It's kind of fitting that AKB's day lands on the same day that they debuted their 16th gen! Congrats to all the new girls! I'm excited to see new faces in AKB & I can't wait to see who gets pushed. AKB itself has been somewhat interesting this year. Takamina FINALLY left after her way too long drug out graduation, Kojiharu is also finally leaving soon, and Paruru announced her graduation. I never really minded that Shimazaki didn't seem to be overly enthusiastic about AKB. Unlike Kojiharu who I feel should've left a long time ago, I like Paruru. I think it's for the best that she announced though. Not just for her health, but I think it's always better to leave at your peak than overstaying your welcome. Nana Owada's recent graduation announcement shocked me. I can't believe she's leaving already. I figured Nishino would be gone before any of the other newer pushed girls. As for next year, I'm hoping that more old gen girls start to leave. It's time for AKB to completely transition to Gen 9 and newer. As much as I love Miichan, I hope she also announces next year. It's time for first gen to go. I also have a feeling that Mayuyu will announce next year.
As for the music this year, it's been very up and down. Kimi wa Melody was pretty good to me, even though I saw a lot of people not really feeling the song. That single also featured two super awesome B-sides: Make Noise & Mazariau Mono. Tsubasa wa Iranai, both the song itself and the B-sides, were so bland. NGT's song on the theater edition is cool, but everything else was SO disappointing, especially for the summer single. Love Trip as a song is awesome, but I didn't think the other A-side or the B-sides were anything special at all. I never really care for the B-sides of the Sousenkyo single though. High Tension I think is on par with Kimi wa Melody as far as the total package. The A-side is great & there's two super great B-sides: Seijun Tired (best B-side this year from them) & Shunsuki (? I think I spelled that wrong...) Adrenaline. Overall though, I didn't feel like there was that great of music from AKB this year. Hoping for something different next year. Maybe another UZA-type A-side? That'd be nice instead of more slow songs or funky songs. Change it up please!
My ranking has drastically changed from last year. I finally got (almost, missing Pajama Drive, the Himawarigumi stages, Renai Kinshi & Saishuu Bell) all of the stage albums and I LOVE so many of the songs from them. Much better than their singles and normal albums tbh.
I know, I know....I missed another day. I was doing so well with being on time for things (even having some things typed up early!). I will try not to fail for the few days I have left lol.
This pretty much covers any former group, subgroup, and soloist of HP/48G. So essentially none of the current main groups. Of course the vast majority of the list is Hello Project, mainly because I haven't heard much from the subgroups and soloists of 48G yet. They just have SO MANY songs to get through lol. The list was pretty difficult to come up with because of the massive amount of songs to pick from, but I think I like the way the list is. Maybe next year I'll have more 48G representation.
Ah Berryz. One of the first J-pop groups I was ever introduced to and one of the first J-pop group disbandments I've witnessed. I've decided to include them in my countdown this year as they were still a group in the beginning of this year and I think it's only fair to mention them. The fact that it's been almost a year since their end is mindblowing.
Like SKE, this actually wasn't as hard as I thought lol. I haven't listened to all of the stage albums yet (I actually just bought all of them for myself for Christmas lol) so I'm sure this would've been much more difficult if I knew all of the stages as the only one I've heard is A6 and it is their best release ever lol. There's no video for #7 as I can't find it. Sorry. :(
Reviewing a Christmas-ish CD in May? Sure! I certainly wish it was Christmas....a week off from work, no classes, cold weather. I'm the strange person that prefers cold over hot when it comes to the weather lol. I've never fully understood the decision to have Morning Musume release a mini album instead of a full album or a single in it's place. I read a rumor once about perhaps this was going to be a Berryz release that then got switched to MM, but I don't know how true that is or why they would have done that. It's just that this mini album is an anomaly in MM's discography.
Track #1, Aruiteru: This isn't even a Christmas song lol. It doesn't even feel like a Christmas song to me. I get a beginning of fall feeling from it. Probably because of the music video that ends in the campfire scene. This is such a nice song. It's different enough from the rest of their singles to stand out. I've always viewed it as a transitional song. Going from all of the graduations of the end of the Golden Era into the very beginning of the Platinum Era shortly before Aika joined and when Koharu was new. I might just be blinded by fandom, but I love this even though it's a J-pop midtempo. Tsunku's compositions just seem to blow everyone else out of the water. 5/5.
Track #2, Kira Kira Fuyu no Shiny G: Reina Tanaka's solo song. I remember when she sang this song for her graduation and I had no idea what it was or where it was from lol. I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it before, but Reina was the girl that caused me to really pay attention to MM when I first came across Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game. I absolutely adored her hairstyle and tried to recreate it with my own hair. I still like Reina now, but now that she's been graduated for a couple years, I can say that really her vocals can be grating. She's certainly a good singer, but her tone is unique and that makes it hard to listen to a full song of her voice. I also had expected this to be a really genki song because of the title lol. It certainly has a Christmas-y feel to it. 4/5.
