CD Review :: Aoyama Thelma - LOVE ! 2
CD
CD + DVD
1) Summer Love !! Feat RED RICE from Shonannokaze
2) THIS LOVE Feat AI
3) Hanasanaide yo (Don't Let Go) (Aoyama Thelma / SoulJa)
4) Fall in Love (Aoyama Thelma x SOL from BIGBANG)
5) WANNA COME AGAIN Feat m-flo's VERBAL
6) Dreamlover (DJ MAKIDAI Feat Aoyama Thelma)
7) Todoketai ... (I Want To Send ...) Feat KEN THE 390
8) Yakusoku no Hi (Promised Day) (Aoyama Thelma / Dohzi-T)
9) Garden of Love (Aoyama Thelma / MAKAI)
10) Soba ni Iru ne (I'm By Your Side) Feat SoulJa
11) Love @ 1st Sight (COMA-CHI , Aoyama Thelma / Mr. BEATS a.k.a. DJ CELORY)
12) ONE WAY (DIORI REMIX) Feat WISE
13) SUMMER PARADISE ~Risin' To Tha Sun~ (Aoyama Thelma / DS455)
14) NEVER GONNA LET YOU GO (Aoyama Thelma (Dancehall Mix) / DEMARCO) (Bonus Track)
LOVE ! 2 is Aoyama Thelma's 2nd compilation album . It was released last month on 28th July .
Aoyama's latest compilation album contains a mixture of songs which she collaborated before with various different artistes .
It follows a different album concept this time round , unlike for her 1st LOVE ! compilation which compiles love songs sung by Aoyama solely .
Summer Love !! is the 1st track on LOVE ! 2 & also incidentally Aoyama's 10th single to kick things off . For this , it features RED RICE from Shonannokaze .
I'm still not bored with listening to Summer Love !! even up to now . It's very summer driven & it's 1 of those songs that're perfect to crank it up loud & proud if you're throwing a party in the beach .
THIS LOVE is a song that was preciously unavailable in other artistes's compilations which Aoyama had worked before & in here , Aoyama collaborated with rapper AI .
This's a really nice duet that both ladies carried off well together . AI's rapping/singing vocals compliment Aoyama's quite good . Song wise , it's a rather mid tempo driven song but it has that X factor which makes me come back for more listens of THIS LOVE .
The next song Hanasanaide yo (Don't Let Go) is the 8th single which was released by rapper SoulJa . SoulJa collaborated before with Aoyama on quite a few occasions & in here , Hanasanaide yo features Aoyama on vocals .
Hanasanaide yo is actually a song that I'm quite sure a lot of people can relate to . It's definitely not something to listen to if you're undergoing a breakup spell . If not , it's 1 of those songs that will definitely tug your heart in more ways that you can ever imagine .
Fall in Love is Aoyama's 8th single & when this single was released , it was being credited as Aoyama Thelma x SOL from BIGBANG .
I know the song received a fair amount of flak for having quite a 90's dated sound but to me , I find nothing wrong with it .
Among the artistes that Aoyama has worked with , I think her vocals compliment Korean boyband BIGBANG member SOL (he goes by the name of Taeyang in Korea) real well .
SOL's vocals was able to keep up in synch with Aoyama too for that matter .
The next song WANNA COME AGAIN was originally found as track #11 in Aoyama's 2nd album Emotions & this song features the vocals of m-flo's VERBAL .
It has been quite a while since I last listened to WANNA COME AGAIN & I have to say , it's great to do so again as I still feel it's 1 of the standout & yet unusual tracks that Aoyama offered in Emotions .
Track #6 Dreamlover was originally found as track #1 in the compilation album DJ MAKIDAI from EXILE Treasure MIX 2 which was released last year on 20th May .
DJ MAKIDAI is a member of EXILE & for Dreamlover , the song features Aoyama on vocals .
Dreamlover is actually a cover of Mariah Carey's 1993 hit of the same title which was taken from her 3rd album Music Box .
Unlike the time when Aoyama covered Janet Jackson's again which was found in LOVE ! , for this , I had no problems seeing that I have heard the original which was sung by Mariah before when I was growing up .
Being fluent in English , it's no surprises that Aoyama was able to tackle Dreamlover with such ease & gusto .
Todoketai ... (I Want To Send ...) is the 1st A-side of Aoyama's 6th single Todoketai ... / Kono Mama Zutto & for this , it features the rapping vocals of KEN THE 390 .
This is actually an answer call song to KEN THE 390's Todoketakute ... (You Wanted To Send ...) .
