So you may or may not have noticed that my most recent review of girl next door’s most recent album “Agaruneku” seemed a little on the harsh side, rating-wise, coming from me. And that’s because I’ve come to realize that I rate things a bit too highly. Shocking I know, (sarcasm) of course people have been telling me I’m too forgiving all my life but hopefully I can try to change that, at least with my reviews from here on out.

Unfortunately, it seems as if girl next door suffers from my new found revelation, although I think it’s a great example of how things will be from now on, for example, I can tell you this, had I not come to this realization and made a concious effort to utilize the other end of the rating spectrum, 5 and below, there would have been a lot of 6s and 7s in that review.

New Feature!

You also may or may not have noticed, however, in the track listing there are now songs bold and in blue! What are these you ask? Recommended Tracks! Whooo. These tracks are either the best the album had to offer, or sometimes it might mean the only tracks you should really even bother with… More often than not, I’d imagine these tracks got an 8 or above, though I’m sure there could be some slight exceptions. This will only ever appear on album track listings just to let you guys know.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy all the more now and again, as always, thanks for reading! <3

P.S. I’ll be working to sort every review by artist so you can simply click and read every review of that artist’s release. It might take a while… Why didn’t I think of this before?

~Album~

girl next door – Agaruneku!

1. Dada Para!!

2. No.1

3. Summer Time

4. Boogie-Woogie Night

5. Kimi no Moto e

6. Kimi no Tomodachi

7. ROCK YOUR BODY EXTENDED

8. my own path

9. Zutto

10. Kiss Kiss Kiss

11. Yume no Hana

12. Your Story

13. snowflakes

Sorry this is so late, again, wasn’t really looking forward to this review as I was afraid it would be bad… So let’s see if my suspicions are true.

The album starts off with the super hyper “Dada Para!!“. Which in some miracle, my opinion of it has actually gotten better over time, and listening to it now made me realize I actually really like it.

Score – 8

The first new track of the album “No.1″ instantly sounds a little generic and almost like there is way too much going on with it. I honestly wish I could say more about this song but I can’t because it was extremely forgettable.

Score – 5

When I first heard the preview of “Summer Time” I really wasn’t impressed. But now that I’ve heard it in full I can say it’s better than I expected it to be. That’s not to say much about the song though, I did find the melody to be kind of pleasing. Something about Chisa’s voice in this though, kind of got on my nerves at some points. There’s a cool electric bridge that I thought was cool and wish it had been longer.

Score – 7.5

So again, going completely against what I thought, I actually kind of like “Boogie-Woogie Night” and I honestly couldn’t tell you why. The lyrics don’t bother me anywhere near as much now as they used to.

Score – 8

“Kimi no Moto e” instantly starts off with a really fast pace, both in vocals and music. I really didn’t like the overall pacing at all, but something about the melody, especially during the chorus got me and I suppose you could say I ended up liking it.

Score – 6

One thing that I can say about “Kimi no Tomodachi” is that Chisa’s vocals are pretty impressive in this song, something about her singing here really just stood out to me. It really ends up showing that there’s something more to gnd than mindless, catchy, generic songs. That being said, there’s not much else going on in this song that I think much of.

Score – 6

I really wanted them to include the normal version of ROCK YOUR BODY on the album, but instead they went with the god awful, 8 minute, “ROCK YOUR BODY EXTENDED” and I suffer because of it. There’s really nothing I can say about it that I haven’t already said.

Score – 4

“my own path” quickly starts off in a bit more rock-ish tone and I was really looking forward to that. But things changed to upbeat synth pretty quickly and I remembered how old I think that’s getting. Once again I reach a track in a girl next door album where I think to myself, “WHY CAN’T THEY RELEASE ANOTHER SONG LIKE JYONETSU NO DAISHO” (aka their best song to date) Years later that song still gets a 10 in my book. But anyway, enough of that…

Score – 6

I had to come back to “Zutto” multiple times, because I literally did not know what to say about it. Not that it was extremely bad or anything (it’s only a little bad) but yeah… It was just kind of boring and forgettable and really nothing interesting about, not to mention that occasional Chisa goes into that register that I find to be kind of annoying.

