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Tracklisting
1) DAYS
2) PRECIOUS
3) TELEPHONE
4) LIES
5) STAR
6) STAND
7) WHY
8) JOKER
9) SKIN
10) BEAUTIFUL
BEAUTIFUL is the 6th album from techno-pop artist MEG, and the third produced by Yasutaka Nakata. It had one single, PRECIOUS, before release, and had three promotional tracks and PV’s not including the single: SKIN, BEAUTIFUL and FREAK <yasutaka nakata remix>, which only appeared on the DVD and not the album itself. It was released on the 27th of May, 2009.
MEG has always been a mixed bag throughout her whole Nakata career. Sometimes she gets a song that you can’t help but love, sometimes you get crap. Unfortunately, BEAUTIFUL doesn’t change this formula one bit. But does that make it a bad album?
There are some points towards that result: There are quite a few bad tracks, and the intro, DAYS, has to be the worst track. It’s only a two minute intro, but honestly, the synths are so bad that you can’t help but instantly be turned off by how awfully ear-splitting it is. The album would be better off without this and having the FREAK remix go at the end of the album instead. Other bad points on the album include WHY, the song that tries to be edgy and hot but ultimately fails due to how long it drags on and how especially awful MEG sounds. STAR, the obligatory techno-ballad, was predictably dull and predictable again (Seriously, are they TRYING to make them sound the same?), and STAND was trying a bit too hard to sound different while still being cute, and would ultimately have been better if MEG had not been put under a vocoder due to the natural instrumentation we get.
These songs behind, there are many reasons to like the album too. PRECIOUS is still as addictive as it was back in its single days (albeit a bit duller without the cats, lulz), and SKIN and BEAUTIFUL are still as addictive and great to listen to as when they were released as promotional videos for the album. However, there are two cases that deserve a very special mention here: TELEPHONE, an upbeat pop song that has an edgy feel to its synths and a high-energy synth arrangement that even I would dance to; and LIES, the aggressive, gritty techno track that follows a similar vein to SKIN as the musically-focused track of the album, and easily takes the spot as the stand-out for me: an improvement to SKIN in almost every way. JOKER also falls into the favorites category, being much bouncier than most of the songs here.
Of course, MEG is once again a hindrance to herself. Seriously, her vocals can be so bad sometimes that I’m surprised she even got a record deal. THANKFULLY, this is a much 
smaller complaint compared to her previous albums, and I’d say she gives her best vocal performance in this album. The tracklisting is a disappointment, too: I don’t care about the length, all MEG albums are short. BUT WHERE IS THE FREAK REMIX?! It deserved to be on this album as much as the other songs, and it was ten times better than the original FREAK to boot, so that was a blow to the people out there who shared my view. We definitely could have done without the introduction on this album, too, especially because of the length.
One last thing needs to be said about this album: It makes variation look good. She’s tried a few sounds here that she hasn’t used in a while, with STAND being a late relic from her pre-Nakata days, despite how poorly executed I thought it was. This topped with the quality makes this the recommended album for curious listeners to start with in my opinion, as it’s a lot friendlier than her last albums were.
Album Score
B
Favorite Tracks
1) LIES
2) TELEPHONE
3) JOKER
4) BEAUTIFUL
5) PRECIOUS
I can easily say that this album is full of MEG’s best work yet, and, in turn, Nakata’s best work producing her. It had its low points, but let’s be honest: It’s MEG. She’s full of flaws as it is, so take it as you’re given and enjoy it for what it is. It was nice to see a few differences compared to her last albums, and I was very happy to see a bit of improvement here. This has definitely brought MEG out of her mediocrity for me, but she has a long way to go until she really proves herself in my eyes.
PV Review 1 – FREAK <yasutaka nakata remix>
GOOD LORD, NAKATA, YOU SEXY BASTARD, I COULD KISS YOU!
I was already a fan of FREAK when Hadouken! first produced it. Now, Nakata’s taken it and twisted it into a cutesy techno-pop that immediately trumps most of her old material, including PRECIOUS. The remix is cute, bright and full of the vocoder, making the vocals sound completely different than they originally did when the vocoder wasn’t included. Although, MEG didn’t sing it again: The repositioning of the vocals and the vocoder can just sort of make it sound like she did.
There still aren’t really any lyrics in the song, but that should be expected when it’s a remix and the original didn’t have any. So, I shouldn’t be saying good job MEG. I should be saying… FANTASTIC JOB, NAKATA, YOU FREAKISHLY TALENTED BASTARD! I love it. So much more than the original.
The PV’s kind of odd though. Most of it is just MEG making dolls and watching the process in the factory. The second half begins with a full-DOLL re-enactment of the FREAK PV, before transitioning into a segment of the original PV (still with the remixed song), with flashes of the almost anime-like doll faces covering MEG and the random guys faces every now and then. It ends in an extremely adorable fashion with a doll face dropping off of MEG’s face and her coughing. It’s adorably cute, yet also kind of boring and old-fashioned, with a random splash of freakiness added to it with those dolls. (I CAN’T STAND THEM, OKAY?!)
All in all, it’s just FREAK improved by an extremely large amount.
Song Score
A+
PV Score
C+
Overall Score
B-
PV Review 2 – SKIN
Ooooookay, now things get kind of… Freaky. SKIN is one of MEG’s lyrically inept songs, focusing more on the music instead of the vocals. It’s a pretty monotonous song, focusing on the one repeating rhythm pretty often. It does get a bit more aggressive pretty quickly, with a few slow-downs and changes here and there. There isn’t much to comment on. It’s okay, but it’s not exactly mind-blowing. I like it, but it’s not going to win the album for me. I mean, already I can tell that LIES is going to take the position as the grittiest, most interesting song (of that format, anyway) on the album. I find it odd that “Gimmie some skin” is the most prevalent line in the song, and since she says “more than just skin” after that line, it makes you wonder what she’s on about. Sex? S&M slaves? Maybe just a deskinned guys skin? I’ll stop right there, this is just getting freakier and freakier.
The PV is just… Strange. MEG pops her head out of the whole with that flower pot sitting on her head, and all hell breaks loose as she tries to command pink things that are ten times worse than anything that has ever been in her PVs. There’s also some random “dancing” from MEG and multiple copies of her running out of a tube, shoving their hands and heads out of holes. And then there’s the kaleidoscope. It’s just a very odd PV, and it wins points for its bizarre, disconcerting nature.
I’ve actually had some pretty morbid thoughts about this song. Check them out here~
Song Score
B
PV Score
B
Overall Score
B
PV Review 3 – BEAUTIFUL
I think FREAK just found its largest competitor. BEAUTIFUL is, at the moment, my favorite full-length song that has been announced for the album. It kind of channels HEART, but it’s a lot more mature, and it’s closer to a pop-ballad than a bubblegum pop song. As repetitive and unchanging as the rhythm is, I actually enjoy it a lot, and MEG’s usual squeaky singing voice isn’t really dimming my view of the song, either. It’s actually rather long-winded at just over six minutes in length, so it depends on how well you can stand MEG and her sound, really, whether you’d like the song or not. Though I will say, that instrumental at the end of the song is undeniably catchy. I can’t find much to hate about this song, really. The length isn’t an issue at all, either, with how much I like it.
