I want to talk about J-pop, more specifically Puffy Amiyumi. I had already covered them in a past article, talking about their three-season animated series on Cartoon Network from back in the mid-2000's. I had started rewatching the show last year, and after getting some ways into the series I had already grown fond of what music from the band's discography was being used. Soon enough, I had tried out their two-disc compilation album 15 and absolutely adored it. The album was close to two hours, but I didn't feel that at all. Right after that, I dove straight in to the albums themselves, first diving into a compliation album made to tie into the TV series. My next stop was Nice, the 2003 album that had come out not long before the show went into production, using a handful of tracks from this in the show itself. While the two compliation albums I had heard before were fun, light pieces of J-pop that I really got into, Nice was when I knew I had stumbled upon one of my favorite bands as the album absolutely floored me in ways japanese music hadn't before.
On a side note before i begin, the ways reviews will be handled is a little different than from the Circle of Friendz posts. While in those reviews, albums are talked about in a more general sense, as I dive into what makes the album listenable as a whole as opposed to dissecting each individual track, Albums I Adore will go a little more in-depth. These will be handled as track-by-track looks into just how great these records are, focusing in more on every track's strengths. The numerical scores will be ditched as well for these. Now with all the intro stuff out of the way, let's dive into why Nice is one of the nicest albums I've heard.
1. Planet Tokyo/Akai Buranko - This album goes on a powerful start, and I definitely see why this got an English version. This song of any of Puffy's tracks that weren't used as theme songs seems to be the one people remember, although I think Cartoon Network using the song constantly when advertising the show helps out with this. It also helps that this song gets you SO PUMPED UP! It's got a catchy hook and there's some of my favorite guitar work on the album. I don't think there could've been a better opener choice than this!
2. Tokyo Nights - I keep getting the I'M IN LOVE part stuck in my head and try to keep myself from yelling out the hook whenever it comes on. It's a very nice piece of electropop that won't leave your head for weeks. You'll notice that lots of tracks all across this record have some pretty infectious hooks, and this could be one of the best examples.
3. Angel of Love - The weirdest thing about this track is that sometimes I honestly forget this one was on here. Usually when people say that, that's for tracks that are super boring or forgettable. This one isn't boring at all though! It's one of the slower tracks on here, something you turn on just to chill out. It's very relaxing in that way! I love the horns during the instrumental break too, they really make this song feel like something off a Round Table ft. Nino record.
4. Sayonara - This was in the top 3 tracks on the record for me when I first discovered the record, until I listened to the final tracks of the Japanese release some time later. It still stands as an album highlight for me, however. This is a great piece of guitar pop about leaving behind a friend you love as you set off on a new path for yourself. The marimba really adds to the song too.
5. Invisible Tomorrow - Now the album steers towards more energetic pop rock again like on the first track. This has to be one of the best tracks to sing (or scream) along to on this entire album. There's also three different versions of the track for different releases. The one on Nice, no matter what country you got the album from is the original Japanese. Then there's an English version that's on the Scooby Doo 2 (of all things!) soundtrack and on the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi album tying into the TV show. There's another english version of the track on the mini-album 59 that came out the year after this. All three of these tracks go in very different directions lyrically. Invisible Tomorrow is about heading out towards an uncertain tomorrow, never looking back. Friends Forever is basically what the title says, a song about friends staying together no matter how tough things get. So Long Zero describes a breakup and leaving someone you didn't love anymore. Of these, So Long Zero is DEFINITELY the weakest of the three, the vocals feel unusually weak compared to the rest of the discography. It felt very unsure and kinda uneven. Invisible Tomorrow and Friends Forever are on equal footing in vocal delivery, but I like Invisible Tomorrow the best. It's got the strongest message of the three.
6. Thank You - Yumi wrote and sings solo on this charming little piece. This track is about having boys and girls coming together to talk with each other and connect as people and it's so charming and adorable and I really like it. I had been watching through the series when I heard this one and it was really funny to think that Yumi had made this one when what I had in mind was less her real-life personality and musical style, which I hadn't done much research into then, and more the Yumi of the animated series, who I expected to be behind more rock focused tracks like Planet Tokyo.
7. Long Beach Nightmare - Right after a Yumi-driven track comes an Ami driven one. This one is a pretty fun summer jam (and I will be talking lots about summer jams in my next post!) It feels so breezy and like I'm hearing this playing out from a portable radio on the beach (you know, if I was a beach person...) This is another fun sing along of the several on this album.
8. Your Love is a Drug - Love is an addicting thing for sure, and I can certainly attest to this. This song feels so damn accurate and close to home describing the way I felt the first time I fell in love back in middle school. When I did, I felt like I was on cloud nine whenever I saw her, and just how much i felt like my life turned around after I started talking to her. This song totally captured that special time in my life in the form of a fun rock song, and one of the duo's most relatable tracks in my eyes. I also see this track alongside Planet Tokyo as being an attempt to get on pop radio and it honestly wouldn't stick out too much I think.
