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Tracklisting
1) Daybreak
2) Say Hello
3) Haruka (Eternal Version) (遥花～はるか～; lit. Eternal Flower)
4) Peace Song
5) Never Goodbye
6) Memories in Time
7) HORIZON
8) Kiss away
9) Anata no Soba ni (あなたのそばに; lit. By Your Side)
10) No Return
11) Sunset Love
12) Beneath My Skin
13) DOOR
14) Paradise
Lei Aloha is the third album from melody., and also her last studio album before entering into retirement from her music career. It had only one single before release, Haruka, which appears on this album in a remixed state, meaning every song on the album is brand new. melody. herself has stated that the albums main theme is about “bonds”. It managed to peak at #15 on the Oricon weekly charts, and was released on the 9th of April, 2008.
melody.’s last album, READY TO GO!, was an interesting album. It had a lot of R&B-styled songs, and a lot of dance music making up the tracklisting. Why is this important? Because Lei Aloha marks a DRASTIC change in melody.’s musical style. Instead of dance and R&B music, Lei Aloha fits easiest into the category of easy listening. It makes use of a lot of orchestral instruments, ethereal synths and acoustic instruments. This will come as quite a shock to lovers of her previous album, but having a total of 13 brand new tracks and one remixed single a-side make the content, at least, very promising.
And promising it is. There’s one obvious plus to using a calmer, laid back song in most of the songs on your album: It flows brilliantly. There are a few interludes used here and there to soften the transition should it ever need it, but as a whole, even without them it would have worked almost perfectly. While most of the songs are less lively and quieter or more laid back, songs like No Return and Beneath My Skin act as a remnant of her dance material from READY TO GO!, albeit being much quieter and made to sound more ethereal than aggressive or loud.
The album is full of light, touching meanings that show a more innocent side of melody., which songs like Dangerous from her last album covered up. melody.’s light, albeit sometimes thin voice works much better with this sound, which was a fantastic point of the album, as this issue popped up quite a bit in the past. The lighter, more personal sound of the album fits well with the theme of bonds, and perfectly shows what kind of a person she was before she left Hawaii to move to Japan, which was the main point of the album.
Of course, beyond all this, one flaw comes out of the change in her style. Many of the songs, albeit having different instruments and arrangements, link together probably a bit TOO well. A lot of similar instruments and synths are heard throughout the album, which can make it turn into a rather dull album by the time you’ve listened to the whole thing throughout. Of course, this is what makes the positioning of No Return and Beneath My Skin such a genius idea: Being the more dance-oriented, surprising tracks on the album gives you something to both enjoy and look forward by the time you get to that stage in the album. However, it also means that they come a bit late, and if easy listening music isn’t your thing, you may not make it that far into the album to actually appreciate these songs.
However, because the album is such a personal experience for melody., this sound fits it well, and the manner in which the album was executed makes it quite easy to relate to, whether you understand Japanese or not. The general theme of the album and the sound of each individual song being related to this theme create an album with a level of relatability that you don’t really see that often. One such song is the first real track on the album, Say Hello, with its dramatic orchestral instrumental opening and its bright, optimistic theme in general. With lyrics like “Say hello for you and myself” and “I will say hello” dominating the chorus, it makes it much easier to relate to compared to the other songs, which leave much to be desired in the English department. Although, that is to be expected on a Japanese album, so that isn’t really a flaw.
Album Score
A
Favorite Tracks
1) Say Hello
2) Haruka (Eternal Version)
3) No Return
4) Peace Song
5) Kiss away
In some ways, this album was sort of a step down from the general level of enjoymeny I experienced with READY TO GO!. However, in other ways, it was a gigantic step up. It flowed perfectly, and offered many new tracks instead of overloading itself with singles. It did begin to sound similar after a while, but the inclusion of a few career callbacks did help this a bit. This album is also a sadder part of melody.’s career, marking the final studio album before her retirement. In a way, this personal message fits the stage of her career perfectly. Definitely a great way to end her career, not including her best of.