The PV kind of channels a few of her other PVs. It starts with MEG popping up from the bottom of the screen, just like in SKIN, but this time it’s just to introduce the PV, not really star in it. That comes right after, with MEG climbing into a bed. She’s actually standing in it, though, so don’t go thinking she was lying down. The PV tries to confuse you like that. It’s a huge conglomeration of Red Riding Hood, some hippy singing to animals (though she is quite cute in these parts, I will admit), and then the FREAK remix PV is referenced with a doll factory popping up a few times in the PV, one time with MEG acting as one of the dolls. The cats from some of her previous PVs come back here, and there’s a new black, moon-face kind of thing that stars in it, too. MEG also dances on a stage with two cats and two moon-faces, which actually looks rather adorable with how freakishly deformed and overly large the cats are. Those things are cute no matter what poor bastard is stuck inside them. It’s all just a huge bit of adorable, though. I love it.
So, all in all, this package was a lot better than the FREAK remix overall, but the song is on par, if not slightly better than it. Both highly surpass SKIN, but I don’t hate that, either.
Song Score
A+
PV Score
A+
Overall Score
A+
Total PV Scores
B
This may seem like a rather small amount of tracks to base the album off of, especially since the FREAK remix isn’t really a track, but if you take PRECIOUS into account, these three songs really help boost my confidence, at least, in how I think the album is going to turn out. Both BEAM and STEP had quite a few flaws to each of them that kept them from being good, but (keeping in mind that I’m definitely not MEG’s biggest fan) I really think this album has a shot at being rather spectacular in its own right. The DVD will be at least decent with what we were given here (Thankfully, because I ordered the CD+DVD version myself), so it definitely looks like there’s a lot to look forward to here.
Tracklisting
1) FREAK
2) TOXIC
3) TOXIC (THE LOWBROWS Gimmie Five remix)
FREAK is MEG’s first single in one of her parallel-running album era’s: In this case, the era for her concept mini-album that will feature many international artists. FREAK and TOXIC were both produced by the English group Hadouken!, while the remix for TOXIC was remixed by THE LOWBROWS. This makes it her first single since before the BEAM era (not including When You Wish Upon A Star, which wasn’t an official release) not to be produced by Nakata Yasutaka. it was released on the 11th of February, 2009.
Fans of MEG, prepare to be shocked. FREAK is like nothing you’ve ever heard from her before. It features a heavy, grungy, more connected sound to it, and is devoid of the Techno sound that MEG has been using for the past two era’s. She’s even singing (read: shouting) without the aid of a vocoder, and while her voice still sounds a bit weird like it did under Nakata’s production, she still sounds a LOT better than she did in most of her songs. It lacks any real structure to it, but you can sort of make out a chorus, which I would say starts when she starts ad-libbing before singing the “Freak freak freak on yo-ou~” part. It’s an interesting song, and while it took a few days to really grow on me, I can say now that Hadouken! getting their hands on MEG wasn’t actually a very bad idea.
And TOXIC just makes me even more sure of that point, because this is fantastic. Unlike FREAK, TOXIC focuses on beats instead of its connected sound. It’s even heavier and grungier than FREAK was, and MEG is singing without the aid of a vocoder once again. The shouting’s back as well. This song has a much more noticable structure to it, which overall makes it sound a lot better. While the verses are catchy, the chorus is even better. An odd little inclusion was the tambourine that’s playing through the whole song, and speeds up in the chorus to sound almost like Christmas bells. The “Let’s have a party” section in the after-chorus is one of the catchier parts, but overall, I can say this should have been the a-side on this single. Or at least, an a-side on another single.
Sadly, once again, the remix is where the single falls to pieces. Remember how I hated on THE LOWBROWS and their version of the Little Mermaid song Under The Sea? The TOXIC Gimmie Five remix sounds rather similar to that. It’s much quieter than the previous two songs, and it uses a lot of short looped vocal sections that have some effects added to them. The first half of the song is a real hot mess, and I can’t really enjoy it at all. The section that starts at 1:23 is better though, as I can rather stand it, but that doesn’t last long; it does come back briefly later on though. The second half of the song starts at about 1:58, with the “Let’s have a party” section, and follows with a halt of all sounds and a rushing synth, before the chorus, LOWBROWS style comes in. The new sound works a LOT better in this second half, which mainly focuses on the chorus, but I’m still not loving it.
Single Score
A
Favorite Track
TOXIC
So, thankfully, this single was actually really good! FREAK may be a bit strange at first, and TOXIC could be as well due to some similarities between the two tracks, but any fans of Hadouken!, and any MEG AND Hadouken! fans should definitely feel right at home with this single. THE LOWBROWS seem to be doing quite a few bad things lately in my opinion, but remixes are always bad. Kudos, MEG, now all we need is the mini-album!
Tracklisting
1) When You Wish Upon A Star – MEG x Q;indivi [Pinocchio]
2) Beauty and the Beast – World Sketch [Beauty and the Beast]
3) Part Of Your World [HOUSE NATION Remix] – Q;indivi [The Little Mermaid]
4) The Enchanted Fairy Garden – Fantastic Plastic Machine [Tokyo Disneyland Disney's Fantillution!]
5) Mickey Mouse March – AYASE KOZUE [The Mickey Mouse Club]
6) A Whole New World – Late Night Alumni [Aladdin]
7) He’s A Pirate – 80kidz [Pirates of the Carribean]
8) Under The Sea – THE LOWBROWS [The Little Mermaid]
9) Baby Mine – Kaskade [Dumbo]
10) Reflection – Eric Kupper [Mulan]
11) When She Loved Me – A Hundred Birds feat. TeN [Toy Story 2]
12) Main Street Electrical Parade – Shinichi Osawa [Disneyland]
House☆Disney is a compilation/cover album that features many different Disney songs that have been rearranged and recorded by different techno and house artists, thus putting a new sound to the classic songs. However, there have been no language changes in the midst of the re-recording. The album was released on the 28th of January, 2o09.
The album opens with When You Wish Upon A Star, from the movie Pinocchio, which features MEG and Q;indivi in a dual effort. Obviously, it was also the major draw of the album for me, with MEG being in it. ANYWAY, the song opens simply with a surprisingly true rendition of how the original started, with sparkling synths and a music box playing the melody while the opening lyrics are sung over it. This is where the song takes a new turn, as the verse synth holds an extremely techno-influenced sound, with robotic beeps and blares making up the whole sound. MEG’s pulling her usual vocal issues here, which was a bit of a draw, and you can barely make out the lyrics as she sings, which kind of kills it. The chorus keeps the new techno spin, with the inclusion of many of the sounds heard in both the opening, and the original song. It’s rather linear in its arrangement, as it continues like this for the whole song, but it is a really enjoyable rendition, which is surprising since I wasn’t a huge fan of the original.
Now the songs start sounding a little less like their original counterparts. Beauty and the Beast, performed by World Sketch, still has the original piano in it, following the same melody and everything, but this time the newly spun synths are present through the whole song, giving a nice mix of piano and dance beats, which works well with the clear, crisp vocals that seem to be hitting all the notes perfectly. The synths sort of drown their voices out at times in the song, though. The end is rather enjoyable, as you can’t really detect any vocal faults as they’re singing, which makes me think they’ve distorted or altered them somehow, but you can’t detect anything if they have. It sounds brilliant overall.
