H!P POLL TIME ONCE AGAIN! March 30, 2010

So here we are again with a new poll for the new year.  Since last year had way too many people XD, this year has been slimmed down to just the 7 main acts since the elder club is gone.

So here’s the reasons for the pickings this year

1. Miyabi Natsuyaki – I think for me she has been standing out all year in both Buono! and Berryz Koubou.  Like in most of the PV’s she’s been in here recently she’s caught my eyes alot and the fact that she sings pretty good also helped her case. 

2. Ai Takahashi – Still the strongest member of Momosu, she’s just never gonna quit being such a kickass singer.  Though this year it seems it slipped, but I blame those last two singles they shot out of their asses.  She’s still pretty amazing.

3. Reina Tanaka – Another one of the girls that just seemed to just pop out of nowhere and just surprise me.  It all started with “Resonant Blue” and ever since she’s actually has gotten better.  Let’s say Winky is good for something!

4. Momoko Tsugunaga

Damn, she’s grown up since last year.  Her vocals have gotten so much better thanks to Buono! and even recently shown off her pipes in “Otakebi Boy WAO!”.  I swear a few more months and she’ll be one of the strongest members in Berryz.

5. Saki Shimizu

Yeah, she’s the group’s best dancer what are you gonna do about it?  I love that offshot of the “Otakebi Boy WAO!” PV, she was kickass and so damn cute about it too.  Definitely remember her as the short-haired gal in BK.

6. Maimi Yajima

Ever since I started listening to C-ute, Maimi popped out at me as the better singer out of the group and taking Airi’s spotlight for a while.  Gotta say, she’s impressing me quite a bit.

7-8. Junjun & Yurina Kumai

Hey, these girls have great deep vocals and recently has been sounding better as well.  Junjun gets more brownie points from me because she’s Chinese…I know total racist right? PSSSSH.  At least I can tell who Yurina is because she’s amazingly taller than the girls she works with…G4 & BK.

9. Airi Suzuki

Yeah, last year she was at the top of my list, but this year she’s kind of fallen back because of the new vocals coming from the other gals of H!P.  Though she still is pretty good, just not as memorable during the last poll.

10. Risako Sugaya

Yeah, she kicked ass this year.  Risako can bring the hurt like most of the songs she sung in this year and her angry voice is so cool.  Maybe she’ll continue to pull this off and make me love her even more!!!

The others:

• Linlin
• Sayumi Michishige
• Risa Niigaki
• Eri Kamei
• Maasa Sudo
• Saki Nakajima
• Chinami Tokunaga
• Mano Erina
• Chisato Okai
• Mai Hagiwara
• Aika Mitsui
• Kanon Fukuda
• Ayaka Wada
• Yuka Maeda
• Saki Ogawa

Basically majority of everyone that isn’t in the top 10 is because I just don’t know much about them, but I wanna try to by the end of this year.  Even more so with S/mileage since to me they’re basically unknowns to me while all of the other girls have been known for a long time.

1. Buono!

You know it’s two years in the running that Buono! has actually been the most exciting group to have come from H!P in recent years.  Being their recent album, “We are Buono!” blowing me away and kicked their previous two albums out has shown that they aren’t done kicking ass and the core members Miyabi, Airi, and Momoko were perfect as a whole.

2. Berryz Koubou

Yeah, Berryz Koubou has also shown some great tunes this year.  With their most recent album “6th Otakebi Album” they sure got marbles together for it, even though the new songs were kind of underwheling under the fantastic singles released.  Even more of the members are heard this time around and damn, can Berryz get angry music? XD

3. Morning Musume

If there was a poll for this last year, Momosu would’ve been 2nd easily…but that’s just because I didn’t listen to Berryz or C-ute and G4 and S/mileage didn’t exist so hahaha.  This year though has been somewhat good and somewhat bad for the group.  First off, Koharu left which was bad, and then with Kimagure Princess is just got really weird.  At least the album wasn’t entirely bad, but I still prefer Platinum 9 DISC.

4. C-ute

I’ll admit, C-ute is just not having a good year this year.  With the mess of losing two members and an era of disappointing singles which lead to “Shocking 5″ which was shocking they even decided to put the songs and more bleh ones on there, it just wasn’t their year.

