Post by molotov889 on Aug 27, 2005 2:06:57 GMT -5
Gots me my newest shipment of CDs today. Reviews for all the albums can be found below:
Namie Amuro- Queen of Hip-Pop[/u]
While this album is a good album, I definately wouldn't say it was as good as the last one, Style. It just seems to lack some of the emotion and heartfelt vocals that Style seemed to have. Plus, Style showcased Namie in so many different styles that this album just doesn't even come close to portraying. Also, the Li'l John impersonator on My Darling totally turned me off. It came off as ridiculous and a failed attempt at following a trend.
Having said that, I did enjoy listening to this album overall. Namie's talent still shines through as always- I always lover her voice. In my opinion, the last track, No, along with its "hidden track " alternate version, was the best on the album. It's the only one that really sticks out in my mind after listening to the whole CD. So, in short, while it's not a dissapointment at all, Namie seems to be able to do better.
This one did come with a pretty clever packaging, though. Instead of the normal booklet, it came with a small booklet with a few pictures in it, and all the lyrics were printed on a mock-up of a newpaper page. On one side is a big ad featuring the Pink Panther motif, and on the other are the lyrics, with some funny little "ads" at the bottom.
Misia- The Glory Day[/u]
This one also came in a neat little packaging. The Cd package is actually sort of a box, where the bax is four flaps which fold into each other. When opened, it reveals the CD, sitting a top a picture of Misia in front of some stained glass windows. Inside, there's also 5 postcards which say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Misia. I liked that touch.
As for the music, Misia sounds a little deeper in the first track of this album than I'm used to. However, the style is definately classic Misia. If you've heard her Marvelous album, this one is pretty similar. Personally, it's one of my favorite styles of hers, just a nice all-out soulful sound with the right amount of cheer. One thing to note- the track listing may be short for this album, more along the lines of a mini-album, but they are all very long songs (on average, the tracks are 7:12 long, going from 5:59 to 10:32
). I really like the concept of the album, too, especially since they made the song The Glory Day itself an appropriately, well, glorious song. Haha. No, really, it's a nice mix of joy and soul, especially with the background choir and whatnot. And the lyrics are just cheesy enough to be very endearing as opposed to corny. Although, I think this makes 2 Christmas CDs I've bought in August this year 
. Into The Light is an EXCELLENT song, as well, and the remix is a riot.
This really is an excellent, up-beat CD, which will prolly become one of my favorites by Misia.
Yellow Magic Orchestra- UCYMO[/u]
That stands for Ultimate Collection- Yellow Magic Orchestra
OK, first surprise with this 2-album set: All of the tracks except for one are from 1978 to 1983. But I don't really know any of the band's biography, so maybe that's as should be expected. From the get-go, though, this collection is just non-stop electronica fun. I really don't know how to describe it other than that. I can kind of see some inspiration either for or from Tetsuya Komuro in this music, and given the release dates of the tracks, it's an interesting look into the development of Japanese music. If you like video game music, especially classic video game music, you will LOVE this collection. (Hint hint: Variable)
Two-Mix Delta- Delta One[/u]
So, Joseph's given his view of this one over on the "August will be one sweet month" thread, now it's my turn
. And I have to say... WOW... Two-Mix is now a lot more than I ever knew them to be before. Their songs are just as catchy as ever, but they've seemed to have gotten a new life breathed into them. It's very exciting music to listen to. And as always, it's a very unique sound that you'll get when you listen to Two-Mix. Just gotta love Vision.V for its great rhythm and guitar work. And Kibou No Shizuku is like classic Two-Mix in my opinion, full of great dance beats and hightrance instrumentals, mixed with just the right amount of pop melody. But, in my opinion, Splash steals the show- it's very easy to get into this fast-paced song.
Ryuichi Sakamoto- Chasm[/u]
This really is the chill/lounge album I've been waiting for and hoping it would be. (Well, except for Coro... I have to say, this song is one that will leave you wondering what qualifies as music. Basically, Sakamoto managed to take a lot of random noise (as in bad signals, etc) and put it to a beat, constructing a song out of it. There's definately a lot of experimental work on here, and lots of music based on a concept more than trying to put lyrics to instruments. This is certainly one album that is a journey. And it's a journey that will leave you thinking about many things, both related and not related to music itself. I would reccomend this CD really only to someone who is comfortable with this type of music due to the way it challenges conventional ideas of music.