Part Of Your World’s HOUSE NATION remix, performed by Q;indivi, sounds even less like the original did compared to the other two, which may be because it’s a remix, and yet it’s still the most enjoyable so far. It’s entirely made up of dance beats this time, and even more surprising is the vocals. As far as I can tell, Q;indivi only uses one vocal in all their songs, and while tracks like Just were absolutely horrible, they sound fantastic here. If they don’t use different vocalists, then kudos to them because the vocalist’s airy, thin voice suits the nature of the song perfectly. If they do, then at least this song still sonds great. This song has the usual techno break-down near the end, which is really the only change in the song, but either way it sounds great.
I’ve never heard this next song before in my life, so it’s come as quite a bit of a surprise to me. The Enchanted Fairy Garden (performed by Fantastic Plastic Machine) reminds me of one song in particular: Otsuka Ai’s Shachihata. While the cheerful, fast-paced synths are nothing like that song, a similar vocal style as in Shachihata is used here. I’m liking how the synths sound, but the vocals are just too strange, especially when the guy is doing them. At least the woman doesn’t sound horribly out of place.
Again, I’ve never heard the original Mickey Mouse March, but I’m sure it wasn’t like AYASE KOZUE’s version. A light techno synth is the main attaction of the song, with some whistling (which I know was in the original) and some distorted voices playing in intervals. The vocals carry a bit of distortion all around in this song, but they just sound out of place most of the time, and the childish vocals that sing along sound even stranger against the synths. The constat chanting of the letters in Mickey’s name makes the song even more annoying. The synth sounds nice here, but the rest is just too grating.
A Whole New World, performed by Late Night Alumni, is yet another total reworking of the original that doesn’t include anything from the original apart from the lyrics. It features a subdued sound, with what sounds like an electronically muffled electric guitar playing the entire arrangement instead of synths, though there are some obvious synths throughout the song. The vocals are in a similar subdued manner, so at least they suit the music. I do like this version, but it’s a shame that it wasn’t anywhere near as epic as the original.
Now we come to the first of the instrumentals on the album. He’s A Pirate, performed by 80kidz, is now a heavy techno song. I haven’t heard much of the original, yet again, but the familiar piano melody is present in the song, with the strings present as well. The rest of the song, however, is an unrecognisable fare, and it’s too much of a mess to really enjoy.
Unfortunately, THE LOWBROWS’ version of Under The Sea was horribly mutilated for this album. Yet again, it’s a heavy dance fare, with no signs of the original being visible at all. The western-styled vocals (they actually sound a lot like Christina Aguilera or another similarly-voiced artist) fit the synths well, but overall it’s just a horrible mutilation that turned a carefree song into a foreboding dance song.
Baby Mine, by Kaskade, is a lot more bearable than the last two songs, thankfully. It’s still entirely made up of dance synths, but they aren’t as messy or heavy this time. It contains a rather melancholic set of synths, and some light, wispy vocals that suit its sound well. Sometimes it sounds like the song can’t decide which mood it wants to settle on and utilize in different sections of the song, and once again it sounds nothing like the original did or was intended to. But, as I said, it is a lot more bearable than the previous two mutilations.
Reflection, which was handled by Eric Kupper, features a much more light hearted, latin-influenced sound, with vocals that sound rather western. Once again, it sounds nothing like the original, which is actually rather annoying since this is supposed to be a Disney album, but it is one of the most enjoyable songs on the album up to this point either way.
It’s at this stage that I’ve given up on hoping any of the songs sound like their original versions. Thankfully, When She Loved Me, by A Hundred Birds and TeN, is actually recognisable. I can actually believe that this came from Toy Story 2 while listening to it. The accented English sounds great against the echoing, simple synth backing track. Later on in the song, there are some quiet dance beats added into the song, but they’re nowhere near the main focus of the song. I was glad to hear something like this, despite being the second last track.
And the last track is both the second instrumental, and the second song not to come from a movie, with the first being The Enchanted Fairy Garden. Main Street Electrical Parade, produced by Shinichi Osawa, is instead a reworking of a Disneyland song. Having never been to Disneyland (and not having access to the original), I don’t know what the original sounds like, but this rendition actually sounds rather reminiscent to something capsule would bring out. It’s a simple synth arrangement with an array of beeps and blares and trumpet-like sounds that slowly come into the song at different times. The highlight of the song is definitely the “chorus” that first comes in at around 2:30, as it actually sounds like something that would be used in a parade at Disneyland. It’s rather repetitive, and yet it’s one of the more enjoyable songs.
Album Score
C-
Favorite Tracks
1. When You Wish Upon A Star – Meg x Q;indivi
2. Part Of Your World (HOUSE NATION Remix) – Q;indivi
3. Beauty and the Beast – World Sketch
4. When She Loved Me – A Hundred Birds feat. TeN
5. Main Street Electrical Parade – Shinichi Osawa
To be blunt, this album was extremely disappointing. Most of them sounded nothing like the originals, which makes me wonder why they bothered covering a Disney song and ruining it when they could’ve just created an original song with that sound. Granted, I haven’t heard a few songs on the album, so I could be completely wrong, but I didn’t really expect an album with the Disney moniker to sound like a heavy dance album with relatively few references to the original songs. I would really just recommend watching the PV for When You Wish Upon A Star when it comes out.
MEG and I have a real love-hate relationship, as I’m sure most of you will know by now. Her last album STEP and last Nakata-produced single, PRECIOUS, were both great releases, so I can’t complain too much about them. This is when Hadouken! comes in and spits all over MEG’s career.
When I first heard FREAK, I was pretty much disgusted. It’s got a loud, grungy electronic sound to it, very similar to Hadouken!’s music. In fact, they didn’t even try to change the sound at all, they just slapped MEG onto their usual sound. As such, the song involves a lot of shouting and talk-singing. The song really repeats the same lines over and over again, and it lacks any real structure at all. It’s a hot mess.
However, if you can stand MEG’s usual vocals, then the singing should be pretty bearable for most of you. If you give the rest of the song a chance, it definitely has the potential to grow on you, as it did for me. It’s an interesting song, even by MEG’s standards. If you’re a fan of both Hadouken! and MEG, you should be able to cotton on instantly and love it from the first time you hear it, but for most others, I can definitely see it taking some work.
The PV, however, is something I still can’t really enjoy. It features three random guys who I ASSUME are the male members of Hadouken!, and they all look like… Well, freaks, which is rather fitting. MEG herself looks interesting, and I’d actually like her look, if it wasn’t for one glaring flaw: Her hair makes it look like the bride of Frankenstein and Professor Frankenstein took an egg and some sperm and used a lion as the surrogate mother. Mushroom head MEG is also here, but only for about two or three scenes, and she’s just floating on a box in space, which makes me wonder why that was the style they chose to use in the cover.
Anyway, the video mainly consists of MEG and her three freaks playing in some kind of fake live performance, then doing some random mundane stuff like smoking and fighting, with random intervals of flying mushroom MEG and the members being stuck in said glass box, except in the live area. It’s a weird, almost stupid PV that instantly screams “b-horror movie”. The song grew on me, but I think the PV will take a while.
Song Score
A-
PV Score
D-
Overall Score
B-
In a sense, FREAK is disappointing. It could have been something great, and yet we were stuck with a grower. Thankfully, it was a grower that eventually became something I can listen to and surprisingly enjoy, but the PV is too much of an eyesore. Hadouken! producing MEG was an interesting experiment, and while the song just managed to come out good, I wouldn’t trust them with produing anything other than FREAK and TOXIC, the b-side to FREAK. Thankfully, Hadouken! isn’t the only producer of her upcoming concept album, so there’s hope.