Track #3, Yuki/AixAnata>Suki: Gosh the way that title is written is really annoying. This is Ai Takahashi's solo with Risa Niigaki doing some sort of radio MC thing. Yikes I never noticed how long this song is. I'm a strong supporter of the idea that songs shouldn't have any random speaking in them. It really ruins a song. I do really like Ai's voice, but this isn't my type of song. It's too slow for my taste. 3/5.
Track #4, Samui Kara Fuyu da mon! ~Doumokou no Naissu yo Mikitty~: Miki Fujimoto's solo song that features C-ute's Chisato Okai & Mai Hagiwara. They really should have never added Miki to Morning Musume. I don't know what it was like when she was actually in the group, but looking back now she seems like she never actually fit into the group. She should have stayed a soloist. She certainly has the voice for it. With this song, I like the beat, but the rest of it is pretty average. I also don't quite understand what purpose Chisato & Mai have in the song besides interrupting it. 3/5.
Track #5, Kotatsu no Uta ~Jyuken Story~: Sung by Hitomi Yoshizawa, Risa Niigaki, and Eri Kamei. The intro is not winter at all. It's like an early Ca va Ca va with the French feeling lol. Besides Aruiteru, I think this is the most interesting song on the CD. It could do with the fact that I have an irrational hate for just about all Christmas music, but I think it's more that this feels like a throwback to Golden Era Musume. If I just got into the group and someone told me that this was released around the time of Do It! Now, I'd believe it. 4/5.
Track #6, Wa~ Merry Pin Xmas!: Sung by Sayumi Michishige and Koharu Kusumi. You can already tell just by seeing those two names what type of song this is lol. It's probably the most Christmas song on the CD. It's certainly not my kind of song by any means though. Much like Miki's solo, the beat makes the song ok, but it's too idoly of a track for me. 3/5.
Fuyu Fuyu Mini (Audio):
This certainly isn't my favorite Morning Musume release, although I expected it to be abnormal due to it being a Christmas album. I really don't like Christmas music all that much and MM doesn't help me to like it even if the songs are original. The album as a whole is just okay. Nothing special at all. 3.5/5
Well this review is way out of left field isn't it haha. Told everyone I was going to review all the CDs I own and gosh darn it I'm going to do it....even if it's a CD I picked up at a thrift store for one particular song and haven't listened to the full CD. Nelly Furtado first came on my radar when this album was already a massive hit. I remember hearing Promiscuous on the radio and having no real idea of what it actually meant. I got that it was about a guy & a girl, but I didn't know what the word meant so obviously the meaning was over my head. This will be another of those really rambling posts as I've never listened to this album before.
Track #1, Afraid (ft. Attitude): The verses really reminded me of another song that I can't place at the moment. Not a big fan of that kind of structure on the verses. The pre-chorus and chorus is good. Also not a big fan of the random rap feature. The song would have been fine without it as the rapper didn't really add anything. Listening to her music again reminds me of how much I love her vocal tone. It's pretty unique. 3/5.
Track #2, Maneater: This is the song I bought the CD for. It's crazy how fresh this song still sounds 9 years after the CD was released. It's just so fantastic. Really the highlight of her career in my opinion. 5/5.
Track #3, Promiscuous (ft. Timbaland): I remember this song being EVERYWHERE in 2006-2007. I also remember how Timbaland used to be a massive star and produced everything. Not the biggest rap fan, but I do quite like his features and productions. There's just something about him that works for me. Maybe it's just because these songs were my middle school years and it's kind of nostalgic. I wouldn't mind if this type of song made a comeback into the mainstream. 4/5.
Track #4, Glow: The song sounds quite a lot like something Gwen Stefani would have put on Love Angel Music Baby. In fact, she really sounds like Gwen here. I actually thought I might be accidentally playing the wrong album. As with the majority of LAMB, this song has the same qualities to it that makes me very 'meh' towards it. It's just really not my type of song. 3/5.
Track #5, Showtime: Not a big fan of all the little talking pieces in the beginnings and ends of these songs. I know it was a trend to do that then, but it really takes away from the songs. Much like Glow, this is a nice R&B track, but not my type of thing. I do really like the faint synth-piano? sound in the chorus. It's too bad it wasn't more featured. It stands out in the run-of-the-mill R&B of the song. 3/5.
