Ami Suzuki – BE TOGETHER July 31, 2008

 

Track Listing

1. BE TOGETHER
2. BE TOGETHER (BAND MIX)
3. NIGHT SKY
4. BE TOGETHER (TV MIX)

1. BE TOGETHER

Ahhhhhh, well, here we have Ami’s biggest hit which is actually a remake of a TM NETWORK hit.  Ami really took to the song and you can tell from her happiness shown in it.  The guitar hooks in it are catchy and fit so well with Ami’s vocals.  The interlude of the song kinda was long but who cares, this was just a cool synth track. 

2. BE TOGETHER (BAND MIX)

A live version found on the same single, how crazy.  I’m not sure where she performed it but it sounds a little different as majority of the synths are actually live brass instruments.  The chorus did sound a bit off but whatever.  Ami sounds alive in it, what a proud moment for her.  Oh yea, awesome solo there.  Awesome live track.

3. NIGHT SKY

After all the pep, NIGHT SKY is the ballad of the single and it’s a real nice sounding ballad.  Kind of soulful but retains a great lullaby quality to it.  They still have the backup singers too which is a nice touch to a nice soothing song. 

 

 

Ami’s 1st single for the “Infinity Eighteen Vol.”1 era was her biggest single in her entire career.  I was totally impressed by all 3 tracks.  Even greater is that NIGHT SKY appears on the album, while BE TOGETHER gets shafted into being a mix, which sucked.  Other than that, fantastic single!

 

Ai Otsuka – Kuroge Wagyuu Joshio Tanyaki 680 Yen July 31, 2008

Track Listing

1. Kuroge Wagyuu Joshio Tanyaki 680 Yen
2. Hon Maguro Chuutoro 300 Yen (Midori Iro)
3. Tsukune 70 Yen
4. Kuroge Wagyuu Joshio Tanyaki 680 Yen (Instrumental)
5. Hon Maguro Chuutoro 300 Yen (Instrumental)

1. Kuroge Wagyuu Joshio Tanyaki 680 Yen

Wow, this starts off kiddy-like, but it goes straight into a great rock track.  Ai sounds mature with this song.  The title is a bit misleading and silly but she puts out something like this it’s just so great.  The chorus is simple but real cool and with the music is great.  In the middle of the song there’s a pretty cool solo section. What’s even more interesting it’s a remade track and IMHO sounds so much better.

2. Hon Maguro Chuutoro 300 Yen (Midori Iro)

Taking a full jazz sound for the first A-side, I was pleasantly surprised by this track.  Ai sounds perfect in this song.  Soothing to ears, blending with music, and has a good tone.  It’s got a smooth beat to it, I couldn’t help but sway with the band.  I thought the was the best song on the single.  Great sax ending!

3. Tsukune 70 Yen

It starts off sweet enough and quiet enough, but…then it goes friggin crazy.  I mean rock-hard crazy.  This was so strange and quite of Ai, especially with her drugged up stuff, for example: Katorisenkou.  Ai’s vocals are also mixed with the guitar which was a new surprise.  However, it’s a bit messy and the guy talking is unusual.  Very weird song.

 

 

Not only this was a strange  recut titled single, it’s got some strange songs too!  The title track is a nice rock song that is definitly something we haven’t really heard of from her yet.  Hon Maguro was an awesome jazz track that should’ve been on the album.  Tsukune though was a crazy track…very gritty and in your face, another new area of sound Ai has waddled in.  Oddly enough, none of these tracks make on LOVE JAM.  Kuroge fine-tuned and changed from “Kuroge Wagyuu Joshio Tanyaki 735 Yen”  Which IMO was better than this.  Awesome recut/final single for the “LOVE JAM” era.

m.o.v.e – electrock July 31, 2008

 

Track Listing

1. World of move
2. Bust the Future Wall (move into the rockin’ beat)
3. around the world
4. Rage your dream
5. Wanna fly to Be wild
6. ROCK IT DOWN
7. BLOWIN’ WIND
8. See you, my best love
9. over drive
10. take me higher
11. past days ~ Tsuioku

1. World of move

This is the introduction to the album, and pretty much the group since it epitomizes what’s to come in the future from them.  It’s not much but it’s a good start.

2. Bust the Future Wall (move into the rockin’ beat)

Our first new track is very freaky.  motsu takes up the first half with his sharp rapping skills.  They come out so fast and smoothly, I’m always surprised by him.  Yuri then comes in next with a verse and chorus, but she’s so harsh sounding.  I can’t believe they had her hit the high notes like that.  As for the music, it’s funky with some wacky percussion and some cool synths and piano coming in whenever Yuri starts singing.  Sadly, the song loses some points from that horrendous chorus.

3. around the world

Continuing with the funkiness, around the world does step it up quite a bit.  motsu once again flashes his rap skills across the song which is pretty cool.  I still think this song is a bit slow for some reason, it’s usually when Yuri starts singing where I think that.  Poor Yuri getting shafted like that. 