NOTE: If you have a button linking to my blog already, but don’t have one and DO want one, be sure to check out the new Buttons Page. I’ve made eight new buttons to represent the site, and the original six are there too, so there’s more to choose from~
Tracklisting
1. Haruka (遥花～はるか～; lit. Eternal Flower)
2. Plumeria (プルメリア)
3. That’s The Way It Is
4. Haruka (Instrumental)
Haruka is melody.’s 11th overall single, the only single in the Lei Aloha era, and her final single released before her retirement. The title track was used as the theme for the TBS dorama “Daisuki!!” . The b-side was used as the ending for Tochigi TV’s Evening 6. The second b-side is a cover of the Celine Dion song of the same name, and was meant to go on the “TRIBUTE TO CELINE DION” tribute album, but was removed for unknown reasons and placed here. It is her second-best selling single, having sold 39,042 copies and reaching #10 on the Oricon charts. It was released on the 13th of February, 2008.
Haruka definitely encompasses the sound that melody. should have been utilising throughout her whole career. This is a ballad, which uses a variety of instruments sucha s the electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano and drums. melody.’s voice fits this kind of music perfectly, and makes most of her dance-genre work on READY TO GO! seem like a vocal joke. The arrangement is absolutely brilliant too. This is definitely my favorite melody. single overall, and it’s really not hard to tell why. This song is absolutely exquisite.
Then comes Plumeria, which starts off in a much more upbeat manner with the acoustic guitar taking the lead role until the first verse starts. I still think her voice fits this acoustic style of music a lot better than it did with the synths we’ve heard constantly in her recent music, and I’m surprised by how good this is for a b-side. There’s a transition glitch between the verses and chorus that consists of a few missed notes that make it sound a bit too awkward, but apart from this, this is another brilliant song.
The single closes with the cover of Celine Dion’s song That’s The Way It Is. The song opens with a dramatic sweeping orchestral arrangement that I, once again, absolutely love, before going into a more synth-based arrangement, which is much closer to the original song. I don’t know if this is exactly the same as the backing to Celine Dion’s version, but if it was, kudos to her producer, because I’m liking it. Despite being synth-based, melody.’s voice fits this quieter arrangement a lot better, and I’m absolutely LOVING how she sounds in the chorus. This really should’ve been on the tribute album, because it’s a spectacular cover.
Single Score
A+
Favorite Tracks
All
I absolutely LOVE this single! I’m surprised that I’m saying this, but I absolutely love how it sounds in comparison to basically all of her previous works! I’m sure this single would be quite a sad moment for melody. fans now, since she’s retired and all, but at least the final single did her justice, as it’s her best offering yet.
Tracklisting
1. Finding My Road
2. with you
3. Love Story
4. All For Love
5. HOPE
6. Glory of Love
7. READY TO GO!
8. ONE DAY
9. Lovin’ U
10. REAL ME
11. ALL I DO
12. Shine
13. Dangerous
READY TO GO! is melody.’s third overall album, and the second to have a CD+DVD release from her. The song Glory of Love is a cover of the song of the same name from the artist Peter Cetera, and the title track of the album was used as the Subaru FORESTER CM song.
The album opens with the second single for this album, Finding My Road. This song was definitely the most synth-based of her a-sides in this era, and her vocals weren’t as weak in this one as they were in her first single for the era, mainly because she sings in a lower register. I’m still a fan of this song, and my overall view of it hasn’t really changed since I reviewed the single: It’s one of melody.’s more enjoyable Dance/Techno songs.
The second song is a new one, entitled with you. It opens simply with melody. singing, before bringing in the synth backing, which has a looping sound to it, and also gives the song a more R&B-based tone. The song is upbeat, with a usual arrangement of an opening minimalist verse. melody.’s vocals fit this song well, as it isn’t too overpowering. The bridge that follows actually has an 8-bit sound to it, which is an odd addition, but it doesn’t sound out of place overall. The verse has a louder sound to it in comparison, and sounds a lot livelier. This is followed by another chorus of vocals similar to how the song opened, followed by an instrumental section, which is followed by the final chorus. It has a great, happy sound to it, and it sounds like there may even be some brass instruments near the end. It’s a brilliant song, and with its position, it allows melody. to show off her range of music to any newcomers before the album really starts.
