CD
CD + DVD
1) Nocturne
2) A or B
3) KISS OF DEATH
4) Good Bye
5) DESIRE
6) So What
7) Justice
8) Mukunaru Mono (Marie starring MIKA NAKASHIMA)
9) Happy Life (Mika Nakashima x Salyu)
10) Sairen ~SAI_REN~
11) innocent
12) Domino
13) Yo ga Akeru Mae ni
14) Niji ga Detara Kimi ni Ai ni
Mika's last studio album release was 2017's TOUGH .
JOKER includes 2 singles , 1 B-side & 2 digital released songs .
Videos were made for 2 album tracks , Nocturne & Justice with the last time Mika made videos for album tracks was her 4th album / 2007 release YES .
Kicking things off in JOKER is the 1st album track Nocturne .
Described as a love ballad , Nocturne expresses the sad feelings for a love that has ended .
Prior to JOKER's release , Nocturne was 1st released digitally last month on 16th Sept .
The next 2 songs are singles that Mika released .
A or B was released as Mika's 42nd single & it was used in the ads of Kao's Flare Fragrance Kokoro ni Hanasaku which actress Ishihara Satomi appears in the ad .
While KISS OF DEATH was released as Mika's 43rd single & the hyde created song was used as the opening theme song for the DARLING in the FRANXX anime .
The next 4 songs are new album tracks in JOKER .
Good Bye & DESIRE are both upbeat songs , with DESIRE used to promote the Netflix drama FOLLOWERS which Mika starred in .
On the other hand , So What & Justice are both Rock songs which Mika wrote Justice herself .
Justice was 1st released digitally last month on 23rd Sept .
I find it a slight shame that Mika did not perform Justice on TV as I thought the song has quite a bit of spunk but I suppose she rather go for the more safe route ie. Nocturne .
Mukunaru Mono originally served as the B-side of Mika's 44th single Innocent Rouge & this acoustic song was sung by Mika during the Japan run of the Innocent musical which she starred in .
Oddly , Innocent Rouge is not included in the main CD of JOKER but the video is included in the DVD .
This's the 1st time that a Mika single is excluded from her album & in a way it's quite ironic that Innocent Rouge was and is still such a great song but at least the video is in the album's DVD so all's not lost .
Happy Life was originally included as the B-side in A or B and it was used in the ads of Tokyo Metro's Find my Tokyo. which starred actress Ishihara Satomi & with Mika making a cameo appearance .
Sairen ~SAI_REN~ was used as the insert song for Fuji TV's drama Tasogare Ryuseigun: Jinsei Orikaeshi, Koi wo Shita & it was 1 of the 3 new songs included in compilation album Yuki no Hana 15 Shuunen Kinen Best-ban BIBLE .
Just like DESIRE , innocent was also used to promote the Netflix drama FOLLOWERS .
Both DESIRE & innocent are very different in a good way . While DESIRE is an almost English/Engrish auto tune driven song , innoncent is a good old classic ballad .
Domino is 1 of my favourite album tracks as it's very mysterious sounding & unlike any other type of songs found in Mika's discography . It would have been great if Domino had a video made .
Similar with Sairen ~SAI_REN~ , Yo ga Akeru Mae ni was also included in Yuki no Hana 15 Shuunen Kinen Best-ban BIBLE & it was used as the theme song to promote the drama Maeda Masana -Ryuuma ga Takushita Otoko- .
Concluding JOKER is the last album track Niji ga Detara Kimi ni Ai ni & it's a nice mid tempo song in wrapping up the album on a positive note .
I will not deny that I did not like Mika's last studio album TOUGH as the main issue I had with was the severe lack of new material it had unlike JOKER which for once , not only there were a lot more new material , but at least most of the new songs were almost on par if not better than the inclusion of prior released material .
Due to just how much I disliked TOUGH , I kept my expectations quite low for JOKER but I was still overall surprised by how much I like Mika's new album release .
And for Mika to take so long to at last make videos for her album tracks , it's a bit surreal especially since YES was the very 1st Mika album I listened to . Why this took so long to happen again I have no idea but it's better late than never .
JOKER might not be Mika's overall best studio album but I personally feel that it sets a pretty good tone in line of early celebration of Mika's impending 20th anniversary next year & I do hope she will plan to do a series of things to celebrate this momentum milestone as she deserves so .