9. K2G - My second favorite song on the album. For the readers who remember Teen Titans, this song played in Mad Mod's introduction episode during season 1. When I watched that season a few years ago, I thought the episode itself was terrible and almost none of the jokes landing. What I did like though was the montage that used this as background music. I loved the music in that sequence and I really appreciated having this track on here, really gave the episode a bright spot. It's a fast, upbeat and super catchy ska track (First my kablam post, then the selecter and now this? I seem to be attracted to ska lately.) A great track to bounce around the house to.
10. Shiawase (Happiness) - My third favorite song on the album. This is a soothing, lowkey acoustic track. It feels like I'm hearing Ami and Yumi gathered around a campfire singing this to each other late at night before heading off to bed. It's a good way to settle things down after K2G and honestly would've been a great comforting way to end off this great album. Everything about the track, from the guitar to the harmonies, feel very comforting to me. It's happiness in song form!
Here's where things diverge. I alluded to earlier about different versions of this album. There's one track listing for the Japanese release and a different one for the North American version. The Japanese version starts with a Japanese language version of the opening track, with an English version for the NA release. The tracks afterward carry on just the same until after track 10, Shiawase. The NA version may have had different tracks because the last two tracks of the Japan release were tracks that had been released on the U.S. exclusive compilation album An Illustrated History just a year before. Let's dive right into the NA version before doing the Japan version.
11a. Urei - This track feels like this should've been a background song during one of the fights in Teen Titans. Heck, this song actually went along great with the fights whenever I read the comics based on the original cartoon. It's got a powerful hook and could go great with whatever fight it gets paired with. This one is a NA exclusive, but is only in Japanese, for some odd reason.
12a. Teen Titans Theme - T-E-E-N T-I-T-A-N-S TEEN TITANS LET'S GO!! ANYONE born after the early 90's who watched Cartoon Network could probably recite this bad boy from heart. This one honestly took a bit to grow on me but damn if this isn't one of the best cartoon theme songs out there. It's catchy as hell and that chant is damn near hypnotizing! I totally get why this song was on Nice, the series had just started around that time, and it was a perfect opportunity to advertise.
Now let's move onto the softer Japanese tracks
11b. Atarashii Hibi - This is a sweet little track about a woman buried in stress from relationships and works, never able to have much fun with her life. She dreams of escaping this life just for a little while, wanting to go on a trip without anyone knowing or going on a treasure hunt. This one doesn't go for a radio-friendly chorus in the way that the other tracks do, a little odd but it's so fun that it works.
12b. Tomodachi (Friends) - I'M HERE, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! Not only is this my favorite song off this album, it's also my favorite Puffy Amiyumi track and one of my absolute favorite Japanese songs in general. First off, just the name makes it feel like this would've been a great ending song for the cartoon. Second, This song is the definition of comfy. It's so calming and I will admit that I teared up just a little when I saw the live performance. God, this song is not just a great little summary of this album's strengths, but also just what I love about this group. It's the ultimate feel good song for the ultimate feel-good album.
Nice is a charming little album that's packed with great moments. It's also extremely consistent in ways even other Puffy albums weren't, it's all super good! This is a pinnacle of 2000's J-Pop in my eyes, and I can't thank Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura enough for this gem of a record. Here's to hoping that a new album is down the pipeline soon, but I'd be just fine with the single-focused angle that they have gone in the last six years. Anything to keep them making music.
Next on the Albums I Adore, it's gonna be a surprise! Let's just say that it's a great summer album...
Bye Bye Boo~
2. Tokyo Nights - I keep getting the I'M IN LOVE part stuck in my head and try to keep myself from yelling out the hook whenever it comes on. It's a very nice piece of electropop that won't leave your head for weeks. You'll notice that lots of tracks all across this record have some pretty infectious hooks, and this could be one of the best examples.
3. Angel of Love - The weirdest thing about this track is that sometimes I honestly forget this one was on here. Usually when people say that, that's for tracks that are super boring or forgettable. This one isn't boring at all though! It's one of the slower tracks on here, something you turn on just to chill out. It's very relaxing in that way! I love the horns during the instrumental break too, they really make this song feel like something off a Round Table ft. Nino record.
4. Sayonara - This was in the top 3 tracks on the record for me when I first discovered the record, until I listened to the final tracks of the Japanese release some time later. It still stands as an album highlight for me, however. This is a great piece of guitar pop about leaving behind a friend you love as you set off on a new path for yourself. The marimba really adds to the song too.
5. Invisible Tomorrow - Now the album steers towards more energetic pop rock again like on the first track. This has to be one of the best tracks to sing (or scream) along to on this entire album. There's also three different versions of the track for different releases. The one on Nice, no matter what country you got the album from is the original Japanese. Then there's an English version that's on the Scooby Doo 2 (of all things!) soundtrack and on the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi album tying into the TV show. There's another english version of the track on the mini-album 59 that came out the year after this. All three of these tracks go in very different directions lyrically. Invisible Tomorrow is about heading out towards an uncertain tomorrow, never looking back. Friends Forever is basically what the title says, a song about friends staying together no matter how tough things get. So Long Zero describes a breakup and leaving someone you didn't love anymore. Of these, So Long Zero is DEFINITELY the weakest of the three, the vocals feel unusually weak compared to the rest of the discography. It felt very unsure and kinda uneven. Invisible Tomorrow and Friends Forever are on equal footing in vocal delivery, but I like Invisible Tomorrow the best. It's got the strongest message of the three.
