Best ~second session~

November 13, 2007 at 8:23 am | In Kumi Koda | 1 Comment

  1. Introduction to the second session
  2. D.D.D featuring SOULHEAD
  3. You
  4. Candy featuring Mr. Blistah
  5. Shake It Up
  6. feel
  7. WIND
  8. Love goes like…
  9. No Regret
  10. Birthday Eve
  11. Lies
  12. Ima sugu hoshii
  13. Kamen featuring Tatuya Ishii
  14. Someday
  15. A Whole New World (Koda Kumi & Peabo Bryson)

The introduction has a fantastic feel to it and really opens the album well. Koda’s vocal is fun even though her English is completely indecipherable.

Track Rating; A

D.D.D is my favourite song on this album. The beats are fantastic and the pace and energy just draw you into the song. Koda Kumi and SOULHEAD’s vocals mesh really well and transitions between the various singers are smooth. The ‘rap’ part works well with the rest of the song even though it could easily have lost my interest (not a rap fan). I love this song!

Track Rating; A+

You is a ballad with a great melody and vocal. Her voice sails over the soaring strings in the chorus, strengthening the impact of the brief piano between the end of the chorus and start of the second verse. I’m not usually too fond of Koda Kumi ballads but I happen to really like this song.

Track Rating; A

The most obvious problem with Candy is that the music remains a little same-y throughout the song. Koda’s husky voice really suits the arabian feel of the song, but it isn’t a song that I listen to a lot because the same-iness makes it seem like it goes on forever. I’m not going to mention the rapping!

Track Rating; B

Shake It Up is my second favourite song on ~Second Session~. Starting this off with the addictive chorus was a really good idea, it completely holds your attention and the Brazilian/Caribbean carnival feel automatically gives Shake It Up inrivalled energy. Again Koda’s voice suits the feel and style of the song.

Track Rating; A+

I don’t listen to feel much. I’m not a slow song/ballad person really which is why feel doesn’t really suit me. That aside, it’s a modern R&B style ballad with a well paced chorus and great diversity between chorus and verse.

Track Rating; B+

WIND has a really good opening which I love. The guitar that follows it is great. I don’t usually like it when a song opens strong and then has a passive first verse, but WIND includes some beats that keep the pace up. Everything about this song is just GREAT.

Track Rating; A

Love Goes Like… is my third favourite song. I love the opening of ‘throw your hand up’ for some reason, it sets the scene really well. The verse is a little slow but by the time the chorus begins I’ve forgotten that. The synth works really well throughout the track and the beats vary and keep the song going.

Track Rating; A

No Regret sounds rather late 80’s/early 90’s synth-pop, yet somehow I still like it. The constant drum rythms could provide a very strong headache if listened to too loud though. Koda’s vocal is up to her usual standard of awesomeness as always.

Track Rating; A-

Birthday Eve is a track full of fun! It’s such a pop song. Despite that it works really well and never loses its innate enjoyment. The chorus reminds me of something that I can’t quite place… I love Birthday Eve for all these things :D

Track Rating; A

I really like Lies despite Koda Kumi’s terrible English pronunciation. Some people aren’t able to get over that, but if you can look past that you’ll find a song song with great beats, vocal and pace. Come on people! Ignore the Engrish!

Track Rating; A

Okay… I’m going to completely glaze over the lyrics in Ima Sugu Hoshii, I’m only fifteen. I really like Koda’s vocal performance, but the rest of the track is a little bland. I won’t say too much about this or I’ll end getting into talking about the lyrics……..Bad idea.

Track Rating; B-

Kamen is a good song, in my opinion. I’m not too keen on Koda’s opening ‘mmm’s but whatever! The rest of the song is good. Ishii Tatsuya’s deep-ish voice compliments Koda Kumi’s deep-ish voice during the chorus. Bad English from Koda again, I don’t think ‘crose’ is a word in the Cambridge Concise, but what the hey!

Track Rating; A-

Someday really starts well. The song itself is funky and uses strings really well. The beginning has Koda putting in a very Ayu-style vocal, probably another reason I like it so much.

Track Rating; A

I’m going to ignore the fact that the bonus track exists! Discover why for yourself.

Overall, despite being less of a Best album, more of a project Best ~Second Session~ really works in Koda’s favour. It is one of my favourite jpop albums.