5. S/mileage

This group just started this year and for the most part they aren’t really exciting right now, but I bet by their major label debut (maybe?) that it’ll all change.  The girls still need time for me to figure out who’s who.  Got a bit more to go before you surpass the 4 groups ahead.

6. Mano Erina

As the only soloist going here, Manoeri did release her first album after so many damn singles, but she just seems too reserved for something like what the groups above have been releasing.  Maybe she’ll change up somewhat but for now, she’s kind of there and not really punching the fans like the others have.

7. Guardians 4

Unfortunately I don’t see G4 lasting much longer.  It could be just cuz of the fact that Aika, Saki, Risako, and Yurina all have their own groups to deal with and this anime group just doesn’t work for any of them especially Yurina and Risako who have deeper vocals and Aika is just meh and Saki being the cute one…I don’t it just doesn’t seem like it’ll go anywhere anymore.

NEWS – Sakura Girl

Track Listing

1. Sakura Girl
2. Anata ga Tonari ni Iru Dake de
3. Love Melodies (Limited Edition only)
4. FREEDOM (Regular Edition only)
5. Sakura Girl (Acappella version) (Limited Edition only)
6. Sakura Girl (Original Karaoke) (Regular Edition only)

1. Sakura Girl

While I’m still rather new to NEWS, Sakura Girl kind of helped me to get into them a little more.  The song has a pretty mellow dance sound going for it with a pretty cool beat.  I find it funny they don’t really say the title but say ~sakura onna~ which roughly means the same thing, but whatever.  While I don’t know the members by heart yet, I kind of like the solos too.  It’s a quirky lil tune and doesn’t sound dated like some of the stuff back on their last album “color”.

2. Anata ga Tonari ni Iru Dake de

The true B-side of the single is of course a ballad from the ballads and from listening, I think Tomohisa and Ryo get solos through this song while the other guys play the chorus and background stuff.  I don’t know why, but I get a winter feeling from this song and I’m like aren’t we a bit late on this?  It’s alright, but I think there’s better NEWS ballads.

3. Love Melodies

So we start splitting off into the certain editions of the single.  Love Melodies appears on the Limited version of the single and I was expecting some mundane mid-tempo track, but then this beat and strings comes in and feels like a Nana Mizuki tune with how it moves.  I found this song charming for sure and a whole lot more catchier than “Sakura Girl”.  It’s cute and rather good for the guys. 

4. FREEDOM

I’m starting to think NEWS just sounds good under a dance arrangement and with FREEDOM which is only on the Regular edition of the single, they tried getting sexy going here and while the acoustic guitar does throw the mood off, it’s not bad.  Might be a little cheesy at parts and for that I don’t think I like this song as much as I did with “Love Melodies”.

5. Sakura Girl (Acoustic version)

Cutting the song down to 2 minutes, we get a very odd sounding version of the A-side.  I guess the whole acappella thing might fit them, but they really aren’t at Tohoshinki’s level of singing and someone in the group has a hard time harmonizing during the main singing which disappointed me, but I guess it’s not bad and luckily they don’t go through the entire song.

 

 

2nd single of the era, Sakura Girl is pretty good and I like their more upbeat music than their well, slower stuff.  I was impressed with Sakura Girl and Love Melodies and that’s where they sounded the best.  FREEDOM is alright, but a little corny while the other two tracks were just kind of boring and not really bringing much to the table.

UVERworld – GOLD

Track Listing

1. GOLD
2. CHANGE
3. MINORI

1. GOLD

I actually didn’t like the opening to GOLD at all.  I’m not sure why, but it’s seemed like random ideas, but once the band fully entered my mind changed around and got better very quickly.  It’s still rather shockingly messy, but it’s not totally messed up and the parts with the synths and stings are pretty awesome.  TAKUYA sounds pretty good as well and hits some great notes and the solos are pretty epic too.  It’s no “GO-ON” but this is pretty good, even after the messy factor runs off.