CD
CD + DVD A
CD
The group's latest single offering comes in almost 2 months+ since the release of their previous single Last Mermaid... .
Your Song was chosen to be used as the theme song for TBS's drama Kiwadoi Futari -K2- Ikebukurosho Keijika Kanzaki Kuroki starring member Yamada Ryosuke .
Kiwadoi Futari is based on a novel by Yokozeki Dai originally titled K2 Ikebukurosho Keijika Kanzaki Kuroki which won the 56th Edogawa Ranpo Award . The story revolves around 2 detectives , Kanzaki Ryuichi (played by member Yamada Ryosuke) & Kuroki Kenji (Tanaka Kei) as they investigate brutal crimes that occur in the Ikebukuro area .
Your Song is described as a song for family , siblings , lovers & friends that you continue to love no matter the change in times . Yamada commented , "It's a very heartwarming song with a medium ballad tune." .
A total of 5 B-sides are included in all 3 versions of Your Song :
- hearts colour (CD Only Track)
- BOW WOW SONG (CD Only Track)
- Hikarisasu (CD Only Track)
- Anata Omoi (CD + DVD A Track)
- Secret Magic (CD + DVD B Track)
Hey ! Say ! JUMP's 3rd single of 2020 , Your Song is the theme song of the TBS drama Kiwadoi Futari -K2- Ikebukurosho Keijika Kanzaki Kuroki starring Yamada Ryosuke and Tanaka Kei . The theme of the warm , gentle & nostalgic song is a "love that doesn't change in any era."
To say Hey ! Say ! JUMP has been musically productive despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is an understatement & in comes their 3rd single release of the year ie. Your Song .
I must admit I was not sold on Your Song in the beginning but after the group kept performing it numerous times on TV , my opinions towards it changed for the better .
All the B-sides in Your Song are musically different from each other . My least favourite is BOW WOW SONG while the rest are pretty good , especially Anata Omoi .
2020 will come to an end soon & for once , I hope Hey ! Say ! JUMP will not release another studio album but if they sprung a new album release year end , sure why not ?
If not , an early 2021 album release would be fine with me too .
CD
CD + DVD
1) Tomoru Inori
2) Lullaby
3) Tomoru Inori (Instrumental)
4) Lullaby (Instrumental)
The duo's new single release comes in 7 months+ since the release of their previous single Sotsugyou .
Tomoru Inori was chosen to be used as the theme song for Fuji TV's drama DIVER -Tokushu Sennyuhan- .
Starring Fukushi Sota as protagonist Kurosawa Hyogo , DIVER -Tokushu Sennyuhan- is a suspense drama about the strongest & worst undercover cop . In order to arrest criminals , Kurosawa is ruthless but uses his justice to drive out evil .
Tomoru Inori is described as a powerful ballad that emphasises Kuroda Shunsuke's vocals while the single covers were created by Kobuchi Kentaro .
The A-side was 1st released digitally on the same day as when DIVER -Tokushu Sennyuhan- started airing ie. last month on 22nd Sept while Lullaby served as the B-side in the single .
Kobukuro's single Tomoru Inori is the theme song of the crime drama series DIVER -Tokushu Sennyuhan- starring Fukushi Sota . Reminiscent of the band's past singles DOOR & Ano Taiyou ga, Kono Sekai wo Terashitsudukeru You ni. , the power ballad was especially written to convey the protagonist's feelings and way of life .
To say that Tomoru Inori is musically different from Sotsugyou is an understatement but it's nonetheless a great empowering song .
When I 1st heard Tomoru Inori , it reminded me of Kokoro to some extent but vocally it highlights Kuroda's vocal range extremely well .
On the other hand , Lullaby as the song title suggests is a nice soothing B-side which contrasts Tomoru Inori in a great way .
Overall I really enjoy Kobukuro's latest single offering tremendously & I hold them in very high regard as not only they've been in the business for so long but the fact that they're still able to put out surprises of the good kind , that's not an easy thing to do .
But yet they're still able to deliver & then some and Tomoru Inori is evident of that .
CD + DVD
1) Dakedo Hanate
2) Missing Piece
3) Don't You Stop
4) Beautiful
5) L.I.F.E. -Love Is Forever Evolving-
6) Yumeiro Biyori
7) HAPPY
This release is to celebrate BENI's 15th anniversary in the business & only 1 version of Y/our Song EP was made ie. in CD + DVD format .
