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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

CD Review :: Kanjani∞ - KJ1 F·T·O

2 CDs Only Cover :

CD + DVD Cover :

Disc 1 Tracklist :

1) F·T·O
2) Kanashi Koi (Sad Love)
3) Osaka Romanesque
4) Taiyou no Kodomo [Children Of The Sun] (Yokoyama You , Murakami Shingo , Maruyama Ryuhei & Okura Tadayoshi's No.)
5) Carnival (Okura Tadayoshi & Maruyama Ryuhei's Duet)
6) Mugendai (Infinity) [KJ1 mix]
7) Hatenaki Sora [Endless Sky] (Ryo Nishikido & Shota Yasuda's Duet)
8) Heat is on
9) Misetekure (Show Me)
10) Oh ! ENKA [KJ1 mix]
11) Sorede Linjyanai [That's All Right] (Okura Tadayoshi , Ryo Nishikido & Murakami Shingo's No.)
12) ONE (SubaruBAND's Song)
13) Osaka Rainy Blues [ver.KJ1]
14) Sukiyanen (And The Annual Favorite) , Osaka.

Disc 2 Tracklist (SanKyoudai's No.s) :

1) Purin (Pudding)
2) Onigiri (Rice Ball)

KJ1 F·T·O is Kanjani∞'s 1st full length album . It was released 3 years ago on 15th March .

The album consists of 2 1/2 singles in which 1 of them's their 1st triple A-side single & the other 1/2 is the 2nd A-side of their 4th single Osaka Obachan ROCK / Osaka Romanesque .

Aside from that , you have 5 album tracks that're not sung by the whole group .

F·T·O is the 1st album track & it stands for Funky Town Osaka & as the song title suggest , it's a funky blues inspired tune & it also has shades of enka thrown in for good measures which's cool .

Kanashi Koi (Sad Love) follows in the same vein as All of me for you which was found as track #3 in their Kansha ni Eight mini album in that both songs lie in the same angsty mood driven direction .

Osaka Romanesque is the 2nd A-side of the guys's future 4th single Osaka Obachan ROCK / Osaka Romanesque & a single version of Osaka Romanesque is made available in the single tracklis .

Hmm I'm not sure why the guys chose to release Osaka Romanesque as a recut single alongside with Osaka Obachan ROCK but it doesn't matter to me so much because it's 1 of my fave ballads of the guys & the fact that it has slight enka traces in the melody makes the song even more outstanding in its own right .

Taiyou no Kodomo (Children Of The Sun) is the 1st album song not to be sung by the whole group . Instead you have Yokoyama You , Murakami Shingo , Maruyama Ryuhei & Okura Tadayoshi taking charge of the song in here & I must say that it's a nice somewhat funky mid tempo tune & I also like the trumpets going on in the tune .

The guys have some nice harmonies going on in them which's really good .

Carnival is the 2nd non group album track & it's only sung by 2 of them who're Okura & Maruyama Ryuhei . It's pretty much a really chilled out song which's perfect for kicking back & relaxing when you listen to Carnival .

Mugendai (Infinity) is the 3rd A-side in the guys's 3rd triple A-side single Sukiyanen , Osaka / Oh ! ENKA / Mugendai & in here you have a KJ1 mix of the tune .

I always have like Mugendai on 1st listen & basically I really like all the 3 A-sides on Sukiyanen , Osaka / Oh ! ENKA / Mugendai as they all present different music styles delivered by Kanjani∞ & in this case Mugendai falls under the ballad category & the fact that it's quite enka tinged , it's another winner in my books .

The KJ1 mix of Mugendai does not feature vocals of their former member Uchi Hiroki & that goes for the album version for Osaka Rainy Blues too .

Hatenaki Sora (Endless Sky) is the 3rd non group album song & in here you got Ryo Nishikido & Shota Yasuda singing this somewhat poppy blues inspired tune . It's kinda carefree sounding just like Carnival & it's basically another cool song .

Heat is on is the 2nd album song that's angsty driven just like Kanashi Koi . I like this equally as much as Kanashi Koi but if you were to compare both songs , Heat is on is more simpler in terms of music arrangement but still this's good stuff .

Misetekure (Show Me) is another star track in KJ1 F·T·O as it presents something different that Kanjani∞ delivers & this's in the form of an electro inspired pop/rock tune .

I must admit that Misetekure reminded me of ARASHI's earlier works like Jidai & PIKA☆NCHI to a certain extent probably because the style is quite similar with regards to all 3 songs .

