melody. – Haruka July 20, 2010

Track Listing

1. Haruka
2. Plumeria
3. That’s The Way It Is
4. Haruka (Instrumental)

1. Haruka

After taking a small break, melody. comes back to release Haruka which unlike most of the songs in the previous eras, it lacks the electronic sound that she went for for a more organic and relaxing tune.  It’s of course a ballad and it doesn’t sound like previous stuff really and once again finding myself being lulled by melody.’s vocals.  I’m surprised she begin this rather short era with a song like this.

2. Plumeria

Getting back to her R&B roots for the B-side, Plumeria also sounds totally different from what she releases because of the song being acoustic and only featuring light R&B beats.  I think it’s slightly better than “Haruka” but that’s just because melody. sounds really good and the tune is a good chill tune to listen to.

3. That’s The Way It Is

Why yes, the other B-side is actually a cover of a Celine Dion song that kind of hit big in the states earlier in the decade.  Now melody. definitely does not have the full-on vocals that Celine has so according to it, the arrangement is quite a bit lighter than the original.  Since melody. speaks fluent English she has no problems with accents and I think she did a good job, but Celine’s still tops it by a big shot.

 

 

*sad face* Since Haruka is melody.’s final single before her retirement, (which consists of having two kids with MIYAVI…who saw that coming really?) Haruka isn’t a bad final single.  It does show that she’s going for a more lighthearted era since there was no electronica found.  I’m also a little sad Plumeria didn’t make “Lei Aloha”, but still one of her best B-sides.  As for the cover song, it’s good for what it is, but the original still takes the cake.

melody. – READY TO GO! September 28, 2009

Track Listing

1. Finding My Road
2. with you
3. Love Story
4. All For Love
5. HOPE
6. Glory of Love
7. READY TO GO!
8. ONE DAY
9. Lovin’ U
10. REAL ME
11. ALL I DO
12. Shine
13. Dangerous

1. Finding My Road

I guess it was appropriate to introduce melody.’s newfound sound with Finding My Road.  While most people would initially put melody. with the whole R&B shtick she’s done, Finding My Road takes a more electronic route and she obviously kicked up her vocals ten fold with this release.  Even better is that this song has a catchy beat and sounds like a good positive song.

2. with you

Our first new song, with you opens up with melody. singing a line and then becomes rather a mix of past and present.  What I mean is that the song has an R&B sound to it, but with the electronic beeps and sounds that is covering this album.  It’s smooth and the interlude with the harmonization and the arrangement was downright amazing.  I’m starting to really love this album already.

3. Love Story

The era’s final A-side, Love Story slows things down immensely for this really pretty ballad.  As the main ballad of the era, Love Story is a beautiful track from melody. and shows she can really sound great.  However this track reaches epic status towards the end where she belts out so well with the song….DAMN!

4. All For Love

Starting up like “with you”, All For Love begins with a simple vocal line from melody. before the song comes in.  Then again I find myself thinking almost the same thing as said track because of the same mixture of genres.  It is a tad bit faster and the harmonizations are once again spot on nice….I wish there was a bit more punch to it, but this is nice.

5. HOPE

If you know me real well, then you know HOPE is my favorite melody. song.  HOPE is probably one of the most chilliest, dark songs I’ve heard from any electronic artist.  melody. is purposely being monotone throughout the song and it really fits the mood.  She throws a lot of English in the song and while it is rather short and the ending probably wasn’t the best way to end it, HOPE is just so epic for me.

6. Glory of Love

The lone cover on the album, melody. covers a Peter Cetara tune and gives it a nice touchup.  There’s a bit of whimsical feel to the song and it could be from the happy violins and the quick electronic blips that come in through the song.  Now this is also a full English tune and I have to say melody. does an amazing job at it.  Good song

7. READY TO GO!

Being the album’s title track, READY TO GO! is a bit more softer on the electronic sounds, but there’s still things the keep it interesting.  Sadly, the song sadly sounds boring in the chorus and I was like…(damn girl, way to fail).  I’m sorry, but so far this song is the worst off the album.

