002. The original band consisted of five members, namely Milk, Ady, Toro, Penny and Joe. Toro and Milk left the band in 2003 and 2005 respectively. Xiao Gang joined the band in mid 2007. The band is now officially disbanded since 2009.

Milk

  • Commonly known as: Niu Nai
  • Stage Name: Ye Yi Hua
  • Real Name: Ye Nai Wen
  • Birth Date: September 02, 1979 (age 32)
  • Left the band as of 10 October 2005

Joe

  • Commonly known as: Shu Wei
  • Real Name: Zhang Shu Wei
  • Birth Date: November 04, 1980 (age 31)

Toro

  • Commonly known as: Toro
  • Real Name: Alvan Guo Wei Yun
  • Birth Date: October 02, 1981 (age 30)
  • Left the band as of July 2003

Ken / Penny

  • Commonly known as: Kun Da
  • Real Name: Xie Kun Da
  • Birth Date: March 18, 1982 (age 29)

Ady

  • Commonly known as: A Di
  • Real Name: Xiao Jing Hong
  • Birth Date: July 21, 1982 (age 29)

Xiao Gang

  • Commonly known as: Xiao Gang
  • Real Name: Tang Zhen Gang
  • Birth Date: October 13, 1983 (age 28)

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 incorporates dance cheography to perform their up-tempo tracks, often compared to dance performances of Korean boy bands. Energy also has slow ballads like "Love Me for Another Day" and "One Day" . Energy's popularity grew at a time where other mainstream Taiwanese boy bands like 5566 and K One
K One
K One is a Taiwanese boy band.K One belongs to the management company, Wingman, managed by former 5566 member, Rio Peng. Other artists that belong to this company include 劉耕宏Will Liu, Evonne Hsu許慧欣 , Ivy , Alicia, Vivi , Niki, 無限, Wing, Style , and育緯.K One disbanded in 2008 but Wingman or K One...

 emerged. Energy had a fan base of mostly goth
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...

 fans and people who liked Japanese rock, but also attracted a mainstream audience.

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
Shinhwa
Shinhwa is a popular South Korean boy band and hip hop group. The group has six members , and debuted on March 24, 1998. It has enjoyed massive success alongside the likes of Sechs Kies, g.o.d., Turbo , Fin. K.L., H.O.T. and S.E.S...

's "Come On" had a huge publicity in Chinese pop culture, and caused controversy between Shinhwa
Shinhwa
Shinhwa is a popular South Korean boy band and hip hop group. The group has six members , and debuted on March 24, 1998. It has enjoyed massive success alongside the likes of Sechs Kies, g.o.d., Turbo , Fin. K.L., H.O.T. and S.E.S...

's and Energy's fans. Shinhwa fans claimed that Energy copied Shinhwa's dance moves and musical style. The two bands themselves were not in conflict. This album contains mostly up-tempo songs, but also has ballads such as "Loving You the Second Time" and "Never Say Goodbye" .

Their second album, Invincible, features the title track "Invincible" , which is a cover of JTL
JTL
jtL was a South Korean dance music group, consisting of the former H.O.T. members who did not stay with SM Entertainment- Jang Woo Hyuk, Tony An and Lee Jae Won. The group was named after the initials of the members' stage name...

's "Enter The Dragon". This track continues the band's signature rapcore and dance style. 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 include "Boom", advertising Converse, which is a cover of metal band Saliva
Saliva
Saliva , referred to in various contexts as spit, spittle, drivel, drool, or slobber, is the watery substance produced in the mouths of humans and most other animals. Saliva is a component of oral fluid. In mammals, saliva is produced in and secreted from the three pairs of major salivary glands,...

's song. "Ra-Men Song", advertising a brand of instant noodles 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
Triple 8
Triple 8 were a five-piece hip-hop style British boyband, who were signed to Polydor Records. The group were promoted as the British equivalent of 'N Sync, and rivals to manufactured boy bands, such as Westlife and A1. The group had two successful singles: "Knockout" and "Give Me A Reason", which...

 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 scripted 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 lacked the Rapcore sound which attracted most early fans. The remaining members continued their career with a Greatest Hits Collection entitled Energy 4 Ever, which contained four new tracks and two mash-ups of their previous songs. 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 by the media as an attempt to revive their popularity. Its original soundtrack (OST) released contains songs recorded by them, including "Hey You" and "I Hear the Angels Sing" . "Hey You" contains heavy rapping while the latter track was a melodic ballad. Both songs, and "Dark Times" has slight Biblical references. The soundtrack also contained songs by other artistes like Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...

 and DMX
DMX (rapper)
Earl Simmons , better known by his stage name DMX, is a multiplatinum American rapper and actor who rose to fame in the late 1990s. His stage name pays tribute to the Oberheim DMX drum machine, an instrument he used when he made his own rap beats in the 80's...

. A notable track is "Let's Go" , which is performed by Energy and Show Luo
Show Luo
Show Luo also known as Xiao Zhu was born on 30 July 1979. He is a Taiwanese entertainer: Mandopop singer, dancer, host and actor. He has been dubbed "Dancing King of Asia" for his dancing skills.-Biography:...

 . Penny sang a solo track for this show titled It Isn't Raining . This song is not included 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 singles "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 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
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, 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 with a new line-up 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 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 Korean boy bandTVXQ
TVXQ
TVXQ, an acronym for Tong Vfang Xien Qi , is a South Korean pop group formed in 2003 under SM Entertainment. In South Korea they are known as Dong Bang Shin Ki , often abbreviated by international fans as DBSK; they were later introduced in Japan as Tohoshinki under the Avex sub-label Rhythm Zone...