But regardless of which , Misetekure is a keeper seeing that I like & enjoy such songs .

Oh ! ENKA is the 2nd A-side of the group's 3rd single Sukiyanen , Osaka / Oh ! ENKA / Mugendai & just like Mugendai , you also get a KJ1 mix of Oh ! ENKA .

Unlike the KJ1 mix of Mugendai in which I can't tell the difference between the single & album version , this time round for Oh ! ENKA I can in which it's basically the beginning of the song is said by someone else .

Other than that , this's another fave single of mine of the guys as it's a very catchy & mid tempo enka influenced tune .

Sorede Linjyanai (That's All Right) is the 2nd last non group album track & this's sung by Okura , Ryo & Murakami . Just like their other non group album tracks on KJ1 F·T·O , this's another nice song that I like .

For me what I like about Sorede Linjyanai is that the trio's vocals & the melody managed to go in hand in hand together which's great & song wise , it's a nice peppy tune .

ONE is probably the most interesting song in KJ1 F·T·O because it's sung under the name SubaruBAND which's basically a band within a band .

In here you have the lead singer of the group Subaru Shibutani on who's in charge of vocals , guitar , lyricist , Shota on guitar & composer , Maruyama on bass & Okura on drums .

When you get 4 guys being banded together to form SubaruBAND , you know you will expect something good & they have delivered a really good rock influenced tune in the form of ONE & it does help in a lot of ways that Subaru worked his magic in here & I considered him in that he no doubt has the best voice in the group .

Osaka Rainy Blues is the group's 2nd single & in here you have a ver.KJ1 take of the song . The single version of Osaka Rainy Blues contained vocals of their former member Uchi Hiroki but you will not get to hear his vocals in the album take of the song .

I really like the opening of the ver.KJ1 take of Osaka Rainy Blues as it's awesome for Subaru to sing a bit of the chorus at the beginning of the song & it's kinda old school & James Bond inspired with regards to the introduction's melody & that lasts for the 1st 30-40 seconds of the song .

After that's outta the way , the song's more or less the same if you compare it against the single version & Uchi's vocals have been omitted in here . Other than some minor adjustments , this's still a nice one .

Osaka Rainy Blues's 1 of my fave Kanjani∞ tunes as it showcase a really strong electric guitar backing pertaining to the melody & it's quite a groovy chilled out tune for that matter .

The final track on KJ1 F·T·O is Sukiyanen (And The Annual Favorite) , Osaka. which's the 1st A-side of the group's 3rd single Sukiyanen , Osaka / Oh ! ENKA / Mugendai & Sukiyanen , Osaka's a classic Kanjani∞ song in that incorporates "konto" (comical skits) which are always ad-libbed .

Sukiyanen , Osaka's no doubt a fun & whack song that I like & you can tell the mood pertaining to Oh ! ENKA / Mugendai is so different as compared to their 1st A-side which's great as there's something for everybody in here .

Disc 2 Tracklist (SanKyoudai's No.s) :

1) Purin (Pudding)
2) Onigiri (Rice Ball)

Only found in the normal 2 CDs edition is this disc which consists of 2 songs that're both sung under another band within a band called SanKyoudai .

SanKyoudai consists of Yokoyama You , Shota Yasuda & Subaru Shibutani & the trio's an acoustic music unit in which Yokoyama writes the lyrics and Shota composes and plays the guitar accompaniment to the songs , which Subaru sings .

I always thought that the normal edition came with only 1 disc & I didn't expect this 2nd disc which contains 2 songs Purin & Onigiri & yes both are types of food in the form of pudding & rice ball .

I don't know why the guys have chosen to sing about pudding & rice ball of all things . I find it real enduring & cute .

Song wise , I really like it as I always have a soft spot for acoustic songs & as always Subaru worked his great voice in both songs real nicely . I would have wished Purin was a bit longer but aside from that , both Purin & Onigiri are keepers .

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KJ1 F·T·O is an enjoyable debut album from the start to the end . I thought I was impressed with their Kansha ni Eight mini album but then the guys have stepped things up a level or 2 in KJ1 F·T·O .

I really like the diverse of music styles that Kanjani∞ came up with in KJ1 F·T·O & it's no doubt tough for non group album tracks to sound equally as good as the singles but somehow or another , they managed to pull things off very nicely & at the end , you get an album that takes you on a really fun & enjoyable music joy ride .