ONE [BONNIE PINK - 10th Album]

Tracklisting
1) Won’t Let You Go
2) Fuchsia Fuchsia Fuchsia (フューシャ フューシャ フューシャ)
3) Princess Incognito
4) Joy
5) Mousou Lover (妄想LOVER; lit. Delusional Lover)
6) Kane wo Narashite (鐘を鳴らして; lit. Ring A Bell)
7) One Last Time
8) Rock You Till The Dawn
9) Fed Up feat. Craig David
10) PLAY & PAUSE
11) Himitsu (秘密; lit. Secret)
12) Try me Out
13) Happy Ending
14) Get On The Bus
15) Ring A Bell (Bonus Track)

ONE is the tenth album from BONNIE PINK (a.k.a. Kaori Asada), and is the fourth studio album released under the Warner Music Japan label. It had five pieces of media released before it to promote the album: The digi-single Ring A Bell (the English version of Kane wo Narashite), the Kane wo Narashite single, the CHAIN Christmas mini-album (although no songs made it onto the album: the PV for CHAIN is on the DVD), the Fed Up digi-single that features Craig David (Whoever that is), and the double a-side single, Joy / Happy Ending. It was released on the 13th of May, 2009.

I have said it before, and I’d like to stress it again: BONNIE PINK is my favorite J-Pop artist; Maybe not on the short-term scale, but when we talk true favorites, she takes my top spot. After the masterpiece that was Thinking Out Loud, I was skeptical as to how well her next album would do, especially since that’s still my favorite album from her.

And, like every album, it has its flaws. The most noticable flaw is Fed Up: Craig David sounds absolutely dead, and bored as all hell. Kaori doesn’t really sound much better, and the generic faux-dance arrangement isn’t doing much either. Another is Himitsu, a track using the usual pop-rock fare to the degree that I honestly could not remember what the hell it sounded like. Won’t Let You Go is another example of a forgettable track, but it’s not one that I hate; on the contrary, it’s actually rather enjoyable. One Last Time should also be mentioned: It’s the slow track of the album, and it wasn’t handled in a manner that made it very interesting. It should have been more like Water Me from her last era, and less rock.

However, what’s a flawed album without its standout tracks? I honestly can’t decide between two songs for the top spot: It’s a tie between Princess Incognito, the upbeat and bright yet slightly e motional song that tells the tale of a woman being snubbed by her boyfriend for other friends/girls (It’s also one of the three English songs on the album); and Try Me Out, another English song that twists the tale of unrequited love into a mellow, upbeat pop song that a lot of people seem to hate for reasons that actually make me like it: It’s slightly generic, but it’s handled in a way that makes it catchier instead of boring. Plus, it’s slightly relatable. (FML. </3)

There are a few little “experiments” here and there, too: PLAY & PAUSE is the first R&B song Kaori has tackled in quite a while, and it was handled in a rather enjoyable manner, despite being another slightly forgettable song. Fuchsia Fuchsia Fuchsia is also a rather new style, being a pop-rock influenced take on the reggae genre. It’s also one of the more memorable songs on the album. However, the talk of experiments brings one huge flaw into mind…

THERE ARE NO B-SIDES ON THE ALBUM! This is one of the few cases where this is a flaw: Pump It Up! from the Kane wo Narashite single was Kaori’s best song EVER (better than anything on this album), and a brilliant take of the 80s dance style that REALLY deserved a spot on the album, at the very least. You and I from the Joy / Happy Ending single was also a nice song, and at least as good as the rest of the songs on the album. Honestly, they would have improved this package by at least ten times, and I hope I wasn’t alone when the disappointment set in about the choice to leave them out.

So how does this all affect the album? Honestly, taking it as it was, it was a highly enjoyable album, and definitely one of her best. However, I just can’t call it better than Thinking Out Loud. It’s in no way better, and in no way worse. It’s just as good as her last effort, despite focusing a bit too much on one style of music as her last album did. The inclusion of the b-sides from the pre-release singles instead of the more forgettable albums is really the only way I can even think of for them to improve on the formula. It was rather nice to see Ring a Bell included, too: Kane wo Narashite is still my preferred version, but it’s nice to have both on there if you think otherwise, despite it being rather limited in the copies that it appears on.