Namie Amuro- Queen of Hip-Pop[/u]
While this album is a good album, I definately wouldn't say it was as good as the last one, Style. It just seems to lack some of the emotion and heartfelt vocals that Style seemed to have. Plus, Style showcased Namie in so many different styles that this album just doesn't even come close to portraying. Also, the Li'l John impersonator on My Darling totally turned me off. It came off as ridiculous and a failed attempt at following a trend.
Having said that, I did enjoy listening to this album overall. Namie's talent still shines through as always- I always lover her voice. In my opinion, the last track, No, along with its "hidden track " alternate version, was the best on the album. It's the only one that really sticks out in my mind after listening to the whole CD. So, in short, while it's not a dissapointment at all, Namie seems to be able to do better.
This one did come with a pretty clever packaging, though. Instead of the normal booklet, it came with a small booklet with a few pictures in it, and all the lyrics were printed on a mock-up of a newpaper page. On one side is a big ad featuring the Pink Panther motif, and on the other are the lyrics, with some funny little "ads" at the bottom.
Misia- The Glory Day[/u]
This one also came in a neat little packaging. The Cd package is actually sort of a box, where the bax is four flaps which fold into each other. When opened, it reveals the CD, sitting a top a picture of Misia in front of some stained glass windows. Inside, there's also 5 postcards which say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Misia. I liked that touch.
As for the music, Misia sounds a little deeper in the first track of this album than I'm used to. However, the style is definately classic Misia. If you've heard her Marvelous album, this one is pretty similar. Personally, it's one of my favorite styles of hers, just a nice all-out soulful sound with the right amount of cheer. One thing to note- the track listing may be short for this album, more along the lines of a mini-album, but they are all very long songs (on average, the tracks are 7:12 long, going from 5:59 to 10:32
). I really like the concept of the album, too, especially since they made the song The Glory Day itself an appropriately, well, glorious song. Haha. No, really, it's a nice mix of joy and soul, especially with the background choir and whatnot. And the lyrics are just cheesy enough to be very endearing as opposed to corny. Although, I think this makes 2 Christmas CDs I've bought in August this year 
. Into The Light is an EXCELLENT song, as well, and the remix is a riot.This really is an excellent, up-beat CD, which will prolly become one of my favorites by Misia.
Yellow Magic Orchestra- UCYMO[/u]
That stands for Ultimate Collection- Yellow Magic Orchestra
OK, first surprise with this 2-album set: All of the tracks except for one are from 1978 to 1983. But I don't really know any of the band's biography, so maybe that's as should be expected. From the get-go, though, this collection is just non-stop electronica fun. I really don't know how to describe it other than that. I can kind of see some inspiration either for or from Tetsuya Komuro in this music, and given the release dates of the tracks, it's an interesting look into the development of Japanese music. If you like video game music, especially classic video game music, you will LOVE this collection. (Hint hint: Variable)
Two-Mix Delta- Delta One[/u]
So, Joseph's given his view of this one over on the "August will be one sweet month" thread, now it's my turn
. And I have to say... WOW... Two-Mix is now a lot more than I ever knew them to be before. Their songs are just as catchy as ever, but they've seemed to have gotten a new life breathed into them. It's very exciting music to listen to. And as always, it's a very unique sound that you'll get when you listen to Two-Mix. Just gotta love Vision.V for its great rhythm and guitar work. And Kibou No Shizuku is like classic Two-Mix in my opinion, full of great dance beats and hightrance instrumentals, mixed with just the right amount of pop melody. But, in my opinion, Splash steals the show- it's very easy to get into this fast-paced song.Ryuichi Sakamoto- Chasm[/u]
This really is the chill/lounge album I've been waiting for and hoping it would be. (Well, except for Coro... I have to say, this song is one that will leave you wondering what qualifies as music. Basically, Sakamoto managed to take a lot of random noise (as in bad signals, etc) and put it to a beat, constructing a song out of it. There's definately a lot of experimental work on here, and lots of music based on a concept more than trying to put lyrics to instruments. This is certainly one album that is a journey. And it's a journey that will leave you thinking about many things, both related and not related to music itself. I would reccomend this CD really only to someone who is comfortable with this type of music due to the way it challenges conventional ideas of music.