4. Rage your dream

Taking a new turn is Rage your dream, where it’s piano that leads the track which is a nice change.  Yuri actually sounds pretty good in this song for the first time.  The piano doesn’t overpower her either which is so perfect.  The beats are still the same-ole eurobeat stuff but isn’t oberbearing on me.  motsu has some quick rapping parts but its not annoying at all. Best single of the era.

5. Wanna fly to Be wild

Odd start of a song, but it gets to the usual fare of eurobeat stuff.  mostu is rapping really fast again and I got lost with it.  yuri again sounds great in this song too.  I found myself once again thinking “Why is this song slower than it needs to be”.  Yeah I know if it was faster I would’ve liked it a lot more but this is a nice start.

6. ROCK IT DOWN

We’ve hit the debut song now?  Strange place to put it if you ask me.  I really didn’t enjoy this track.  I mean the beginning was just too long for me and too repetitive.  Everyone sounds a little different also.  motsu sounds young and yuri sounds like she need major work on her vocal ability.  Worst song on the album.

7. BLOWIN’ WIND

I really liked the start of the song with the eerie synth sound.  Then after all that it goes all happy sounding which really threw me off and the end of the melody sounded like “around the world” and yuri also ends the verse sounding exactly like that, talk about unoriginal.  Though out of that it’s a pretty good feelgood track from them.

8. See you, my best love

Ahhh, a good combination of piano and synths if you ask me.  Yuri actually starts the song off and I can’t tell if they are trying for a ballad.  Then yuri ends the verse and the beat comes in.  I actually really like this track.  motsu does rap but he does it in a monotone way which bothered me a bit, but the song is not like the other tracks.  Very cool.

9. over drive

Ack!, I really don’t like the original song at all.  It’s so slow and boring and just uninspired.  If I had heard this version first I might have somewhat enjoyed it.  Even on their Best singles, they decided to use the faster version since it was more popular and for good reason too.  At least they made a good decision from that right?

10. take me higher

Talk about fast brass sounds from the keyboard.  This is at a right speed and it’s another feelgood song with it’s airy composition.  Yuri sounds pretty good, she’s has such a nice voice and good vibrato.  The chorus has her shooting lyrics pretty quickly, she does it precisely and didn’t take away from the song.  motsu’s rapping sounds like there’san echo in it and it was fast, you can tell what he’s was saying though.  Another good track from move.

11. past days ~ Tsuioku

Yuri once again starts this track, but she sounded sharp on the first note, it kinda was bad.  Another pop track but with a different sound altogether.  It’s another one of their songs that stick out pretty obviously.  I kind of thought Yuri sounded nasal here and motsu’s rapping was just unusual in a track like this.  It does make a great album closer.

Tracks Recommended

• See you, my best love
• take me higher
• Rage your dream

This was one of the oddest albums of the time, and seriously it wasn’t that good of one either, most were eurobeat stuff and really didn’t change any factors at all.  I think this was an ok experimental album from them.  Though the are a experimental group anyways LOL.  Oh well

day after tomorrow – day after tomorrow II July 31, 2008

Track Listing

1. futurity
2. rosy girl
3. My faith
4. Hello, everybody!
5. melody
6. after all…

1. futurity

Ahhh, the 2nd single of the era appears first and truthfully is a good starting song.  It’s got such a cool beat and definitly something fresh at least to everything that came out at the time.  A beautiful track indeed.

2. rosy girl

A more beat-driven song, rosy girl is an alright song with a consistent beat, but it doesn’t really stand out for me.  I thought I heard this same production somewhere.  The synth solo however was a nice surprise but it didn’t really help this filler track at all.

3. My faith

 Then we get into our winter track, My faith.  I still think it was awkward for misono.  Her vocals just seemed not in a good place here, and well c’mon it’s misono for gosh sakes.  It was boring too lol.  I’m pretty sure they could rework it better.

4. Hello, everybody!

Surprise!  This silly track appears and it’s like very catchy.  The music is wild, fun, and almost too outrageous.  misono is definitly having fun too making perfect sense.  The chorus is a bit catchy to me and I catch myself humming along.  The best track of the mini-album.

5. melody

Going back to slow down the mood is melody, our rock ballad.  It’s one of the standout tracks because of their use of synths.  It’s kind of lacking in something, but its an alright tune and the synth solo once again made the song XD…strange

6. after all…

The final song is a ballad of course.  It’s a bit better than “melody” of course, and I actually enjoyed misono’s vocals in here.  I would’ve been happy if this song was a tie-in for an anime.  A nice finisher for the album.

 

 

dat’s 2nd mini-album was a bit like the 1st one…Which i was kind of disappointed to hear.  Luckily the new tracks were alright, but not at their best caliber.  Luckily, it’s their last mini-album