Album Score
A

Favorite Tracks
1) Try Me Out / Princess Incognito (TIE)
2) Mousou Lover
3) Kane wo Narashite
4) Get On The Bus
5) Fuchsia Fuchsia Fuchsia

Well, it didn’t exactly live up to my expectations, but it was definitely a fantastic album. It would have been nice to see a bit less dependence on the pop-rock sound and a few more unique songs like Pump It Up!, but as an album that I was looking forward to for a VERY long time, it was definitely better than what I was hoping for. It’s full of high-quality music, and if you’re a fan of mellower pop-rock music, you will definitely enjoy this album.

Joy / Happy Ending [BONNIE PINK - 25th Single]

Tracklisting
1) Joy
2) Happy Ending
3) You and I
4) Joy (Instrumental)
5) Happy Ending (Instrumental)

Joy / Happy Ending is BONNIE PINK’s 25th overall single, and the final single in the ONE era. It came out on the 8th of April, 2009.

Unfortunately, Joy starts out slow, with a simple guitar arrangement with drums backing it up. After the high-energy Kane wo Narashite a-side, hearing a slow one like this was a bit of an upset. Despite that, it’s a nice track, similar to quite a few BONNIE songs, which is what makes it good. It doesn’t really know whether it wants to go into ballad territory or whether it wants to be upbeat, which is annoying, but the PV shines a bit of light onto that, because it’s definitely supposed to be a sad song. Which makes the issue of its tone worse, but as it stands, it’s a strong track. Just not her strongest.

And… Happy Ending takes a very similar route. It’s another guitar and drums song, and it’s not exactly fast, either. I do like how it’s a bit more linear in its overall mood, which is the better part of the song. It’s another alright song, but something about it makes it less enjoyable than Joy, and that’s when the song can’t decide whether it wants to be loud or quiet, and ends up going up and down repeatedly in a rather choppy manner. The chorus makes up for this, because it does sound really good, but BONNIE’s vocals aren’t great in the better part of the song, so… it has its ups and downs, but it’s not awful.

Well… Once again, we have a guitar and drum song with You and I. THANKFULLY, this is a faster song, and I daresay that it reminds me of Pump It Up! in a way, except with guitars and drums instead of synths, of which there are a few anyway. It has a retro sound to it, which is another plus, and the better half of it is catchy. The chorus sounds a bit empty, which happens to be the worst part of the song, but the chorus itself doesn’t suffer TOO much from it. Those higher notes near the end, though… I don’t know what to think of BONNIE’s voice here.

Single Score
B

Favorite Track
Joy

This single is a great example of how much Kane wo Narashite hath spoiled me. Both of the a-sides disappointed after such greatness, but they were still good anyway. You and I, unfortunately, pales in comparison to Pump it Up!, which should’ve been an a-side, and unfortunately isn’t even on ONE. Either way, this was an enjoyable single, all the songs were good… It just could’ve been better with a bit of polishing.

CHAIN [BONNIE PINK - 1st Mini-Album/Seasonal Release] (Christmas Review~)

Tracklisting
1) CHAIN
2) Wonderful Christmas Time
3) I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
4) Let It Snow
5) CHAIN ~The Birth Cry~
6) The Christmas Song

CHAIN is BONNIE PINK’s first mini-album, and her first Christmas-themed album, with all tracks except CHAIN and CHAIN ~The Birth Cry~ being covers of popular Christmas songs. It was released on the 26th of November, 2008.

The mini-album opens with the only truly original song, and the namesake of the release, CHAIN. It features all the Christmas staples: Twinkling sounds, light instruments, and the Christmas bells. The verses are largely acoustic, and rather quiet compared to how I thought it would be. Kaori’s vocals are nice, but I’m starting to notice just how… Toneless she can get. She hits the notes well, but her voice seems to follow the same sound for the majority of a song, anyway. Regardless, it’s still an alright Christmas song. I love the chorus, at the least.

