BONNIE PINK – ONE May 13, 2009

Track Listing

1. Won’t Let You Go
2. Fuchsia Fuchsia Fuchsia
3. Princess Incognito
4. Joy
5. Mousou LOVER
6. Kane wo Narashite
7. One Last Time
8. Rock You Till the Dawn
9. Fed Up feat. Craig David
10. PLAY & PAUSE
11. Himitsu
12. Try Me Out
13. Happy Ending
14. Get On the Bus
15. Ring A Bell (bonus track)

1. Won’t Let You Go

I didn’t expect Kaori to start off the album on a pretty calm note.  It’s kind of got that soft charm that she’s been known for her past albums.  I mean ok, it’s not the most original thing ever.  There’s a bit of synths involved here as well as brass and even southern influences.  Now it’s when I say the song gets interesting for that stuff.  Alright, this song is definitly the coolest way to begin the album.

2. Fuchsia Fuchsia Fuchsia

Our next track surprisingly delves into a more reggae sound.  It’s light still and Kaori gives a sweet performance and even though I’m not sure if she’s talking about the color or the flower.  Still it fits with the fact that it’s so soothing and all reggae-ish like.  Another nice song to listen to.

3. Princess Incognito

Even though the title is a silly one, I can’t help but also enjoy this track a lot.  Instead of something that stands out, we get a BONNIE PINK track that harkens back into her earlier albums.  It’s got a pop/rock sound to it and how Kaori is singing along makes it seem like a fun track, even though  the music calls for that.  It does seem like “Pump It Up!” but without the synths to back it up.  I still enjoy this song a lot.

4. Joy

Ending off the era, Joy is our first ballad on the album and even though it still sounds more or less like her other ballads in her career, Joy is enjoyable, but I thought her singing was a little shaky at some points.  I think what saved this single was the fact there was some strings and it flowed well. 

5. Mousou LOVER

Mousou LOVER is definitly a groovy and sweet track.  It sounds like they did do something with her vocals, like it sounds live but it isn’t.  I like the latin guitar playing in the song.  Everytime the song plays it kinda puts me into a good mood.  Definitly one of the early favorites, then again so far I’ve liked the songs on the album.

6. Kane wo Narashite

The beginning of the era started off strong with Kane wo Narashite which is the English version of “Ring A Bell” which is coming up.  To easily put it, the song doesn’t exactly fit on the album because it’s more harder and vaguely stretches into the rock genre which the other songs are more conservative.  Kaori gives a good performance, but I’m not sure what version I like more, this or the English.

7. One Last Time

It’s funny how One Last Time is longer than all the other tracks by at least a minute.  Unlike the other tracks so far, they’ve been happier tracks (well maybe not “Joy”.  One Last Time is more of a melancholic kind of track with it’s depressing chords and cries of the guitar.  After a bit, it gets more aggressive and Kaori gets as stronger too.  I think it’s what she really needed. 

8. Rock You Till the Dawn

Damn, this could be my new favorite track.  “Kane wo Narashite” would’ve been more fitting near this song.  It’s got a pretty aggressive synth rhythm and Kaori’s attitude in the song is awesome.  If she had made this all English, this would’ve been so crazy and cool.  Even the whole ethereal interlude made the song sound so much more cooler AWESOME!

9. Fed Up feat. Craig David

I’m not really into Craig David and his meh music and colliding with Kaori at first made me cringe and not in a good way.  When I turned it on, it sounded pretty hopeful because it’s brassy and full of synths again.  It reminds me of another song of hers but I can’t remember which one.  I really don’t like Craig’s part, he sounds nasally to me and jsut ignored it, obviously Kaori was the better singer here xD

10. PLAY & PAUSE

I didn’t think Kaori would pull an R&B track after “Fed Up”.  Sadly, it feels like there’s something missing, like an oomph to the song, because otherwise it’s a very dry song and the chorus comes off as nothing spectacular and didn’t really have an impact on me.  It’s funny hearing Kaori push out her vocals as bad as she is here.  I was like I’m done with this track.

11. Himitsu

Luckily, Himitsu fixed things up pretty quickly.  I love how it opens up and the bass strikes giving it a punch that the last track desperately needed.  I think it’s supposed to be her epic track and to be honest it is the powerful one.  The chorus is all loud and exciting and Kaori doesn’t stress her vocals out on this track.  Well, maybe the higher notes sound a little bad, but I still love the track.

12. Try Me Out

I thought Try Me Out was going to be heavy since the synths at the beginning were really heavy and then it turns out to be something calm, like “Fuchsia Fuchsia Fuchsia” just without the reggae style.  I thought the strangest part came when she was doing the ~ah~ parts.  That kind of seemed out of place…It’s funny because I feel like she’s saying ~dry me out~ more than anything else lol….strange.

13. Happy Ending

From the single, I’ve actually started to quite like it moreso than “You and I”.  Happy Ending seems to get more epic as the more listens you give to it, and Kaori’s singing shows a lot of emotions and the bridge is definitly amazing…Best A-side of the era IMO.

14. Get On the Bus

Is she pulling a Hikki on us?  I mean I’m talking about the Bus in the title.  Other than that, this song is definitely reminescent of her past works, so hearing something like this now has a lot of nostalgia value and once again I felt happy listening to it, but then Kaori is very pushy….~just get on the bus~….That’s mean xD

15. Ring A Bell

Officially the first track known of the era, Ring A Bell is all English and even though Kaori has some pronunciation issues, she does a good job here.  I felt that she could’ve made the chorus a lot more powerful, like a bit stronger on the vocals.  I don’t really enjoy this being the last track, but this’ll do for right now.