Tracklisting
1. PRECIOUS
2. CANDY
3. PRECIOUS (end of summer mix)
I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT TO REVIEW THIS~ PRECIOUS is MEG’s thirteenth overall single, and her fourth single on the Universal Music Japan label. Is it also her first single to have a CD+DVD release. It was released on the 17th of September, 2008.
PRECIOUS opens with a simple, quiet bang, and MEG’s vocals. Despite still having an odd edge to her voice, I find it compliments this song very well. It’s another pop song, like most of her a-sides are, but it tends to sound more like an actual pop song apart from the vocal distortions, as some natural instruments can be heard in the background. The chorus and bridge are nice; they could be better, but I love this song’s chorus. It just sounds a lot perkier and happier, which suits the overall mood of the song, and MEG sounds best in this section.
I’d just like to add: You’ve got to love the cats.
CANDY opens with a short harp burst, before leading into a mainly natural arrangement involving the drums and a bit of synth. MEG’s voice sounds a bit weird on the first extended note, and it could be better for the rest of it, but it’s been much worse. There’s something odd about the way she says candy, too, but it’s not overly terrible. I like the laid back mood this song has in comparison to some of her other songs, and in comparison to PRECIOUS. The extra synths added in about halfway through the song help it pick up a lot more, so it ends up sounding pretty good.
I hated the PRECIOUS (end of summer mix) when I first heard it. I didn’t think the vocals fit the new, island-themed instrumental at all. Well, I’m thinking it sounds a lot better now, and it actually comes off sounding like a half-decent remix for once. Something’s still missing in the chorus and the bridge to chorus transition, but overall, it’s an interesting take on the song.
Single Score
A
Favorite Track
PRECIOUS
When I first heard this single, I wasn’t exactly too keen on it, to say the least. Well, after I forgot about it and left the review waiting for a good month and a bit, I started to enjoy the single a lot more than I originally did, and it may be one of MEG’s few singles where I’ve at least moderately enjoyed every song given on it. This is probably a good place to start if you’re looking to get into MEG.
Tracklisting
1. MAGIC
2. KITTENISH
3. MAKE LOVE
4. PRISM BOY
5. HEART
6. SUPERSONIC
7. SEARCHLIGHT
8. NATALIE
9. KITTENISH <ynnk mix> (CD-Only Bonus Track)
10. PRISM BOY <Extended Mix> (CD-Only Bonus Track)
STEP is MEG’s fifth overall album, and her second under the Universal Music Japan label, AND her second to be produced entirely by Nakata Yasutaka. It reached #8 on the Oricon charts, and has sold approximately 24,928 copies. It was released on the 18th of June, 2008: Only six months after her last album, BEAM.
STEP opens with the first single from this era, MAGIC. The song opens instantly with the chorus, and MEG’s voice is still carrying that odd sound here, and she’s still twisting her voice to ungodly levels. The synth is simple enough, consisting mainly of simple beeps and smaller sounds. When it gains a few more synth sounds later on, it gets better, and overall it’s a good song. It just has a few vocal flaws, and tends to be a bit boring at times.
KITTENISH, the second song on the album, may sound familiar to fans of another of Nakata’s other band, Perfume. The opening synths follow a similar style to the Perfume song “Take me Take me”, from their album GAME, except in a much rougher tone. This tone is rather interesting, and doesn’t really sound like it fits in a song with a name like KITTENISH. The whole song follows this rougher, more aggressive theme, with the majority of the synth taking on this sort of sound. MEG’s vocals are a bit better here, and her voice seems to fit these more mature songs a bit better than many of her cute songs so far. Which makes me wonder why Nakata doesn’t give her more of them.
An an odd twist, we now come with the deeper club song, MAKE LOVE. It consists of an extremely deep thumping synth, with the usual random synth sound thrown in. MEG comes in singing in shorter sentences with a deeper, slightly more vocoded voice with an echo effect placed on it. The effect is sort of odd, but it works well together. Soon into the song, there are some really loud motor-ish synths that get kind of ear-splitting, before going back to the normal arrangement that’s been throughout most of the song so far. About two and a half minutes in, the overall arrangement gets louder, and MEG takes on an extremely robotic vocoded voice instead of the echoing one we’d heard before. This is followed by vocals that are once AGAIN, different from before; a bit more mysterious and loud. Once again, we go back to the original vocals with an even quieter arrangement, and by this point, it sounds like the song should be over; It’s not. This song is 7:21 minutes long, so it tends to drag on QUITE a bit, and while the many different sounds help break the song up throughout, and despite personally loving the opening synth and vocals, it ends up becoming too annoying or too boring, so you’ll most likely never really sit through this one.
PRISM BOY once again takes on a more mature sound, with loud echoing synths. MEG’s vocals are at a higher register once again, and they fit the synth arrangement pretty well, which is good. She isn’t doing horrid things to her voice at this stage either, so hopefully she learns from this. (We all know she doesn’t, but anyway.) The chorus takes on the usual backing sound that you hear in many Nakata songs (if you listen closely), and MEG’s vocals are actually really good here. It takes on a feeling of melancholy, which is a new thing for MEG, and I think it works well. It actually sounds sort of like an 80’s song, as well. This is definitely one of her better Nakata songs.
Next up is the annoyingly cute HEART. While the overall synth arrangement is a lot poppier than the last three songs’ have been, which is a good thing, MEG’s back to doing those vocal twistings and mutilations that we all know and love so well, and it pretty much drags the song down. Even if she sang properly, I doubt it would help much: The song just sounds a bit too generic for it to be any real form of entertainment.
Now we have the SECOND 7 minute song on the album, SUPERSONIC. The good thing about this one is, it’s bearable. It opens with a normal rising synth, leading into another heavier synth arrangement. MEG then comes in singing, and her voice is heavily vocoded again. She’s obviously learnt on how to do a heavier song, as she doesn’t screw around with her voice this time. The synth arrangement shortly after the vocals constantly rises up and down, which sounds pretty good, and it quickly leads into more vocals that are identical to the first ones. After THIS, the arrangement gets really interesting, and starts sounding like something you could dance to, with the aggressive edge that makes it interesting. At this time, MEG starts doing smaller vocal lines that have her weird vocals again, before singing along with the better synth line. The song follows this method throughout, but it’s kept interesting by the constant changes and by never getting so loud that it’s going to get on your nerves more than it has to.
Next up is another lighter number, SEARCHLIGHT. I quite like the clean, thumping beat this song has, and initially it sounds quite reminiscent of Amai Zeitaku, her first Nakata single. Her vocals sound great at first, and she’s staying on key and not messing around. The chorus takes it up a few keys, and while there isn’t much of a change, it still sounds great. The instrumental after this part takes on a much more synthed sound, and it comes out sounding pretty good, though it does tend to get pretty loud once again, before reaching its peak and looping back to the original vocal level. While it’s not a dance tune, it carries a mature sound that makes it more bearable than her cuter songs, and makes it fit better with the overall sound of this album.
NATALIE closes the CD+DVD version of STEP. This is probably one of MEG’s more natural songs, as it consists entirely of a piano and drums, possibly with some guitar, and it sounds a lot better than the remix did. She’s still messing around with her voice quite a bit, which drags it down, but a natural song on a highly synthesized album is always a nice touch, and it helps change it up to leave the album on a fresher note. It does tend to get sort of boring, though, so it’s not all great.
