Track Listing
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~introduction~
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Shanti
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Amairo no Kami no Otome
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Glorious Day
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~interlude~
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A.S.A.P. ~as soon as possible~
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She is…
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Remember of you
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~interlude~
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Yasashii Kiss no Mitsuke Kata
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freeze ~Ushinawareta Natsu no Hi~
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Hello!
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beloved
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farewell
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colors
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Amairo no Kami no Otome -HIRO KURETANI REMIX-
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Single Hits Non-stop Mega mix -Trans Mission Mega Mix- (First Press Bonus Track)
1. ~introduction~
Opening up Hitomi’s sophomore album, the intro track begins with some steel drum passages and then opens into the R&B styled instrumental with timpanis and strings and beats. It’s nothing jaw-dropping but I guess it does make for a good album opening.
2. Shanti
Since it goes into the second single released in the era, Shanti still kind of sets itself as the best A-side of the era because it’s not a cover for one thing and it’s got enough pep to keep me interest. I still think the whole feel of the song seems like a sea shanty of sorts, but it’s still pretty good and one of the good songs off the album.
3. Amairo no Kami no Otome
Other people would disagree just because of how powerful this single sold for Shimatani. I still get thrown off by the opening section of the song because I was thinking it was going to be that simple of a song. Then it becomes like something that only avex would pull off. I don’t know why, but I just never connected with the song much and just shows.
4. Glorious Day
Getting into our first new song off the album, Glorious Day sounds like it would’ve been better placed as the song’s final album because it just has this celebratory sound to it. I was a little thrown off how it began and moved into the first verse…I do love how powerful Shimatani is singing throughout the tune and it makes me happy, but I swear the background vocals are a bit much and once again sounds like an ending to a performance or something.
5. ~interlude~
Well getting into the first of the two interludes, the first is just a car starting up and revving off and playing music and then the cell phone rings off. Not much to go by, but whatever…
6. A.S.A.P. ~as soon as possible~
For being the song that gets turned into a recut track, A.S.A.P. takes the song into a much softer side and I’m liking the fact that there’s acoustic guitar found in the song since it lets Hitomi singing better….but that chorus is a little odd, but still good. The thing that’s weird is that I’m hearing the synth sound that turned me off from “Ashita to Kyou no Aida” and while I hated it there, I think it actually fits in this song.
7. She is…
I guess we have to reach back for Shimatani with She is… which is clearly the “papillon” of the album especially how much it tries to be a hard song, but it kind of seems one-dimensional and not really fitting with Hitomi’s vocals. I hate the BKGD vocals in this song since they’re so pitchy and sharp in contrast with her. There’s even some English found in the song and she kind of doesn’t do well since the accent is heavy here. I don’t know I think Kuu could’ve done more with this song TBH.
8. Remember of you
Since this is the first ballad on the album, Remember of you I think tries to bring the best out of Hitomi’s vocals with mostly a strings/piano arrangement and I do like the chords of the song since there’s little bit of gospel kind of mixed with like some other things haha. Once again this doesn’t feel like it should be in the middle of the album and feels more like a song to end things. It’s got a pretty good touch to it and I remember this song from the album.
9. ~interlude~
Wait, you’re lazy enough to not put a “2” here? I’m like oh great… It’s a bit longer than the first one, but this one is kind of hard to describe. I don’t know WTH that watery sound is but it annoyed me…then there was the piano melody that was like somewhat jazzy….strange.
10. Yasashii Kiss no Mitsuke Kata
I was pretty happy that Yasashii Kiss no Mitsuke Kata is one of a odder songs Hitomi has done in her early career since it was more of a light reggae tune and since it began the Shanti era, it’s not like it was amazingly bad, it’s just kind of forgotten for more of her better produced songs. I still think the flute playing the solo was just great to have…but otherwise I was like…it’s kind of too slow.
11. freeze ~Ushinawareta Natsu no Hi~
Hey latin guitar and disc scratching? I’m surprised that freeze is only a small percent of latin-like songs off the album (because well “PAPILLON” was just overflowing with it). I really don’t know how to feel for freeze because it’s so different and it’s kind of sexy in a weird pop Shimatani kind of way. Her airy vocals kind of gives this mysterious vibe and I kind of like it a bit. I think I like this a lot.