2. CHANGE

So our first B-side actually has a tie-in for a GUNDAM movie and not surprisingly is a stronger song from UVERworld.  It doesn’t feel like many ideas strung together and TAKUYA is surprisingly more controlled in his vocals.  It’s not bad, but compared to the energetic performance from “GOLD”, this was surprising and kind of cool.  I commend this song.

3. MINORI

The 2nd B-side also shows a pretty interesting side to the group.  It’s actually a ballad ala “Kanashimi wa Kitto”.  It begins with a melancholic piano melody before TAKUYA comes in and his vocals are really stable and not squeaky like they usually are and singing with a lot of emotion.  After the first chorus, the rest of the band comes in and joins him.  It’s good since it’s a brutally honest slow song and gives em better view of what they have in their repetoire of songs.  TBH, I like this more than their last A-side.

 

 

Ending off the “LAST” era, UVERworld kind of gave me this mixed feeling of a single.  I’ll admit MINORI was a whole lot stronger of a ballad than “Kanashimi wa Kitto” and was the best of the single.  CHANGE was also pretty good, but maybe I’m just biased because of it’s tie-in.  GOLD however kind of comes off to me as a bit random in its execution.  Not bad, but I’m just not used to the different styles in this song.  I was worried that this was a start of a new era since they released “Neo SOUND BEST” at the end of last year and “Kanashimi wa Kitto” was on it and “GO-ON wasn’t, at least we have three singles represented now!

Kylee – Kimi ga Iru Kara

Track Listing

1. Kimi ga Iru Kara
2. On My Own
3. She Wishes
4. Kimi ga Iru Kara (Less Vocal)

1. Kimi ga Iru Kara

I didn’t expect Kylee to have moved into the major labels, but to be honest her first song in Japanese is pretty bad…especially when compared to her previous songs released.  I’m not sure but her vocals seem more rougher and hoarse than in “You Get Me”.  Then again, the song itself is a little more mid-tempo and more like R&B than anything else, I was kind of disappointed.  Her Japanese BTW, isn’t totally bad, but she’s got a while to go before she makes it believable.

2. On My Own

The B-sides however go back to the English-speaking Kylee and with On My Own returns to the more familiar sound we’ve grown to enjoy from her and it definitely makes up for the awkward A-side.  I like the rock arrangement and the added strings do help out as well giving it a nice touch.  I think her vocals are getting a little more deeper compared to her last releases which is a plus.  She should stick with this sound.

3. She Wishes

She Wishes is the slowest song off the single and arrangement-wise it’s a bit like a power ballad.  Lyrically it’s a bit cheesy after all and the chorus really cakes that thought in my head because it really does come off as a Miley Cyrus-type kind of song which isn’t that good, but I like the power she put into the chrous and getting through it.  She isn’t vocally strong here either, but it’s passable.

 

 

Wow, who knew Kylee would end up joining SONY, specifically DefSTAR.  While SONY is slowly giving Kylee the HIMEKA treatment, she kind of slipped for her debut with them.  Kimi ga Iru Kara was just asking too much too soon from her.  The B-sides were clearly better and more in her zone when she was in her indies era.  It could just be major debut issues, but I hope she cleans up after this single.

BUCK-TICK – Dokudanjou Beauty March 29, 2010

Track Listing

1. Dokudanjou Beauty
2. Voo Doo
3. Tenshi wa Dare da (LIVE ver.)

1. Dokudanjou Beauty

Hey, I remember this melody, I hear all the time!  While it just plays around a few times in the song before coming with the main melody and edgy and fun guitars.  Atsushi’s vocals to me are pretty cool and can hit some higher notes kind of well.  There’s something about his vocals are a bit like Ayu’s though…I mean the way he uses vibrato just kind of reminds me of that.  Good song though and is pretty catchy after a while.

2. Voo Doo

A bit more serious, Voo Doo is pretty weird for me because of Atsushi’s enjoyment of warping his voice hardcore with his vibrato, but I love the feeling of angst in the song.  I’m not sure what this really reminds me of, but it does.  Unfortunately, I didn’t feel much for the song as much as I did with the A-side.