I say this, because it’s followed by the epic ballad, Love Story. I didn’t expect much from this single at first (it was the third in the era, ironically), but I was pleasantly surprised. It makes use of a few of the many ballad styles, opening with a minimalistic, emotion-packed opening that showcases melody.’s higher register well. As you should expect, the song slowly adds more of a stable arrangement to the song, with extra synth being added over time, and extra instruments such as the guitar coming in over time. It’s a beautiful song overall, and a great way to prove that melody. can sing a good ballad when she wants to.
All For Love follows up this epic ballad, and helps to change the mood after Love Story. It opens with another vocal chorus involving melody. and a few other back-up singers, before being followed by a string arrangement with some R&B synth thrown in, and it sounds great at this stage. The entire arrangement apart from the synth is dropped at this point, and the first verse begins. It keeps the same sound, and the song picks up once again with the re-addition of the strings. The song just gives off a really happy feeling, and it’s catchy at the same time. There is another synth-focused vocal chorus afterwards, with the strings taking a backseat here, before shooting back into the usual arrangement. Overall, this is probably the most enjoyable song from this era (So far, at least).
Next up is HOPE. This song brings back the Techno sounds we heard in Finding My Road, but it sounds a lot darker this time, and melody.’s lower vocals help further this element. The arrangement changes slowly over time, with more synth being added after every chorus, with no instruments backing up the arrangement this time. Lines like “I believe in you” and “Believe in yourself” don’t seem to suit the sinister sound of this song, but they help add a feeling of hope that the title suggests is in the song. It’s an odd mix, and the song has very few changes before fading away at the end, so it isn’t great overall, and tends to get a bit boring.
Glory of Love starts out in a very confusing manner. The lowering synth as it opens makes the song sound as if it’s going to be dark, but it quickly explodes into an airy arrangement that quickly jumps into a feel-good, happy arrangement that features strings along with the synth. The verses feature a simplified synth arrangement with a guitar playing alongside it, before exploding back into the full arrangement for the chorus. melody.’s vocals sound a bit thin here at times, but they fit the song well enough. The part right after the chorus is just so damn CATCHY, I love it for some reason. The “I am a man who will fight for your honor” line is EXTREMELY odd, but seeing as it’s a cover of another song, it isn’t as bad as it could be. It’s a great song overall, but being a cover by a male artist gives it a few “what the hell” moments, too.
Next up is the title track, READY TO GO!. It’s another techno song, and while the opening synth (it sort of sounds like strings, almost) sounds interesting, when she starts ad-libbing and singing afterwards, you can already hear how thin her voice is going to be this time around. The verses have a very minimal synth line that isn’t appealing at all, and as I said, melody. has a really thin voice in this song, which doesn’t fit it at all. She sounds off-key as she sings the chorus, which doesn’t help, and there isn’t much improvement throughout the song as it goes on. In fact, apart from a few tone changes in her vocals, it never changes. This is the first song I’d really skip on this album.
ONE DAY opens instantly with an R&B synth line that REALLY reminds me of an older American song. I can’t remember the name, but anyway, in this case, melody.’s voice is lower this time, and her voice tends to be a bit hard to distinguish at times, despite the quiet nature of this song. It’s a very minimalist song in its arrangement, and melody.’s wavering, thin voice throughout don’t help much, but it’s not a horrible song.
The first single in this era, and the last to appear in the tracklisting for this album, entitled Lovin’ U, follows. It’s another R&B song with a faster arrangement to it, but overall it’s another that utilizes minimal sounds throughout the song. There is a tone change throughout, but otherwise it’s another song that relies on a monotone arrangement. I like this song more than when I reviewed it as a single, but there’s definitely better on this album.