Track #6, No Hay Igual: Really surprised that this song is almost fully in Spanish. I like it. Very Shakira to me, and not because it's sung in Spanish. It has that very distinct Latin flair to it that Shakira uses in her music. I like how this album was a huge smash and it's bilingual (even if only for a couple of songs). I think we'd all benefit from being exposed to more than just our first language on a regular basis. 4/5.
Track #7, Te Busque (ft. Juanes): Ooh is this one in Spanish too? Aw, I guess not. She sounds a lot like Gwen again in this song. Oh wait! It's half in Spanish. Juanes' voice is so nice. The verses of this song are more your typical ballad verses, but the duet of the chorus really works. They should have done the entire song together. Not a huge fan of spoken bridges, but this one isn't really out of place. 4/5.
Track #8, Say It Right: I used to have a really REALLY irrational hate for this song. I remember whenever it came on the radio I either changed the channel immediately, or cursed it out in my head. Half of the reason was that it was ALWAYS on the radio, the other half of the reason was that for some reason I thought it was a bad song. Like really morally bad. Not as in a random sex reference or double entendre or something like that, but I just felt like it was really really wrong to listen to. Which is weird because you'd think that twelve year old me would have gotten the same vibe from Promiscuous. But I didn't. I'm guessing that it has to do with the feel of the song. It's so....ethereal? Is that the correct word? It's just so incredibly different from most things that were on the radio at that point and to a twelve year old that's probably enough to make it stand out in the wrong way. It's actually a little difficult to listen to know even though I actually know what the lyrics are now. I don't think that will ever stop. Still a pretty good song musically and lyrically though. 4/5.
Track #9, Do It: Hm. I thought I'd never heard this song before but I guess it was a single at some point because I know it very well. Guess I never the title. The chorus is very catchy, but it's not a very memorable song. I checked out about half way through it and I don't understand how I'm at the end of it already. 3.5/5.
Track #10, In God's Hands: Does she have an accent? Because if she does, it's very noticeable in this track. And if she doesn't, I don't know why she's singing like this. Beyond that, this is just a really boring song. I guess every album has to have a ballad, but why do album ballads have to make you want to fall asleep? I really can't feel any kind of emotional connection with this song. It's got one of the longest studio speaking at the end of it too. 3/5.
Track #11, Wait For You: This beat is kind of interesting. It's got a slight Indian flair to it. It's too bad the song is extremely repetitive. Oh my gosh....it's over five minutes long? I'm bored of it and I'm only to 2:30. Oh that turn there....sounds like it was attempting to do what Justin Timberlake's What Goes Around Comes Around does...which makes sense because I believe Timbaland produced both. The pounding beat at the end of this really hurts my ears too. 3.5/5.
Track #12, All Good Things (Come To An End): Isn't this know as one of her best tracks? If I'm right in that assumption, I don't get it. The lyrics are all right, but not spectacular. Same way with the music. It's a very mediocre number to close the standard version of the album. The bridge is the highlight of the song and it's way too short. 3/5.
Track #13, Te Busque (Spanish Version): Just the Spanish version.
Track #14, Let My Hair Down: One of the British and Japanese bonus tracks. I can see why this song didn't make the cut for the standard album. It's probably the most urban of all of the songs she has on this, and she also sounds really silly in this song. It's really not a style that suits her at all. And the line "I like sports, but I don't like wearing shorts." Ouch....just....that's really bad. 2.5/5.
Track #15, Somebody To Love: This song is a bonus track on the British, Australian, German, and Japanese editions of the album. With this one, it feels too pop latin for the regular album. I can definitely understand why these were both bonus tracks. This song is not bad though. Probably would have made a good single for an album with a different direction. 3.5/5.
Track #16, What I Want: This is a bonus track on the Japanese version of the album. I'm actually surprised that none of the bonus tracks so far have really fit the original album. Usually there's at least one bonus track that should have been on the album (Taylor Swift's Wonderland for example), but these really are better as bonus tracks. This is your very typical ballad right down to the lyrics. Very boring. Her vocals do sound very nice though. 3/5.
Track #17, Runaway: Pretty sure this is the final of the bonus tracks; off of the International tour edition. Now this is a ballad done correctly. The lyrics are great and you can feel the emotion. Would have loved to have this on standard album. It doesn't really have the R&B/urban feeling of the album and is much more like her I'm Like A Bird era, but I think this is better than the ballads on the standard. 4/5.
I'd argue that this is very much a singles album. The singles that were released from the album were fantastic, but the album songs range from somewhat good to mediocre. Slightly disappointed, but I didn't have much expectation going into the album either. 3.5/5.