3. Tenshi wa Dare da (LIVE ver.)

As a track off their last album “memento mori”, Tenshi wa Dare da gets a live version on this single and while I’ve never heard anything previous to this single, Tenshi wa Dare da sounds like something I’d hear back in the 80′s.  For a band who has been around since the 80′s to begin with, this is still pretty good.  Atsushi’s vocals are pretty good though sometimes hitting sour notes, but still a good live performance though.

 

 

For a group who has been around this long, Dokudanjou Beauty is a pretty good single.  Both the A-side and live song were great while Voo Doo was the singles axe.  I can’t wait to see more from the longtime performing group.

HIMEKA – ♥ Anison ~Utatte Mita~

Track Listing

1. Yuzurenai Negai
2. Hitomi no Naka no Meikyuu
3. BLAZE
4. Tamashii no Refrain
5. VOICES
6. Sore ga, Ai Deshou
7. DREAMS
8. Last regrets

1. Yuzurenai Negai

I just listened to Shoko’s take of the song and I disliked her version because she was just vocally out of place.  Now HIMEKA’s version of the song is vocally stronger and I preferred this, but the arrangement is pretty weak though, but I think it was supposed to be near the originals.  She does cross into yell-land, but it’s not bad since she’s actually hitting the right notes.

2. Hitomi no Naka no Meikyuu

While this is my first time hearing this song, HIMEKA was given a rockish type of song with Hitomi no Naka no Meikyuu and she really fits in with this style of music because her vocals are quite strong given the arrangement.  The chorus does make her get a little higher, but I love it and if this song was given a PV, I bet she would’ve been dancing.  Another good cover!

3. BLAZE

Probably the closest thing to Nami’s old music, BLAZE is actually pretty simple from HIMEKA and while she doesn’t try to show off her abilities like her last two songs as much, she’s still doing pretty good.  The acoustic touches and synths help out as well.  Damn haha

4. Tamashii no Refrain

Just like “Yuzurenai Negai”, Tamashii no Refrain was a favorite of mine off of Shoko’s recent cover album.  HIMEKA’s version is just like Shoko’s in the way it’s almost electronica and she really pulled this off a whole lot more stronger than Shoko’s TBQH.  The arrangement might not be as strong and forceful, but the mysterious flow of it and closer relations to the original helped out and HIMEKA once again vocally proved to know how to hold it down.  The chorale middle though was pretty epic though before getting back to the 2nd verse xD

5. VOICES

I was happy to see a Akino Arai cover here and with VOICES it couldn’t have been a better choice.  HIMEKA starts off singing just by herself and then slowly adds in these strings to add this rather atmospheric flow that what got me into her in the first place.  Beautiful song and possibly the best this mini-album has to offer.

6. Sore ga, Ai Deshou

Ahhh, we get an acoustic tune cover this time and this one sounds very anime-ish in the way it went for me.  While it is more of a pop track than a good portion of the songs here, it’s not bad, but I don’t think HIMEKA is made for acoustically-driven songs.  It does sound like it’s the most recent cover though, but I’m not sure why.

7. DREAMS

The most energetic song off the album, DREAMS is definitely a GUNDAM song and while she had more choices to choose from but choosing to cover a guy song was pretty risky, DREAMS came off better for her because it just sounds more like a TWO-MIX song which is awesome.  Dance is definitly a strong point for Ms. HIMEKA and is another one of my favorites here.

8. Last regrets

Ending off the cover album, Last regrets is more of a mid-tempo song than anything and while I love the piano and strings leading the tune, they didn’t stand out against HIMEKA’s more smoother vocals.  It’s pretty good though, but to be honest, there were not a lot of things to be reminded of this song as much the other songs.

 

 

HIMEKA’s first cover album was actually pretty good and shows that she’s getting even better at singing than she started back in “Asu e no Kizuna” and that’s good progress on her part.  While she still is getting used to the business, she should be happy cuz I’m happy with this release and shows that she can be pretty huge if SONY continues to get her moving! 