12. Hello!
I’m starting to notice that there’s a lot of disc scrathing on the album…Hello! is just a weird song for me since it tries to decide if it wants to be R&B or dance or something else. I thought her English was a lot better than before and I can understand her well. For me this was just kind of the odd song out and almost felt like the throwaway tune.
13. beloved
I think beloved prolly feels a little old because of the arrangement’s kind of oldish sound to it. I don’t know why but the bass was too much for the song and kind of ruined a lot for me. I try to pay attention to the guitars and Hitomi but it just wasn’t happening since it was just too much and too loud! Without it, I know it would’ve been a good song.
14. farewell
I kind of thought that sticking farewell from “Yasashii Kiss no Mitsuke Kata” was probably going to be her best choice for the album since the other two had more problems than this one, it was a good choice TBH. When I first listened to it, it felt like “papillon” and I still get that feeling every so often, but it has grown on me since then…I just wished that besides the acoustic guitar solo, there was something else to make it stand out.
15. colors
As the final new song on the album, colors sounds totally detatched from the album. It’s nice that it’s a bit more of a ballad since this album doesn’t really have any let’s be honest. That’s not the point though, colors sounds like 90’s easy listening and it kind of threw a fast ball since I wasn’t expecting something like this (I should know better since it’s Shimatani and all). It’s upbeat and has a nice hook to it as well…ok so I might like it a bit, shoot me!
16. Amairo no Kami no Otome -HIRO KURETANI REMIX-
Yeah kind of like how “PAPILLON” had a remix at the end for the most popular song, Shanti has one for Amairo no Kami no Otome. Of course this is avex and since this was released during the whole fiasco with Ayu’s singles I wasn’t expecting much and I found myself bored in the first minute and a half. Even when Hitomi sings it doesn’t fit at all…Sorry it’s just not a good remix
17. Singles Hits Non-stop Mega mix -Trans Mission Mega Mix-
Being a first press bonus track, the mega-mix is quite something and since the whole thing is a remix as well it’s not surprisng the songs on the list has been changed around. Kaihouku opens things up and since it has been growing on me since the album version came out, I thought giving back it’s dance style back was risky but worked out well because it wasn’t forced and almost ethereal like “colors” was. It’s a good breezy section. Now since it’s a mega-mix a lot of focus is on the transitions and it’s kind of slight getting into papillon since it’s a totally different style than the previous. I really think they sped the song 10x more than normal and it was like WTF am I listening to. It’s not that I didn’t like the section, but it was just way too quick in lyrics and just flew over my head. I’m kind of wondering why she excluded “Ichiba ni Ikou” from the mega-mix and just skipped right into Yasashii Kiss no Mitsuke Kata. I thought she sounded weird in this section because while the flute returns, Hitomi’s vocals were like messed around or something…but it’s just something strange and yet the transitioning into this was awesome like the transitioning into Shanti since it really gets into the song quite nicely since it already has a nice dance style implemented. I think of all the remixed version in the mega-mix, Shanti’s impressed me the most and was definitely the easiest to follow with. Sadly it’s transitioning into Amairo no Kami no Otome is a little jaggedy and takes a little while to get into it. Once again, it’s a song that probably shouldn’t be remixed because it sounds just as awkward if not more…actually wait…it’s the damn HIRO KURETANI REMIX…talk about killing the mood right? I thought the full mega-mix is a great little treat for the fans…but it’s missing friggin “Ichiba ni Ikoi” and I liked that song!!!!
Tracks Recommended
Song of Avoidance
I really don’t know why Shanti gets so much hate because IMO, it’s way better than what “PAPILLON” turned out to be. I’d say this ranks equally to “Flare”, but that’s still pretty low on Shimatani albums. I guess the complaining for the album is the kind of dated sound it had…I mean her debut had a bunch of latin songs to keep it modern, but Shanti was more 90’s pop and I didn’t have too much too complain.
Kurayami Monogatari 