CD Review :: Hey ! Say ! JUMP - JUMP NO.1
CD Only Regular Edition
CD Only Limited Edition
1) DREAMER
2) INFINITY
3) Hitomi no (Eyes) Screen
4) Shinku (Crimson)
5) Ganbaretsgo ! (Go For It , Let's Go !) (Hey ! Say ! 7)
6) Jounetsu (Passion) JUMP
7) Smile Song
8) Memories
9) Dreams come true
10) Time
11) Score (Hey ! Say ! BEST)
12) Your Seed
13) I☆Scream
14) Mayonaka no (Midnight) Shadow Boy
15) Dash !!
16) Ultra Music Power
17) Thank You ~Bokutachi Kara Kimi he~ (~From Us To You~)
JUMP NO.1 is Hey ! Say ! JUMP's debut album . It was released on 7th July & the group's 1st 5 singles are included except for Bouken (Adventure) Rider which's the 2nd A-side of their 3rd single Your Seed / Bouken Rider .
The album debuted at #1 with 1st week sales of 156,118 .
JUMP NO.1 kick things off with DREAMER which's written by Yabu Kota whom I considered as the unofficial leader of the group .
DREAMER sets the bar on roughly what to expect in due time for JUMP NO.1 , a not so typical pop song which has edge & bite . For DREAMER's case , it does have that dreamer like vibes going on & I like it for being really catchy .
The 2nd album track INFINITY is written by Yaotome Hikaru & on 1st listen , it has that very fast paced pop vibes & it did reminded me of a much grown up version of their debut single Ultra Music Power .
Hitomi no (Eyes) Screen is the group's 5th single . It was used as the theme song for Yamada Ryosuke's detective drama Hidarime Tantei EYE . This's the last single to be included in JUMP NO.1 .
The wait between their 4th single Mayonaka no (Midnight) Shadow Boy & Hitomi no Screen was really long , almost close to a year in waiting time difference for that matter .
So when the guys finally returned back with Hitomi no Screen , I was really happy as it showcased a mature side of the group & I like the song a lot for being angsty & grown up in sound .
Shinku (Crimson) is written by Yamada & this sounds like a cousin of Mayonaka no Shadow Boy because of the somewhat Spanish influences .
Not that it's a bad thing & considering that it has some personal input from Yamada , it's something worth commanding for & Shinku is a class of its own for being catchy & extremely groovy .
Ganbaretsgo ! (Go For It , Let's Go !) is sung by the sub division of the group , Hey ! Say ! 7 which consists of the 5 younger guys within Hey ! Say ! JUMP .
Well considering how young Hey ! Say ! 7 , I was kind of expecting how Ganbaretsgo ! will sounds like . Thankfully it's not as cheesy sounding as what I thought it might be so this's something good to listen to .
Jounetsu (Passion) JUMP serves as last year's support song for Fuji TV's coverage of the nationwide high school volleyball tournament .
I know this's 1 of the many songs the group performed whenever they go on tour & I'm very happy to hear the studio version pertaining to Jounetsu JUMP . It's a pop song but it has a lot of bite & spunk attached to it which's great .
Smile Song is written by Chinen Yuuri & this's another really solid album track . I like the trumpets that're blaring at the background & it's 1 of those songs that sends out positive vibes the moment you listen to it which I really like .
Memories was used as the theme song of the NTV drama Hidari Me Tantei EYE .
After the last few tracks being uptempo no.s , it's nice to take things slow in the form of Memories which I feel it's really solid & I like the fact that the harmonisation of vocals for the whole group is intact in Memories .
Just like Jounetsu JUMP , Memories is another concert staple song so it's great to see it getting the studio version in JUMP NO.1 .
Dreams come true is the group's 2nd single . It has a fresh breezy sound to complement the spring season & it was used as the image song for the 2008 Volleyball World Cup events ,
I had a lot of dislike towards Dreams come true initally . I'm not sure because I'm perfectly fine with this song now . I guess as time goes by , your opinions towards certain songs can change & I suppose this analogy can apply to Dreams come true .