D – 7th Rose

Track Listing

1. 7th Rose ~Return To Zero~
2. 7th Rose
3. Hanatsumi no Otome ~Rozova Dolina~
4. Tightrope
5. Crimson Fish
6. Independent Queen
7. 13-gatsu no Yumemi Oka
8. Day by Day
9. Karakuri Emaki
10. Toki no Koe
11. Sleeping beautiful beast
12. Mikazuki Youran Uta
13. Kaze ga Mekuru Page (Regular edition only)

1. 7th Rose ~Return To Zero~

A small introduction into the album, ASAGI opens up with some vocals under a pretty orchestral arrangement.  Now for only 24 seconds this lasts, but I guess it’s a nice opening and it does lead in nicely into our title track as well.

2. 7th Rose

Cruising into the first track, 7th Rose adds in guitars right from the start from the opening tracks and right from the start, I was pretty surprised at what I heard because of the way growling and high notes ASAGI pulling off.  It reminded me of like “saku” from Dir en Grey on how this kind of just went from both vocal styles.  There were parts where he sounded great like the slower parts, but otherwise I was kind of liking this song.

3. Hanatsumi no Otome ~Rozova Dolina~

D starts off this track with a filtered accordion melody playing I’m guessin the melody of a tune Rozova Dolina perhaps???  Anyways, Hanatsumi no Otome is kind of harder, but a bit more complex than our last song, especially with the opening and the verses while the bridge gets more straightforward and then back to chorus which is like metal/folkish?  I don’t know why, but I love the solo afterwards, even though it sounds rather added on without much thought.  Short song as well crossing a little over 3 minutes.

4. Tightrope

Beginning the 7th Rose era, Tightrope is my least favorite of the A-sides released in the era.  I’m not sure why I dislike it totally, but for me it’s mainly because of ASAGI’s more weirder vocals found here.  The chorus that opens up is pretty cool no doubt and the arrangement is pretty kickass.  So I guess coming back to it, it’s not as bad as I thought it was, but the bridge was where I was thinking of when ASAGI was sounding weird.  Ok, it’s better than “Day by Day” now.

5. Crimson Fish

Back into the new tracks, Crimson Fish has a pretty heavy opening compared to the last few tracks.  Once ASAGI comes in, he sounds more relaxed and more soft-spoken than previous as well giving it this gloomy feel, but with the heavy rock arrangement.  The chorus though is a vocal catastrophe since ASAGI is like hitting these uncomfortable notes and continues throughout…just very unusual.

6. Independent Queen

Getting back to just some pure rock from D, Independent Queen is just ASAGI sounding normal and not trying to make himself look dumb like in that last track.  The arrangement is a little wonky in places, but it’s pretty angsty and has great guitar parts from Ruiza and HIDE-ZOU.  Basically it’s a straightforward tune from the group and that’s not all that bad to be honest.

7. 13-gatsu no Yumemi Oka

I like that flute opening to 13-gatsu no Yumemi Oka quite a lot and it gets even better because it’s not as fast and its more like a rock ballad, to be honest.  ASAGI also sounds great in the song, but I’m starting to notice that there’s too many guitar solos, it’d be nice if there was something else besides Ruiza doing something.  Quite a moving track actually and I liked it a lot.  Even the folkish-like ending area was pretty nifty as well!

8. Day by Day

Just as we get into something good, Day by Day just flies right in and already sticks out because it’s mood is so drastically different from what most fans of D are used and that’s a happier-sounding chord progression.  I’m not sure if I’m a huge fan of the song initially, so now this song is my least fav of the A-sides since “Tightrope” sounds better to me. 

9. Karakuri Emaki

After the happy weirdness, D decides to start throwing some weird stuff at us.  Karakuri Emaki starts off like an acoustic track with ASAGI repeating the title over and over before the band rushes in with the song.  It’s pretty dramatic of one kind of replicating the orchestral stuffs found in the title track.  Still pretty awesome IMO

10. Toki no Koe

Toki no Koe is by far the worst song off the album and is just very grating and terrible because ASAGI is just growling through all of the verses and only clearing up in the choruses.  I could not take ASAGI’s vocals at all and I couldn’t even tell what the fuck he was saying the entire time.  I like the chorus, but it’s just too much trying to listen to the verses like it’s supposed to be good…

11. Sleeping beautiful beast

At least we slow down again and get pretty dramatic with Sleeping beautiful beast.  It’s very low-key when compared to most of the tracks on the album and mix it up with ASAGI’s deeper vocals this time.  Once again more Ruiza solos, but at least they aren’t horrendously long like some of the other tunes.  Pretty good song and it sort of makes up for that crap in “Toki no Koe”.