Score – 4

“Kiss Kiss Kiss” almost gives me what I want out of a girl next door track (read: Jyonetsu no Daisho Pt. II). Deep vocals, serious tone, mid to up tempo, etc. But from what I liked when the song started things get a little out of hand with the synth and the chorus gets a little too fast for my liking, either that or it just didn’t go where I expected, and when things don’t go where you expect them to, (unless they get ZOMG better) it can be really bad. Worse of course than if you hadn’t been expecting anything at all, and that’s what unfortunately happens here. After a bit of thinking, it sounds a bit like ESCAPE an earlier girl next door track.

Score – 6.5

So “Yume no Hana” comes up and I can honestly say that there was really nothing I liked about it, none of the music appealed to me, the lyrics/vocals I didn’t find interesting at all, and the melody was just boring, and everything felt really oddly paced.

Score – 4

Thankfully, from a low we get a bit of a high. “Your Story” is a bit of a high light in a sea of shite. There was something nicely upbeat about it, especially the melody during the chorus. The guitar, the synths, the clapping (snapping[?]) throughout, while not exactly groundbreaking were nice and a good mix.

Score – 7

So the album ends thank god with a song called ”snowflakes”. Of course it’s got that slightly Wintry feel to it thanks to bells and chimes and all that that makes pop songs sound Wintry… Most songs like this tend to be kind of bad and this one is no exception unfortunately. I really don’t have any more to say about the songs on this album at this point. It’s really just best if I end this review here.

Score – 4

Final Note

Other than the occasional decent track, gnd is really turning into one of those groups/artists that I just don’t want to listen to. But I keep giving them chances, I’m clearly a masochist when it comes to them… I’ll probably say this every time but… THEY REALLY NEED TO STEP IT UP.

Overall Rating

~Single~

Namie Amuro – Sit! Stay! Wait! Down! / Love Story

1. Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!

2. Love Story

3. Higher

4. arigatou <thank the world for LOVE… gift song for 2011>

5. Sit! Stay! Wait! Down! (Instrumental)

6. Love Story (Instrumental)

7. Higher (Instrumental)

There’s just something about “Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!” that I really. Like from the versus to the lead up into the chorus, and the chorus itself of course the song has a lot of variety in it. The whole thing flows incredibly well and transitions between everything are done well, altogether the song feels very cohesive. The thumping beat during the chorus is addictive and especially catchy. The lyrics, which include her actually saying “Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!” as well as “Good boy” as if commanding a dog, but I’m sure she’s probably commanding a man here, were a fun touch.

Score – 9.5

Things come to a halt upon the beginning of “Love Story” which I’m sure you realized from the title is a ballad. It features prominent piano, acoustic guitar and some snapping. I wasn’t really interested in it overall, though the chorus manages to carry the song a bit. I’d hate to say that it ended up feeling a bit forgettable but it kind of did.

Score – 7.5

Naturally, things get pumped back up with “Higher”. It’s a really electric song. I was kind of disappointed because while the song kind of goes electric/ethereal during the chorus (which I tend to love) it sounded like it was building towards something better the whole time but never really went anywhere. Though don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the chorus, the sound of voice as she sings “Take me Higher” was great.

Score – 8.5

Again things get slowed down a bit for “arigatou” which is another ballad but this one had a bit more beat to it. I can’t help but feel I hear a little bit of HANABI by Ayumi Hamasaki in some of the melody, just an observation, doesn’t matter much. The song just ends up seeming exceedingly average, and again, I found it to be a little forgettable. My favorite Namie ballad still manages to be Meaning Of Us and it doesn’t look like Love Story or arigatou are going to change that any time soon.

Score – 7.5

Final Note

I tend to like both fast and slow songs, but this time, I was completely bored by the slow, and totally turned onto the fast.

Overall Rating

~Single~

Crystal Kay – Superman

1. Superman

2. Love Road

3. Superman (Piano Version)

4. Superman (Instrumental)

5. Love Road (Instrumental)

Yay finally!

Crystal gets back to her true R&B roots with “Superman” and it has never looked better on her. The song starts off with some thumping beats alongside Kay’s smooth voice. I liked how the chorus kind of explodes and I especially liked the melody during it. The breakdown starting off the bridge, featuring a small talking section in English, was a really cool touch. Also, the sound effects during it gave a really different feel. The synths and claps that the song ended with was incredibly cool and ended the song off well.