For the CD-only owners, it’s not over yet, and the bonus tracks begin with the KITTENISH <ynnk mix>. This one takes on a much choppier sound, with some higher pitched thumping played over the much higher synth. There’s some distorted voices saying “disco” or something similar in the background, and eventually the usual vocal track leads into the song, after an 8-bit synth line is added into the already lively mix. The track fits well here too, but there is still some conflicting in between all the ruckus that’s going on in here, and eventually the mass of sounds is going to get to you. The bridge, when it finally comes in, sounds a bit lacking, and the chorus sounds horrible, actually. This remix just gets worse as time goes on, don’t bother wasting your time with it.
The PRISM BOY <extended mix> ends the CD-Only edition of the album, and opens with an explosion of light synth, with some higher toned noises continuously playing. Eventually, the original synth comes in, and plays until about 1:20 in, when the song begins instantly with the chorus, which sounds exactly the same. The song is exactly the same save for a few added synth instrumentals, so it’s not really noteworthy, as extended mixes rarely are.
Album Score
B
Favorite Tracks (In Order)
1. SEARCHLIGHT
2. SUPERSONIC
3. PRISM BOY
4. KITTENISH
5. MAGIC
Overall, STEP turned out to be a much more dance-oriented album, in comparison to BEAM, which took on a more techno-pop sound. The album had quite a few good songs on it, but overall, whether you’ll like this one more or less than BEAM depends on how you like your Techno. It definitely has some great tracks that are more of a callback to her previous era, and that mixed with the larger number of dance songs make a nice mix, so there’s an even amount of both kind of songs on the album. Whether the louder sounds used is a good thing or not depends on your personal opinion.
Tracklisting
1. HEART
2. NATALIE <FM16 MIX>
3. HEART <PARTY MIX>
HEART is the twelth single from MEG overall, and her third single on the Universal Music Japan label. The title track was used as the Dariya Cosmetics PALTY CM song. The single reached 26 on the Oricon charts, and has sold approximately 3,416 copies. It was released on the 7th of May, 2008.
The single opens with HEART, and already you can tell this song is gonna be much cuter than MAGIC was. It opens instantly with MEG reciting the title, with the light, almost childish synth following straight after. MEG’s doing weird things with her voice again, but it sort of fits the song, so I can let it slide this time. The verse consists of the same simple synth, with the chorus mainly just adding a few continuous beeps to the mix. The song never changes throughout, but it’s cute enough to make you at least chuckle a little bit. Crack a smile, maybe? It still carries the little bit of horrid that MEG usually brings to a song with her odd vocals, which does get more grating throughout, so I’m not a huge fan. It is cute, though. In a creepy way, if you consider her overall image.
Next up is the NATALIE <FM MIX>. It opens with more thumping synth, and a second-long vocal section from MEG that’s looped continuously until the real vocals come in. Her voice carries a more radio-like muffling this time, and the synth has a darker edge to it. The chorus once again carries most of the aforementioned synth, but the distortion saves MEG’s vocals a little, because without the difference, she would shoot this song down to hell in about five seconds flat. Hopefully the original version (Which will appear on the STEP album) sounds a bit better than this.
The single closes with the HEART <PARTY MIX>. It carries the usual thumping synth (again), with a simple clapping line added to it. The overall arrangement sounds a lot more subdued, and nowhere near as cute as it used to. It has the usual vocal line, which fits the synth most of the time, but the minimal change throughout just makes this remix get too boring. The middle adds a few lighter sounds to it, but they just end up sounding rather random.
Single Score
D
Favorite Track
HEART
A lot of people seem to love this song, but I wasn’t really impressed overall. She has many more songs that are infinitely more interesting than this one, and the remixes did nothing to save the single. It actually felt more like a chore listening to this single than something I actually wanted to do.
NOTE: I will NOT be sending the link to anyone else who asks for it. Most albums are easy to find, and even when you think they aren’t, they usually are. “Kyo Music City” has this album as well as many other hard-to-find releases, so go google the site name and look there.
NOTE 2: IGNORE THE COMMENTS SAYING I WILL SEND THE LINK. They were one or two exceptions. I don’t usually do that, and I won’t be doing it anymore. Deal with it.
Tracklisting
1. Amai Zeitaku (甘い贅沢; lit. Sweet Luxury) – MEG
2. China Discotica (Substance Remix) – Aira Mitsuki
3. Local Train – immi
4. Stay Fine – Sound Around
5. Love Me After 12AM -RAM RIDER REMIX- – m-flo <3s Alex (CLAZZIQUAI Project)
6. Sayonara Revival (サヨナラリヴァイバル; lit. Goodbye Revival) – Saori@destiny
7. The Goonies ‘r’ Good Enough – Sweet Vacation
8. My Treasure – www.lollipoptears.com
9. Meu Sonho (yasutaka nakata – capsule mix) – KALEIDO
10. you’ll be all right -re:construct- – Iwaya Shigeru
11. Magic Colors – Nakatsuka Takeshi
12. Sun Lights Stars (yasutaka nakata 8FM mix) – RAM RIDER
13. Just – Q;indivi
14. R.G.B – Spangle calli Lilli line
15. Dreaming rabbit – The Sakura Telephone
BEAUTIFUL TECHNO is a compilation album containing tracks from many different Japanese techno artists, and one Brazilian artist. (Namely, KALEIDO.) It was released on the 16th of July, 2008. The cover model artist is Kishimoto Cecil. As it’s a compilation, I’m not sure of many of the inidividual artist names in the groups, so I’m sorry about that.
The album opens with a song I’ve reviewed at least three times on Vitamin Drop, Amai Zeitaku, by the hacky Techno-Pop artist MEG. Despite her being hacky, I still love the clean, smooth sound that Amai Zeitaku has, which was always something I missed in a lot of her later songs. Her voice is still sort of grating at times, but this is one of the songs where it sounds a bit better when put with the music. It only just missed being in my favorites for MEG’s BEAM album, and would probably be up there now if I re-reviewed that album. It’s a nice mid-way point between her mature dance songs (MAKE LOVE, MODEL) and her more carefree songs (HEART, PRECIOUS).
The next song is ALSO one that I’ve reviewed three times. This time, it’s the China Discotica Substance Remix from upcoming Techno-Pop artist Aira Mitsuki. While you may be wondering why the original wasn’t just put on here, I like to think it’s because the album boasts a smoother sound to its songs. The Substance remix is a lot less rough than its original counterpart, and while I was never a huge fan of how the song skips parts of the original and has that annoying overtone throughout, it does fit this album very well.
We now come to the first track I haven’t reviewed on this site before. Local Train, by immi. The song opens with a simple, blaring synth-line, followed by a skipping vocal section and thumping synth line, and I’m already loving it. This section is certainly infectious. Unfortunately, it quickly takes on a smoother, more connected feel, and it gets a little less interesting. This is the first song to not involve vocal distortions, and that really helps this song a lot, because it helps keep the fast, quiet nature of this song working well. I still prefer the skipping style of the opening and closing sections, but it is a nice song overall.
The compilation continues with the song Stay Fine, by Sound Around. The song has a quieter, almost natural sound to it, and the high-toned voice of the vocalist work well together, but the beginning of the song can be pretty bland. There are a few ethereal sounds throughout the verses to improve the light feeling of the song, and the vocals are perfect for the song. There’s actually a somewhat Aira-ish quality to her voice, highly reminiscent of Darling Wondering Staring. There is a bit of distortion, but they could majorly pass for being vocoder-free. About 2:52 in, the song sounds as if it’s rewinding, and I’m thinking this is something wrong with the mp3. So, I’ll look up on that and see what I can find, as it sounds really unnatural. Sorry about that, guys.
