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Sunday, December 07, 2008

Fave Albums Of 2008

The time has come for this to take place which's me doing up lists for Fave Albums , Fave Singles & Fave Songs for the year 2008 .

The catch's of course the material that I'm about to list down for 3 of them have to be released within the year 2008 & since the list will be extensive for each categories , they have to be spilt up into 3 sections namely artistes who're under avex trax , Johnny & Associates & others .

Fave Singles & Fave Songs Of 2008 will be coming up in due time .

Without further a-do , let's go & before that I must stress that the albums that I'm about to list will not be in order although it differs for some .

avex trax

1) Anna Tsuchiya - NUDY SHOW !

NUDY SHOW ! surprised me musically & then some when it was released . For once it's not another straight up rock album that Anna released as compared to her previous 2 albums .

She's not afraid to break down music boundaries & explore/experiment with other genres/different types of music aside from her rock roots .

2) OLIVIA - Trinka Trinka EP

Even though OLIVIA's 6th album didn't performed as well as her previous mini album The Cloudy Dreamer , I still enjoy this mini album a lot .

I still think Rain deserved to get a music video of its own as it's probably the best song outta the 6 songs in the EP . I just hope she can release a new single & hopefully a full length album in due time .

3) ayumi hamasaki - GUILTY

I still like this album which's ayumi's 9th (10th overall) album that she has put out to date . She has come a long way since starting her music career 10 years ago with her debut single Poker Face & it's great to see that she's still going strong at this point in time

4) Koda Kumi - Kingdom

Even though I still think that Koda's 6th album can't match up to the greatness that's of her previous album Black Cherry , it's still an enjoyable listen for me .

Hopefully she will have a few well tricks up her sleeve when her new album TRICK is released next month on the 28th in Japan .

5) GIRL NEXT DOOR - GIRL NEXT DOOR

The trio's debut album offering was a pleasant surprise & not to mention what a great way to close off 2008 with a somehow pretty good offering from GND .

The styles of their music that they incorporated in their debut self titled album are diverse , ranging from pop/rock/dance/trance & even a bit of oriental/enka twist thrown in for good measures .

It's said that they will be releasing their 4th single in the spring of 2009 & I really cannot wait for that to happen .

6) ai otsuka - LOVE LETTER

Even though I feel it's not her best album offering that she has put out to date , I still think it's worth a listen even though it's unfortunate that this's her 1st album since debut album LOVE PUNCH not to debut at #1 & it doesn't help for otsuka since 2008 has more or less been a crappy year for her .

When the album was leaked out almost a month prior to the official album release in Japan , I had a really strong dislike towards the album but now I'm more or less OK with it .

Johnny & Associates

1) KAT-TUN - KAT-TUN III -QUEEN OF PIRATES-

In here , I crowned this album as my fave album for the 1st 1/2 of 2008 & guess what ? I still believe that this album is amazing & frankly I consider this to be my fave album that I came across for the year even up to now .

I guess it helps that it was the very 1st Johnny's album that I listened to as well which make things even better .

The number of music styles being offered in KAT-TUN's 3rd album is diverse but they managed to blend all types of different sounds such as rock , R&B , rap , hip hop , soul , funk & jazz into this album & in the process , creating an unique sound of their own & as a result , all the singles & non singles sound fantastic & not to mention , all 16 songs stand out in their own individual right .

& of course speaking of this album , the KAT-TUN Live Tour 2008 Queen Of Pirates DVD will be released on new year's day in Japan & I'm very very excited for the release of this DVD as this's 1 highly anticipated item that I'm looking forward to be released in the brand new year & to buy it as well !

2) NEWS - color

I enjoy the guys's 3rd album a lot & I can definitely see or should I hear the sound & music maturity direction that the guys undertook since their debut album touch , 2nd album pacific & now color .

I still feel that SNOW EXPRESS's 1 of the album highlights in color & it's a great way to kick the album off with 1 of the guys's best singles to date which's weeeek .