6. Thank You - Yumi wrote and sings solo on this charming little piece. This track is about having boys and girls coming together to talk with each other and connect as people and it's so charming and adorable and I really like it. I had been watching through the series when I heard this one and it was really funny to think that Yumi had made this one when what I had in mind was less her real-life personality and musical style, which I hadn't done much research into then, and more the Yumi of the animated series, who I expected to be behind more rock focused tracks like Planet Tokyo.
7. Long Beach Nightmare - Right after a Yumi-driven track comes an Ami driven one. This one is a pretty fun summer jam (and I will be talking lots about summer jams in my next post!) It feels so breezy and like I'm hearing this playing out from a portable radio on the beach (you know, if I was a beach person...) This is another fun sing along of the several on this album.
8. Your Love is a Drug - Love is an addicting thing for sure, and I can certainly attest to this. This song feels so damn accurate and close to home describing the way I felt the first time I fell in love back in middle school. When I did, I felt like I was on cloud nine whenever I saw her, and just how much i felt like my life turned around after I started talking to her. This song totally captured that special time in my life in the form of a fun rock song, and one of the duo's most relatable tracks in my eyes. I also see this track alongside Planet Tokyo as being an attempt to get on pop radio and it honestly wouldn't stick out too much I think.
9. K2G - My second favorite song on the album. For the readers who remember Teen Titans, this song played in Mad Mod's introduction episode during season 1. When I watched that season a few years ago, I thought the episode itself was terrible and almost none of the jokes landing. What I did like though was the montage that used this as background music. I loved the music in that sequence and I really appreciated having this track on here, really gave the episode a bright spot. It's a fast, upbeat and super catchy ska track (First my kablam post, then the selecter and now this? I seem to be attracted to ska lately.) A great track to bounce around the house to.
10. Shiawase (Happiness) - My third favorite song on the album. This is a soothing, lowkey acoustic track. It feels like I'm hearing Ami and Yumi gathered around a campfire singing this to each other late at night before heading off to bed. It's a good way to settle things down after K2G and honestly would've been a great comforting way to end off this great album. Everything about the track, from the guitar to the harmonies, feel very comforting to me. It's happiness in song form!
Here's where things diverge. I alluded to earlier about different versions of this album. There's one track listing for the Japanese release and a different one for the North American version. The Japanese version starts with a Japanese language version of the opening track, with an English version for the NA release. The tracks afterward carry on just the same until after track 10, Shiawase. The NA version may have had different tracks because the last two tracks of the Japan release were tracks that had been released on the U.S. exclusive compilation album An Illustrated History just a year before. Let's dive right into the NA version before doing the Japan version.
11a. Urei - This track feels like this should've been a background song during one of the fights in Teen Titans. Heck, this song actually went along great with the fights whenever I read the comics based on the original cartoon. It's got a powerful hook and could go great with whatever fight it gets paired with. This one is a NA exclusive, but is only in Japanese, for some odd reason.
12a. Teen Titans Theme - T-E-E-N T-I-T-A-N-S TEEN TITANS LET'S GO!! ANYONE born after the early 90's who watched Cartoon Network could probably recite this bad boy from heart. This one honestly took a bit to grow on me but damn if this isn't one of the best cartoon theme songs out there. It's catchy as hell and that chant is damn near hypnotizing! I totally get why this song was on Nice, the series had just started around that time, and it was a perfect opportunity to advertise.
Now let's move onto the softer Japanese tracks
11b. Atarashii Hibi - This is a sweet little track about a woman buried in stress from relationships and works, never able to have much fun with her life. She dreams of escaping this life just for a little while, wanting to go on a trip without anyone knowing or going on a treasure hunt. This one doesn't go for a radio-friendly chorus in the way that the other tracks do, a little odd but it's so fun that it works.
12b. Tomodachi (Friends) - I'M HERE, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! Not only is this my favorite song off this album, it's also my favorite Puffy Amiyumi track and one of my absolute favorite Japanese songs in general. First off, just the name makes it feel like this would've been a great ending song for the cartoon. Second, This song is the definition of comfy. It's so calming and I will admit that I teared up just a little when I saw the live performance. God, this song is not just a great little summary of this album's strengths, but also just what I love about this group. It's the ultimate feel good song for the ultimate feel-good album.
Nice is a charming little album that's packed with great moments. It's also extremely consistent in ways even other Puffy albums weren't, it's all super good! This is a pinnacle of 2000's J-Pop in my eyes, and I can't thank Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura enough for this gem of a record. Here's to hoping that a new album is down the pipeline soon, but I'd be just fine with the single-focused angle that they have gone in the last six years. Anything to keep them making music.
Next on the Albums I Adore, it's gonna be a surprise! Let's just say that it's a great summer album...
Bye Bye Boo~
No comments:
Post a Comment