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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

CD Review :: Aoyama Thelma - LOVE !

Cover For Both CD & CD + DVD :

Tracklist :

1) Soba ni Iru ne (I'm By Your Side) Feat SoulJa
2) Daikkirai Demo Arigatou (I Hate You , But Thanks)
3) Nando mo (How Many Times)
4) Mamoritai Mono (I Want To Protect This)
5) Suki Desu. (I Like.)
6) Konomam Zutto (This Much Remains)
7) Last Letter
8) LOVE DJ KAWASAKI REMIX
9) again

LOVE ! is Aoyama Thelma's 1st love song compilation album & it was released yesterday .

4 singles excluding her debut single ONE WAY are included in this somewhat mini album & initially I counted this as her 2nd album .

However after consulting my friend Travis his opinions on this issue , I decided to count this as a compilation album as it doesn't make sense if this's her 2nd album since already 1/2 the album is filled with material that she has released prior to LOVE ! & not to mention the tracklist's somewhat limited/meagre .

Soba ni Iru ne (I'm By Your Side) Feat SoulJa is the 1st track listed on LOVE ! & it's Aoyama's 2nd single & enough has been stressed on the fact that this's still her biggest hit to date as subsequent single releases of her so far unfortunately weren't able to match up to the same success that Soba ni Iru ne has obtained , be it chart position or sales wise .

I still like this song even though it has been almost a year since it was released .

Daikkirai Demo Arigatou (I Hate You , But Thanks) is track #2 & her 5th/most recent single prior to the release of LOVE ! . I remembered before this single was released , I was still somewhat baffled with the strange song title but in due time I'm ok with this no. & it's pretty much a standard R&B tune .

Nando mo (How Many Times) is Aoyama's 3rd single & this's so far her only single release to be released in 2 different formats & it's easy to see why as this's 1 of her better mid tempo R&B no.s & there's a slight R&B edge it portrayed as compared to her other mid tempo tunes that Aoyama has released .

From another mid tempo no. to the next , in comes Mamoritai Mono (I Want To Protect This) which's her 4th single release . I somehow always have a soft spot for Mamoritai Mono though . Maybe because of the serenity/calmness that the song displayed or probably the single cover & promo pic for Mamoritai Mono played a part in this aspect too but other than ONE WAY , Mamoritai Mono's 1 of my fave Aoyama single releases .

Suki Desu. (I Like.) is the 1st new song in LOVE ! & it's track #5 . I reviewed this song a while back ago separately on its own & so here I'm doing it again .

I still find this song a bit un-memorable & it lacks the spark/oomph factor as compared to other mid tempo album tracks that Aoyama has done but it's no doubt a grower for me .

Konomam Zutto (This Much Remains) is track #6 & it's currently used in promotion for the dodrama Q.E.D. & out of the 4 new songs in LOVE ! (not counting Last Letter because it was already available in her debut album DIARY) , this probably's my fave album track in this compilation simply because I like the sincerity that Aoyama conveys in this song & also most importantly , it's catchy & memorable unlike Suki Desu. although I oddly find the song similar in sounding as Mamoritai Mono & Nando mo .

Last Letter is track #7 & this was originally found as track #5 in Aoyama's debut album DIARY . I'm not sure why it's slotted in here again but it was nice hearing Last Letter after a while .

LOVE DJ KAWASAKI REMIX is the longest track in LOVE ! & at 7:05 mins , it's something & in this context , it's a mid tempo tune (like again) & I was a bit bored with LOVE DJ KAWASAKI REMIX as it got a bit un-memorable for my liking & it's not easy trying to keep my excitement level up in this but for a remix , it's decent fare considering that in the 1st place I'm not big on remixes .

again is the final track in LOVE ! & this's a cover of Janet Jackson & it's the only full Eng song on the album . I don't know why Aoyama choose to cover this song but anyway I'm real impressed with this tune that she has delivered .

I never heard the original done by Janet before but Aoyama more or less did herself a good job in here as her Eng command/dictation's real good

As the name of the album suggests , LOVE ! is a collage that's filled with some of Aoyama's best love songs .

A major gripe that I had with this album is that she should have spread out the 4 singles evenly instead of lumping all of them together as it doesn't sound like a good idea putting all the material she released already in the front row & then in the process the album tracks are neglected .

& like what I said before on full R&B blown albums , it's not easy carving a niche in this area as most of the material an R&B artiste will churn out , will have a tendency to sound the same if not similar to its singles counterparts .

Also it wouldn't hurt to include some new material in here as I can't help but feel a bit short changed in that I'm only getting 4 new tracks in this new record that Aoyama released .

Other than these few gripes that I had on LOVE ! , it's a decent compilation album & if you're in need of some love especially since Valentine's Day's hovering around the corner , then you probably want to get this copy of LOVE ! & also to show your support towards Aoyama .