REAL ME opens with some eerie synth and what sounds like an electronically distorted violin (!!!) playing over it, before the arrangement comes in, and I love the mysterious feeling the errie backing sounds and violin give it. There’s this annoying snapping sound throughout the song that sort of drags it down, but the overall arrangement is really interesting. melody.’s vocals have a few snags throughout the song, but overall, she tends to keep it together and keep from dragging the song down. The mysterious feeling of this song is what really makes it stand out to me, and without the two sounds mentioned at the beginning, it would probably be a lot worse than it is now.
ALL I DO follows this song with a lone piano playing, followed by melody.’s surprisingly deep vocals, and some snapping in the background. Seriously, melody.’s voice is so deep and even nasally in some parts that one might have trouble telling that it was her. I like the overall sound it has though, as it makes her voice sound fuller, and it compliments this quiet song better. It’s not exactly a ballad, but it has the melancholic feelings that a ballad can usually carry. Strings eventually join the arrangement, and melody. sings at a much higher register to give the song an epic feeling that fits extremely well. Her voice goes back to normal around this point, but it still fits well. The English lyrics make this song sound really touching, as well, which is always a plus in these songs.
The next song is a bit odd at first. Shine opens with an interesting arrangement to it, with melody. singing at a very fast pace; much faster than she usually does. It fits the faster pace of this song, and she manages to keep her voice steady throughout the verses. The synth carrise a unique sound to it that hasn’t been used in the album yet, and everything seems to fit well. I particularly enjoy the lighter feeling this song had after five continuous songs that lack this sound. It’s a nice break from the monotony, despite the tracks included in the monotoy not being bad.
The album closes with a song that actually shocked me at first. Dangerous is another Techno song, and it opens with the line “rock with my body”, which sounds a lot dirtier than anything on the album has so far. The song has a more mature sound to it, as well, which fits well with a song like this. It’s actually a nice change from the rest of the songs, as it’s a side of melody. that she hasn’t shown us in this era yet. It sounds sort of like something a Western artist would pull off, so while it sounds somewhat out of place, I actually love it more than I expected to.
Album Score
A+
Favorite Tracks (In Order)
1. All For Love
2. ALL I DO
3. Dangerous
4. Shine
5. REAL ME
Wow. I was extremely hesitant about this album, yet it actually turned out to be really good! I actually had a hard time choosing my favorite tracks, too. The singles may not have all been great, but the album shows you enough good songs to make up for it, and it contains a few different sounds that don’t all work, but they all help show different genres that melody. can pull off (or at least, attempt to pull off), and as such, there’s definitely going to be something that’ll catch your interest. It’s a lot better than her previous albums, I can tell you that.
Tracklisting
1. Love Story
2. BoRn 2 Luv U (melody. ♥ m-flo)
3. Lovin’ U ~Deckstream Remix~
4. Love Story (Instrumental)
Love Story is the tenth single from melody., and is the final single in her READY TO GO! era. The title track was used as an insert song for the dorama, Kodoku no Kake ~Itoshiki Hito yo~. The b-side is the Japanese version of melody.’s “STUCK IN YOUR LOVE” collaboration made for m-flo’s COSMICOLOR album. The single reached #21 on the Oricon charts, and charted for three weeks. It is also her lowest selling single so far, as it sold only 10,922 copies. It was released on the 30th of May, 2007.
Love Story gives us our first actual ballad a-side in this era, and it stands out from the last two, as it has a much more minimalistic arrangement at first, consisting of melody. simply singing along with the piano. Her vocals shine here, as they aren’t too thin for the musical type, and they have a fuller sound overall. The chorus gives us a few synth sounds here and there, but the main focus is still on melody.’s vocals, with the piano taken down just a peg. It’s at this point, after the first chorus, that a guitar joins in, and the synth continues along throughout the next verse. The livelier sound of the arrangement this time allows for the song to have an overall more epic feeling to it, which works well with the subdued mood of the first half. This song is simply beautiful, and it is definitely melody.’s best a-side this era.