12. Mikazuki Youran Uta

Ending off the limited version, Mikazuki Youran Uta is just an ending interlude but with ASAGI singing the song in a very ethereal state.  The song is rather interesting because of this and make for a good ending and a good afterthought after “Sleeping beautiful beast”.

13. Kaze ga Mekuru Page

And ending off the regular edition of the album, the final single gets added to the album.  I think it was a poor thought to put this song on just one edition and especially after “Mikazuki Youran Uta” which has an ending tone to it in the first place.  Ok, so it might be a little light in the way “Day by Day” was but also as consistent and loud like “Tightrope” and for that it is my favorite of the era.

Tracks Recommended

• Sleeping beautiful beast
• 13-gatsu no Yumemi Oka
• Kaze ga Mekuru Page
• Karakuri Emaki
• Hanatsumi no Otome ~Rozova Dolina~

Song of Avoidance

• Toki no Koe

D’s 2nd major label album to me doesn’t have the same amount of crazyness, that “Genetic World” had, nor had any songs that ranked higher than “BIRTH”.  I don’t know why, but this album just doesn’t seem as strong as before.  Strike the weird vocals ASAGI, give less solos out and maybe you can redeem yourselves.  At least there were a few good songs.

Berryz Koubou – 6th Otakebi Album March 28, 2010

Track Listing

1. Otakebi Boy WAO!
2. Rival
3. Ryuusei Boy
4. Ai ni wa Ai Desho
5. Seishun Bus Guide
6. Kimi no Tomodachi
7. Grand Demo Rouka Demo Medatsu Kimi
8. Tomodachi wa Tomodachi Nanda!
9. Kibou no Yoru
10. Dakishimete Dakishimete
11. Yakimochi wo Kudasai!
12. Watashi no Mirai no Danna-sama

1. Otakebi Boy WAO!

When you begin an album with such a kickass song like Otakebi Boy WAO! you know you’re in for a ride!  I just love the sheer awesomeness this brought for the group since it’s not overly cute, but more electryfying than anything that has been released this year so far.  I just love everyone’s parts in the song, especially Risako and Momoko’s solo parts, but at the same time we can’t forget Saki and Yurina either!  I was just blown away and so far is my favorite H!P song this year.

2. Rival

Coming into the 2nd half of the 2nd single of the era, Rival to me kind of reminds me of the lighter played Buono! songs, but this is pretty cute despite the beginning having a guitar lead opening.  I am still a little surprised to hear a lot of Miyabi than usual, but it’s not sickingly too much.  To be honest it sounds more like a C-ute tune than a Berryz, but what do I know I’ve only heard the A-sides!

3. Ryuusei Boy

Being the H!P nostalgic song it is, Ryuusei Boy is is very interesting and was the reason I chose to add them to the site in the first place.  Vocally, it’s a Risako x Miyabi affair with the other girls playing second fiddle.  I like the opening so much and you know the “Renai Revolution 21″ comparison is there and I don’t mind because both songs are great.  Still ~1, 2, 3 GO!~

4. Ai ni wa Ai Desho

Wow, there’s a surprise…a song from Buono!….oh wait 2/3 of Buono! XD.  We all know Momoko and Miyabi when they’re in the rock sub-group, so hearing them with a rather different style besides the pop rock, both girls actually pull this song off nicely even though it’s not what we’re used to from em.  It’s pretty good and it has this anime-ish flow to it, but it’s still a pretty good song.

5. Seishun Bus Guide

Which makes sense to have Seishun Bus Guide right after since this tune also kind of follows that route as well.  Unfortunately it’s one of my least favorite A-sides of the era because of the mess Risako was pulling vocally on the song.  Even then I was scratching my head at how the girls were kind of harmonizing pretty weakly…especially since the last few songs were pretty good.

