Ayumi Hamasaki ; NEXT LEVEL
Ayumi Hamasaki
Ayumi Hamasaki
Widely popular J-Pop legend Ayumi Hamasaki is poised to release her 10th full length album on March 25th, 2009. This date is exactly one month after the release of her most recent single, ‘Rule / Sparkle’. The album, titled NEXT LEVEL, is said to bring her musical and lyrics style up a few notches, experementing and dabbling in never-before-used styles for an all-knew sound. The album will have 13 tracks total, including the single tracks “Days”, “GREEN”, “Rule”, and “Sparkle.” The album is rather expesnive, as you can see from the above pre-order links. As all Hamasaki releases, it’s going to be dropped under the Avex Trax record albel.
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Ami Suzuki ; DOLCE Review
Ami Suzuki
The album opens up very strongly, with the great dance number FREE FREE. This track was released as the first single before the albums release, and defintely deserved more than the meager sales it did acquire. The song has a certain flair and a sexy club feel. The chorus can be overwhelming at times, being very epic and sexy. Ami sports some very hott vocals and the arrangement is fantastic as well.
“Set me free, set free, i wanna be set free, i wanna be free, set free … i believe you set me free.”
The next track is the below-par feel the beat. It was the b-side to the “Potential Breakup Song” single, and produced by Sugiurumn. To be honest, the song does start out quit nicely. There are beep, if you will, that eventually lead into a very strong dance sound. The song will initially make you want to go clubbing, but after the first minute in a half, it will just make you want to shut it off. It was repetitive and boring, at best. It has it’s strong party, such as the intrumental breaks, but also it’s weak points.
The second single and last one before the albums release is also the next track on this album, Potential Breakup Song. It is a cover of the ALY&AJ song by the same name. My first thing to say is that this is one of the best covers I have heard in my life. She changes the song–certainly for the better–and turns it into another dancey song.
The next track is the masterpiece Bitter…. Ami Joined Studio Apartment for this track, which came out beautifully. The song has a much more mellow feel than the rest of the album, yet still features one of the most infectious melodies I have heard in a long time. By the second half of the song, the chorus repeats many times but in altering forms. For example, the music will “gradually” come back into full doses after going almost completely “off”, if you will. This track is one of, if not my single, favorite track on the album.
“Hey baby don’t leave me alone, I’m alone when you say “So baby don’t leave me alone” I’m alone this night”. For some reason, I just can’t get that out of my head. The song is SWEET DANCE. The song is cute and of consideranle length, which is good, coming in at 5 minutes. The song sounds like it has something like electronic strings at parts, which is huge plus for originality factor.
The next song is the length, cute and playful song THe WeekeND. The song has a somewhat generic electro-pop arrangement. The song is a little too long for it’s own good, coming in at six and a half minutes. The song has cheering in the backgroung during times, which can be a very risky move. It doesn’t hurt the song, but it surely isn’t as effective as it is in Hamasaki’s “independent”. The songs highpoint is the end where she sings progressively a capella.
Immediately afterwords is the b-side to the “FREE FREE / SUPER MUSIC MAKER” single. “Music” a voice says, right at the start. It quickly shifts into Ami’s cute and catchy vocals, before going into a verse. The chorus opens with a bang, “HEY! YOU! YEAH! Super Music Maker”, she says. This song is, like most of the album, a mix between a club track and electro-pop. This song certainly takes the cake for the best song of it’s kind I have ever heard.
Falling in line with the others, MUSIC is another dance oriented pseudo-club track. The song does not lack originality though, and mixes elements of jazz into the song. It is particularly interesting to see how the chorus seems so flexible and is at time almost whispered.
Stereo Love is one catchy song, I must say. It is probably one of her most cutesy songs to date, and she does indeed pull off the style very well. This was initially one of my favorite tracks on the album when I first heard it, and it still is! It has great and cute lyrics.
This song presents a nice change of pace, going from the electro-club feel to a more pop feel for the rest of the album. Ai no Uta is a cute song which features nearly all acoustic instruments and even a rapper. “Love & Peace”, he says. It is a fun, short, cute and quirky. “Love changing the world, love is everything”, she says.
futari wa POP! certainly can be annoying at first, but it grows on you. It’s the kind of song you hate yet you can’t turn it off. It is just too catchy, along with lyrics that are easy to learn and sing along too. Again, it’s another mainly acoustic song and features a male vocalist in the beginning.