Time is written by Takaki Yuya while the song's co-arranged by Arioka Daiki & Eddy .
This's yet another song that has a lot of attitude & the fact that there're personal input by 2 members in the group , it's really something worth commending for & I like the whole package that Time presents , from the lyrics down to the edgy gritty melody .
Score is sung by the other sub division of the group aka Hey ! Say ! BEST which're the 5 older guys in Hey ! Say ! JUMP .
The song was written by Yabu while the rap lyrics were written by Hikaru .
Score is a nice song that I enjoyed & kudos to Yabu & Hikaru for providing the lyrics for the song .
Your Seed is the 1st A-side of the group's 3rd single Your Seed / Bouken Rider .
Your Seed was used as the theme song to the Japanese theatrical version of Kung Fu Panda while Bouken Rider was used as the image song for the Fuji TV drama Odaiba Boken O Final but it's excluded from JUMP NO.1 like what I mentioned earlier on .
This's the song that I 1st heard of Hey ! Say ! JUMP & for me even up to now , I still like Your Seed as it's a really grown up no. & I also like the Erhu touches that you can hear in the melody & for that , I still find it to be a really solid song .
I☆Scream is the shortest track in JUMP NO.1 , clocking in at 2:29 mins . While Hikaru had input in previous album tracks such as INFINITY & Score , in here , I☆Scream is both written & composed by him .
Just like Your Seed , I☆Scream has quite a lot of significant Erhu influence in its melody despite the song being really short & throwing in rap lyrics for I☆Scream is quite unusual but somehow or another , it works in the guys's favour .
Mayonaka no Shadow Boy is Hey ! Say ! JUMP's 4th single . It was used as the theme song for the NTV school drama Scrap Teacher which starred Nakajima Yuto , Yamada , Chinen & Daiki in their first leading roles .
Like other singles they released , Mayonaka no Shadow Boy is not a typical standard pop song . It has dark shades elements of pop & it's still a catchy piece of work up til now .
The lyrical content is also quite mature for that matter .
Dash !! is written by Yuuto . I frankly do not find anything special for Dash !! as it sounds like a typical pop song to me . It almost borderline on the filler side as I had a bit of a difficulty remembering how it sounds like .
I'm fine with it now but I don't think I will consider Dash !! as a prominent album track .
Ultra Music Power is the group's debut single & the song was used during the broadcast in Fuji TV's 2007 World Cup Volleyball .
If you were to compare Ultra Music Power with Hitomi no Screen , it's quite evident that the guys have come of age in terms of vocals & their choice of music direction .
I suppose when Ultra Music Power was released , all of them were still very young so for this , I can pardon them in a way or 2 .
Thank You ~Bokutachi Kara Kimi he~ (~From Us To You~) is the final track in JUMP NO.1 & for this , it's written by the whole group .
This song is very unique in many levels . For starters , it's the longest track in JUMP NO.1 , clocking in at almost close to 13 mins or so .
Thank You ~Bokutachi Kara Kimi he~ can be spilt up into 3 parts . The 1st 4 mins is the actual song which's a really lovely ballad while at the 6th min , you are able to hear a 2 mins or so montage of their singles except for Bouken Rider .
The last 5 mins or so consist of actual dialogue in which each of the 10 members said their personal thanks in Thank You ~Bokutachi Kara Kimi he~ . I don't recall many Johnny's albums having something like this so it's something that I personally welcome .
The crystallisation of Hey ! Say ! JUMP's debut album JUMP NO.1 is a 3 years effect in waiting ever since the group debuted some 3 years back & for this , I say JUMP NO.1 is worth getting/listening for .
JUMP NO.1 might be a bit daunting to handle as it has 17 tracks but considering that it's not a typical pop album delivered by Hey ! Say ! JUMP , it's really solid & also I appericate that for some album tracks , the members themselves have personal input , be it writing or composing which probably explained the longer than usual wait for the release of JUMP NO.1 .
I feel JUMP NO.1 is really a good debut album . It's still a pop album at the end of the day but the tracks take on different shades/disguises pertaining to pop & for that , it's an enjoyable record to listen to from the start to the end .
