Fave Albums Releases Of 2010Oh this's it . My annual music blog segment where I will give the low down of my fave albums , singles & songs that were released in 2010 .
1st up will be albums .
I wouldn't be writing those worst songs/singles/albums of the year type of crap since I don't like to write about such bitchy/negative stuff unlike some music blogs I know / came across , cough cough .
So anyway here goes !
Album Of 2010ayumi hamasaki - Love songs2010 was awesome for ayumi hamasaki in many sense , music wise & I wrote before that I adore Love songs a lot more than her 1st album offering for 2010 , Rock'n'Roll Circus .
Salute to Tetsuya Komuro for being an absolute genius for composing 10 songs out of 16 tracks in Love songs & this result in the album sounding a lot better than the album title .
ayumi hamasaki is someone that I really respect a great deal . 4 years on & counting , I'm still supporting/listening to her & I was no doubt impressed on what Love songs had to offer .
For that , this gets my vote for album of 2010 !
Best Debut Album Hilcrhyme - Recital This very exciting hip hop/rap duo has been making waves in the Japan music business , ever since they finally tasted success with their 2nd single Shunkashuutou .
I'm not a big fan of hip hop/rap that much but Hilcrhyme really opened my ears (eyes) in breaking down the misconceptions that I used to have towards hip hop/rap .
Recital is a very enjoyable debut album & it's a real sleek polished offering of the duo with various experimentations going on , which makes things even more fun to listen to .
Other honourable mentionsMatsushita Yuya - I AM ME1 of my fave artistes which I stumbled upon by chance , I AM ME is a solid debut album offering by R&B starlet Matsushita Yuya & credits goes to his mentor/composer Jin Nakamura for giving his magic touch towards MY's music .
I have been following MY's music journey from his 2nd single LAST SNOW all the way til now . He didn't had success initally but I knew there's something special about him , given his voice , songs & music that he has to offer & Trust Me was able to raise his profile up a great deal .
Hopefully 2011 will see MY dishing out even more great music as this's 1 artiste that I'm generally pleased on what he has to offer .
school food punishment - amp-reflection1 of the most unique debut album offerings for 2010 has to come from school food punishment .
I haven't come across any other bands that does a mean mix of indie rock with synths & other aggressive beats thrown in for good measures .
Most of the singles included in their debut album amp-reflection are quite in your face but they managed to balance things out with soothing calm album tracks .
They did not release anything for 2010 after amp-reflection & I hope they can return back with a new single in 2011 because they're really under-rated & more people should know more about them !
Hey ! Say ! JUMP - JUMP NO.1After almost a 3 years long wait , this 10 piece Johnny's group finally released their debut album JUMP NO.1 & what a worthwhile wait it has been .
JUMP NO.1 showcase some really good from teens to almost adult songs without sounding desperate & everyone even chipped in when comes to writing some of the singing & rapping lyrics in the album which's really worth in commending about .
Good things are sometimes worth waiting for & for this , it really does fit for JUMP NO.1 indeed .
JASMINE - GOLDA fitting title for a debut album , GOLD is indeed well solid gold coming from this very talented if not quirky R&B/Pop singer/songwriter JASMINE .
I was intrigued in the various get up's that she donned for each release of hers & I was indeed surprised when I found out what really powerful crystal clear vocals she has & that she does most of her own writing/composing in her discography which's awesome .
I like what she has to offer & I'm psyched for her in releasing her 6th single ONE in 2011 .
Best Album - Male Solo Artiste Saito Kazuyoshi - ARE YOU READY ?Last year , I crowned Saito Kazuyoshi's Tsuki ga Noboreba in the same category & truth be told , I wasn't surprised when I decided to crown his follow up 14th album ARE YOU READY ? in the Best Album - Male Solo Artiste category again .
I hold Saito Kazuoyshi in great respect & even though ARE YOU READY ? is slightly weaker than Tsuki ga Noboreba , it's still worthy of a listen , judging on how much he emphasised on quality rather than quantity .
Other honourable mentions Shota Shimizu - JourneyJourney is a pretty solid album offering from talented R&B singer/songwriter Shota Shimizu . I dislike his debut album Umbrella which I found that to be a really big bore but Journey was really enjoyable on so many levels .
Shota is said to be releasing his 3rd album on 9th March & I really cannot wait to hear what else he has in store !
Domoto Koichi - BPMIt has been nearly 4 years since 1 1/2 of KinKi Kids aka Domoto Koichi released a solo album & honestly , I never expect this coming from Koichi , considering the time difference gap between his debut album mirror & BPM is quite long .
BPM is nice but I still feel that mirror is better than Koichi's latest album offering in the sense that most of the album tracks in mirror have a distinct unique identity while for BPM , a lot of the songs took me quite sometime to remember/get the hang of things & I guess for that , BPM suffered in this sense .