Now, I’m not the biggest know-all when it comes to Christmas songs, but I assume the arrangement for Wonderful Christmas Time is rather faithful to the original, as it features a lone piano and marching drums with the same twinkling sounds that were seen in CHAIN, as well as some brass and bells. Now, English isn’t Kaori’s main language, but she can pull it off rather well. She has a bit of an accent, but you can make the majority of it out if you either know the lyrics or pay attention. It’s a rather plain song, but I like how Kaori sounds with the arrangement, so that’s a plus. It’s not great, though.

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus has to be the stupidest Christmas song I’ve ever heard, but it wins points for being more upbeat after two slower songs. I’m not a fan of how Kaori sounds in this song at all, and the arrangement gets annoying rather fast: only beaten out by the lyrics. No, thanks.

Now, Let It Snow is probably the better of the covers so far. Kaori’s voice sounds a lot better with the jazz-focused arrangement, and it’s just overall a better sounding song, probably because of my newfound love for the very jazz sound that made Kaori sound about ten times better. I could have done without the solo’s throughout the song, whether they’re faithful or not, but the vocal parts are still good.

CHAIN ~The Birth Cry~ could really be considered a remix, for all intents and purposes. It’s the same song, but with most of the instruments being cut out, leaving only the piano, drums and christmas bells, with the addition of the organs. Overall, I really prefer this version of CHAIN, as it just sounds so much more intimate and fitting for the season compared to the almost overproduced original.

Kaori and a guitar is pretty much all you’ll hear in The Christmas Song. It is a rather calming song, but I can’t really find much to say about it. I wouldn’t end a mini-album with such a slow song, and it’s an even more underwhelming mini-album closer. Bad positioning.

Mini-Album Score
C

Favorite Tracks
1) CHAIN ~The Birth Cry
2) Let It Snow
3) CHAIN

I really wasn’t expecting this to be that great, seeing as it’s a Christmas mini-album. Unfortunately, I was right. It did have its high points, such as the more instrumental version of the title track. A lot of the covers were too underwhelming to make the album really worth listening to, but the jazzier tracks have their high points that make it worth at least one go-through. Although it does seem to make Kaori’s vocal monotone-ness a bit more apparent.

(P.S. Sorry I didn’t do anything else for the Christmas season, I’m trying to limit my internet download use. I couldn’t find anything to do, anyway.)

Kane wo Narashite/Ring a Bell [BONNIE PINK - 24th Single]

Tracklisting
1. Kane wo Narashite
2. Pump It Up!
3. A Perfect Sky (Bjorn Remix)
4. Kane wo Narashite (Instrumental)
5. Pump It Up! (Instrumental)

Kane wo Narashite is BONNIE PINK’s 24th overall single. The title track is being used as the theme song for the upcoming Xbox 360 game, Tales of Vesperia. The remix of A Perfect Sky originally appeared on the Swedish release of Thinking Out Loud. The single has sold a total of 13,447 copies, and debuted at #8 on the Oricon daily charts, and #9 on the weekly charts. It was released on the 6th of August, 2008.

Kane wo Narashite is another rock song from BONNIE PINK. It has the usual drum and guitar arrangement, though this time it tends to be a bit heavier. It has a more straightforward sound to it, compared to some of her other songs from this genre, which can be seen as a good or bad thing depending on how you like it. Comparing its Japanese lyrics to the arrangement-wise twin song that is Ring A Bell, they don’t seem to fit any better or worse in comparison. The lyrics sound great in both English and Japanese with the same arrangement, which I found interesting. it’s a good song, but I sometimes get a bit bored with it after hearing what she can do with the more rock-oriented sound.

Now THIS is good! I expected Pump It Up! to be a extremely poppy, upbeat, childish sort of song by the title. How wrong I was. BONNIE’s gone into 80’s/90’s territory with the arrangement, and it has a mature sound to it that doesn’t instantly give away the mood of the song. It’s definitely a song you can dance to, and focuses a lot more on synth compared to her usual tracks. BONNIE’s vocals are beyond great here, I absolutely love them in this song. We also get some echo distortions on her voice later on, and BONNIE never really does vocal distortions in her music. If I remember correctly, only one track on Thinking Out Loud has distortions, possibly two. It fits the song well, and it doesn’t kill her voice. However, I will point out that her voice tends to be a bit thin or shaky throughout the song, but I feel it still sounds alright. Despite that, it’s my favorite song at the moment.

