1) Introduction For Kingdom 2) LAST ANGEL Feat TOHOSHINKI 3) Amai Wana (Sweet Trap) 4) Himitsu (Secret) 5) Ai no Uta (Love Song) 6) anytime 7) Under 8) BUT 9) Koi no Mahou (The Magic of Love) 10) Aishou (The Proof of Love) 11) Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto (The Things You Did) 12) Wonderland 13) FREAKY 14) MORE 15) Black Cherry (Bonus Track)
Kingdom is the 6th studio album released by Koda Kumi , after the massive success of her previous studio album Black Cherry .
Just like Black Cherry , Kingdom will be released in three versions , a CD + 2 DVDs , a CD + DVD & a CD Only version . The 1st DVD is a promotional video collection disc that is about 70 minutes long which contains 16 PVs in that Koda made a PV for every song on the album with an addition of Run For Your Life , 1 outta the 3 B side songs which're found on her FREAKY single .
The second DVD contains material from Koda's PREMIUM LIMITED LIVE IN HALL IN YOKOHAMA ARENA concert . You will get the 2nd DVD provided if you purchase the CD + 2DVDs edition & I suspect the CD + 2 DVDs edition of Kingdom only have limited prints unlike the other 2 editions .
Kingdom is scheduled to drop in Japan this coming Wed on the 30th . Prior to the release of Kingdom , 5 singles were released & they're highlighted in bold & outta the 5 singles , Koda released 1 double A side single which's Aishou (The Proof of Love) .
The album kick things off with Introduction To Kingdom which's a pretty lush introduction , something that I didn't expect from Koda cos so far the introductions that I heard from her Black Cherry & BEST ~second session~ are real upbeat so this one surprises me .
I'm pretty sure that the full version of Introduction To Kingdom might be available in her next album or maybe just like Get It On (the short version of Introduction to the second session on BEST ~second session~) where it will be available to be downloaded legally via the net .
Track 2's the 38th single that Koda released , LAST ANGEL which features TOHOSHINKI . I used to dislike the song a lot when it was 1st released but I like it now . However I realised that Introduction To Kingdom doesn't link & string things well with LAST ANGEL as there seems to have no connection with the melody of LAST ANGEL & Introduction To Kingdom .
Amai Wana (Sweet Trap) is next in line & I have to admit this's one very nice upbeat track . The melody of it's great , reminded me of 1 of Koda's eariler hits Candy which features Mr.Blistah where both of the songs have exotic egyptian influences going on in there which's great . Amai Wana was used in the Honda's ZEST SPORTS CM & Koda appeared in the CM to promote Honda's latest product .
Track 4's Himitsu (Secret) & it's quite a mellow no. . It's a pretty good song & it kinda reminded me of Tsuki to Taiyou (The Moon and the Sun) from her Black Cherry album but a more upbeat version of it .
The next 2 songs are ballads which Koda has released prior to the release of Kingdom . Ai no Uta's 1st in line . I always like her ballads so Ai no Uta (Love Song) is no exception . It doesn't match up to the brillance of Yume no Uta (Dream Song) but still it's a ballad that I enjoyed from Koda .
anytime followed suit after Ai no Uta . anytime was released just last Wed in Japan , a week before Kingdom's about to drop this Wed . I didn't really like anytime when I 1st heard it but now it's a grower on me . When you hear anytime , it's a song that will give you a warm & fuzzy feeling .
Apparently Rhythmn Zone/Avex Trax only printed 50,000 copies of anytime to be sold & distributed to the public .
Soon after , Koda decided to pick up the pace with Under . Under's 1 smoking track , I really like it when I 1st heard it , not to mention the PV of it's good . Under's used in the latest Kose Visee CM & Koda's the spokeswoman of the company & she appeared in the CM promoting its latest line of mascara .
Next after Under's 1/2 of the double A side single that Koda has released , BUT . BUT is described to be a destructive , four on the floor dance track & a time machine dance style song by the Japanese & it's easy to see why BUT's a damn good track .
In fact I think it's 1 of the stand out songs on the album & it's something that you can put it on loop & you can just listen to it over & over again .
Track 9's Koi no Mahou (The Magic of Love) is another cool track but somehow I find it to be 1 of the weaker links on Kingdom . In fact I think Koi no Mahou (The Magic of Love) & Track 11's Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto (The Things You Did) tend to sound too similar with each other . It's a good thing that the other 1/2 of the double A side single , Aishou (The Proof of Love) is sandwiched in between both songs or else I will be very confused between Koi no Mahou (The Magic of Love) & Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto (The Things You Did) .