Then again , there's no doubt/question that I admire Koichi's composing skills a great deal .
Best Album - Female Solo Artiste Kanon Wakeshima - Shoujo Shikake no Libretto ~LOLITAWORK LIBRETTO~ What an awesome 2nd album being dished out by cellist Kanon Wakeshima . I was really worried when she went MIA on me after she released her debut album Shinshoku Dolce but it's heartening to know that she came back with a much stronger album .
Shoujo Shikake no Libretto ~LOLITAWORK LIBRETTO~ is a lot more cheery & less dark . Unlike Shinshoku Dolce , Kanon has a more hands on approach this time round & in addition to writing the lyrics for the whole album , she even compose 1/2 of Shoujo Shikake no Libretto ~LOLITAWORK LIBRETTO~ .
Hopefully I wouldn't have to wait that long for Kanon to release something new but you can always count on her to deliver unique/extraordinary music at its best .
Other honourable mentionsKuroki Meisa - ATTITUDE Kuroki's 2nd mini album offering is quite enjoyable but I feel it's weaker than her debut mini album hellcat which totally rocks even up to now .
I guess the setback that ATTITUDE had was the un-necessary inclusion of interludes which I feel it would have been much better if she excluded those .
Anyway , I'm waiting in anticipation for her to release her full length debut album MAGAZINE & I'm psyched up for that .
Koda Kumi - UNIVERSE UNIVERSE was released with Koda's 5th best album BEST ~third universe~ .
This best + original album concept was dubbed BEST ~third universe~ & 8th AL "UNIVERSE" .
I like the singles that were included in UNIVERSE but I still feel that the album tracks sound really weak & it makes things hard for the songs to stack up if not be on par with the singles .
Hopefully I wouldn't have that problem when she's releasing her new album Dejavu in Feb 2011 as she worked hard to get to where she's at currently & she had a fruitful 10th anniversary in 2010 as well .
ayumi hamasaki - Rock'n'Roll Circus Rock'n'Roll Circus was ayumi's 1st album which she gets her material recorded/mastered in London .
I don't think it's fair to compare Rock'n'Roll Circus against Love songs because both have different sounds & each has their own unique strength/weakness .
I generally like most songs that ayumi has released & the same thing applies to Rock'n'Roll Circus . The 1 flaw that the album has which Love songs was able to overpower things was that the album tracks found in Rock'n'Roll Circus were that it contains quite a lot of ballads which kind of contradict the album title as so .
BENI - Lovebox Not as good as Bitter & Sweet but still you have to hand it to BENI for including some of her best singles in her 2nd album Lovebox .
The fact that Lovebox became her 1st ever release to debut at #1 on the Oricon , she has come a long way since her avex trax days .
I somehow have a dislike towards some of the album tracks in Lovebox which hopefully I'm able to change/remove that stigma in due time .
BENI - Jewel Released some 6 months after Lovebox is BENI's 3rd album Jewel .
This really surprised me a great deal & I was scared whether will it be another rushed record but my fears were unfounded when I listened to the album & the tracks were much stronger/memorable than what Lovebox has to offer .
It's not easy to release an album with just 2 singles while the weight of the shoulders has to lie with the album tracks but thankfully , it's a big improvement from Lovebox .
Anna Tsuchiya - RULE Not exactly the kind of comeback I was expecting from 1 of my fave musicians Anna Tsuchiya , since RULE contains some of her weakest singles to date in her discography .
Thankfully , the album tracks in RULE totally put Atashi & Shout in the rain to shame super big time & I was so relieved when I found she was basically saving all the good/great stuff in the album .
Anna's 1 of my fave musicians & even though RULE didn't performed as well as her 1st 2 albums , with great album tracks like that , I'm more than satisfied on this .
YUI - HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN YUI's 1st album release in over 2 years , HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN is also her 1st album to get released under gr8 records too .
The singles on the album are solid but it's the album tracks which showcase a completely new side of her .
Depending on whether if this's good or bad , I leave it to people to decide but a little experimentation outside of her music comfort zone doesn't hurt as it beats getting stuck in a music rut .
Mika Nakashima - STAR Fast approaching the 10th anniversary of her debut in the music scene , Mika Nakashima delivered 1 heck of an album with STAR which's her 1st album release in 2 years since 2008's VOICE .
STAR is pretty much a star in its own right but what I like about the album are the album tracks . Despite the very little amount of new material , they were able to have an unique identity of their own which they weren't overpowered by the singles & B-sides which made the cut in STAR .
Best Album - Johnny's Band ARASHI - Boku no Miteiru Fukei Boku no Miteiru Fukei became ARASHI's 1st studio album to achieve a million copies worth of sales & what makes things even more remarkable's that the album was released in only 1 standard edition .