6. Kimi no Tomodachi

Only two new group tracks?  That’s kind of disappointing in a way, but whatever, I’m not Tsunku.  Anyways back onto the song itself, I thought it was going to be a ballad, but it gets oddly faster and then slows down again?  I do enjoy the fact there’s piano featured in the song mixed with this light R&B sound until the strange sounding chorus.  I don’t know why, but I was expecting more percussion and a punch…it’s a transition disaster, but since Risako, Momoko, Miyabi, and I think Maasa?  gets solos, it’s alright but the chorus was just epic failure.

7. Grand Demo Rouka Demo Medatsu Kimi

Our next shuffle song features Maasa and Yurina who are both the lower sounding girls of the group.  Of the new tracks on the album, I actually liked this the most.  Other than the fact that it has more synths that I could throw stuff at it was pretty good.  Yurina sings out the first verses and leads in the chorus and her voice is pretty strong and Maasa as well when we hear her in the 2nd verse and chorus.  Pretty cool song from the group!

8. Tomodachi wa Tomodachi Nanda!

As the secondary A-side of the last single of the era, I actually got used to this song after a while and there’s some cute things going on here in the song which is always a plus.  Compared to the other A-sides, this was actually closest to just being pure idol pop, maybe next to “Rival”, but at least this was vocally better to me.

9. Kibou no Yoru

The other new group song, Kibou no Yoru is actually the only ballad to appear on the album and while it’s kind of typical for H!P to actually have at least one per album, this one started off nicely with piano, but the first lines the girls got were terrible!  At least they actually took care of that pretty quickly.  Now while there’s no solos featured in the song, cept for small passages from Miyabi, the group sounds all right, but they aren’t as good as Momosu in harmonizing.  Not a bad ballad, but there’s better H!P ballads out there that are more better and less draggy (longest song on the album BTW).

10. Dakishimete Dakishimete

As it is the first single of the era, Dakishimete Dakishimete came hard to blow fans of the group away since it was energetic and carries the more recent dance sound that Tsunku has been loving and the whole sitar thing as well.  Risako, Maasa, and Miyabi take turns singing solos in the song and it came out really nicely.  It does remind me of “SHOCK!” and somewhat “Kimagure Princess”, even though both songs came after both XD

11. Yakimochi wo Kudasai!

The last new song and shuffle.  We get a song from the 3 other members of Berryz Koubou: Chinami, Saki, and Risako.  Now I haven’t fully gotten used to who’s who between Saki and Chinami, but it’s not surprise that Risako would get more of the lyrics since she’s usually vocally more important than the other two.  Saki’s vocals are a bit more chirpy and Chinami’s are a bit more nasally so they both kind of cancel each other out.  As for the song, Yakimochi wo Kudasai! is a giddy pop/rock track and while it doesn’t exactly get exactly the members at least try to keep it alive and it did it well.

12. Watashi no Mirai no Danna-sama

Ending the album off, Watashi no Mirai no Danna-sama is another dance-tune that really surprised me (especially being together with “Ryuusei Boy”).  I like that the group is together more for the song and lacks full solos cept for a few eras, but what caught me the most was the verses.  They were like creepy, but in a cute way…if that makes any sense.  Odd that it does close the album, but a good song nonetheless!

Tracks Recommended

• Otakebi Boy WAO!
• Grand Demo Rouka Demo Medatsu Kimi
• Watashi no Mirai no Danna-sama
• Ryuusei Boy
• Dakishimete Dakishimete

Song of Avoidance

• Kimi no Tomodachi

I was definitely more happy with what we got from Berryz instead of C-ute this time around.  6th Otakebi Album however does have its faults and it actually is the new tracks found on the album.  They didn’t exactly feel as strong as their singles are and with the amound of badass to be found through all of them, cept maybe one or two, this was a strong album release for the girls.  YAY!

ARTISTS BLOWOUT, because I know some of you guys missed that xD March 25, 2010

So here we are with the 2nd one of the year…at least I think.  Basically it’s the recommendations and some surprises XD

mini

While she’s been on the blog for a month basically, it’s a good time to start things off with mini who debuted this year with “Are U Ready?” pretty awesome debut A-side and I can’t wait to see her next single after this. 

ICONIQ

Another avex artist debuting, ICONIQ (or Ahyoomee, whichever) finally starts her Japanese career and so far she’s actually pulling it off especially with “CHANGE MYSELF” and how great it’s been selling. 