Yes. Yes I know. Laugh all you want it's okay. I said that I was going through my CD collection for this blog to actually force myself to write and gosh darn it I'm going to do just that. Even if it means reviewing things that were popular when I was in middle school. Although to be completely fair....earlier last year I had a High School Musical marathon by myself and loved every minute of it (I'm 21). No shame xD You've certainly got to give Disney credit for the mega franchise that they started. Too bad they had to go ruin it by making the third one into an actual movie and not continuing the franchise after it.
Track #1, Start Of Something New: I've always found it tragic that none of the High School Musical stars are doing much in music nowadays. Especially Vanessa Hudgens. I've always really loved her voice and I think if she'd have released music with a label not Hollywood Records she could be doing well right now. This was such a great way to start the movie....I can still remember 7th grade me fangirling over how cute they were as a couple. Anyone else find it so sad that Drew Seeley (the one who actually did the vocals for Troy in the first movie) never got any credit? He was utilized so much by Disney around this time and never really got anything out of it. I really liked him and he was very handsome. I wonder what he's up to now. [Note of randomness: looked him up, discovered he was in Stuck In The Suburbs. Very shocked....ADORED that movie when it came out. Watched it over and over....mainly because the singer guy was hot. Don't even remember his name but he was hot. It wasn't Seeley though.] But anyway....about the song? Really nothing special as a song, but it works well for the opening number of the movie. 4/5.
Track #2, Get'cha Head In The Game: Sometimes the suspension of disbelief is difficult to use in movies. This scene has always been one of those for me. Everyone on the basketball team thought that the drama people were stupid & they do a musical number? I get that it's a musical, but that part always bothered me. It should have just been Troy doing the number while everyone else was being normal. I guess that would have made for less interesting choreography though. Probably my least favorite number of the movie. 3/5.
Track #3, What I've Been Looking For: I always loved the part of Sharpay. She was a horrible character, but Ashley Tisdale has a lot of charisma when performing that makes you pay attention to her. It's too bad her musical career didn't really pan out either. She was the smart one that didn't stick with Hollywood Records and her music was pretty good. I guess she tried for mainstream success a little too early after HSM and it backfired. And what happened to Lucas Grabeel? Haven't heard anything about him since the movies. He's a pretty good singer too. Listening through this again reminds me how mediocre the first movie's songs are compared to the other two, and especially when compared to HSM2. 3.5/5.
Track #4, What I've Been Looking For (Reprise): The sappy scene where Troy misses the auditions for the play & Gabriella joins in! And of course they make the call backs because they're the protagonists! This scene is ridiculously cheesy and the redoing of the song doesn't help. 2.5/5.
Track #5, Stick To The Status Quo: Call me crazy, but this was absolutely my favorite song of the entire movie. I loved the entire sequence. I'll still sometimes listen to it just because. I think the even though they went for the most "outrageous" differences (like the bigger smart girl being a dancer, the sports star baking, the skater boy playing a cello.), the sequence is still really home hitting for me. I'm not going to go into why because honestly this isn't the place to ramble on about what I think of the world, but it still interests me even though it's a scene from a kids movie. 5/5.
Track #6, When There Was Me And You: Oh this song. I remember standing in my room attempting to belt out the song and record it. In retrospect, I feel really bad for my neighbors that probably heard my dying cat middle school vocals. HSM2's Gabriella/Troy breakup-sadness song is better than this one honestly. 4/5.
Track #7, Bop To The Top: So this movie came out before I listened to foreign language music, and I remember being so in awe over the fact that this song uses Spanish words that I could understand. Thanks to my middle school Spanish classes. Once again, Sharpay's sequences have the best songs. 4/5.
Track #8, Breaking Free: Also tried to belt this one out in my room. Such a cheesy song though. I feel like the climax of every Disney musical has a song that sounds like this. 4/5.
Track #9, We're All In This Together: More cheesy songs! I can literally see the entire musical number playing in my head. Of course everyone ends as wonderful friends at the end. No hard feelings at all. 4/5
Track #10, I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You: I was so confused when I got the soundtrack and saw this song on it. I had no idea what it was because it wasn't in the movie. However, this feels like a real song. And it's a little more mature than the rest of the soundtrack so I understand why it wasn't included. 5/5.
Track #11, Get'cha Head In The Game (B5 Version): Honestly don't care for the song already and don't care about this version either. I do something wonder what happened to B5. They were a thing for a couple years on Radio Disney and then disappeared off the face of the planet. 2.5/5.
So this was much less of a music post and much more of a personal nostalgia trip. Sorry. Also, I really cringed typing in that 2006 date for this movie. Has it really been almost TEN years since this came out?! That's really not possible. It just can't be. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go cry now that I realize that the kids I teach in my Sunday school class weren't even born when this movie came out. Ouch. 4/5.