Overall Rating; A+

Download; D.D.D … Shake It Up … Lies

Heart

November 11, 2007 at 8:37 pm | In Yuna Ito | Leave a Comment
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1. WORKAHOLIC

2. ENDLESS STORY

3. losin’

4. Know-how

5. Precious

6. Tender Is The Night

7. Fragile

8. Nobody Knows

9. Faith

10. Stay For Love

11. Truth

12. Perfume

13. Precious ~Extended Wedding Version~

WORKAHOLIC is a groovy sounding, disco-y song and a good opening to the album. The chorus is the best part of the song as the verses are a little bland. Unfortunately WORKAHOLIC ends up sounding a little samey. Yuna Ito’s vocal is consistant and strong but the song doesn’t lend itself to her vocal capacity.

Track Rating; B+

ENDLESS STORY is simply amazing. A wonderful flowing power ballad that shows off Ito’s wonderful voice. The only problem I have with this track is that the introduction is a little too long. Ito’s performance is passive and tame during the verses and remains so until the entrance of the chorus where she elevates and lowers her voice incredibly well. One of my favourite Yuna Ito tracks.

Track Rating; A+

losin’ starts off quite boring but it gets a bit better when the stronger beats enter. The chorus is definitely the focal point of the song, but after that it slows to boring again. (Yuna Ito’s voice was barely even tested in this.) In my opinion losin’ could have been so much better if it had more attack and kept the beats more constant.

Track Rating; B

Know-how follows losin’s example and starts off boring before entering into the main beats of the song. I don’t like this song…it just lacks too much to be interesting. Even the chorus is dull, which is quite rare. I suggest skipping this track.

Track Rating; C

Precious. Another Yuna Ito ballad! Unlike Endless Story this one gets straight into the lyrics. As a song it’s nowhere near as good as Endless Story as the music lacks something…(Being picky, the opening verse lasts too long.) The chorus is lovely, with great vocals from Ito and great backing strings.

Track Rating; A

Tender is the Night is cheesy, to put it mildly. The saxophone opening was a little….yargh!… You could call this a ballad, but I’d call it more of a slow pop-song. It really harks back to the cheesy slow songs of the past, which I don’t realy like. The lyrics are cheesy, the verses are boring, the chorus is stereotypical…it’s just not that good.

Track Rating; C

Fragile. I like the opening strings to fragile but then it descends into faux disco/funk territory which it doesn’t really pull of. Again, Ito is not given enough to work with vocally and so her voice sounds flat. You’d expect a song called ‘fragile’ to be a powerful ballad, something that Yuna Ito can do amazingly well, so this was very disappointing.

Track Rating; C-

Nobody Knows starts simple and stays simple…but then it descends into faux disco/funk territory. Is it just me or is this sounding a little familiar? Ummm……..See above

Track Rating; C-

Faith begins sounding promising with strong strings. The first verse is beautifully sung and Ito’s voice floats, unfortunately the chorus sounds a lot like the verse with a couple of melody alterations. Faith had the potential to follow in Endless Story’s path but failed.

Track Rating; C

Stay For Love begins with electronic beats and synth and then Ito enters with a vocal that I really like. It would have been nice if there was a band involved, and something that played a melody instead of Ito holding the entire song herself, due to that the song is repetative and has no realy musical merit.

Track Rating; C-

Truth has a nice opening. It’s a ballad which means Ito is in her element, and, as with all her ballads, her voice really hits it’s peak during the chorus. Not as good as Endless Story but I think we’ll be waiting a long time for something to top that! Truth is one of the better songs on Heart without a doubt.

Track Rating; A-

When I first saw that there was a song called Perfume on Heart, I expected it to be a strong, fast paced song…Boy, was I wrong. It’s a slow ballad that is quite good but lacks replay value. Like Stay For Love it would have been nice for an instrument to have followed the melody.

Track Rating; B-

Precious ~Extended Wedding Version~ is a little pointless, even for a bonus track. I love the choir in the beginning but that’s all that’s really noticably different, apart from a different backing (Which was far more simple and orchestral). The choir should have done more, then this version would have been less pointless. It’s still good though, despite the bad transition from choir to Yuna.

Track Rating; A

In conclusion, Heart has all of about four good, replayable songs. Heart lacks a lot that every good debut album should have. One question….Why was Stuck On You not included? It’s one of her best songs!