The A Perfect Sky Bjorn remix is odd. It has a completely different arrangement, focusing mainly on what I’m pretty sure is some form of percussion, and clapping synth. It cuts out the bridge of the song, and the choruses that both open the song and appear throughout the song are sung with a childrens choir of some sort or another. It sounds like a totally different song, but I actually don’t mind it. It’s interesting to say the least.

Single Score
A+

Favorite Song
Pump It Up!

I wasn’t really looking forward to this single, seeing as I had already heard the English Version. However, the Japanese version of the title track is still good, and the B-Side was absolutely brilliant! The only question this single leaves me asking is why they didn’t just make Pump It Up! an A-Side for a future single instead of putting it here.

All that aside, the two good original tracks, plus the surprisingly good remix, help make an overall good single that blows any from her previous era out of the water. Let’s hope it stays this way for the rest of the era, because at this rate, the album could surpass Thinking Out Loud easily.

—–

Tracklisting
1. Ring A Bell

Ring A Bell is the English version of the single Kane wo Narashite, and was released on the 16th of April, 2008, which is Kaori Asada’s birthday. It will be used in the English version of Tales of Vesperia.

As Ring A Bell is referred to as the English version of Kane wo Narashite, it makes sense that it’s entirely in English. It also came before Kane wo Narashite, and many would have heard this version before the Japanese one. I find it tends to sound better in this version at times due to having less extended choruses that try to fit as many lyrics in as is required, but that may be because of the shorter words the English language tends to commonly use. It’s extremely similar to Kane wo Narashite, and as such, it can’t really get a different score, because her vocal performance is still brilliant, and the lyrics fit perfectly.

Song Score
A+

Instead of wasting a review on a single track, I decided to place Ring A Bell here due to its relation to the actual single, as a way to end my BONNIE PINK spree. One more artist is now up-to-date! So I hope you all enjoy the reviews I’ve given below and here, and hopefully at least one person will now discover how awesome BONNIE PINK can be. Overall, when it comes to this song, however, it is equal to its Japanese counterpart in every way, so more than one listen of one version or the other may not be necessary. They’re both good songs anyway.

Thinking Out Loud [BONNIE PINK - 9th Album]

Tracklisting
1. Gimme A Beat
2. Broken hearts, city lights and me just thinking out loud
3. Burning Inside
4. Nagusami Blue (慰みブルー; lit. Comforting Blue)
5. Imagination
6. A Perfect Sky (Philharmonic Flava)
7. Lullaby
8. Sakamichi (坂道; lit. Hill Road)
9. Water Me
10. Catch The Sun
11. Chances Are
12. Anything For You

Thinking Out Loud is the 9th original album from BONNIE PINK. It debuted at #4 on the Oricon daily charts, and #5 on the weekly charts. It has sold approximately 97,918 copies, and was released on the 25th of July, 2007.

And we start with Gimme A Beat. It was an odd decision to place a B-Side as an opening track for an album, but it was also a good decision, as it tends to set some sort of mood to the album, despite a number of mood swings throughout.

The next track wins my favorite song spot, no doubt about it. Broken hearts, city lights and me just thinking out loud, which happens to be the album’s title track, opens fittingly enough, with the sounds of a bustling city, with obvious people and cars being heard, among other sounds. It’s one of her songs that carries the older rock sound with them, and focuses heavily on drums and guitar with a seemingly minimal amount of synth. It’s rare that such a natural song can carry itself in such a manner with popular music lately, and despite this song getting a bit less natural about halfway through, it carries itself well with the small amount of extra sound that it initially has.

