My Kind of Perfect

JASMINE – GOLD

~Album~

JASMINE – GOLD

1. PRIDE

2. sad to say

3. L.I.P.S.

4. Jealous

5. Bad Girl.

6. dear my friend

7. stage ~interlude~

8. This Is Not A Game

9. CLUBBIN’

10. Koi

11. what you want?

12. No more

13. Dreamin’

14. Why

That’s right, I’m reviewing GOLD. At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to, but after a few more listens of certain tracks I finally decided to. This is JASMINE first album after a good amount of singles. On a related note, I wish she would have stayed with the same shot all of her singles have had; her, mid-thigh up for the most part, instead of that close up shot. But I get it, it’s an album they have to change it up, whatever, it’s all about the music anyway, right?

The album opens up with PRIDE which I guess at 2:28 serves as an intro? It starts with some heartbeats, and then this piano that sounds like something would hear in a Broadway play. I guess it serves as a good intro but I don’t have any strong feelings for it one way or the other.

Score – 6

“sad to say” was JASMINE’s first single, but it didn’t really grab me then. It really doesn’t do anything for me here either, but I wouldn’t say it’s a bad song. It’s got a pretty good beat, backed by some piano, but I just couldn’t really get into it.

Score – 6

I thought “L.I.P.S.” was pretty good, it’s fairly straightforward, synthy, and it’s pretty sexy. The chorus was the best part of the song although I really didn’t like the J.A.S.M.I.N.E. break down bridge thing and towards the end of the song.

Score – 7

I can say for sure, that Jealous was the sole reason I have stayed interested in JASMINE. When I first heard it I was like “oh this JASMINE girl again”. But my thoughts changed as soon as it started up. This song is damn catchy. I loved the mix of musical styles.

Score – 9

She switches it up here with “Bad Girl.” as it’s a bit of a rock track featuring strings, piano, and some grungy sounding electric guitar. I liked the darker tone that this song had and felt it was a good change of pace. I thought the lyrics were pretty good as well.

Score – 8

“dear my friend” starts out kind of interesting, and there’s this phone vibrating sound effect that’s played and I was actually looking for MY phone! xD It’s a slower paced song similar to Jealous, but I wouldn’t really compare the two. It’s an alright song but it wasn’t incredibly memorable.

Score – 7

stage ~interlude~ is kind of weird but brilliant at the same time, she goes from “jungle” to “city” to “world” to “stage” and it worked as a PERFECT transition into This Is Not A Game.

Score – 7

“This Is Not A Game” has that darker tone like Bad Girl that I liked a lot. The lead up to the chorus is really good and the haunting piano is really great, along with the darker synth, I thought it made the song, especially during the chorus which is probably the best part of the song.

Score – 8

“CLUBBIN’” picks up the rocker sound that has been heard and amplifies it a bit. Although musically, there isn’t that much more going on here. The vocals are a bit faster paced here though. I was actually kind of surprised that I didn’t like it more.

Score – 7

One of the only things I didn’t like about “Koi” was the repetition of the word “crazy” which was JUST done in CLUBBIN’. If it weren’t for that, I would have any strong feelings about it.

Score – 5

I definitely liked the funky sound of “what you want?” Again it was another good change of pace for the album. It’s slower paced and has a really great funk music sound even if it does seem a little repetitive.

Score – 7

“No More” definitely caught my eye (but it really was Jealous that got me fixated). It has a mid tempo, melancholic sound backed by some brass and piano. I liked the faster paces vocals leading up to the chorus. I thought that No More and This Is Not A Game sound sort of the same sometimes but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying them.

Score – 9

“Dreamin’” really sticks out as the albums only real ballad, but it’s a pretty good song. This is where JASMINE really proves she’s got the pipes (not that she hasn’t in previous songs). Of course the little English in it is a bit cheesy but hey, it’s a Japanese ballad! xD It’s fairly typical but decent enough.

Score – 7

The album closes with “Why” which has one of the strongest, solely R&B sounds of the album. I really liked the beats and the synth, it has some other interesting and more subtle sounds like a harpsichord tucked in there as well. I thought the sound of the song was a fairly good way to end the album. The highs she hits towards the end of the song are really impressive as well.

Score – 8

~OVERALL~

What I can say about this album, is that the single tracks were of course pretty strong, and memorable, but the newer album tracks, while decent (Bad Girl., what you want?, and Why being stand outs) weren’t ALL THAT great. I am interested to see where JASMINE goes from here though and I will be keeping an eye out for her.

FINAL SCORE

*EDIT*

OK, I now realize that this album contains a total of 3 new tracks (excluding intro and interlude of course and yes I now know that what you want? is not a new track) which is pretty disappointing considering. I acknowledge this, however, since this is the first time I am hearing most of the songs on this album, that doesn’t affect my review. I will say, that even though some of them are good, L.I.P.S. and what you want? in particular, this album contains too many B-sides.