8. ONE DAY

I’m starting to sense the songs are going a bit downhill after “READY TO GO!”.  ONE DAY harkens back to her previous two albums with its R&B sound with little sounds of electronic.  ONE DAY does flow nicely and while melody. doesn’t try to really push her vocals, it’s alright, but not as good as the other tracks. 

9. Lovin’ U

Beginning the era off, Lovin’ U wasn’t exactly the strongest song she’s had.  It actually was perceived that the era was going to continue her line of meh songs and Lovin’ U sadly suffers from that.  On the album, it’s a bit better since it doesn’t really sound like any other track…talk about strange right?

10. REAL ME

We get back into the more interesting songs here starting with the string-based REAL ME.  I just love the beat for this and then add the quick strings and the light latin-y sound and you get a great song.  She’s still not vocally singing out, but this is still a cool dance track.

11. ALL I DO

Oddly enough, ALL I DO is actually the purest form of a ballad melody. has on the album and I loved finding that.  Finally though, melody. is singing out strongly and I’m so happy that it came out so well as it did.  The arrangement not be the most original ideas and probably is rather a mundane track alone, but where it’s on the album, I thought it was a fresh breath of air.

12. Shine

The last two tracks rather seemed like last-minute additions to the album.  Shine comes up first and it probably one of the poppiest sounding tunes on the album and the carefree feelings were really nice.  The thumping beats sounded strong as well…Gotta say it’s poppy, but in a good way.

13. Dangerous

Even more bizarre is that Dangerous was placed to end the album off on a hardcore sexii vibe.  Being another English track, she exudes the mood quite nicely and it’s funky and fun all mixed in together.  She just sounds amazing for the song.  I just wonder why these two tracks ended the album rather than “ALL I DO”

Tracks Recommended

• HOPE
• Finding My Road
• Glory of Love
• with you
• Dangerous

Song of Avoidance

• READY TO GO!

melody.’s 3rd album pwns her previous efforts hands down.  It might just be the fact that she decided to get original and sing out more and with the newfound love in the electronic scene, I was amazed at how this album came out to be.  Though I did question why two of the more energetic tracks had to end when they had a perfect album ender in ALL I DO.  Oh well right?

melody. – Love Story August 13, 2009

Track Listing

1. Love Story
2. melody. ♥ m-flo – BoRn 2 luv U
3. Lovin’ U ~Deckstream Remix~
4. Love Story (instrumental)

1. Love Story

After the exciting “Finding My Road”, melody. decided to calm things down with Love Story.  It’s a ballad of course and with melody. doing the lyrics, I thought her voice suited the track very well.  It might not strike me as the best ballad of the era, but Love Story’s piano arrangement and her vocals are just perfect in the song. 

2. melody. ♥ m-flo – BoRn 2 luv U

Originally, this track was an m-flo track, “STUCK IN YOUR LOVE”, but on here it’s re-titled, melody. is singing in Japanese this time around and VERBAL isn’t all of the track as he was back on first version.  I’m still not sure if I’m a big fan of VERBAL, but Taku’s arrangement is very cool and has that smooth club feel to it.  Mix it in with melody.’s vocals and you get a good retouching.  I liked it alot.

3. Lovin’ U ~Deckstream Remix~

Remixes this era have been pretty messy majority-wise so thank god this one came up on the single.  Unlike the previous remixes trying to make the track more harder and complicated, Lovin’ U’s is more jazzy and urban.  I think this was a nice touch to the track and I loved the piano here as it adds a good punch to it.  This could’ve been put on the album for all I know, it sounds like a good original mix, maybe better than it.