. The lyrics for Love Went Out of Control is written by Penny. 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 MayDay . 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 style they had in their previous albums. However, Penny still gets to show off his rap vocals, at a time where rap was decreasing in popularity in Taiwanese music. The band's logo is 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
K One
K One is a Taiwanese boy band.K One belongs to the management company, Wingman, managed by former 5566 member, Rio Peng. Other artists that belong to this company include 劉耕宏Will Liu, Evonne Hsu許慧欣 , Ivy , Alicia, Vivi , Niki, 無限, Wing, Style , and育緯.K One disbanded in 2008 but Wingman or 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. 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 rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

. Energy's recording company initially didn't want the band to incorporate 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" "Too Much Freedom, Save Me" , a track similar to Born To Be Bad contains heavy drum beats and guitar riffs. The lyrics of the single "Stars" are entirely written by Joe and Ady. Another melodic ballad, "Promise Me" had a musical style that was 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". 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
Show Luo
Show Luo also known as Xiao Zhu was born on 30 July 1979. He is a Taiwanese entertainer: Mandopop singer, dancer, host and actor. He has been dubbed "Dancing King of Asia" for his dancing skills.-Biography:...

 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 concert hall filled with fans of both artists. The video ends with the two sides becoming friends, referencing the real life situation. There is an interesting mention of 'U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

' in this song, whether it refers to the Irish rock band is not clear.

Energy has been on Anthony Bourdaine's No Reservation on television numerous times.

Other Featured Artists
  • Terry Lee in Ra-Men Song
  • MayDay in Quick Kill
  • Vanessa in Got to be Real
  • Chou Chuan-huing in Defeat
  • Wilber Pan
    Wilber Pan
    Wilber Pan also known as Will Pan was born on 6 August 1980. He is an American-born Taiwanese Mandopop singer, rapper and actor, who started his career as a host of Channel V programs.-Biography:...

     & Evonne Hsu
    Evonne Hsu
    Evonne Hsu, also known as Hsu Hui-hsin was born 5 December 1979, in Longview, Texas, United States. She is a Taiwanese American Golden Melody Awards Mandopop singer...

     in Universal Love

Toro/Typhoon

Toro has been a great influence on Energy's music in 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 heated 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 members leaving them.

In a solo career, Toro had several low profile gigs where he performed Energy's hit songs 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
K One
K One is a Taiwanese boy band.K One belongs to the management company, Wingman, managed by former 5566 member, Rio Peng. Other artists that belong to this company include 劉耕宏Will Liu, Evonne Hsu許慧欣 , Ivy , Alicia, Vivi , Niki, 無限, Wing, Style , and育緯.K One disbanded in 2008 but Wingman or K One...

, which were portrayed by the media as rivals of Energy. However, he is reportedly still friends with his ex-bandmates.

In 2004, Toro formed the Hip Hop boy band "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, suffered a major back injury 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 disbanding. In their FINAL FANTASY LIVE concert, Ady only danced sparingly and couldn't take part in most 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 ballad 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
JJ Lin
JJ Lin is a Singaporean Mandopop Singer-songwriter, Composer and Actor based in Taiwan. JJ Lin is managed by Ocean Butterflies. Lin won Best New Artist for his work on his debut album Music Voyager at the 15th Golden Melody Awards in 2004....

.

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 screen where their first concert in Taiwan is being shown.

Both versions of We is in the bonus DVD of Final Fantasy [4th Ed.], 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.
Energy Title Original Title Original Artiste
无懈可击 Invincible Enter the Dragon JTL
JTL
jtL was a South Korean dance music group, consisting of the former H.O.T. members who did not stay with SM Entertainment- Jang Woo Hyuk, Tony An and Lee Jae Won. The group was named after the initials of the members' stage name...

Missing You Missing You Fly to the Sky
Come On Hey, Come On Shinhwa
Shinhwa
Shinhwa is a popular South Korean boy band and hip hop group. The group has six members , and debuted on March 24, 1998. It has enjoyed massive success alongside the likes of Sechs Kies, g.o.d., Turbo , Fin. K.L., H.O.T. and S.E.S...

Boom Click Click Boom Saliva
Saliva (band)
Saliva is an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in September 1996 and currently under Island Records. Saliva released their self-titled debut album on August 26, 1997, under Rocking Chair Records....

我會回來 I Will Return Outside Castle H.O.T.
H.O.T.
H.O.T. was a popular five-member South Korean boy band in the mid to late 1990s. Their name is an acronym, standing for "High-five Of Teenagers". They were formed by SM Entertainment in 1996 and disbanded in 2001.H.O.T...

Everything in My Heart I Swear S
Cowboy Cowboy Click-B
Ra-Men Song That Booty Song
愛失控 Love Went Out of Control One TVXQ
TVXQ
TVXQ, an acronym for Tong Vfang Xien Qi , is a South Korean pop group formed in 2003 under SM Entertainment. In South Korea they are known as Dong Bang Shin Ki , often abbreviated by international fans as DBSK; they were later introduced in Japan as Tohoshinki under the Avex sub-label Rhythm Zone...

Capturing Evil 退魔錄 Knockout Triple 8
Triple 8
Triple 8 were a five-piece hip-hop style British boyband, who were signed to Polydor Records. The group were promoted as the British equivalent of 'N Sync, and rivals to manufactured boy bands, such as Westlife and A1. The group had two successful singles: "Knockout" and "Give Me A Reason", which...

We Are Family We Are Family
我聽見天使歌唱 I Hear the Angels Sing I Can Hear the Heavens Sing
某年某月某一天 One Day Come Back To Me Seven
Seven (South Korean singer)
Choi Dong-wook , better known by his stage name Se7en, is a South Korean singer from YG Entertainment. He has released songs in South Korea, Japan, China and the United States.-2003: Debut:...

1 Time 1 Tym 1TYM
One Love On Love S'MAX

External links

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