ZARD ; Rest in Peace / ZARD Premium Box
Today is the first year anniversary of iconic pop icon ZARD’s (Izumi Sakai) death. She died at age 40 on May 27th, 2007. Tomorrow, the ZARD Premium Box will be released. It is roughly 300 dollars and comes with all of her singles. It will be released under the GIZA Records label.
Please Rest in Peace.
- Single CDs
- Good-bye My Loneliness
- Fushigi ne…
- Mou Sagasanai
- Nemurenai Yoru wo Daite
- IN MY ARMS TONIGHT
- Makenaide
- Kimi ga Inai
- Yureru Omoi
- Mou Sukoshi Ato Sukoshi…
- Kitto Wasurenai
- Kono Ai ni Oyogi Tsukarete mo / Boy
- Konna ni Soba ni Iru no ni
- Anata wo Kanjiteitai
- Just believe in love
- Ai ga Mienai
- Sayonara wa Ima mo Kono Mune ni Imasu
- MY FRIEND
- Kokoro wo Hiraite
- Don’t you see!
- Kimi ni Aitakunattara…
- Kaze ga Toori Nukeru Machi he
- Eien
- My Baby Grand ~Nukumori ga Hoshikute~
- Iki mo Dekinai
- Unmei no Roulette Mawashite
- Atarashii Door ~Fuyu no Himawari~
- GOOD DAY
- MIND GAMES
- Sekai wa Kitto Mirai no Naka
- Itai Kurai Kimi ga Afureteiru yo
- Kono Namida Hoshi ni Nare
- Get U’re Dream
- promised you
- Sawayaka na Kimi no Kimochi
- Ashita wo Yumemite
- Hitomi Tojite
- Motto Chikaku de Kimi no Yokogao Miteitai
- Kakegae no Nai Mono
- Kyou wa Yukkuri Hanasou
- Hoshi no Kagayaki yo / Natsu wo Matsu Sail no You ni
- Kanashii Hodo Anata ga Suki / Karaa to Ikou!
- Heart ni Hi wo Tsukete
- Glorious Mind
- Tsubasa wo Hirogete / Ai wa Kurayami no Naka de
- DVD Tracklist
- ZARD ~What a beautiful memory~ (2007.09.14 Nippon Budoukan) (Video)
Namie Amuro ; BEST FICTION
J-Pop Legend Namie Amuro, who started her career back in 1992 with the SUPER MONKEY’S, is releasing a new “Best Album’ on July 30th. The album is said to have 15 previously released tracks along with 2 new ones. The album comes with a music DVD. The singles included in this Best Album will be from “Wishing on a Same Star” until “60s70s80s”. It will be released under the Avex Trax record label. There are two new songs, “Do Me More”, which will be used fr the Vidal Sassoon campaign in July while “Sexy Girl” will be used as the theme song for 「乙女のパンチ」, an NHK Drama.
CD Tracklisting
- Sexy Girl
- Wishing On The Same Star
- shine more
- Put ‘Em Up
- SO CRAZY
- ALARM
- ALL FOR YOU
- GIRL TALK
- WANT ME, WANT ME
- White Light
- CAN’T SLEEP, CAN’T EAT, I’M SICK
- BABY DON’T CRY
- FUNKY TOWN
- NEW LOOK
- ROCK STEADY
- WHAT A FEELING
- Do Me More
Ami Suzuki ; ONE
The fallen J-Pop idol from the 90s is releasing her 10th Anniversary single, titled “ONE”, on July 2nd in both CD and CD+DVD formats under the Avex Trax record label. “ONE” is an upbeat and sparkly song produced by Perfume’s producer, Yasutaka Nakata (who is also the producer of Ami’s single “FREE FREE / SUPER MUSIC MAKER”.)
- CD Tracklist
- ONE
- A token of love
- ONE (Instrumental)
- A token of love (FM88 mix) / remix Yasutaka Nakata (capsule)
- DVD Tracklist
- ONE (Music Clip)
Namie Amuro ; NEW BEST ALBUM
J-Pop Legend Namie Amuro, who started her career back in 1992 with the SUPER MONKEY’S, is releasing a new “Best Album’ on July 30th. The album is said to have 15 previously released tracks along with 2 new ones. The album comes with a music DVD. The singles included in this Best Album will be from “Wishing on a Same Star” until “60s70s80s”. It will be released under the Avex Trax record label.
*Cover to be announced
*Tracklisting to be announced
alan; Shiawase no Kana / Ai Jiu Shi Shou
alan’s new single, Shiawase no Kane / Ai Jiu Shi Shou, is her first digital single and an unexpected release, jumping in before Natsukashii ~Unchanging Future~. In a response to the shocking China earthquake, all profits from these two songs will be donated to the Red Cross to help the victims of the earthquakes. Although Shiawase no Kane (幸せの鐘; Bells of Happiness) and Ai Jiu Shi Shou (愛就是手; Love is Our Hands) are seperate releases, they are the same songs in different languages (Japanese and Chinese, respectively).