& speaking about Aishou (The Proof of Love) , I really like this ballad when it was 1st released as a single alongside with BUT . You can definitely tell that BUT + Aishou displayed some fresh sounds from Koda , stuff that she usually tend not to do but when you listened to them , it sounds really refreshing .
If BUT's not your thing & you like ballads , then you probably should give Aishou (The Proof of Love) a shot . I like the electric guitar that was used in the song & it gives Aishou the edge that it needed .
Track 11's Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto (The Things You Did) & like what I said eariler , I thought Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto (The Things You Did) sounded too similar to its 'twin' Koi no Mahou (The Magic of Love) . Maybe I have to drill myself to listen to both tracks a couple more times in order to differentiate both songs in time to come .
Track 12's Wonderland & in here Koda really took the cuteness level to a whole new level . If you know how 1 of her eariler hits Birthday Eve sounded like , then you will know what I mean . Wonderland's a cute song & it's probably like a Koi no Tsubomi (Bud of Love) part 2 .
Next in line's FREAKY & this song's Koda's 4th no.1 single , after you , feel & Yume no Uta (Dream Song) + Futari de ... (2 Of Us ...). I was happy to see FREAKY included in Kingdom but I was a bit sore that Koda did not include the 3 B side singles that were found on the FREAKY single , namely Sora (Sky) , Run For Your Life & girls . Especially Sora (Sky) as I think it's a great B side single & for some weird reason , FREAKY to me is not a strong A side single as compared to the 3 B side singles which's strange because usually it's the A side songs that overshadow or are on par with the B side songs , not the opposite . That's a rarity in FREAKY's case but oh well .
The strange thing's that Koda included the PV of Run For Your Life in the DVD content of Kingdom but not the song in the CD which makes things even more weirder .
Track 14's probably my fave non single on Kingdom , MORE . MORE's definitely different from the usual stuff that Koda does because it contains Jazz influences which's something that I never hear from Koda before & she pull things off pretty well .
Just like Black Cherry where you got a non R&B track in the form of Ningyo-hime ( Mermaid Princess) which has Rock influences , in Kingdom , you got a non R&B track in the form of MORE & I'm quite anxious to see how the PV of MORE looks like . I only saw a snippet of MORE & it looks really interesting . The only gripe about MORE is that I thought it's a bit too short clocking in at 3:11 mins . She should have extended the song by a few more secs or so .
Closing the album is the bonus track Black Cherry . Now if you have Koda's previous album Black Cherry , the song of the same title is a full version of INTRODUCTION found on Koda's Black Cherry album . This's 1 track that I was waiting in anticipation to hear as I was curious to know how the full version of INTRODUCTION sounded like & I wasn't disappointed in it . The only grouse about it's the whole bong bong & heavy breathing sounds that's going on in the background of Black Cherry . I thought Koda over-used these 2 sounds by a bit too much . It tend to get a bit annoying at times but I like the fact that the music of Black Cherry changed when the song was about to end which's cool .
In general , I felt that Kingdom's a good & neat album although people will definitely say that it's not on par with Black Cherry in which I feel it's a great album . I was quite skpetical whether Koda can topped things up with Kingdom & so I decided to keep my expectations of Kingdom as low as possible & I'm glad to say that she more or less exceeded my expectations .
1 thing I realised about Kingdom's that the sound is not consistent & it's all over the place because if you never heard the singles that Koda has released , it tend to get very confusing because 1 moment you'll be listening to a fast uptempo no. & then the next the mood will suddenly switched to become a ballad no. . I personally feel that it will be better if Koda were to grouped all the fast , uptempo , mid-tempo no.s together & likewise do the same for the ballads that're available in Kingdom in a way to avoid confusion .
Having said that , Kingdom's a very enjoyable album . Not on par & as good as Black Cherry but it's an album that I don't mind to listen to over & over again . I will for sure get my copy of Kingdom once the local press of the album will be released in S'pore via Warner Music . If you want to experience a dose of Japanese R&B with a touch of Jazz thrown in for good measures , then go & grab a copy of Kingdom .
Blog Personnel
Karen Pang
# 10th Jan
# #1 BREAKERZ fan in Singapore since 2008 debut single ♥
# My music blog consists of JPop/Rock singles & albums reviews that I put my heart , efforts & soul into writing them as I'm disgusted with the way that JPop/Rock music is being treated/written/reviewed in Singapore so to the local media (yes you TEENS , Teenage Magazine & The Strait Times) , screw you all . I basically can write better JPop/Rock reviews , period