The next song is probably the worst up to this point. The Love Me After 12AM -RAM RIDER mix-, which was an m-flo loves collaboration preformed with Alex from the CLAZZIQUAI Project, opens with a simple clanging sound, before the steady synth comes in, with Alex’s vocals slowly coming to the foreground, and it all sounds alright at this stage. When Alex starts screeching though, the distortions on his voice make it almost unbearable. This is why I can’t stand the chorus of this song, as that’s the main focal point of it. The verses are bearable, as they don’t have this horrible quailty, and I rather enjoy the dance-based synth throughout the song, but as the chorus is usually the focal point of a song, it doesn’t help that they’re pretty much horrid.
Sayonara Revival, by Saori@destiny, leads straight into the vocals, which sound a bit sketchy at this time, but it makes up for it with some interesting, skipping synth backing the vocals. The song sounds a lot more “in-your-face” after the songs we’ve heard so far, as it has a rougher overall tone, and is probably what a lot of people are used to after listening to some of the tracks Nakata has produced. The synth can be a sort of hindrance when it starts looping on itself, and it drowns the vocals out semi-regularly, which is a shame, as for the majority of the song, they’re actually quite pleasant. All that aside, it’s a nice song, and if you can overlook a few technical glitches in those mentioned aspects, you’ll definitely get something out of it.
Next up is The Goonies ‘r’ Good Enough, by Sweet Vacation. The song opens with a highly technological, robotic sound to its synth, which I quite enjoy. The vocals quickly come in, and they seem to be majorly, if not entirely, in English. The high vocals suit the technological sound of the song perfectly, with just enough distortion being added to make them blend in properly. The chorus tends to sound a bit repetitive, with a high focus on the phrase “good enough” being placed, but overall, this is probably the most enjoyable song on the album so far. It’s the second shortest song on the album though, clocking in at 3:38. With a title like this, I wasn’t really expecting much, but it’s a brilliant upbeat tune.
My Treasure, performed by www.lollipoptears.com, leads straight into a faster, dance infused sound, with some higher synth added soon after. This song is probably the most open with its happy nature so far in this album, and it’s great to hear. A short talking sequence plays before the vocals, which blend perfectly with the style of music, which still carries a technological overtone. The vocals in the chorus stand out more from the music and sound more natural, while still having the distortions on them. It’s the kind of song you’ll want to get up and dance to, which is great to hear on this album.
Following up is the black sheep of the album, the Meu Sonho (yasutaka nakata – capsule mix), performed by KALEIDO. It’s the black sheep, because it’s performed in Portuguese, and the band is also from Brazil. I assume it’s on here because Nakata remixed it, but anyway. The song opens with a simple, thumping beat with the vocalist ad libbing over it, and her slightly deeper voice sounds brilliant, even when it isn’t singing. The slight vocals over them make them fit the simple, thinner sound of the song much better, and while it sounds odd to hear someone singing in Brasilian right after a bunch of Japanese songs, it actually manages to sound a lot more interesting than many of the previous songs because of this. There isn’t much change throughout the song, and it lasts an exact six minutes, but you should be able to last through the song, as it’s definitely a great addition to the album.
Back onto the natural order of things, we’re given you’ll be all right -re:construction-, from Iwaya Shigeru. We’re back to a similar sound that Local Train had, with some robotic beeps added throughout. When it comes to its full accompaniment, it sounds more like My Treasure than anything else, or maybe the preceeding song, while still keeping the illusion that there are actual instruments throughout the song. For all I know, there could be a guitar in there. The female vocals that come in remind me A LOT of Toshiko from capsule, except for the large amount of distortions placed on her voice. The verses tend to be sort of boring, and the emotionless quality of the vocals makes the choruses sound more boring than they have to. The lack of any real changes in the song keeps it from ever picking up.
Oh, good lord, next please. Magic Colors, from Nakatsuka Takeshi, opens with some deeply distorted vocals that makes them come out in an unappealing way, and they’re coupled with a carefree synth line that has an almost.. Mexican quality? I’m bad at sticking country musical styles to songs, but anyway. The vocals don’t fit the song at all, and the random sounds added throughout don’t help the song at all. I can’t even sit through this song. Skip it, please, for your own sake.
Next up is a song that really caught my interest, mainly because of the collaboration this artist has done with Ami Suzuki. The song on this album, Sun Lights Stars (yasutaka nakata 8FM remix), is performed by RAM RIDER (He produced cover versions of his two songs SWEET DANCE and MUSIC for Ami Suzuki’s DOLCE album). Back on topic, the song opens with an exploding sound and the usual simple thumping synth line, with more synth slowly added over it, with a few… Odd sounds from RAM RIDER himself, I assume, thrown in. About a minute in, this all stops, and we’re treated to one long, 8-bit sound, before the synth lines are slowly added in again. The entire song has an 8-bit sound to it, especially through the vocals, as his voice is distorted to the absolute EXTREME. This makes it really hard to decipher what’s actually being sung, but the overall synth arrangement with the heavy vocals make an interesting mix. It’s another song that lacks any real change throughout, but I absolutely love the way this song sounds. I can see why RAM RIDER’s one of the most well-known Techno artists in Japan now, despite this being a remix.
Just, by Q;indivi, comes next. It has a natural, rainforest sound to it, with a waterfall and birds, before it cuts out once or twice and leads to the simple synth line with the deeper female vocals this time. This song sounds a lot more natural compared to any other song, which is nice, but the vocals sound a bit too deep, as if they’re distorted in the wrong manner for this kind of song. There’s a change in the middle of the song that makes pretty much everything indistinguishable, which helps break up this somewhat awkward song somewhat, but it doesn’t really help much. It’s just not that interesting.
R.G.B, contributed by Spangle calli Lilli line, acts as the semi-final for this compilation album, and the song has a much more laid back sound to it, and it features a guitar and some rather odd tapping sounds. The light vocals sound like they’re being sung in a strained manner, but not in an overly obtrusive way, so they sort of work. The arrangement doesn’t see much change in the first minute, which in this case probably isn’t very good, as it gets sort of annoying as it repeats on itself. When more sounds are added in the choruses later on in the song, it gets a bit more interesting, but overall it’s not a really large contribution to the album by itself.
Dreaming rabbit, by The Sakura Telephone, closes the album. The song opens with an odd stretching synth, with the distorted vocals quickly coming in over the synth. Again, there’s an almost Aira-ish quality to the vocalist’s voice, and the overall arrangement is extremely similar to the song in question, Darling Wondering Staring. However, about a minute and a half in, it takes a childish, xylophone sound instead. The song follows this arrangement for most of its duration, so it’s a pretty bad way to end the album.
Album Score
A-
Favorite Tracks (In Order)
1. Sun Lights Stars (yasutaka nakata 8FM remix) – RAM RIDER
2. My Treasure – www.lollipoptears.com
3. The Goonies ‘r’ Good Enough – Sweet Vacation
4. Meu Sonho (yasutaka nakata – capsule mix) – KALEIDO
5. Local Train – immi
A great thing to note about this album is that it includes music by artists many of us probably haven’t ever heard of. As such, this is a great introduction for those of you who are new to the Techno-Pop scene, and the veterans may just find something to love in this album. I myself have discovered at least two artists to keep an eye on in this album (RAM RIDER and immi), so maybe you will too. Recommended for anyone curious about Techno-Pop.