 

 

Finishing the “READY TO GO” era, melody. brought out a ballad to brings things to a close for the era one a good note.  Ballads aren’t usually her forte (at the time this was released) and for being so simple, I kind of liked it alot.  BoRn 2 luv U was a pretty good track despite being a remodeled track.  VERBAL is a pretty boring rapper on the song and Taku is still a genius in music here.  The remix was pretty awesome though, gotta say that was good thing.  Best single of the era.

melody. – Finding My Road March 9, 2009

Track Listing

1. Finding My Road
2. fragile
3. My Dear
4. Finding My Road -SiZK “Water Drop Mix”-

1. Finding My Road

I think melody. really kicked things off this era with Finding My Road.  Right from the start you can already hear that this is way different from the usual we get from her.  First off, it’s got dance beats that borders onto electronica.  Second, I think melody. is showing a lot of emotion and power which isn’t surprising, but it just made the song so much more awesome.  My favorite part is in the middle where she’s like ta-do-ri-tsu line was so cool.  Definitly one of her best A-sides.

2. fragile

Our first B-side is an interesting take on a ballad.  There’s a lot of synths present, but not as much as before.  I really can’t take a lot of this song because melody. just sounds very airy and it just kind of bothers me.  Other than that it’s kind of a calm track to just listen along with, but it’s not exactly that good.

3. My Dear

My Dear seems to represent her style from her last 2 albums, which are least liked from melody.  It’s got a light R&B beat and even though melody.’s vocals are much more better here, the song seems very forgettable in the end.  I’m pretty sure if she had put this on the album, it would’ve been one of the worst.

4. Finding My Road -SiZK “Water Drop Mix”-

This is definitly one strange remix.  I like how the video seemed to be an instruction to the song because of this voice that says ~verse 1~.  melody.’s vocals are messed around with, filtered, vocodered…All the bells and whistles.  The problem lies in the fact that the music is very odd.  It’s like ethereal, but full of different twists and turns that it sort of becomes a hot mess.  I think there was even a new lyrical section in it as well…Still the worst part was at the end when the song started flipping out and rewinding back to the beginning.

 

 

Seriously, READY TO GO! really began with this single.  Finding My Road showed off melody. in a new light which was a great choice.  I mean dance/electronica is good for her.  The B-sides were obviously material for that.  They seemed a little disheartening just to listen to, but were meh tracks.  The remix was very interesting.  It’s not bad, but with all the happenings going on it was kind of hard to follow along. Ok single though.

melody. – Lovin’ U January 30, 2009

Track Listing

1. Lovin’ U
2. Our Journey
3. FEEL THE RUSH
4. FEEL THE RUSH (JUNKIE XL REMIX FOR NEED FOR SPEED: CARBON)

1. Lovin’ U

 Lovin’ U is continuing of the oddness of what’s been happening before this era.  There’s just a little bit of R&B in this otherwise pop song.  It’s a pretty tame for melody. and she has enough of those previously.  Her voice though is pretty soothing and isn’t grating.  Her English is superb like Hikki’s as well, but melody. is Hawaiian which is awesome so it works with the song.

2. Our Journey

Did we really have to have a ballad?  This time yes, because it’s nice and simple and melody. is singing in full English.  She’s singing with a moving piano melody and string arrangement.  I found her honest lyrics to be the best part as it’s definitly understandable and easy to hook with.  I’m surprised she hasn’t tried going for the American market.

3. FEEL THE RUSH

Who knew that she was actually capable of something this hard.  It’s also fully in English as well.  The sound is definitly what you’d expect the Need For Speed series to have.  The music really sounds energetic and the smoothness of the bridge has a pretty cool mood.  I’m surprised it isn’t on READY TO GO! because of how different it sounds and the raw and gritty side of her appears in such a cool way.

4. FEEL THE RUSH (JUNKIE XL REMIX FOR NEED FOR SPEED: CARBON)

I guess they needed a more trance-like tune with FEEL THE RUSH.  It’s definitly one that pays attention more to the music rather than melody. which is understandable, but wasn’t enough to keep me interested.  Even then they do cut n’ paste melody. around a bit.  Not a very good remix if you ask me.

 

 

melody.’s surely has gotten better since the last album and this single proves that she can also work with various styles.  Pop, Ballad, and Rock/Dance style it’s amazing.  The remix was the only downfall, but that’s just because there wasn’t enough in it to make it worthwhile.  The main tracks though all good!