Burning Inside surprised me. I’m sure I’m not the only one who expected this to be a depressing, possible aggressive song, right? instead, it’s another of her trademark rock songs, and it’s strangely upbeat. It utilizes large amounts of synth along with her usual sounds, and because of the synth, I can’t be really sure if she’s using a brass section, or if it’s just part of the synth. Despite this conglomeration, it tends to fit, and it never really overpowers BONNIE’s vocals, which is always a good thing when it comes to these kinds of songs.

Nagusami Blue gives us the first ballad, or at least depressing song, on this album. It carries another odd opening, this time mainly because of the amount of breaks that you hear between the instrument bursts. BONNIE’s voice has an echo added to it as well, which helps set the mood for this song even more. She reaches a high note as soon as the chorus opens, while she’s singing the title of the song, and while it sometimes comes off as somewhat strained, it won’t really detract from the song unless you have OCD when it comes to those things.

Imagination REALLY reminds me of her earlier single, Surprise!, in that BONNIE has a somewhat more aggressive, possibly even grungier arrangement this time around, along with muffling distortions you hear on her voice. It’s a real flashback if you’ve been a fan of BONNIE since the beginning, and it fits surprisingly well on this album despite sounding quite different to the previous tracks on the album. I love how it sounds, and it’s definitely another of my favorites on this album because of its different overall sound. From what I can tell, it’s mainly in English too, though I may be wrong.

A Perfect Sky was definitely my least favorite single this era, and the A Perfect Sky (Philharmonic Flava) version doesn’t help it much. I’m not even sure WHY they left the original version off of the album. I guess they thought this would fit a lot better, and I guess it does with its sound, but they basically tried turning the summery pop song into an orchestrated ballad that originally regains all of its old elements and becomes an orchestrated pop ballads, of sorts. It’s a huge mess sometimes, but I must admit, the orchestra and synth arrangement do mix extremely well the rest of the time.

Lullaby is hard to describe, really. It sounds extremely simplistic with its childish opening synth, and it really only gains drums and guitar as the vocals come in, which should be expected. It gets louder and more interesting when the chorus comes, which was a real song saver for me, as the verses never really cut it. It sounds like filler to me, but it has its moments.

The third song in my top three for this album. Sakamichi is another song in classic BONNIE style, as it sounds more like proper rock instead of pop that’s been synthed to hell. It’s a bit borderline when it comes to what mood it wishes to portray, and comes into the exact middle position between upbeat and downcast. It’s a song like this that really makes you hate talk singing, as BONNIE’s vocals are really good here too. You can never really call ones voice perfect, and there are tiems that it comes off as a bit shakey, but it’s a solid performance.

Another of the few ballads on this album, and also the last single for the era. Water Me has never really impressed me that much, as much as I enjoy the ethereal sounds that you hear in the opening. It just comes off as somewhat stereotypical when it comes to ballads, in my opinion. It’s something a ballad fan would love, but if not, you might be better off steering clear.

This song is closer to A Perfect Sky than anything else. Catch The Sun actually tries to take that sound and mix it with the rockier sound that BONNIE usually gives us, and it works extremely well. It’s an upbeat song, which is a welcome addition after the previous two downcast songs, and they don’t just let the verses fall flat as many of these kinds of songs usually do. Again, I do think BONNIE’s given us better, especially on Golden Tears, her previous album. Despite that, I still love it.

Chances Are is the only ENTIRELY English song on this album. It’s a slow song that focuses more on the acoustic guitar, piano and drums instead of plaguing it with synth, and it’s also orchestrated towards the end. It’s a great song in that it isn’t bogged down artificially, and despite it being 2:55 in length, which is pretty short, it’s one of the album’s best songs. Again, not top 3, but it’s an honourable mention, for sure.

And we close with BONNIE’s second single. Anything For You was definitely this era’s best single, despite it unfortunately being very forgettable for me. Just because I’ve said that doesn’t mean it’s bad, as it’s a great upbeat rock song, and it closes this album perfectly. I can’t think of a better song to close it, so it was a great decision to put it here.