It's no open secret that I dislike their last album Dream"A"Live a great deal . As such , I feel that Boku no Miteiru Fukei is such a big improvement on pretty much every single level even though solos wise , nothing will ever beat the solo songs which were found in Time .
Still , the amount of input their staff gave towards Boku no Miteiru Fukei is a lot more than what I expected & for that , Boku no Miteiru Fukei deserves its #1 spot in the Oricon yearly album chart .
Other honourable mentionsLANDS - OlymposReleased to concide with the movie LANDS , Olympos is a pretty neat album with songs that're sung by the ex 2nd lead co-vocalist of KAT-TUN , Akanishi Jin .
In Olympos , Akanishi tackled each song with fine mighty gusto & also kudos to Mr.Children's & Remioromen's producer Kobayashi Takeshi , who had a hand in overseeing every little tiny detail to ensure nothing but the best's expected from Olympos .
V6 - READY ?The 1st V6 album I ever listened to & what a solid record this's . They have been in the business for close to 15 years & they show no signs of slowing down .
Way before my JPop/rock music journey officially started , I was already listening to some of their classic songs & it's a nice experience to listen to READY ? & they definitely still have got it going on even up to now .
Tegomass - Tegomass no AiTegomass share the love on their 1st mini-album Tegomass no Ai & it espouses on different kinds of love between families , friends & couples , as well as their love & appreciation for their fans .
The mini album's songs highlight the duo's harmonic voices & positive messages about life & love .
NEWS's Tegoshi & Masuda still have some of the best voices in Johnny's & I wasn't surprised when they released such a cute enduring mini album which showcased their vocals very well , be it when comes to ballads or upbeat tunes which's basically songs that I can't visualise NEWS doing them at all .
KAT-TUN - NO MORE PAIИTheir 2nd album without Akanishi Jin , NO MORE PAIИ is a lot more enjoyable than cartoon KAT-TUN II you in the sense that the album tracks were much more stronger & well put together .
It would have been nicer if they didn't include solos in NO MORE PAIИ because they drag down the album quite a lot to a certain extent .
Then again it's tough to record material without their ex 2nd co lead vocalist but they were able to survive & pull things though .
NEWS - LIVEThe guys's 1st album to include songs which're all sung by everyone , LIVE is quite something .
Even though only 2 singles are included , the album tracks were really solid & not surprisingly , I feel that in certain occasions , these songs in LIVE sounded on par if not more superior than what the singles had to offer .
NEWS to me is 1 of the best Johnny groups when comes to overall vocal in the group department & LIVE doesn't disappoint .
Kanjani∞ - 8UPPERS (Pacchi Uppers) 8UPPERS (Pacchi Uppers) is a good album that I enjoyed from Kanjani∞ & most of the time , I feel that it's their album tracks which allows them to showcase a different side of the guys , as they mainly release crazy over the top songs as singles .
Unfortunately , I feel that the solos this time round were not as good as the ones found in their 1st 3 albums & they seem to be getting weaker if not mroe random than ever before .
Not sure if this's possible but maybe they should release just 1 disc in their next album if this carries on ?
Best Album - Rock BandBREAKERZ - B.R.Z ACOUSTICB.R.Z ACOUSTIC is BREAKERZ's 1st acoustic mini album & it's such a great project that the guys undertook this year since 2010's the 1st time for them in not releasing an original studio album due to commitments that the guys have outside of music .
Still , 2010 has been great for them musically & I couldn't be more pleased on what they have released this year & the fact that I really adore acoustic songs a great deal , I couldn't be any happier than this .
It will be amazing if they will release another acoustic album since already by now , acoustic takes of SUMMER PARTY & FAKE LOVE were included in the singles that they released in 2010 but I say anything goes for them !
Other honourable mentionsabingdon boys school - ABINGDON ROADThe group's only release for 2010 , ABINGDON ROAD is basically chapter 2 & picking things up from where they left from their debut self titled album .
abingdon boys school is the very 1st JRock group I listened to & I still hold them in great respect but it's not funny to wait a really long time for them to release something .
I do wish that they can release something in 2011 but with the various members busy with side projects of their own , it's hard to tell whether if that's possible to happen or not .
Best Album - BandGIRL NEXT DOOR - NEXT FUTUREMuch more put together than their self titled debut album , NEXT FUTURE presented a step up or 2 from GIRL NEXT DOOR .
I have a feeling they will release a new album soon because judging from their 1st 2 album release patterns , they usually release a new record in Christmas / early days of a new year so we'll see about that .
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Part 2 which will be on fave singles that I came across which were released for 2010 will be up & running in due time .