Tracks Recommended

• Rock You Till the Dawn
• Mousou LOVER
• Princess Incognito
• Happy Ending
• Won’t Let You Go

ONE is a pretty good album, not the best, but Kaori really made this album sound good.  I think it doesn’t have the impact “Golden Tears” or “Thinking Out Loud” had so it kind of pales between them, but you gotta give it to her for releasing nice enough songs.  I’m still irked that “Pump It Up!”, “CHAIN” (even though it’s on the DVD) and “You and I” didn’t make the cut because all of them were better than the tracks found on the album.  Sad huh?

BONNIE PINK – Joy/Happy Ending April 10, 2009

Track Listing

1. Joy
2. Happy Ending
3. You and I
4. Joy (Instrumental)
5. Happy Ending (Instrumental)

1. Joy

BONNIE PINK after a while finally released something new.  Joy though is a little bit on the pop side of things.  Joy returns Kaori back to what she’s normally into and because of the fact Joy doesn’t really stand out well from the other tracks much.  Joy is basically an acoustic pop song with strings.  Her voice sounds pretty good, but the song just runs stale after a while.

2. Happy Ending

Happy Ending is back to the rock sound she proved to have in “Kane wo Narashite” and oddly enough it’s a step up from “Joy”.  It’s still a little too typical of Kaori to be releasing songs that relatively sound the same to her older things.  This song did make a small output with and I kind of liked it at the end.

3. You and I

Now honestly, she should’ve made this the A-side because it has a nice upbeat sound to it and fits with the way Kaori’s singing especially with her louder notes.  It’s got an 80’s sound which boosted it’s influence on the single and it’s the best track off the single. 

 

 

BONNIE’s final single for the “ONE” era was kind of bland.  Joy and Happy Ending can easily attributed to a lot of her past songs which sounds like she’s in a rut of sorts.  You and I however was a gem on this single bringing some life.  As a whole, she could’ve done so much more on this single.  “Kane wo Narashite” is still miles ahead from this release.

BONNIE PINK – CHAIN November 28, 2008

Track Listing

1. CHAIN
2. Wonderful Christmas Time
3. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
4. Let It Snow
5. CHAIN ~The Birth Cry~
6. The Christmas Song

1. CHAIN

I’m not a big fan of christmas songs as you all may know, so I was despising this whole album.  CHAIN is actually an original track from Bonnie and even though it is holiday-themed, it was pretty good, because it’s also a little jazzy in my opinion.  You still get your usual fare of strings and jingle bells, but other than that, it was an alright.

2. Wonderful Christmas Time

Since the original was sung by a man and in English, I was wondering what this would have ended up.  Now granted that Bonnie Pink isn’t fully aware of her skills to sing in such a language, she tries her best but it just kinda of ended up being boring because the original has synths, so I missed that the most.

3. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

I think everyone heard this song at least once and made fun of it one way or another.  I actually think Bonnie made a better performance out of this cover than the last one.  So far this is the most upbeat out of the bunch and just gives off such a jolly feeling throughout.

4. Let It Snow

We return to the jazzy side of things with our next cover, Let It Snow.  I definitly remember hearing this track all the time in the winter season.  Now, I’m pretty sure we didn’t need the solos throughout, but I guess it gives off a more warming feeling listening to everything and such.  Got to love the song either way.

5. CHAIN ~The Birth Cry~

I really wonder the reasoning to put another version of CHAIN on the album.  It’s definitly more wintry and totally devoid of the jazzy style that was present in the first song.  We got Bonnie singing along to piano and some chords from the organ as well.  I like this more than the original.

6. The Christmas Song

Talk about bland titles right?  This song is also a cover and immediatly would be recognized by many.  Now there’s very little to the song with just only guitar being the main instrument and such.  Luckily, Bonnie’s voice speaks out so much from the song which is great, but I elt the song was going at weird intervals against each other…It’s pretty good though.

 

 

BONNIE PINK’s mini-album is definitly holiday-theme and even though there’s only one original song “CHAIN/CHAIN ~The Birth Cry~, the rest are covers of real famous christmas tune.  She did a fine job covering em and making them her own.  Sadly, she was taking some of them into a jazz-like territory and I didn’t like it much.  Christmas albums usually suck and this was in the middle.

BONNIE PINK – Kane wo Narashite September 3, 2008

Track Listing

1. Kane wo Narashite
2. Pump It Up!
3. A Perfect Sky (Bjorn Remix)
4. Kane wo Narashite (Instrumental)
5. Pump It Up! (Instrumental)

1. Kane wo Narashite

Japanese version of Ring A Bell?  Yep, though it’s been a while since the English version came out, the Japanese was pretty rockin’ especially for what she’s been releasing.  Kane wo Narashite sounds quite good with it’s explosive sounds and nice vocals.  Though I found it lacking a little something and I actually prefer “Ring A Bell” more.

2. Pump It Up!

Then as if I thought it was going to be downer B-side, we get Pump It Up!  It’s crazy dancebeats and affectious lyrics really what made the song so original and so cool.  It even sounds like something Kylie would do actually and it’s quite interesting.  Oh yea the ~unh unh~ is sexy all over.  One of her most valiant efforts as of recent. 

3. A Perfect Sky (Bjorn Remix)

Though I know it’s a remix…it’s quite bad…it’s like they made a bad beach song added with some clapping.  I like the clapping though, then it just gets awkward after a while.  Bonnie sounds good just by herself and not with any help….ugh I’ll stick with the original

 

 

So, this single was alright, not her best but it’s a solid single.  Kane wo Narashite, being a Japanese remaking of “Ring a Bell” was not too bad but it could’ve been better.  A Perfect Sky’s remix was disturbing and well, didn’t do the song justice.  Pump It Up! however was golden and the best track off the single, yea I went there.