The next song has a more interesting sound for Ami, using both electric and acoustic guitars, sometimes at the same time and sometimes at different one. This song is Atarashii Hibi. It has a catchy chorus, but the verses lack a little. The song is pretty average, not adding anything new or interesting.
The next and final track is the only non-join project track on the album. The lyrics were written by Ami, “If I can be with you anytime, shining and shining days”. if… certainly was a change of pace from the rest of the album, being an upbeat pop ballad. It has strings and all else that one could ever wish for in a pop-ballad.
OVERALL GRADE: 81 B-
Leah Dizon ; Communication!!!
Leah Dizon
“Communication!!!” is the second album release by American born pop-starlet Leah Dizon. It is being released on August 20th under the Victor Entertainment record label in both CD-Only and CD+DVD formats. It includes the single “Love Paradox” and it’s b-side, “Under the Same Sky”, along with the single “Vanilla” and it’s b-side “LOVE SWEET CANDY”.
CD Tracklist
- Step into my world
- Love Paradox
- LOVE SWEET CANDY
- Without a good-bye
- Vanilla
- Nothin’ to Lose
- Lost at Sea
- Communication!!!
- Not Too Bad
- BxKxRxxx
- Under the Same Sky
- Thank you
- DVD Tracklist
- Under the Same Sky (PV)
- Under the Same Sky (Tokyo Prom Queen Version) (PV)
- Under the Same Sky (Making Video)
- Vanilla (PV)
- Sweet Vanilla shot!
- Love Paradox (PV)
- Hong Kong Tour Live & Off Leah’s Cut
New Releases ; Aya Kamiki & the studs
Aya Kamiki
Record Label: Giza
Release Date: September 10th, 2008
Formats: CD-Only, CD+DVD¹, CD+DVD³
the studs
Utada Hikaru ; HEART STATION review
Hikaru Utada
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“HEART STATION” is the 5th Studio album (not including “Exodus”) by Japanese pop queen Utada Hikaru. It reached #1 on the oricon & world charts and has so far sold nearly 1,000,000 copies. Released under the EMI record label in just 1 format, it is so far the best selling female album of the year.
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It opens with Fight the Blues, an inspirational track with a somewhat retro or dated sound. The song’s sound makes it seems low-budget, but believe me when I say this song is a masterpiece. Her vocals are top-notch, as are the lyrics. “We fight the blues” and“I hate to lose” are both said throughout the song. This song is surely a fantastic way to open an album.
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The next track is also the title track, HEART STATION. It was released as a single shortly before the album’s release, coupled with “Stay Gold”. This song is a non-typical ballad and is very flexible. It follows suit with most of the album in being very synthetic and has a cute, more childish melody than her past albums. Despite that, it’s a very good song and should not be looked over. The song has cute and heartwarming lyrics, “The lovers’ heart station”, and average vocals by Utada.
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The album’s next track was a single titled Beautiful World. It was used in the Evangelion movie, as was the single’s b-side “Kiss & Cry”. “It’s only love”, she says during the opening, something that drew me in immediately. “Beautiful World” “Beautiful Boy”. It may sound silly, but the way they are sung has a profound impact and she pulls out off very nicely. This song also has the best instrmentation on the album, mixing synthetic with a little bit of acoustic instrments such as the piano. The infectious melody will keep you listening on and on. There is an instrmental break shortly after the third chorus which takes my breath away every time I hear it.
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The album’s biggest single, Flavor of Life -Ballad Version- is probably also the album’s biggest let-down. The lyrics are nice, but the orchestral instrumentation just really isn’t cutting it. It’s boring. It’s even somewhat bland, might I say? The melody simply worked better in the Original Mix.
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The B-side in the “HEART STATION / Stay Gold” single is, as you may have guessed, Stay Gold, and is also the next track. It was very interesting to listen to at first. It has heartwarming lyrics and a very ghostly feel. the song is beautiful and great to sing along to, with a nice and beautiful melody. The instrumentation lacks variety though, keeping with almost all the same instruments all the way through. Also, you kind of forget about this song after a time.
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Kiss & Cry has the coolest and most original name, yet the most bland, boring and unoriginal everything-else. The melody for the verses was used previously in Utada’s song “Hotel Lobby”. The Song makes a grandeur entrance, but that same essence of grandeur quickly fades. The melody is boring and often quite repetitive. The only redeeming feature of this song was a superb vocal performance by Hikaru.