3) ARASHI - Dream"A"live

Even though I still think that this album's not the guys's best album that they put out to date in their 9th year music career as it sounded like a rushed production , it's still a good listen although I must admit that it took an even longer time for me to appreciate the non singles on this album as compared to their other releases .

Hopefully they can step things up a notch or 2 in their future 9th album since the singles that they have put out this year after Step and Go are amazing .

Others

1) BREAKERZ - Ao no Mirai EP

The very 1st (mini) album I listened to of the JRock trio , I adore the songs in this EP & naturally the best song on the album's incidentally the one that shared the same name as the album . Not to mention it's the only song that received a video of its own too .

2) BREAKERZ - BIG BANG !

The guys's 3rd full length album , BIG BANG ! is the trio's most successful release to date , album wise which managed to debut at no.8 in Japan , making it their 1st album to lodge a top10 position , something that their 1st 2 albums & Ao no Mirai EP didn't accomplished (with their self titled debut album didn't charted , 2nd album CRASH & BUILD charted at no.300 & Ao no Mirai debuted at no.123)

Also it's the 1st album which contained all 3 singles which they started to release singles only this year despite being formed & debuted last April . All the singles are solid & the non singles aren't 1/2 bad themselves .

3) Ken Hirai - FAKIN' POP

I still like this album coming from Ken but naturally long time fans of him will consider his other past albums to be better in terms of music production & sales wise too .

Nevertheless FAKIN' POP is still an enjoyable album to listen to . Hopefully he will be coming back with some new material in due time but until then , fans will have to settle for his upcoming brand new DVD called Ken Hirai Films Vol.10 Ken Hirai Live Tour 2008 "FAKIN’ POP" at OSAKA-JO HALL which will be out this month on the 17th .

4) Mika Nakashima - VOICE

Surprisingly even though I have already heard 10 songs outta the 14 tracks in her latest album , I actually like how the way the album flows from the start to the end .

The 4 new songs on VOICE are also pretty good as well & congrats to Mika for bagging the top spot with her new record after the release of THE END & YES which didn't charted at the top . & also the 1st week sales of VOICE suppressed that of YES as well which's wonderful for her .

5) Yuna Ito - WISH

Musically , WISH is a huge improvement from Yuna's debut album HEART in terms of the non singles that were offered on her 2nd album . It's a pity that sales & chart wise , her 2nd album didn't live up to expectations at all .

She probably has to step up on her game & offer much more than that in her future 3rd album seeing that so far the singles that she has released after her duet with Celine Dion have been great .

6) Utada Hikaru - HEART STATION

The best selling female solo album of the year , it's no surprises as to why HEART STATION has done so well & sales exceeded that of her previous Japanese album ULTRA BLUE .

Utada's back in fine form with this great record & rumours are going on that she's going to release her 2nd English album real soon & I can't wait for that to happen .

7) YUI - I LOVED YESTERDAY

I don't think her 3rd album's the best record that she has put out to date seeing that the non singles took me quite a while to warm up to unlike in the case of her previous albums FROM ME TO YOU & CAN'T BUY MY LOVE .

In any case , I still like this album & I wish her all the best during her hiatus & that when she returned back , she will come out with something banging & great once again .

8) ayaka - Sing to the Sky

Another great album that I came across coming from ayaka . I like that she has matured a great deal since her debut album First Message & Sing to the Sky didn't disappoint me in any single bit .

The singles are solid & so's the non singles & it's great that she included her duet with Kobukuro as a bonus track in the album as well .

Maybe this will mean that Anata to will be included in her 3rd album ? Who knows ...

9) Aoyama Thelma - DIARY

Aoyama's debut album offering was a really good record as it contains a mixture of upbeat R&B no.s & ballads thrown in the mix .

The only thing that I didn't really like about the album was that the last few tracks emphasised quite a lot on mid tempo songs but other than that DIARY's a pretty good listen .