Joe Inoue

Adding another male to the roster, Joe Inoue has actually surprised me by actually not being as boring as I thought he’d be.  I’m going to begin the era with his first of the current era “GO★” .  So expect to see that soon people!

Faylan

Who knew that there’d be someone that’s like Nami Tamaki in “Brightdown”, I swear this gal will definitely be someone I’ll be checking on a lot.   If I can’t find her first single “Gekkou no Rasen” then I’ll just review “mind as Judgment”

SID

Another J-rock group, SID being the band that’s trying hard to escape their V-kei days, joined SONY and since gained a lot of popularity as of recent.  I’m going to start on their first single of the current era “one way” and we’ll see where it goes from there.

BUCK-TICK

A pretty old rock group, BUCK-TICK might not be as active as they once were but they are still releasing and I’m going to begin with “Dokudanjou Beauty” and hey it’s out this week!

miwa

Wow, there’s another YUI, Shion Tsuji, Maria?  Well I guess it does continue this acoustic-based female singers and miwa isn’t short of that.  She also debuted this year with “don’t cry anymore”.  See if she’s any good hahaha!

TOKYO GIRL’S STYLE

Why is avex on a roll with debuts this year?  Anyway it has been quite a while since the company had an idol group and even though most of their big ones have moved on (with the exception of Dream, who’s finally releasing a physical single), TOKYO GIRL’S STYLE is new girls and maybe a fresh sound, let’s see how this one goes.

Kanako Ito

Kanako Ito is totally on my high list right now because of the rather rockish songs she’s done for various animes.  Unfortunately her last release, “Chaos Attracter” was a Best-of, but I’ll definitely start up when she releases a new single.

Natsuko Aso

A rather new artist last year, I got interested in her because of “Programming for non-fiction” and was interested to see her other singles…Starting with “Brand new world”.

Minori Chihara

Another Lantis gal, Minori has been in the business a bit longer and to me has strong tracks.  I’m going to start with the “Sing All Love” era and work up. 

Miliyah Kato – BYE BYE March 24, 2010

Track Listing

1. BYE BYE
2. SENSATION
3. Koi ga Owaru Sono Toki ni
4. SENSATION -DANCE EDIT-

1. BYE BYE

BYE BYE is definitely something different than what we’ve been getting especially since her last few singles were mostly R&B.  BYE BYE is still R&B in a way, but it’s like a dance track as well since there’s a good steady beat and a lot of synths much to my surprise.  Her voice is pretty smooth for the style and it worked for me.  Miliyah should do more dance music IMO.

2. SENSATION

I’m actually even more surprised the first B-side actually kept up with this dance style.  I like the little guitar touchups and I heard a guy’s voice in the beginning saying something…I just don’t know what that was.  It’s a bit lighter on the dance beats, but it’s also a bit more complex than “BYE BYE” so that’s a good thing.  Her vocals also continue to sound really good and she gets some deeper notes here, OK, so it’s a pretty good B-side.

3. Koi ga Owaru Sono Toki ni

As the strange song of the single, Koi ga Owaru Sono Toki ni is actually an R&B ballad and we all know how much I just loathe these types of songs sometimes because of how they just purely bore me.  This song initially did just that, but I thought the chorus fixed things up and added some interesting guitar and synths parts, but otherwise the verses were a bit plain and dry for me. 

4. SENSATION -DANCE EDIT-

20 extra seconds added to SENSATION?  I’m not sure exactly sure what the point was adding this to the single because it really is the same exact song.  To be exact the biggest difference in between the two was the ending where the original ended right after Miliyah’s ad-libbing while this version ended after the 20 seconds of music.  Not that big of a difference to me.

 

 

After her experiment with “WHY” and her collaboration with Shota, she finally comes and brings it with BYE BYE.  I was surprised that I ended up liking the single as much as I did.  Both BYE BYE and SENSATION were pretty awesome dance tracks and shows off a better sounding Miliyah.  Koi ga Owaru Sono Toki ni was well typical Miliyah R&B, but it was nice either way.  The edit though was a bit unnecessary, just adding 20 seconds…still a pretty great single.