Next up is BoRn 2 Luv U. This time, it opens with a thumping synth line with a few random synth sounds thrown in, with both melody. and the vocalist from m-flo providing some ad-libbing. The song sounds a lot more like her previous two singles than the a-side did, but melody. utilizes her deeper register here, so she sounds a lot better here in comparison. The arrangement is interesting, if not a bit plain, and the chorus only adds a little bit more to it. I’m an avid-hater of m-flo, so the rapping after the chorus isn’t exactly the best addition in my opinion, but it’s to be expected when you listen to an “m-flo” loves collaboration. The verses tend to be the more appealing part of the song, as the chorus has melody. being drowned out by the added synth, and her voice tends to waver a bit at times. It’s a great b-side, but it pales in comparison to Love Story.
Next up is a remix of the first a-side from this era, the Lovin’ U ~Deckstream Remix~. It opens with what sounds like a saxaphone over a simple thumping synth line, and a vocal section that I think is later in the original version than it is here. The arrangement in the verses sounds alright, consisting of mainly a piano and drums, which is a nice change in comparison to the real version, but parts of the verses, and the chorus sound almost exactly the same in terms of arrangement, so the sogn tends to get a bit annoying, as the arrangement isn’t good enough to suit every section of this song. The rapping in the middle of the song is horrible, too. Another bad remix.
Single Score
A
Favorite Track
Love Story
This single was definitely a great way to end this era before the release from READY TO GO!, as it had two of the best songs I’ve heard from melody. The remix is a real downer after them, but excluding that, it’s a great single. A few changes to the b-side would have made it excellent, but it’s good as it is.
Tracklisting
1. Finding My Road
2. fragile
3. My Dear
4. Finding My Road (SiZK “Water Drop Mix”)
Finding My Road is melody.’s 9th overall single, and her second in the READY TO GO! era. It peaked at #13 on the Oricon weekly charts, and sold approximately 17,594 copies. It was released on the 2nd of February, 2007.
While Lovin’ U took the R&B route with its sound, Finding My Road is downright Dance/Techno with its sound. melody.’s voice doesn’t sound as weak this time around, and it’s sung in a deeper register. The English backing lyrics heard halfway through the verses seem sort of odd, but the main vocal track is brilliant throughout the song. The BGM is a lot more enjoyable this time around, as it isn’t too generic with how it sounds. It’s a real improvement.
Next we have fragile. It opens with a pulsing synth that slowly lowers into the proper backing track for this song, and while it keeps a slightly similar sound to the previous track, it’s a lot slower, and utilises a few more familiar sounds. The transition between verses and chorus sounds a bit choppy, but her vocals are once again top notch in this song. It’s more of a ballad than the last song, which is good, as it keeps it from dragging on after the first track.
My Dear is the exact opposite of the previous two songs. It opens with bubble sounds and a sweeping synth line, before leading into the verses. This is the first truly pop-based song in this era, and it’s a pretty good choice for the first one. Admittedly, it sounds a bit generic for a pop song, but it could have been a lot worse. Again, the transition from chorus to verse could be better.
This remix is absolutely horrible. The SiZK Water Drop Mix of Finding My Road opens as if it was an 8-bit track, before skipping around different synth lines with a horribly over-distorted voice over playing over it, before melody. begins singing over it. I can’t even listen to this remix, it has way too much going on, and none of it mixes together well at all. Remixes are rarely any good, so it shouldn’t be a real surprise, but this one is even worse than most. melody.’s vocals probably seem to stand out the most, in the sense that they just don’t fit.
Single Score
A-
Favorite Track
Finding My Road
This single is definitely an improvement over Lovin’ U, no matter how small. And that’s a good thing, because Lovin’ U wasn’t too bad to begin with. It definitely seems like this era’s going to be a lot more dance-influenced compared to her previous albums (I haven’t heard much of READY TO GO!, so I can’t be sure), which is going to be interesting. As long as they keep this up, it should be alright.