The songs are very touching. Unlike her previous releases, she does not use her high-pitched ‘yodels’ (as heard in Ashita e no Sanka and Hitotsu), but rather keep it all in almost the same octave. The lyrics for both Shiawase no Kane and Ai Jiu Shi Shou are not only pretty, but they also have somewhat of a message to them, which is not surprising because this is what I call a ‘charity song’, especially one for a disaster that hits a bit too close to home for alan (she was originally from the Sichuan province). One interesting thing is that although both songs are the same (with different languages, of course), the titles are nowhere near similar to each other. Also, the Chinese title confuses me a bit (Love is Our Hands??…) It makes sense, but the translated title seems odd. The only main problem would probably be the instrumental, which is a little bit lacking, but that doesn’t mean it should have lots of heavy guitars with screaming fans inserted in random places. All in all they are both very touching songs from a very caring artist. I wish alan and the Sichuan victims all the best of luck in the future.
Overall Grade: A+
misono ; Ninin Sankyaku
misono’s releasing a new single June 25th, 2008, the third of her recent Rock Project. Ninin Sankyaku (Three-legged Race) is the theme song to the game “Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World”. This marks her 5th collaboration with the “Tales” series (3 with her previous band day after tomorrow and 2 as a solo artist). Limited edition includes bonus DVD with the music video for “Ninin Sankyaku”, “Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New Era” edition of the video, intro anime for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 versions of “Tales of Symphonia”, intro video for the Nintendo DS game “Tales of Tempest”, and special digest footage of misono’s works for the “Tales” series.
- CD Tracklist
- Ninin Sankyaku (二人三脚; Three-legged Race)
- Rock Project Medley (Zasetsu Chiten, Juunin Toiro, Mugen Kigen, Ninin Sankyaku)
- Ninin Sankyaku (Instrumental)
- DVD Tracklist
- Ninin Sankyaku PV (Tales of Symphonia – Knight of Ratatosc Ver.)
- Gamecube Version “Tales of Symphonia Opening Animation Movie”
- Playstation 2 Version “Tales of Symphonia Opening Animation Movie”
- Nintendo DS “Tales of Tempest Opening Movie”
- misono “Tales of Symphonia” Series Tie-up Collection Video Medley (Starry Heavens, Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto, VS, Lovely Cat’s Eye)
*Covers are to be announced
HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR; HOT LIMIT
HOT LIMIT is HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR on June 25th, 2008. It is a cover of T.M.Revolution’s 1998 song of the same name. T.M.Revolution is also said to appear in the music video for the single. This is their first single to be released with a CD+DVD edition.
- CD Tracklist
- HOT LIMIT
- Kirakira Summer (キラキラ; Sparkling)
- Mirror
- HOT LIMIT -Instrumental-
- DVD Tracklist
- HOT LIMIT PV
Tomiko Van; Tokyo Biyori
Ex-Do As Infinity lead singer Tomiko Van finally releases a new single after almost over a year and a half. The title song, Tokyo Biyori (Tokyo Weather) is composed by Zaitsu Kazuo of the popular band TULIP, with lyrics written by Tomiko herself. The first B-side, message., is Tomiko’s first composition, while the second B-side, Hum a Tune, is a cover of a song by ORIGINAL LOVE.
- CD Tracklist
- Tokyo Biyori (東京日和; Tokyo Weather)
- message.
- Hum a Tune
- Tokyo Biyori (Instrumental)
- message. (Instrumental)
- DVD Tracklist
- Tokyo Biyori PV
Anna Tsuchiya feat. AI; Crazy World
J-Rocker Anna Tsuchiya releases her 3rd non-NANA-related single June 11th, 2008. Titled Crazy World, it features Hip-Hop artist (and best friend) AI. Although she has previously worked with AI in another song, this is Anna’s first collaboration released under her name. A vinyl version of the single was released May 4th, which included a remix not found on the original single, an instrumental version of the remix, and the original version of Crazy World. The song is said to be a mix of R&B and rock. It will also be used as the Premier Dam CM song. The second track, What you gonna do?, was used as the Vienus Jean CM song.
“Crazy World (FMP Hyper Society mix) -Remixed by Fantastic Plastic Machine” is the fourth vinyl record released by Anna. It was released a month before the actual CD single, under the Rhythm REPUBLIC label.
- CD Tracklist
- Crazy World
- What you gonna do?
- Crazy World (FPM Hyper Society mix)
- DVD Tracklist
- Crazy World PV
Vinyl Tracklist
- Tracklist
- Side A
- Crazy World (FPM Hyper Society mix)
- Side B
- Crazy World (FPM Hyper Society mix) -Instrumental-
- Crazy World -Original Version-
JYONGRI; Unchanging Love ~Kimi ga Ireba~
JYONGRI is expecting a new single June 4th, 2008. Titled Unchanging Love ~Kimi ga Ireba~ (the Japanese translates to ‘if you were here’), it will be her 5th single and her first single to feature a special CD+DVD edition. The title track was used the CM theme song for au LISMO. The B-side, YOUR SONG, is a cover from Elton John’s song of same name.
- CD Tracklist
- Unchanging Love ~Kimi ga Ireba~ (君がいれば; If You Were Here)
- Trust&Try
- YOUR SONG
- Unchanging Love ~Kimi ga Ireba~ (Instrumental)
- Trust&Try (Instrumental)
- DVD Tracklist
- Unchanging Love ~Kimi ga Ireba~ PV