Album Score
A+

Favorite Songs
Broken hearts, city lights and me just thinking out loud; Imagination; Sakamichi

Despite not every track being top notch, this is definitely my favorite BONNIE PINK album because of its more back to basics sound when it comes to her style, and how it also tries to keep a mixed theme when it comes to its songs. When it comes to fans of BONNIE’s previous two albums, it might be a bit different compared to what you’re used to. Then again, it might be very similar, I haven’t heard them in ages. If you’re a fan of BONNIE, or the rockier kind of pop, then you’ll definitely like at least one song on this album, if not a collection. Many of you know how much I love BONNIE PINK, and this album is great for proof of why.

Water Me [BONNIE PINK - 23rd Single]

Tracklisting
1. Water Me
2. Gimme A Beat
3. MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR
4. Water Me (Instrumental)
5. Gimmie A Beat (Instrumental)

Water Me is BONNIE PINK’s 23rd overall single, and the final single before the release of her album, Thinking Out Loud. Every track has a promotional purpose, with Water Me being the theme for the Fuji TV drama Watashi-tachi no Kyoukasho, Gimme A Beat being used as the Nissan Moco CM song and MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR being used as the NHK TV show Eigo de Shabera Night. It debuted at #6 on the Daily Oricon charts, and #8 on the weekly charts. It was released on the 6th of June, 2007.

Water Me is the only ballad single you’ll hear in BONNIE PINK’s Thinking Out Loud era, and it starts off somewhat sply, with just a piano and some ethereal synth accompanying BONNIE’s vocals, before introducing some piano and drums to enter into the chorus, which seems to be a lot quieter than the more grandiose ballads you’ll hear, for the most part, which I think helps this song even more than you’d think it would. Of course, the second chorus is opened with some electric guitar being accompanied by an orchestra that’s actually there for most of the song, so at this part, it tends to get a bit louder, but either way, it keeps the same general theme. I have to admit, this song just doesn’t really impress me that much, but I tend to hate ballads lately, so it’s pretty good for what it is. If you really like ballads, you’ll definitely get something out of it.

Gimme A Beat opens with some very odd sounds that may or may not be synth, but it sounds sort of strained before leading into an arrangement that reminds me more of a guitar than anything. I’m pretty sure there’s some in there, but the song overall sticks to the usual drum theme that BONNIE loves. It’s a nice upbeat song, and it has some interesting sounds throughout that hold your interest a bit more. Definitely nothing more than B-side material, but B-Sides can be good.

I must admit, I’m not a fan of The Beatles. I was upset when I saw BONNIE had covered them, and I was even more upset by it when I saw she was covering MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. I didn’t like it in the first place personally, and the synth has so much going on that, when mixed with BONNIE’s somewhat (and oddly) monotonous and bored vocals, it actually comes off sounding horrible. A different Beatles song might’ve been a better idea for her, but I would have steered clear completely if I was her, as none of their songs would really suit her style much at all anyway. At least it was just a minor B-Side.

Single Score
B

Favorite Song
Gimme A Beat

Overall, I wasn’t exceedingly blown away by this single, and the inclusion of the Beatles cover really killed it for me. It’s an alright single, and you’ll most likely enjoy it a lot more than I did if you’re someone that can really stand ballads. She’s a lot better at her classic rock style, and I’m hoping she sticks with that. She certainly does in this era, but in the future, we can only hope, right?

Anything For You [BONNIE PINK - 22nd Single]

Tracklisting
1. Anything For You
2. Love Song (UC a.k.a DJ UPPERCUT REMIX) (m-flo loves BONNIE Pink)
3. Anything For You (Instrumental)

Anything For You is the 22nd single from BONNIE PINK, and the second in the Thinking Out Loud era. It debuted at #5 on the Oricon Daily charts, and #9 on the Weekly charts. It has sold approximately 19,900 copies, and was released on the 28th of March, 2007.

