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.
UltraStationJin said,
August 13, 2008 at 10:21 am
I’m seriously considering getting this Album. I have been thinking about it for a while, but after reading this and realizing that it actually contains the Single “FREE FREE/SUPER MUSIC MAKER”, which I was also considering buying, I’m pretty sure I will buy this Album therefore defeating the purpose of buying the Single. Not to mention, more songs.
Thanks.