Score – 8

“Love Road” is most certainly a typical piano ballad, especially one from Crystal Kay, you’ll probably feel as if you’ve heard it already unfortunately. I mean, Kay’s voice is beautiful there’s no doubt, but there’s really nothing groundbreaking about this one. Though, the almost uplifting sound of it all was nice and that I enjoyed. Again, it’s a bit more R&B than the majority of her stuff lately, which is a nice change up, even though I liked the more synthetic sound FLASH had.

Score – 7.5

The “Piano Version” of Superman is exactly what you’d expect it to be, a slowed down, piano ballad version of the song. I thought it wasn’t going to work that well, but it ended up sounding much better than I thought it would. The translation from uptempo song being sung in this manner with the piano backing it actually was kind of refreshing. I was unexpectedly impressed, though, I wouldn’t go on and say it was amazing or anything.

Score – 8

Final Note

This single might not be her best, but I’m just glad she’s back tbh.

Overall Rating

~Single~

BoA – Milestone

1. Milestone

2. I SEE ME

3. Merikuri -BEST&USA Version-

4. Milestone (Instrumental Version)

5. I SEE ME (Instrumental)

6. Merikuri -BEST&USA Version- (Instrumental)

So Milestone is in commemoration of BoA’s some odd years in the industry, I can’t really be arsed to look it up at the moment. I really tend to hate when artists start celebrating anniversaries, mostly because they get really lazy and just tend to release Bests </3 But anyway, that’s enough ranting, onward!

“Milestone” is a ballad, that’s evident of course right off the bat with the sole piano accompanied with BoA’s vocals. I’d hate to say that BoA ballads are boring but… Erm anyway, once the chorus kicks in, some strings kick things up a notch and BoA hits some wonderful high notes. It’s too bad the whole song couldn’t be like that because it sort of reverts to being boring after that, no matter how much more magical the choruses after that got. It also ends sounding extremely… unfinished? I was like “Wait, did the song end?” And then I SEE ME started…

Score – 6.5

I reviewed “I SEE ME” much earlier in the year when it was released as a digital single, mostly because I really liked it and thought for some reason that it would never see the light of day as a normal release. The chorus is truly the highlight of the song, however, unlike Milestone, the rest of it isn’t as boring as hell.

Score – 8.5

As I understand it, Merikuri was a song she released a while back, but then re-recorded for her most recent(?) best album. Well regardless listening to this “BEST&USA Version” of the song is the first time I’m hearing it. To put it bluntly, I really just don’t care for it. It was kinda sleepy which is sometimes OK but it was borderline boring here. As far as Christmas songs go, it didn’t sound very Christmasy… which I think might have hurt it a bit for me. I mean, it was kind of, but just not enough. Just a typical sounding piano ballad with some chimes, etc. I just ended up feeling “Nothing to hear here, move along.”

Score – 7

Final Note

Meh, Oh nice I SEE ME, Meh

Overall Rating

Perfume – JPN

1. The Opening

2. Laser Beam (Album Mix)

3. GLITTER (Album Mix)

4. Natural ni Koishite

5. MY COLOR

6. Toki no Hari

7. Nee

8. Kasuka na Kaori

9. 575

10. VOICE

11. Kokoro no Sports

12. Have a Stroll

13. Fushizen na Girl

14. Spice

Sorry this is so late… OH WELL.

“The Opening” is fairly nice, it starts off pretty mellow and loungy sounding, something you feel like you could relax too. Some other synths start to creep in as it goes on and it builds and includes a really weird, kinda of creepy person speaking(?) in the background. As it closes, it goes back to the way it started, and as I preferred it.

Score – 7.5

The “Album Mix” of Laser Beam kind of… detracts from the song a bit. A lot of skipping and other effects are added throughout the song but it really didn’t sound that great. I would have preferred it if they had just left it alone.

Score – 7

The “Album Mix” of GLITTER fares a bit better with me but I’m still going to go and say that I vastly prefer the original. And since I literally JUST reviewed it I’m going to leave it at that.

Score – 9

I always really liked “Natural ni Koishite” and would even go so far as to say it’s one of my favorite Perfume songs thus far. It’s cute sounding with overdoing it, and somehow does feel simple, natural if you will.