Despite being a huge fan of BONNIE, she has a few songs that I can never remember. Anything For You is one of these songs, but as I listen to it again for this review, I can’t for the life of me pinpoint WHY it’s one of these songs. After a large session of listening to the techno-pop music that everyone’s into these days, it’s a song like this that helps you get out of that mode, as it’s a happy, upbeat, rockish song that utilises an odd synth sound throughout, that happens to perfectly compliment the drum and guitar arrangements throughout the song. It sounds like a real summer song, despite when it was released (Well, knowing the seasons of the world, it could very well have been released in Summer, I’m not sure), and it has the feeling of older styles of rock that make BONNIE’s music so original in this time, as a lot of artists go for the synthetic style now, whether it be techno or otherwise. It’s certainly not her best song, but it’s a great one. It has an awesomely unusual outro to it as well.

To be totally honest, I don’t have an MP3 of the remix for this single, so if anyone could provide it, I’d be much obliged. I don’t expect much from it, but I’d like it for a complete review. I won’t take it into account for the overall single score though.

Single Score
B+

Favorite Song
Anything For You

I’m sorry, I know this isn’t a complete song, but if you ignore the remix and just claim it doesn’t exist, then this is a great single. I love the title track, though it’s admittedly not her best work ever. It’s actually a great indicator of how the rest of the album is gonna turn out, as a lot of the songs have this old rock sound to them. So, if you like this single, then you’re sure to like the album it comes from. Anyway, discarding all that, it’s a good song.

A Perfect Sky [BONNIE PINK - 21st Single]

Tracklisting
1. A Perfect Sky
2. Free
3. interlude -siesta-
4. A Perfect Sky (Instrumental)

A Perfect Sky is the 21st single from BONNIE PINK, and the first from the Thinking Out Loud era. It debuted at #5 on the weekly Oricon charts, and is currently BONNIE’s most successful single. It has sold a total of 133,315 copies, and was released on the 28th of June, 2008.

I’ve gotta admit, I used to love A Perfect Sky a LOT more than I do now. It has a cheerful, Summery sound to it, and BONNIE’s voice sounds great, but it just pales in comparison to a lot of the stuff you hear on Thinking Out Loud. It sounds a bit too mainstream, and doesn’t try to set itself apart, which is a shame. I mean, it sounds great, but it’s just too bland to last you for long.

Free does a much better job at setting itself apart. It has the whole island theme to it, with the overall instrumental to it. Something about it still doesn’t work for me, and it’s mainly BONNIE’s vocals. They sound somewhat shaky in this song, which isn’t something you see from BONNIE in this song. You can tell she tried this vocal style to suit the arrangement, but it still doesn’t seem to work very well, for me at least.

Now, why would you include an interlude on a single? It’s not something you see very often, but hey, the siesta interlude sounds good enough to at least make it somewhat passable as a single track. I mean, it’s mainly the sounds of waves and an acoustic guitar, but hey, who doesn’t like the calming sound of the ocean once in a while?

Single Score
C-

Favorite Track
Free

I’m never really a huge fan of BONNIE’s singles. All the pure gold is found on the albums themselves, not the preceeding singles. Granted, A Perfect Sky doesn’t actually appear on the album (It’s basically a remix that appears), but it’s definitely my least favorite in this era. Which is ironic, as it’s the song/single that made me a BONNIE PINK fan. Go figure…

New Feature~

I, and maybe even a few of you, am/are going to hate me/myself for doing this, but I have another feature. A few of you who were here when I first started Vitamin Drop, or during my brief stint of running Monochrome Effect, may have seen a single pop up from this artist, which was abruptly removed (because I had trouble finding the rest of her releases.) Anyway, she is now back…

I’m almost certain that every J-Pop fan has at least HEARD of BONNIE PINK, also known by her real name Kaori Asada. She’s one of the only few to rival Angela Aki for the title of my favorite J-Pop artist (Perfume and Ami Suzuki are brief stints. Electronic music never lasts forever on me, I always go back to the pop and pop-rock), and as such, I thought I’d feature her after hearing about her single, Kane wo Narashite (The Japanese version of the English version of Tales of Vesperia’s insert song, Ring A Bell, obviously also sung by BONNIE PINK.) If I can find all of her singles for Thinking Out Loud, I’ll start there, but otherwise, I’ll be starting with the aforementioned Kane wo Narashite when it is released in early August.