Well I'm not sure why Todoketai ... is being included in LOVE ! 2 seeing that you can find the song in Emotions but just like WANNA COME AGAIN , it's actually nice to listen to Todoketai ... once more
Yakusoku no Hi (Promised Day) was originally found as track #3 in the compilation album of rapper Dohzi-T's 12 Love Stories which was released 2 years ago on 24th Sept .
This's actually an answer call song to Futari no Yakusoku no Hi (Two Days Of Promise) which's found as track #4 in Emotions & for that , it's sung soley by Aoyama on her own .
Honestly for me , I 1st heard Futari no Yakusoku no Hi unlike Yakusoku no Hi . I only found out that both songs were related of sorts until I did more research on this matter .
But anyway , Dohzi-T has collaborated with Aoyama quite a few times so I know that both of them worked really well together in past songs they used to duet & Yakusoku no Hi is no exception .
There's not much significant difference between Yakusoku no Hi & Futari no Yakusoku no Hi since both utilised the same melody . The only difference is like what I said earlier on , Yakusoku no Hi is a standalone track sung by Aoyama only .
Garden of Love was originally found as track #2 in producer/DJ MAKAI's 3rd album GARDEN which was released 2 years ago on 5th March & for this , Aoyama is being credited on the song , vocals wise .
I actually like Garden of Love on 1st listen . It's frankly nothing memorable to shout about as I feel it's basically a standard R&B mid tempo track but there's just something about the song that I like .
Soba ni Iru ne (I'm By Your Side) is Aoyama's 2nd single . It's an answer call song to SoulJa's 3rd single Koko ni Iru yo (I'm Here) & for Soba ni Iru ne , SoulJa's rapping vocals can be found in the song .
I'm sure there's no further needed explaination for Soba ni Iru ne , seeing that it can be found in Aoyama's debut album DIARY & let alone in LOVE ! & now with it making a 3rd appearance in LOVE ! 2 .
It's unfortunate that if you're a casual listener of Aoyama , Soba ni Iru ne is the only song that you will know of her since it's credited as her breakthrough hit & it feels as though she's only a 1 hit wonder which I beg to differ as so since Aoyama has other great songs found in her discography .
Love @ 1st Sight was originally found as track #11 in the album BEAUTIFUL TOMORROW which was released 2 years ago on 16th Jan .
For this song , the people that have been credited in Love @ 1st Sight is COMA-CHI , Aoyama Thelma / Mr. BEATS a.k.a. DJ CELORY .
This's 1 of the more heavily R&B & Rap driven tracks found in LOVE ! 2 . I had no idea how the other artistes COMA-CHI & DJ CELORY are like so this was something new for me to handle .
COMA-CHI's rapping vocals is quite nice & was able to compliment Aoyama's vocals real well . Unlike AI , I feel that COMA-CHI's rapping vocals are somewhat a bit more distinct & huskier .
The DIORI REMIX of ONE WAY was originally found as the B-side track in Aoyama's debut single ONE WAY & for this , the remix features WISE .
It has been quite a long time since I last heard the DIORI REMIX of ONE WAY . Still , after I listened to this once more , I still feel that it's 1 really catchy & hot remix ,
SUMMER PARADISE ~Risin' To Tha Sun~ was released as a single 3 years ago on 6th June & for this , it's the only album track in LOVE ! 2 which received a video .
The song is being credited as Aoyama Thelma / DS455 .
I think SUMMER PARADISE ~Risin' To Tha Sun~ is a neat duet . It's definitely not as fast paced driven as Summer Love !! but SUMMER PARADISE ~Risin' To Tha Sun~ is 1 of those songs that you do not mind to listen to while chiling out on the beach .
Found as a bonus & let alone final track in LOVE ! 2 , it's NEVER GONNA LET YOU GO & it's being credited as Aoyama Thelma (Dancehall Mix) + DEMARCO in the compilation album .
NEVER GONNA LET YOU GO was never included in any albums prior to the release of LOVE ! 2 , just like for THIS LOVE as well .
Just like Aoyama's cover of Mariah's Dreamlover , NEVER GONNA LET YOU GO is sung completely in full English with DEMARCO & I have to say I really enjoy this song a great deal .
It has quite a strong Reggae influence to a certain extent too while it's still R&B driven . The fact that Aoyama's fluent in English & with her singing such a song with DEMARCO , you will not get any cringy worthy Engrish in here .
At the end of the day , LOVE ! 2 is basically a neat package which complied all of present & past duets that Aoyama used to work on with various different artistes .
LOVE ! 2 allowed her to showcase her versatile skills in singing with other musicians & if you're someone that enjoy listening to duets , then LOVE ! 2 might be the album for you to pick up & listen .
