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Friday, January 02, 2009

CD Review :: Aoyama Thelma - DIARY

CD Only Cover :

CD + DVD Cover :

Tracklist :

1) My Beginning
2) Soba ni Iru ne (I'm By Your Side) Feat SoulJa
3) ONE WAY
4) My dear friend
5) Last Letter
6) Rhythm
7) GOOD TIME REMIX Feat YA-KYIM's MIKU
8) HIGHER
9) Paradise
10) This Day Feat Dohzi-T
11) Kono Mama de (Like This)
12) Anata ni Aete Yokatta (It Was Nice Knowing You)
13) Mama e (To Mom)
14) DIARY

DIARY is Aoyama Thelma's debut album . It was released last year on March 26th .

2 singles & 3 B-sides are included in DIARY which leaves a total of 8 album tracks excluding My Beginning as that's only a 32 secs introduction .

After a 32 secs introduction My Beginning , Aoyama dived straight into her 2nd single Soba ni Iru ne (I'm By Your Side) feat rapper SoulJa & this's also so far her biggest hit , best selling & 1st #1 single of her music career . Not to mention the single was Japan's best selling female solo single & the 7th most sold single of 2008 .

It is a response song to her previous collaboration with SoulJa , Koko ni Iru yo . In September 2008 , the Guinness World Records certified the song as the best selling download single in Japan & it was also the best-selling download single on the iTunes Store 2008 yearly charts in Japan .

I guess you can say that Soba ni Iru ne is a sleeper hit in that nobody expected the song to have achieved a great deal of success & the song itself is cool too although I feel it probably might sound a bit better without SoulJa .

ONE WAY is Aoyama's debut single & this's 1 really funky R&B upbeat no. that I really adore . It's very catchy/infectious on 1st listen & I just like how this song sounds as each listen goes by .

My dear friend is the 1st B-side found on Aoyama's Soba ni Iru ne single & this is so far the only B-side which received a music video of its own . It's a mid-tempo R&B no. that's pleasant to the listening ears .

The same thing goes for the next track Last Letter although I had a bit of a difficulty telling both tracks apart from each other as they both tend to sound similar to a certain extent .

Likewise , Rhythm also falls in the mid-tempo R&B no. trap so basically you have 3 tracks that're in the same music bandwagon .

The original GOOD TIME was 1st found as the B-side in Aoyama's ONE WAY single & in DIARY , you get the remix of the song featuring YA-KYIM's MIKU . I never heard how the original take of the song sounds but I really like the remix of GOOD TIME . It sounds really funky & very uplifting .

HIGHER is 1 of my fave album tracks simply because it's just as upbeat & boosts positive R&B beats which naturally will led you to have a really well high & positive pumped up mood . Definitely 1 of the star tracks in DIARY for sure .

Paradise is a R&B mid tempo no. but unlike My dear friend , Last Letter & Rhythm , Paradise's more memorable than the 3 above mentioned tracks & I actually like this song .

This Day feat Dohzi-T is the 2nd B-side in Aoyama's Soba ni Iru ne single & this's a really cool song & I frankly am pleased that she decided to include this tune in DIARY because 1st of all , it's an unusual no. in that it's a R&B Christmas inspired like song which's weird as you don't often get such songs , let alone Christmas inspired like tunes . It's an unusual combination but it strangely works in Aoyama's favor .

Kono Mama de (Like This) is a piano driven ballad & it's 1 of the few songs in DIARY that does not follow a pure R&B music style . Kono Mama de is probably 1 of my fave songs in DIARY as it's not often you get such a simple , straight to the point ballad that sounds earnest & sincere .

Anata ni Aete Yokatta (It Was Nice Knowing You) is also another ballad but unlike Kono Mama de where it's piano driven , Anata ni Aete Yokatta is a song that has an acoustic guitar melody . Both songs are simple in terms of the music structure but they're memorable in their own right .

Mama he (To Mom) is yet another mid tempo R&B no. but the good thing about Mama he is that I like the lyrics that Aoyama sung with regards to the song & it's kinda no surprises that she's singing this no. in dedication to her mum which's cool .

DIARY is the same title that's of the album & it's the final track before wrapping things up . Frankly I don't really find this song to be that memorable & that it's somewhat the weak link in the album . But I must admit it gets better & a bit memorable as each listen goes by .

Aoyama's debut album offering is certainly promising but 1 of the major gripes that I have for DIARY is that she should have spread out the ballads & mid tempo songs evenly instead of lumping all together at 1 spot which kinda caused the songs to melt together into 1 .

Aside from the sound consistency that I have with DIARY , the album's pretty much solid in its own right . I personally find Aoyama to be brewing with plenty of potential & I do hope that she continues to deliver the goods in 2009 with her own brand of upbeat R&B no.s & ballads thrown in for good measures .