Y/our Song EP includes 7 songs , inclusive of HAPPY & Yumeiro Biyori which both songs were released digitally back in Feb .
The lead promo track in the mini album is Dakedo Hanate which was written & composed by Kawatani Enon .
BENI describes Dakedo Hanate as fashionable chaos & a video was made for the song .
Before Y/our Song EP was physically released , Dakedo Hanate was 1st released digitally on 4th Sept .
Other than Dakedo Hanate , the DVD also includes a video made for Arigato which was found as track 8 in BENI's 7th album CINEMATIC .
The other 2 new songs in Y/our Song EP ie. Missing Piece & Beautiful were 1st released digitally on 15th Aug .
Excluding HAPPY & Yumeiro Biyori , Y/our Song EP on whole is actually quite good even though I had some reservations towards Dakedo Hanate as it sounded like nothing what BENI had done before .
I think Dakedo Hanate was intentionally made to sound chaotic & after BENI described the song as a hot mess , it makes sense .
Besides Dakedo Hanate , the other new song I'm not so keen is Missing Piece as it sounds so repetitive .
Other than that , I really like the other new songs in Y/our Song EP . L.I.F.E. -Love Is Forever Evolving- is also really good & it's on par with Beautiful with both tracks are the closest that I can consider as ballads while Don't You Stop is very fun .
BENI this time round focuses more on quality than quantity in Y/our Song EP & it's a nice release in celebrating her 15th anniversary in the music business .
Another release to celebrate BENI's milestone is the release of her debut English mini album MADE IN LOVE last month under her full name Beni Daniels which it will be reviewed real soon .
This is ARASHI's 3rd original song they've released digitally after last Nov's Turning Up & July's IN THE SUMMER .
Bruno Mars & D'Mile co-wrote & co-composed Whenever You Call and it's a medium-tempo ballad with full English lyrics .
After finding out that ARASHI will be going on hiatus year end , Bruno Mars created Whenever You Call after listening to their songs & watching their live performances . ARASHI recorded Whenever You Call with vocal direction supervision from Bruno himself .
Whenever You Call summarises the feelings of the group who will be suspending activities at the end of 2020 . They hope to showcase their feelings to the fans through Whenever You Call , even after the group goes on hiatus .
I'm sure fans will be sold on Whenever You Call but for me I'm not even though lyrically it's touching .
My main issue on this is just like the other songs ARASHI released digitally , it's too Westernised and to me , you don't need to change your music direction completely in order to cater to a global audience especially since ARASHI has been doing things their way even before they release music digitally .
ARASHI's 17th album This is ARASHI will be released on 3rd Nov , on the same release as the release of their debut single A.RA.SHI .
For now , it's not known if Whenever You Call will be included in This is ARASHI .
CD
CD + DVD A
CD + DVD B
This's Kis-My-Ft2's 1st single release of 2020 & the A-side was chosen to promote TV Asahi's Manatsu no Shounen ~ 19452020 drama .
The theme of ENDLESS SUMMER is "returning to our roots " so the video pays homage to the video of their debut song Everybody Go .
4 B-sides in total are included in ENDLESS SUMMER :
- Sailing ; used in the ads of Kowa's Una Kowa Ace G featuring Kis-My-Ft2 themselves in the ads
- Catapult (CD Only Track)
- Let you go (CD Only Track)
- ENDLESS SUMMER -Bon Odori ver.- (CD Only Track)
The DVD footages found in the CD + DVD B version of ENDLESS SUMMER includes a video made for Positive Man , which's track 7 in their latest album To-y2 .
ENDLESS SUMMER is the 1st release in early celebration of Kis-My-Ft2's impending 10th anniversary & it falls in line with their previous Summer inspired single songs such as WANNA BEEEE!!! & Sha la la☆Summer Time .
What makes ENDLESS SUMMER different is that it lyrically references Everybody Go which I thought is quite interesting & unique .
B-sides wise , I like Sailing out of the lot & for Kis-My-Ft2 to perform this song even before Sailing gets included in ENDLESS SUMMER , it's also another rarity too .
The other B-sides are also able to stand on their own as each track is musically different from the rest while the Bon Odori version of ENDLESS SUMMER is a lot more slower paced sounding as compared to the A-side itself .
With next year being Kis-My-Ft2's 10th anniversary , I for once hope they will not release a studio album . I rather see them put out an all time best release in celebration of their landmark milesone .
