"In this void of utter darkness can you give me some light?
 Hands - like ice - don't know the direction."

                --"Chasing Memories", Beyond, 1987

With the binding of Leslie Chan and Beyond, this started the true period of
growth for Beyond.  Slowly, their music matured; but due to the disastrous
sales of their EP "Wing Yuen Dung Doi/Forever Waiting", they felt obliged
to produce music that would help Kinn's Music make what it lost from the
EP.  The music in their EP was, for the most part, raw and energetic; for a
market that was weaned on sappy love-songs and brain-dead lyrics, Beyond's
works did not gain many converts.  As a result, under Kinn, they went
through a period of image changes and energetic downscaling.  The result
was satisfactory, but resulted in less freedom to write the music they
wanted to; following instead, to a small degree, the market trends.  This
change is noticable in their works under Kinn: "Wing Yuen Dung Doi",
"Arabian Dancing Girl" and "Yeen Doi Mo Toi/Modern Dance Stage".

"Wing Yuen Dung Doi", the initial EP, is a definite souvenir.  The initial
set consisted of 5 or 6 songs, and came in a set with a stylistic watch.
There were only a limited number of sets made, and so quite naturally, to
attempt to purchase the real thing would cost quite a bit.  The later
re-release of the EP, under the same title, consists of 4 songs, does not
come with a watch, and has a different cover.  Buyer beware!  I have not
listened to the initial EP (set), so I cannot give you the actual synopsis
of the EP.  However, based on what I know of the EP, the music (as
mentioned above) is energetic and raw.  Definitely a rock-lover's EP.  The
re-release is ok, although the quality of the last two (live as well, I
think) songs are not that good.  Don't confuse this one with the initial
EP, though: the initial EP (set) costs ~$100 Cdn on the market, whereas the
re-release is only ~$15 Cdn.

"Arabian Dancing Girl" saw the change in Beyond from a hard/punk rock band
to what people use accusatory tones to call "commercial".  In my opinion, I
don't think that they necessarily wanted to be a commercial band and sell
out, but under the circumstances, I think they felt there was a need to go
that direction in order to keep Kinn's running.  The music is half
band-sound, and half synth (including drum machines).  Most notable are the
inclusion of "dance songs", such as "Sik Yat Mo Cook/Dance Songs of the
Past", "Arabian Dancing Girl", "Tung Fong Bo Jong/Eastern Hidden Treasure"
(a Chinese cover of their own "Long Way Without Friends"), and "Sah Yau Mor
Lui" (sorry, don't know how to translate it).  However, in this release
(which was re-released under Cinepoly in 1989), they still maintain their
true rock roots, and try as much as possible to stick to guitars and drums.
 As well, when possible, they try (especially on the "B" tracks - they were
still using record technology in those days) to include their messages,
political or sociological.

"Yeen Doi Mo Toi/Modern Dance Stage" saw another step towards the synth
end.  If memory serves me correctly, this was when new wave was in.  This
affected Beyond's music significantly: most of the music had synth
components in them; something which has not entirely been "rectified" even
to this date.  (Sorry, I'm not really a synth fan...I like it hard and
raw.)  On this CD, there are no "real winners" - all the songs are of
mediocre calibre.  The only exception, "Gau Yat dik Jook Jik/Yesterday's
Footsteps", was faded out early, entirely cutting out the guitar jamming at
the end.  While this may have been due to artistic reasons, obviously
somebody at the publishing end messed up.

The Beyond of this time caught the interest of a few, but were still not
very popular.  In the middle of 1988, Lau Chi Yuen left the band.  And in
the same year, Beyond (under the management of Leslie Chan) signed a deal
with Cinepoly.