Score – 9

Instantly, I really liked the atmosphere and overall melody of “MY COLOR” the album’s first new track. The synths are fairly powerful and thumping throughout yet they didn’t feel brazen over overpowering. The song keeps a decent pace although perhaps a little slow by Perfume standards, however it didn’t get boring for me. I guess if I could say anything about it, I would say this song has great balance.

Score – 9

“Toki no Hari” is another new track and it’s really quite subdued for a Perfume song, not to mention it’s full of natural instruments. The girls are singing in extra cutesy sounding voices as the tiniest bit of percussion accompany them, also, at 2:30 the song is incredibly short. It’s quite the departure but in my opinion a welcome one, I like when they do this occasionally.

Score – 7.5

Next up is “Nee” which over time my opinion of it has gotten better. When I heard it for the first few times I thought it was the most annoying thing ever, but really, now it’s OK.

Score – 8.5

I always really liked “Kasuka na Kaori” it had the proper dosage of everything and kind of stood out to me as the better track off of the Laser Beam / Kasuka na Kaori single.

Score – 8.5

Yet again, another song that I really liked is “575“. The song is different in just the right ways. The chorus is where the song really shines. Kashiyuka’s rap can’t be missed either! I’ve learned to live with what I didn’t like about it before, though it still loses some points because of those things

Score – 8

“VOICE” was in fact fairly typical, though looking back, I think I was a bit too harsh on it, it’s really not as bad and or boring as I originally thought it was.

Score – 7.5

“Kokoro no Sports” kinda just sounds OK at first, but then it builds up a little right before the chorus and it sounds pretty nice, what’s great is the actual chorus right after that which ends up being pretty good and actually pretty catchy. Again, I feel like this is one of those Perfume songs that are just a little bit different enough, different enough to work.

Score – 8.5

“Have a Stroll” ends up sounding a little, tiny bit boring, at first, though the chorus has this strange, can’t put my finger on  it kind of sound going on. It almost seems a bit throwback and I’m thinking 70′s here… I could be crazy though.

Score – 7.5

Always got a classic, throwback pop sound from “Fushizen na Girl” and I still think that. It’s a pretty good song, though I think Natural ni Koishite is better

Score – 8

Even though “Spice” sounded a bit repetitive to me at times, in the bad way, I still managed to like it well enough. Though I think it’s placing as an ending track is a little odd…

Score – 8

Final Note

Overall the album ends up feeling a little lazy due to the fact that there are only 4 new songs on it, it ends up being a bit of a disappointment. The only real good thing is that the single tracks are good enough, though I will say that doesnt’ carry an album. Next time I’ll be hoping for more album tracks.

Overall Rating

~Single~

Perfume – Spice

1. Spice

2. GLITTER

3. Spice (Instrumental)

4. GLITTER (Instrumental)

The first thought that came to mind when I heard the opening synth of “Spice” was refreshing, which I feel seems weird but it’s true. I thought it was interesting and I liked that that beat continued throughout the entire song. Although on that same note, I feel another weird thing, except this time to complain about, is the fact that this one seems a bit repetitive. Still the girls sounds great and I really liked the toned down atmosphere and overall sound of the song and it ends fairly well.

Score – 8

On the other hand of Spice, “GLITTER” is pretty upbeat with blaring repeating synths until the girls start singing. The whole arrangement is kind of cool as along with the synths features some interesting background percussion which I can’t really place at the moment… Anyway, the chorus is infectious and the song ends up feeling like what you really want a Perfume track to feel like. Not much more I can about it really, the song’s just good!

Score – 9

Final Note

Even though I liked the past singles, this single made me a bit more confident about the upcoming album… even though there are only like 4 new songs…

Overall Rating

~Single~

MiChi – Find Your Way

1. Find Your Way

2. Perfect World

3. Just The Way You Are

4. Find Your Way (Instrumental)

“Find Your Way” initially seemed like it would be a great song, the intro beat and MiChi’s vocalizing were pretty good. But instantly I could get the feeling that this was ONE Take 2. The background music just ends up feeling a little cheap which is a shame since the lead up to the chorus featuring strings seemed so promising. Michi’s vocals are top notch though and it seems to be the only real thing that saves the song for me. Not to mention she also really shows some strength in her voice, which was different and not something I was accustomed to hearing, it was welcome. I just wish the music had backed that up more.

