Yes, I still hate the number after Morning Musume. Yes, I will never use it. No, I don't care if that's the way it says on the album cover. Now that that's out of the way, this is Morning Musume's 14th album and their first studio album in two years. I was extremely excited for this release. The direction that Morning Musume is in (and the rest of Hello! Project really) is exactly my type of music and I was excited to get an album full of new songs to love. Unfortunately, the album is half singles, but that's ok. There's still six new songs to listen to.
Track #1, Tiki Bun: Review Here
Track #2, Password Is 0: Thinking back over the past two years, I can't help but feel that Morning Musume's singles have been slightly lackluster this year. They're still very awesome, but compared to the last two years I don't think the style of electropop has worked as well. Now Tsunku's been doing an amazing job with other groups (Berryz' Love Together, C-ute's I Miss You, S/mileage's Chikyuu Hagukumu, Juice=Juice's Senobi), but Morning Musume really has gotten a lot more typical I guess you could say. Like sticking with more of the same sound. That's really how I felt for the majority of MM's singles this year. Of course there was variety (Toki Sora especially) but even for an EDM freak like me you do need to switch up the sound a bit or I'll get bored. This is one of those songs that you're really hyped over but then get bored of after a few plays. It really does work well as a cellphone commercial song though. The video is pretty much exactly as you'd expect. The green numbers that flash at times are a nice touch though for the whole technology theme of the video. 4.5/5.
Track #3, Asu wo Tsukuru no wa Kimi: It's a ballad. Again, not the biggest fan of ballads, but this is at least listenable. Really the greatest thing about H!P is Tsunku. I absolutely love listening to the songs he creates and this is no exception. It's such a gorgeous song and the girls sound good too. 4/5.
Track #4, Kirari to Hikaru Hoshi: Sung by Riho Sayashi and Sakura Oda. The second time they've done a duet in Morning Musume. This is probably the second best song on the album. I really can't believe I used to hate Riho. She's improved so much over the past four years. Sakura sounds amazing as always. This type of song is more of what I'd like to see from MM. It doesn't sound like a rehash of What Is Love. 5/5.
Track #5, Koibito ni wa Zettai ni Shiraretakunai Shinjitsu: Sung by Sayumi Michishige, Mizuki Fukumura, and Haruna Iikubo. "What is this crazy rock and roll music" is a great way to describe this song haha. Gosh I can't believe after over 15 years Tsunku can still pull off the most unique things ever. I would've just begun rehashing my top hit over and over because I would have run out of ideas. To me, Tsunku is truly a musical genius. I really pray that he recovers because it would be devastating if he fully retired from H!P. Even though this isn't really the type of song I'd listen to all of the time, I think it would be a great single. It's still got the EDM flavor, yet it has that cutesy idol feel to it too which would totally appeal to all the people who miss the more idol side of Morning Musume. 4.5/5.
Track #6, What Is Love: I used to like this song, I really did. Now I just don't want to hear it anymore. It's not really just from overplay either. It's really just the fact that this, Kimi no Kawari and Tiki Bun sound similar to me that those three songs are just kind of annoying to listen to anymore. The music video certainly doesn't help either because it's just a cheap concert video. 4/5.
Track #7, Watashi wa Watashi Nanda: Now THIS is the direction that Tsunku has been nailing recently. This falls in line with all of the songs from other groups that I listed earlier. More of this please. Really this is the best song they've done since Renai Hunter in terms of sheer surprise. When I first heard the concert rip of Renai Hunter, I was floored. The group that I had somewhat followed because they sort of had good songs came out with THAT. This song has the same feeling, except it's the shock of not believing how much Tsunku has been able to refine the electro sound in the past two years and just how well the current Morning Musume works with this style. 5/5.
Track #8, Waraenai Hanashi: This is probably the most K-pop sounding song on the album. I think it would fit well on an early 4Minute album. I like the more "experimental" feel to the album. Much better than the singles they had this year. 4.5/5.
Track #9, Egao no Kimi wa Taiyou sa: Practically one year later and I still don't know what to think of this song. I like that it's different, but does it really work? I personally like it, but I just....don't know. It's one of those songs that you'll listen to but can't really comment on. The video for this is gorgeous though. It was this point where they finally learned how to use green screening to their advantage. The CGI is stellar in this video. 4/5.
Track #10, Kimi no Kawari wa Iyashinai: The song used for the Winter Olympics. The best song on the single too. It still feels a little like What Is Love though which has always bothered me. The video for this reminds be of Berryz's Otakebi Boy Wao or whatever too. The dance is neat though. Using moves like you'd see in different winter sports was very clever. 4/5.
Track #11, Otona ni Nareba Otona ni Nareru: The most typical sounding of the unit songs on the album. Although it at least has solo lines for the girls that rarely get to sing. There's some Platinum Era sound effects in there that I hear. 4/5.
Track #12, Toki wo Koe Sora wo Koe: I believe this is the song that Egao was trying to be but failed. Their best single of the year easily. It's really such a beautiful song. What's actually kind of funny is that my dad and I were driving to Ohio and I decided to play some music during the drive and when this first began to play he was like "Classical music?" I said no of course. And he said "Japanese classical music?" I thought that was pretty interesting because he listens to classical music and his first thought to the music was that. As much as I love Tsunku, he of course is not a better composer than any of the classical greats, but I think that's a pretty neat compliment to get. The video is just as beautiful as the song too. Except for that dance. The bouncing.....why the bouncing. 5/5.
All in all this album is really fantastic. It's got different styles yet sticks to a coherent theme. It's a great album for fans of EDMusume. 4.5/5.
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