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After Gentle Beast Interlude it very quickly turns into Celebrate, a “dance oriented club track”. I think this description is misleading, because the melody isn’t very danceable and nobody would ever want to hear this if they went to a club. It just doesn’t work. The most itneresting part of this song, which is filled with seemingly silly lyrics and a boring bland melody and boring and bland intrumentation is when Utada shows off her lesbian side by saying “Sexy Lady”.
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In an awkward transition, Prisoner of Love follows “Celebrate”. This track starts out nicely enough, with a very nice “I’m a prisoner of love, just a prisoner of love” but quickly turns into what sounds like a bad and horribly produced R&B song. Sadly, this song got turned into a recut single and ended up selling more than the more-deserving “HEART STATION / Stay Gold” single. Although, the song does have interesting vocals, which are nice, and thumping bass during parts, which really adds to the interesting-ness.
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TAKE 5 follows. Symbolic of death, this song is surprisingly hopeful. It talks about death being a place to, well, “Take 5″. It has a great synthetic arrangement and has a very ghostly feel, superior to “Stay Gold”’s. The song has beautiful lyrics, “I want to be translucent like the sky”, she says. The song has a superb melody and vocal performance and certainly is one of Hikaru’s many masterpieces, although somewhat lacking in this album. The song ends mid-setence and all music stops very abruptly, symbolizing how life can, and probably will, end in a similar, surprising fashion.
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Boku wa Kuma follows, with another weird transition. The song lacks terribly, but i supposed that is due to the fact it is a children’s song. It has a very simple melody and very boring, laid-back sounding vocals. There isn’t much else to say about this song, as it lacks all originality, talent and variety.
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Now, after Boku wa Kuma, you’re probably thinking “well, it can’t get any worse”, well, you’re dead wrong.
The song afterwards, Nijiiro Basu doesn’t have the same things “Boku wa Kuma” doesn’t have, and doesn’t have the positive attributes it does. This song is the best at being horrible and an absolute disgrace to the musical world. It features virtually no true melody and repetitive instrumentation.
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The album ends with the original version of Flavor of Life. The song is slightly superior to the “Ballad Version” which was featured as the fourth song on the album. It is much more interesting to listen to and fits much more properly with the melody this time around.
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OVERALL GRADE: 66 D-
GIRL NEXT DOOR ; Guuzen no Kakuritsu
“Guuzen no Kakuritsu” is the debut single by Avex produced band “GIRL NEXT DOOR”. It is comingo out in both CD-Only and CD+DVD formats on September 3rd. As you may have guessed, it is coming out on the Avex Trax record label. First Press come with a bonus photobook.
Tracklisting
| 1. | Guzen no Kakuritsu |
| 2. | Breath |
| 3. | red ribbon – Unmei no Hito |
| 4. | Guzen no Kakuritsu (ice cream mix) |
| 5. | Guzen no Kakuritsu (instrumental) |
| 6. | Breath (instrumental) |
new singles ; Tohoshinki, misono, AAA
Dong Bang Shin Ki (Tohoshinki)
Record Label: Rhythm Zone (Avex Trax)
Release Date: October 1st, 2008
Formats: CD-Only, CD+DVD
misono
Record Label: Avex Trax
Release Date: October 29th, 2008
Formats: CD-Only, CD+DVD
AAA
Record Label: Avex Trax
Release Date: October 8th, 2008
Formats: CD-Only, CD+DVD¹, CD+DVD²
L’arc~en~ciel ; NEXUS 4 / SHINE
L’Arc-en-Ciel
This is the 35th single release by popular J-Rock band L’arc~en~ciel and their last before their hiatus, which will last at least a few years. “NEXUS 4 / SHINE” is on sale August 27th. It will be released in just the Cd-Only format under the Sony Music Entertainment label. “NEXUS 4″ is the tie-in song for the Subaru Legacy while “SHINE”is the theme song for the anime “Seirei no Moribito”.
Tracklist
- NEXUS 4
- SHINE
- NEXUS 4 (hydeless version)
- SHINE (hydeless version)
ayaka x kobukuro ; Anata To
“Anata To” is the second collaborative release put together by singer-songwriter and pop starlet ayaka and the folk duo who has been making tidal waves in the Japanese music scene for the last few years, Kobukuro. The song is a nice ballad. It is being released in CD-Only format under the Warner Music Japan label on September 24th, 2008. The cover is very similar to the cover of their previous collaborative efforts, “WINDING ROAD”
Tracklist
- Anata to (あなたと)
- Anata to (あなたと) (Instrumental)