Tracklisting
1. MAGIC
2. MIRACLE
3. MAGIC (NEMESIS MIX)
MAGIC is MEG’s tenth overall single, and her second with Universal Music Japan. It charted at #42 on the Oricon weekly charts, and sold approximately 2,858 copies. The title track was used as the opening theme for the drama, Tadashii Ouji no Tsukurikata. It was released on the 5th of March, 2008.
While I was sort of dreading listening to this song, MAGIC is actually really enjoyable! As usual, it opens instantly with MEG singing the chorus with her layered voice and minimal synth. The synth throughout and before the first verse isn’t that good, and her vocals are about the same as they usually are with her songs (sort of awkward, but in this case, still bearable). The bridge is the same, but the sort of lower key in which the chorus starts seems to fit the way she’s singing really well, apart from a few awkward extended notes that she gives. The “La la la” segment after the chorus was a cute addition to the song that I actually thought was pretty good. The song never changes much, and it’s the usual amalgamation of synth beeps and random backing tracks, but it’s one of the better ones.
MIRACLE. the only real b-side in this era, sounds a lot like quite a few other MEG songs. I’m not a fan of the low key opening followed by the higher synth, and neither sound very good by themselves, but MEG’s vocals are as they should be expected to be. It actually rarely changes throughout the song, and the constant lower tone of the song is more of an annoyance than a plus. I’m definitely not liking what I’m hearing.
The NEMESIS MIX of MAGIC opens with nothing but the “La la la”’s without any backing synth, and they actually sound sort of creepy. When you listen to it without listening to the actual MAGIC first, it won’t really sound any different in comparison. The chorus sounds a lot more synth-based, but overall, the constant noise actually makes the song too annoying to really sit through and enjoy at the same time.
Single Score
B-
Favorite Track
MAGIC
While the a-side is pretty much one of MEG’s better songs, the b-side and remix could definitely have been done without, or improved in some way. My hopes aren’t really high for STEP at the moment (I’m going in not really knowing what’s gonna happen with it), so here’s hoping it gets better.
Tracklisting
1. Amai Zeitaku (甘い贅沢; lit. Sweet Luxury)
2. IN YOUR EYES
3. GIRLY STEP
4. LOVE LETTER
5. dreamin dreamin
6. OK
7. MODEL
8. ROMANTIKA
9. LOVE LETTER (ajapai remix)
10. GIRLY STEP (CLAZZIQUAI PROJECT remix)
BEAM is MEG’s 4th overall studio album, and her first under the Universal Music Japan label, and the first to be produced by Nakata Yasutaka, the man behind Perfume and capsule, apart from the two remixes. It also features a cover version of the capsule song “dreamin dreamin”. It reached #24 on the Oricon charts, and sold 10,544 copies in its first week. It was released on the 5th of December, 2007.
The album opens with the first single released, Amai Zeitaku. The song consists mainly of light, airy synths, with a slightly more aggressive backing track. MEG’s voice isn’t overly annoying throughout this song, which is good. The verses tend to consist of very few sounds, while the chorus is considerably more aggressive in contrast, while still being somewhat mellow at the same time. The album version of this song is also a minute longer than the version on the single, with very few differences. Since I don’t understand Japanese, I can only assume there’s another verse or chorus, but it may also be an extended instrumental. Either way, it’s still a very enjoyable song.
Okay, here comes MEG’s unbearable voice. IN YOUR EYES has her singing in a voice that is distorted to hell, and it sounds earsplitting alongside the lone piano that we hear until she finishes singing, at which point the first pre-verse instrumental comes in. It has a much more subdued and slower sound compared to Amai Zeitaku, and sounds a lot more natural. Her voice is largely unfiltered in the verses, which is good, but the overall instrumental is a bit bland and uninteresting. It’s pretty much a techno-ballad.
GIRLY STEP opens in an almost 8-bit manner, with MEG singing alongside a beeping synth line, before a similar rising sound that opened Amai Zeitaku brings in the thumping beat. In the verses, it sounds a lot like a remixed version of said song, as they have an extremely close sound. The verse to chorus transition is somewhat awkward, mainly because there’s little change in the synth, but after the first chorus, the song FINALLY gets interesting, and gives us an extremely danceable synth line, with MEG singing in an actually bearable voice. The song does take a while to get started, but after it does start, it’s interesting enough to keep you listening until it finishes. I particularly like the repetitive sections that led into the song becoming more interesting, as they seem to have the most going on, and don’t sound too boring.
LOVE LETTER slows it down once more, but it has a more upbeat sound than IN YOUR EYES did, and is a bit faster. It consists of a relatively simple synth line that mimics a busy street with many people talking (from how it sounds), with a simple thumping synth line and what sounds like a few string instruments before the vocals come back in. The song follows a similar style throughout, and uses acoustic guitars later on, which improves the quality of the song. While it’s not the kind of song you can dance to, it sounds different to the singles and the previous songs on this album, which is good. It almost sounds like it isn’t techno-pop at times.
We now come to one of my favorite songs on this album. dreamin dreamin is a cover of a capsule song, from their album FRUITS CLiPPER. You can instantly tell it’s a capsule song, as it has a fairly quick opening synth line that leads into a strange sort of sound. Once again, the verses tend to be sort of boring, as they have a much more limited sound to them, moreso than songs usually do, but once it comes to the bridge and leads into the upbeat chorus, it sounds better than anything on the album so far. It utilizes many pitches of synth this time, all playing over a similar thumping synth line, but the higher sounds and the aggressive synth line that makes the second half of the chorus help give it a few different sounds that work together, instead of a linear arrangement that bores you to death.
We now have the second single for the album, OK. The song has a very simple sound to it, that utilizes short sentences and quick sounds when it comes to the verse, and more of the usual when we come to the chorus, but not executed as well. It has a low-grade sound to it, and is pretty much the worst song on the album so far. My views from when I reviewed the single have changed somewhat, and now I rarely listen to this song of my own free will without changing the track. But the chorus is kind of cute, and MEG’s voice has been worse, so it’s not all bad.
Hallelujah, MODEL actually starts differently! It opens with a sort of creepy voice, heavily synthesized so that it sort of echoes on itself and you can’t really tell what it’s saying, until it’s barely a voice anymore, if it ever was. The synth, when it eventually comes in, sounds a lot more electronic than anything on the album has so far, and the song utilizes actual drums instead of the usual thumping sound. MEG sings in a lower register this time, and for once, her high voice is actually OVERPOWERED by the synth. I actually like the overall effect it has on the song, though, and when the synth speeds up after the first vocal section, it actually sounds sort of sinister, which is really odd, coming from the cutesy MEG. It’s quite a long song, at 7:20, but as I listen to it, I find myself really enjoying it, despite the darker feeling it has. The new vocal style is a factor as well, though. It’s the most mature song this era, and coming from an artist like MEG, that’s a good thing, as it helps break the monotony.
