But it is still surprisingly obscure. In an informal survey of about fifty Shanghairen, only one person had heard of them, but had not heard any of their music.

When told that they were a rock band from Shanghai, the standard response was, "Shanghai has rock bands?!" Nevertheless, most liked the music when some was played for them. Ironically, only rock fans were neutral or negative.

Within Shanghai's small rock circle, they are, of course, universally known. They are also universally disliked.

Shanghai musicians and their fans had not a single kind word for their compatriots in Tieyulan. One guitarist commented that, even though the members are good friends of his, the music is horrible.

A fan insisted that, although they may have been Shanghai's best two years ago, now they're not even in the top ten. Moreover, because they have an album, they've become arrogant and are now rather rude to other musicians.

Once I was at Malone's long after the band had gone home, and the stereo began blaring some bad country music. I went to change the music, but the only tape I had on me was Iron Orchid. I went to pop it in, and the DJ stopped me. "You know," he said, "they used to play here. But," he added derisively, "I don't want to listen to this stuff..."

Although there is validity in their colleagues' words, I suspect is also a degree of "album-envy" present.

Iron Orchid is in fact a decent album, worth the ten kuai for a tape (although probably not the 60 kuai for the CD) not so much for the few good songs as for the conversation value. After all, your Shanghai friends will be impressed that you know more about local music than they do.

Iron Orchid, or Tieyulan, (tie3 yu4 lan2), got their big break with the inclusion of their song "The Road Home" in a 1996 compilation album Alternative China issued by BMG. That song caught the attention of Beijing's Jingwen Audiovisual Company, and Iron Orchid signed on to make their self-titled debut album this year.

The blue-tone cover of Iron Orchid shows the six band members standing somewhere down by the Bund. A giant glowing grey orchid ringed with barbed wire floats in front of them. They adhere to the early Hei Bao (Black Panther) style: black-clad and long-haired, a look so unusual in China as a whole yet such a cliche within Chinese rock.

The Hei Bao similarity runs deeper into the musical style. Iron Orchid attempts the sort of peppy soft-rock ballads that Hei Bao pioneered in China. It's rock for people who don't like rock. Except that Iron Orchid lacks the flare, the sheer energy exhibited by bands like Hei Bao and their more successful imitators.

The music -- well, it's pleasant to listen to, not badly written, and easily forgettable. The only notable strength is found in vocalist Hu Jianming, who also wrote all of the songs on the album. Hu has the sort of melodious voice rarely found in Chinese rock. Despite having two guitarists, Zhou Zifeng and Gao Tian, most of the guitar tracks sound rather tinny. Drums by Bai Lei are not bad but unspectacular. The bass and keyboard, by Cai Jiwen and Dong Yin respectively, are almost impossible to hear in all but one of the songs.

Iron Orchid features nine songs, beginning with "The Road Home". While it's the most famous, the song is only the third or fourth best, and the lyrics about missing some girl are rather insipid. It works more as a pop song than as rock and this new version is in fact not as good as the track on Alternative China.

The two best songs are hidden in the middle of the album. When, after listening to the beginning of the album, I heard "Bu zai chenmo" (Don't be silent), I exclaimed to myself: "Oh my god! It has a beat!" It is the only song with particularly noticeable drum and bass playing, and the only indicator that Tieyulan may produce better music in the future. The only other note-worthy song is Nemme yi tian (Someday). Its intro is actually rather cool, and although it quickly turns into watered-down power rock, watered-down power rock is still an improvement over saccharine pop in rock's clothing.

Apart from "The Road Home", the other decent songs have one redeeming aspect each. "Mingtian jixu shang lu" (Back on the road tomorrow) features a good beat and better drums than most of the songs. "Qu neige difang" (Go to that place) likewise has good drums behind what is otherwise a pop song. The guitar in "Chuangqian" (By the Window) is pretty good, but the rest of the song is slow and boring. Although most of "Yeying rexian" (Nighthawk Hotline) is bad, it starts and ends very creatively. Only the third and fourth songs "Kuanrong" (Tolerance) and "Yueliangguang" (Moonlight) are entirely bad.

I recommend you fast-forward through them.