Overall Rating; B-/C+ 

Download; ENDLESS STORY … Precious … Truth

Home

November 11, 2007 at 8:05 pm | In Angela Aki | Leave a Comment
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Home was Angela Aki’s first major-label release. It came out June 14th 2006 and reached number 2 on the Oricon charts, selling in excess of 121,000 copies in its first week.

  1. Kiss Me Good-Bye
  2. Love Is Over Now
  3. Kokoro no Senshi
  4. Music
  5. This Love
  6. Onegai
  7. Uchuu
  8. Rain
  9. Kiseki
  10. Oogesa ni “Aishiteru”
  11. Hallelujah
  12. Home
  13. Your Love Song

Kiss Me Good-Bye is the first song I ever heard by Angela Aki and I was so impressed by her vocal depth. I downloaded both the English version and the shortened Japanese version, and I have never been able to decide which I like better! The strength of the song is definitely in Aki’s beautiful soulful delivery.

Track Rating; A*

Love Is Over Now is a charming, understated gem of a song. The ‘iie’s is what I particularly love about it, also the mellifluous (dictionary.com it :D ) chorus which follows on from the verse rather than becoming the focus of the song.

Track Rating; A+

Kokoro no Senshi has an absolutely wonderful introduction. The power of Aki’s voice and the strength of the opening chords before the strings kick in really grabs your attention. Unfortunately, I feel that that attention wanes a little when the verse enters, but when the chorus comes back in you’re drawn back in completely.

Track Rating; A

Music has a sort of disco-y, HelloGoodbye feel to its introduction and then Angela Aki starts singing putting wonderful inflection into her notes and it drops that pretense. The jumping of the notes in the chorus just makes it sound wonderful.

Track Rating; A

This Love is a song with which it’s difficult to determine why you like it. I adore the lyrics and the pace of them and the sheer power of the entry into the chorus. This song is the embodiment of everything I like about Aki’s music; wonderful lyrics, great music and gorgeous vocals. One of my all time favourite songs (I even sung it to my French teacher! :D )

Track Rating; A*

Onegai is a song that I personally love. Some people think it too slow and repetative and I acknowledge that it is slow and  repetative, but I think that it just works to the right degree. I especially like the ‘Kanarazu kaesu kara, konya dake kashite’ sections.

Track Rating; A-

Uchuu is probably my favourite song on Home. The strong chords compliment the subject matter so well, it could be a terribly complacent song in that regard but it choses to be strong and forward. When the chorus comes in you slow and go with it; it’s another great Aki performance. I love the bridge because even though the overall tone of the song is quite dark, the bridge turns that around and makes it almost hopeful.

Track Rating; A+/A*

Rain. After a song like Uchuu you needs something a bit uplifting and that’s where Rain comes in. It starts simple and remains simple. I love the tune and lyrics, there’s just no fault with them. The ‘Rain, rain, rain’s of the chorus provide a brilliant grounding for the chorus and the high note on the third set is a favourite moment of mine.

Track Rating; A

Kiseki is a Ben Folds inspired, bubbly song with great bouncing verses. It has a great happy feel and I love listening to it. One of the best parts is when the chorus starts building before stopping for ‘waiting for a miracle’. This is an absolutely brilliant song.

Track Rating; A

Oogesa ni “Aishiteru” is probably my least favourite song on Home, but only because I feel it slows the entire process. On its own Oogesa ni “Aishiteru” is a wonderful slow ballad with gorgeous lyrics and complex melodies, but within Home it just slows it down too much.

Track Rating; B+

Hallelujah starts off with a great piano introduction, which then brings in the band in just the right measures. The melody is brilliant especially when it comes to the ‘hallelujah’s in the chorus.

Track Rating; A

Home has a warm sound. Aki’s vocal are strong and deep and inflect the right amount of emotion into the lyrics. The very short pre-chorus of ‘home is calling’ is so simple yet is kind of the heart of the song. I just love this song and it’s one of my favourite Angela Aki tracks.

Trak Rating; A+

Your Love Song is the only song entirely in English and I just find it beautiful. The lyrics are so well thought out and the soft quality of the vocal makes it a bittersweet song. It has so much to offer to a listener, it tells a wonderful (but a bit sad in places) story and even if you don’t like ballads it’s worth a listen just for the sheer musical brilliance.

Track Rating; A+/A*

In conclusion Home is a awesome CD and it shows what Angela Aki can really do. Only one song fell beyond the A mark and then only because it didn’t really work with it’s surroundings.

Overall Rating; A+/A*

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