MiChi – THERAPY

Track Listing

1. MadNesS Vol.3
2. TOKYO NIGHT
3. LOVE is.
4. Together again
5. YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!
6. Special Someone
7. WoNdeR WomaN
8. Light Up
9. Take It Easy!
10. Motto.
11. Find Your Way
12. THERAPY
13. ONE

1. MadNesS Vol.3

A common thing to see on a MiChi album, we get the third volume of MadNesS and funny enough it did get a PV lol.  As it’s the introduction for the album, this is pretty cool!  I love the pounding beat before a voice announces the title the song and then becomes this classy electro style.  Even MiChi gets to have some lyrics here…it’s classy and just attitude-full…I’m loving this!

2. TOKYO NIGHT

The first full song we get is MiChi’s 6th A-side (jeeze too many A-sides).  I have to say that I kind of like the song because not only it’s a really good MiChi song, it’s produced by LEO Imai (who is another artist I’ve reviewed).  The sad thing that since it was after a lot of similar sounding A-sides it was really hard to get used to this but TOKYO NIGHT has something that the others don’t which is nice and she sounds great here.  I do think the beat does remind me of “JUMP ON IT” for some reason.  Still not bad but not my favorite of the era.

3. LOVE is.

Moving to the 3rd A-side, LOVE is. was a song that I had problems getting used to but I’m not totally sure why because it has a certain “UP TO YOU” quality that would’ve normally made me feel good since I like songs that come off like “PROMiSE” and the sort.  Add that it has a nice 80’s new wave kind of feel and I feel silly not liking it haha.  In other words its grown on me quite a lot since the single review!

4. Together again

*sigh* A main reason why I wasn’t totally interested in this album was that they chose this song over “All about the Girls” since the latter is a whole lot better (and I honestly consider it the best song MiChi’s ever done!).  Sadly, we ended up with that single’s secondary A-side Together again.  I felt it was the weakest song on that single because while I do like that it’s the first ballad that comes up…but it just doesn’t stand out to me anymore.  Beyond the quick chorus, it just doesn’t pop out…Yeah…WHY IS THERE NO “All about the Girls”!?!?!?!?!

5. YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!

I also found the decision on the B-side chosen for the album to be quite meh since there’s quite a bit of better songs she could’ve chose from.  Sad, why do you have to place YEAH YEAH YEAH!!! after “Together again”?  They sound rather similar to one another with the electric guitar mixed with that synth style.  Like I said on the single review, it’s just very meh after a while and becomes redundant towards the end.  Would’ve loved “JUMP ON IT”, “Perfect World” or even “December”.

6. Special Someone

After all those old songs passing by, it’s nice to finally get to new stuff.  Special Someone goes deeper into MiChi’s guitar-laced pop sound which is a nice change from the previous songs for sure.  I once again have a certain feeling that it was a “UP TO YOU” song because it fits that album to a T.  It’s not bad and she sounds good even though there’s clearly backups behind her. 

7. WoNdeR WomaN

Then we get into the era’s second A-side and god forbid she had to include this on here.  It’s MiChi’s first collaboration (which makes me wonder why isn’t tagged like the single) with the telephones (who are a punk rock band).  A LOT of people despise the song because of the fact that it’s so hard to take in because of the yelling from the lead singer from the telephones.  MiChi’s parts are pretty good though and the arrangement is alive and edgy when compared to the other songs of the era.  If it was a solo version, I could’ve dug the song better but I just ca’t with this one…It ranks with “Together again” as worst A-sides.

8. Light Up

As the next 3 tracks are new, I’m definitely happy to see new stuff.  Calming down after “WoNdeR WomaN”, Light Up takes a more mid-tempo direction and I kind of like the change and it focuses on the synth beats.  It’s a pretty good track though…hmmm I’m not sure why though but yeah it’s a good track lmfao…I’m guessing it’s the synth arrangement tbh.

9. Take It Easy!

I like that she did take it easy (pun lulz) for the next song by giving it a more pop/rock view rather than “Light Up’s” more synth-fronted arrangement.  It does have a certain upbeat feel mixed with a good positive message written through the lyrics (going by all the English here).  I still prefer the previous song though.

10. Motto.

Moving towards the slower and meaningful songs we start off with Motto. which is interesting because it’s mainly devoid of the synths and has this acoustic guitar style.  Though I do like the slide guitar being used here as well.  After the chorus it does grow a bit more with strings being added to the mix as well as some percussion.  I like this little change of sound at this point of the album. 

11. Find Your Way

I find it baffling at how I couldn’t remember how this song went when I got to this review.  5th A-side and all, Find Your Way does remind me of “ONE” with it’s happy message and dance feel in the chorus.  I still think that some of the song reminds me of Katy Perry’s “Firework” but I have no true clear reason why.  It’s a pretty good song though but I still prefer “ONE” a whole lot more than this one.

12. THERAPY

Before the final song we delve into MiChi’s title track and by god was this something out of left field.  Kind of like how “Shibuya de Punch” was to “UP TO YOU”, THERAPY is the oddball song of this album.  You wouldn’t expect MiChi to basically do a very ethereal and out of this world kind of track.  It’s almost creepy/mysterious with its water droplets and buzzing sounds.  It’s just unusual and I’m not sure it has a direction (it does but it feels so zoned out that it doesn’t).  Interesting endeavor for her and I think I can get used to this.

13. ONE

I thought that closing the album with MiChi’s 4th A-side, ONE was a very good decision because it was the best positive message song on the album.  Add in the addicting arrangement which kind of grows from the earlier parts of the album and you get this song!  I have to admit that I wasn’t too thrilled with the weird male chants…but it grew on me and made the song so much better with it included.  Definitely my favorite A-side (well given the situation XD).

Tracks Recommended

• ONE
• Light Up
• LOVE is.
• MadNesS Vol.3
• Find Your Way

Song of Avoidance

• Together again

I wasn’t too thrilled for this album initially because the company decided to not add “All about the Girls” to it (makes me curious why it was left off since it was so damn popular…problems with the Scatman sampling?).  THERAPY isn’t a bad album which is obviously a good thing but besides ONE…there isn’t a song that just ultimately pops out at me like “UP TO YOU” did.  So in a way, this was a sophomore slump (well in her major label days).