The regular tracks on the album now close with the cutesy, faux-mature song, ROMANTIKA. The opening really sounds a lot like something that would open an anime to me, and it has a lot more bass to it. The airy piano that follows just enhances that original view further, but that part’s removed when MEG comes in and starts singing. We’re back to her usual vocals, and they’re slightly more annoying after MODEL. The sound never really changes, but the chorus ends with MEG singing an extended note that is distorted to many different volumes in the span of about 30 seconds, and while it can be ear-splitting, I find it actually helps move the song along, as they’ve made it follow the volume of the synth really well. Unfortunately, this part isn’t as interesting after the second chorus, mainly because it follows a more monotone sound, but it’s a lot longer.
That may have been the last actual song, but the album’s not over yet! It continues with the ajapai remix of LOVE LETTER, which opens in a horribly repetitive manner. I seriously cannot listen to this song any longer, despite it being less than a minute! But I will for this review. Anyway, as is the case with many remixes in this genre, we hear no vocals from the singer for over a minute, and what we get beforehand is too repetitive to hold your interest for too long. MEG’s voice is extremely distorted so that it sounds fuzzy this time, which removes whatever weird charm her voice ever had from the song. An alright song is ruined with a remix, and the parts that could have been interesting around the chorus part are shortened to just being short sounds instead of extended arrangements. Yawn, I’ll pass, thanks.
The CLAZZIQUAI PROJECT GIRLY STEP remix closes MEG’s first Nakata-fied album, and it opens with a dance beat that is well on its way to being infectious, if it can hold it throughout the song. However, we get some almost woodwind-like beeps (Synth wins sometimes…) that accompany the synth, even when MEG starts singing. And unfortunately, they stick throughout the song. Without them, this could have been a great remix! And it ends up being too annoying to make it possible to enjoy the song. The second half of the chorus that I so enjoyed in the original song lacks any really noticeable beeps (they can still be heard somewhat), which is good, but it’s only one section.
Album Score
C+
Favorite Tracks (In Order)
dreamin dreamin, MODEL, GIRLY STEP, ROMANTIKA
MEG’s first Nakata album had a few interesting songs on it, but what didn’t manage to be interesting just ended up dragging the album down. MODEL was a godsend on this album, as without it, practically every real song on the album would have been outright techno-pop. I’m hoping she improves, because with Nakata, she could really work out, but I’m starting to think she has some kind of act related to being monotonous and having an impassive face, because one, her voice is almost always the same, and two, her face is ALWAYS a vacant stare, no matter what the cover is. Am I the only one who finds that odd?
Tracklisting
1. OK
2. I’m in LOVE
3. OK (sugiurumn remix)
OK is MEG’s debut single under the Universal Music Japan label, and her ninth overall. It debuted at #43 on the weekly charts, which was its peak, and has sold approximately 5,186 copies. It was released on the 5th of September, 2007.
OK shoots straight into a synth backing track with MEG singing over it. It starts off sounding somewhat 8-bit, but evens out eventually. This is a fun song overall, and while the verses are interesting by themselves, the chorus is once again where this song shines, because it’s just too catchy to say otherwise. It’s not as good as Amai Zeitaku, but it’s definitely a good single. It’s also a vast improvement over Amai Zeitaku’s chart performance, if you compare them.
I’m in LOVE opens with some of MEG’s worst vocals thus far. They’ll literally make your ears bleed, but the aggressive nature of the synth heralds a turn for the better, as MEG tones down her vocals until we get what we were given in OK. It’s B-side material, because those horrible vocals always come back for the chorus, and it’s not as interesting. The ending line of the chorus is cheesy, too.
The OK sugiurumn remix opens with a simple, thumping beat line, that lasts almost the first half minute of the song. We won’t hear any vocals until about 1:42 though, and these lyrics are muffled and in the background, so so far this is a failure of a remix. Unfortunately, it never changes. By it, I mean both MEG’s vocals AND the synth. I’ll pass, thanks.
Single Score
B
Favorite Track
OK
While not as good as Amai Zeitaku, OK is further proof that I was wrong about MEG. So far, she’s shaping up to be a solid techno-pop artist, despite her vocal short comings that you’ll pick up along the line. Next up is BEAM, so this’ll be the real test of how good she is.
Tracklisting
1. Amai Zeitaku (甘い贅沢; lit. Sweet Luxury)
2. Koi no Bakudan (恋の爆弾; lit. Love Bomb)
3. Amai Zeitaku (Extended Mix)
Amai Zeitaku is the 9th single from the now-techno-pop artist MEG, her 8th not including her indies debut, (I think…) and her first single in the BEAM era.It debuted at #183 on the Oricon charts, and only charted for one week, and sold a total of 570 copies. However, it debuted at #2 on the Electronic charts. It was released on the 30th of May, 2007.
The single opener, Amai Zeitaku, begins with a rising, electronic synth sound, and when I hear MEG’s vocals come in, I cringe slightly, because they’re so damn loud. And her voice is sort of bad at this stage. The backing track in this song is techno-pop HEAVEN, though, and I absolutely love it. Her voice outside the chorus is alright, but she does some absolutely idiotic things with her voice at times, and it makes you wonder why the hell she does those things. Overall, if you can forgive her for how much the vocal distortions ruin her singing performance, this is a really enjoyable song. Mainly because of the synth.
Koi no Bakudan opens with some stereotypical telephone call failure message, before coming into a synth arrangement that sounds strikingly like some old SNES game, with a hint of elevator music influence thrown in. The synth isn’t actualkly that bad, but it sounds a bit too generic and uninteresing. MEG sings in a higher register this time around, and her vocal performance actually starts out BETTER this time around, mainly because she doesn’t try twisting her voice too much. It’s a cutesy song, as well, which isn’t helping.
The extended mix of Amai Zeitaku opens with a band with thumping synth and what sounds like an explosion of sorts… Only not as booming? It slowly begins to add more of the original synth from the song over this new beat (which is actually the backing track of the original, with more bass to it), before we lose all synth and focus on MEG singing to a piano-like synth line, which leads into the original version of the song, where it stays true to its predecessor. There have been worse extended versions, but I personally tend to get bored before she actually starts singing, so the original’s still better.
Single Score
B
Favorite Song
Amai Zeitaku
I’ve always hated MEG, really. I was extremely hesitant to actually review her, but she’s surprised me. I’ve heard some bad things about the rest of her singles and her first Nakata-produced album, but so far, I’m impressed. So we’ll see how things go from here, and if her vocals fail, at least she has the synth to back her up, because they’re the best parts of the songs. When it comes to Amai Zeitaku, at least.
I will now be featuring… MEG.
I was hoping I’d never say those words on this blog, but I’ve had a large amount of requests for her, and after Jin requested that I review her after accepting a request of mine, I thought I may as well give in and just do it. So here she is.
I’ll start off by reviewing her single Amai Zeitaku from the BEAM era, as requested. So stay tuned.
Also, don’t forget my previous melody. review that I just posted!
EDIT: And now, I’ve decided to announce something else…
I will be featuring Sweetbox in my next special review!
I’ve been a pretty big fan of Sweetbox for a long time, ever since the release of Final Fantasy X-2, which featured their songs Real Emotion and 1000 Words.
As such, I think it’s a great idea to make them my feature , as they’re most popular in Asian countries as far as I can gather. Plus, special reviews don’t apply to the Japanese-only rule, as it’s not an era or discography being reviewed.
Anyway, I will be reviewing their album last album together, Addicted, very soon! Especially since I can’t review anything Asian. (Damnit, Wiki.Theppn…) Also, the “Good Morning, Class!” title will make sense after this review. xD;;
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