Keys to Everything

1. Power of Love
2. alone again
3. Anata ga Iru Kagiri ~A WORLD TO BELIEVE IN~ (with Céline Dion)
4. Urban Mermaid
5. HEARTBEAT
6. Colorful
7. Unite As One
8. Mahaloha (with Micro of Def Tech)
9. A Long Walk
10. Moon Rabbit
11. I’m Here
12. Wish
13. Tokyo Days
14. MY HEART WILL GO ON (Bonus Track)

Power of Love begins Ito’s new album. The first thing that hit me about this is that her vocals sound a little deeper and more mature. Which is quite nice. The actual is okay….-ish. Nothing to write home about, it has some nice ideas but the overall execution is a little lacklustre.

Track Rating; B

Track 2 is alone again, a blatantly ballad-y title, but it’s a little more Alicia Keys without the power/soul notes. The chorus is nice and flowing but it’s not as shiny as it could be. Yuna Ito sounds a little bored and it remains unimpressive.

Track Rating; B-

Well, you know what I think about Anata ga Iru Kagiri….

Track Rating; A*

Urban Mermaid is pure cheese. It has to be to even somewhat pull off lyrics such as ‘I’m a beautiful mermaid’. Now, this is a strong pop song with an inspirational chorus, but I still don’t, and have never really, liked Urban Mermaid.

Track Rating; B

HEARTBEAT has an unusual opening. And that all that really sticks out about it. It has some awful English lyrics, which you would think Yuna’d pick up on, and a really weak musical arrangement.

Track Rating; C

Colorful. Now being British I dispute the title… It should be Colourful. But nevermind. This is quite funky but doesn’t go very far. The chorus could be a real focal point, but it kind of falls flat and very short of the mark, but it’s more enjoyable than some of the other songs here.

Track Rating; B-

Unite As One sounds nice. Yuna Ito’s voice is in its’ element, with a slow ballad arrangement but it really should get rid of the click/clapping and veer away from the “R’n'B” ballad thing. Ito has a rich voice and it is wasted on a song of this type; if it’s arrangement was more classical, like that of ENDLESS STORY, we’d all be having fun by now.

Track Rating; C+

Yay! Mahaloha! I’ve always liked how sun-soaked Mahaloha sounds. It’s much more fun and happy, it sounds constant and Ito has quite a big vocal field to play on. Unlike some, I actually like Micro’s voice and I think it goes well with Yuna’s. It’s just a lotta fun.

Track Rating; A

A Long Walk’s next… and I absolutely hate the opening. It’s just grating and the actual song is just….ugh!

Track Rating; C-

Strangest title award goes to Moon Rabbit, a song in which she learnt no lessons from her debut album. Faux disco does not work. It is boring and, besides, Ito’s faux disco songs are never well executed, and I see no way how ‘Moon Rabbit’ applies. Apart from the terrible lyrics, there’s no connection.

Track Rating; C-

I’m Here is not one of Yuna’s better singles. It’s a huge departure from her others and it shows a little in her execution, her vocals are a little strained but are okay. I’m Here is alright though, and it’s a welcome break from the mediocrity of the last two tracks.

Track Rating; A-

I prayed that the opening signalled what was to come in the rest of Wish. And it did…. thank god. Finally a full fledged ballad, not a stupid fake “R’n'B” ballad. Not an epic song, but it’s nice and the album really needed something that could be latched onto as a good non-single album track. It would have been better with an orchestral score rather than a band though.

Track Rating; A-

Tokyo Days is a nice pop song, which could have used some more enthusiastic vocals from Yuna, but it’s sunny enough to get by. The backing singers put in a nice performance. There’s not a huge amount more to say about Tokyo Days.

Track Rating; B+/A-

The bonus track is Yuna Ito’s version of MY HEART WILL GO ON. Now, I haven’t always liked this song, but Yuna’s version is beautiful. Singing in her first language and a ballad at that! Recipe for success. And it doesn’t sound like she’s saying ‘The hot dogs go on’

Track Rating; A+

Overall… less of a dissappointment than HEART but still quite a large disappointment. I was hoping she’d learn a few lessons from HEART but despite some stronger tracks, the singles were the only things particularly worth listening to.

Overall Rating; B-