Score – 8

MiChi’s B-sides tend to be really awesome, and naturally, “Perfect World” is no exception. The first time I heard the song it didn’t click with me, but nearly instantly on the second listen everything fit into place. It starts off with a kind of skipping, cut, subdued music that suddenly shifts into this mellow, calming beat right after MiChi says “There’s no such thing… as a Perfect World”. MiChi sings in a much higher register in this song that I’m not really used to, mostly because I  don’t think I’ve heard it before, or if so not much. Wasn’t sure how much I dug it but it didn’t seem that bad. It really kind of felt like the vocals took a back seat in this song which I normally don’t like or agree should ever happen but it was sort of OK for me here.

Score – 8.5

And now for a typical cover! This time MiChi covers Bruno Mars’ “Just The Way You Are”. I can stand the original, although that makes it sound as if I don’t like it that much which isn’t the case, it’s an alright song. The opening vocalizing is really pretty and I think she does the song justice. Nothing much going on here, like I said it’s a pretty typical cover, though I guess this version naturally sounds a bit more ethereal.

Score – 8

Final Note

Was looking for a kick ass A-side on this one, didn’t really find it but oh well, wasn’t too bad.

Overall Rating

~Single~

Koda Kumi – LOVE ME BACK

1. Love Me Back

2. Say Her Name

3. Love Me Back (Andy Price Remix)

One again we have another sexy track in the form of “Love Me Back” though I honestly thought the song was going to sound a bit different. Couldn’t help but feel like it had a kind of secret agent (007) feel/theme to the song. The “Oh my, give me, give me, give me, give me… love for me” in the chorus was really catchy but then… oh wait, it’s over, yup the song clocks in at an unfortunate 2:58 though I do feel like it did everything it could possibly do in that time so, no real harm.

Score – 8

“Say Her Name” starts up and instantly I’m really surprised for some reason. Acoustic guitar and some slick beats start up and throw me for a bit of a loop. The song borderlines on an alternative R&B if you will which I found to be a really interesting sound. Naturally, being a B-side, the overall arrangement felt a little less involved, but I feel as if it could have been really good, not to say that it was bad. Kuu’s vocals fit the song well. The end of the song was done perfectly.

Score – 8

Man, this “Andy Price” Remix of Love Me Back pretty much makes me hate the song. It seemingly slows down the song and just makes everything sound a little whiny, not to mention this effect . Of course, as I find with most remixed songs, it just ends up sounding way too repetitive and annoying and a tragedy to the original song.

Score – 4

Final Note

Not incredible, but decent, also, I think I should just stop reviewing remixed songs.

Overall Rating

~Single~

girl next door – Boogie-Woogie Night

1. Boogie-Woogie Night

2. Happy Birthday!

3. Hoshizora Keikaku (FROM LIVE Destination)

4. Boogie-Woogie Night (Instrumental)

5. Happy Birthday! (Instrumental)

I’m just going to be honest for a second, I found ROCK YOUR BODY to be kind of silly of a title, and didn’t think the song would be that good because of it. So I’m sure you can imagine my dismay when I realized the title of this single was Boogie-Woogie Night. OK, now that I’ve said that, onward!

 Contrary to my judging a single by its title “Boogie-Woogie Night” isn’t THAT bad of a song, it’s not amazing of course, the lyrics “Boogie-oogie-Woogie-oogie Party Night!” still makes me cringe. The song has a lot going on so many natural instruments, though I didn’t care much for the trumpet. It’s got good energy and even though it clocks in at just under 4 minutes it seems to really fly by.

Score – 7.5

I just can’t help it, I was even more fearful when I realized the next song was called “Happy Birthday!” I was glad that the song was on the mellower side though it was kind of teetering on the border of boring and a bit forgetful. I also couldn’t help the feeling that it was too themed and rather corny. The more prominent percussion was a nice touch and +1 for guitar solo instrumental break. Also, Chisa needs to work on that “th” sounds

Score – 7

Final Note

You know, I thought this was going to be worse than ROCK YOUR BODY but it ended up being a little bit better.

Overall Rating