Tracklist
1. Lovin’ U
2. Our Journey
3. FEEL THE RUSH
4. FEEL THE RUSH (Junkie XL remix)
Lovin’ U is melody.’s 8th single. This single peaked #16 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold approximately 15,434 copies. The Junkie XL remix of FEEL THE RUSH was used in the Japanese release of Need For Speed: Carbon. The single was released on the 8th of November, 2006.
All I can really say about Lovin’ U is that it’s a weak song. melody.’s voice is way too thin for this kind of R&B-influenced song, and it doesn’t really suit the overal arrangement of the song. It has an interesting, steady beat to it that slows down for the verses and speeds up for the chorus, which is good, because it means it’s not the same beat throughout. However, the arrangement with melody.’s vocals just makes the song sound exceedingly generic, and it doesn’t do very well when it tries to hold your attention throughout. It’s one of melody.’s weaker songs, she can do a lot better than this.
Our Journey is the exact opposite. While Lovin’ U is a fast R&B song, Our Journey is a ballad. It begins with a large focus on the piano, with melody. singing along to it, before the rest of the instruments come in. It still keeps the calm sound when the rest comes in, but it becomes louder and fuller when it reaches the chorus, and it makes the song ten times better. This is a much better song when compared to the a-side, and it makes you wonder what the hell they were thinking when they made Lovin’ U the a-side.
FEEL THE RUSH beings with a very metallic synth line, before the R&B beats come in. It’s an odd mix, because of the mix of the grungier backing synth with the R&B sounds over it. melody.’s voice sounds a lot better in this song, so it shows that she definitely can pull off an R&B song and not fail miserably. The vocal distortions you hear around the chorus are odd, and extremely unexpected, but they still work. Despite it getting sort of boring sometimes, I really like the arrangement to this song, so it works.
Am I the only one who wondered why FEEL THE RUSH wasn’t the a-side when the FEEL THE RUSH Junkie XL remix was featured in Need For Speed: Carbon? It’s one of the two stronger songs on this single, so it would’ve made a great amount of sense. Anyway, the remix still sounds very metallic, but it has more of the street racing atmosphere to it when compared to the more gangster R&B theme that the actual version had. It fits perfectly with Need For Speed, which in this case ISN’T a bad thing, and in the sections where melody. actually sings, her voice is distorted again, and possibly sped up. The vocal sections seem to repeat often, but they still sound alright, apart from the high note at the end of the line she repeats, because her voice tends to screech a bit, and the distortions make it worse.
Single Score
B+
Favorite Song
FEEL THE RUSH
I never really sat through this single after hearing how HORRIBLY generic Lovin’ U was, but once I did, I was pleased with what I heard, because the b-sides make this single worthwhile, despite the sub-par a-side. The remix is included, too, and this is an extremely rare occurence. It just makes me wonder why the HELL Lovin’ U was the a-side when either of the other two b-sides would have made MUCH better choices.
Yes… That’s right. Again, I’ve been influenced to feature a new artist. Again, it’s been by Megumi.
So..
I will now be featuring Aira Mitsuki, a new 18-year-old techno-pop artist, being produced by Oonishi Terukado. I have no idea who that is, but he isn’t Nakata, so it’s a nice change. She was discovered through the 2007 MEGA TRANCE Singer Auditions, and was chosen as the winner out of 6,325 applicants. She has yet to release an album, but I’ll be reviewing her debut single, Colorful Tokyo Sounds NO.9 very soon.
EDIT: Turns out Aira’s supposedly influenced by Perfume’s music. Damnit… Oh, well.
This is also a DOUBLE feature. I’ve received a few requests about this next artist, one of them requesting a specific, so here she is:
I’m pretty sure the majority of you know melody. I’ve pretty much been a fan of her ever since I heard READY TO GO! (the album, not the song), and I have yet to actually sit through Lei Aloha, so I’ll take this as a good opportunity to do so. However, I’ll be starting with the requested era, which was the READY TO GO! era, namely its first single Lovin’ U, and I’ll most likely follow that with her Lei Aloha era.
I know I have a lot of work to do already, but I can’t resist a good artist when I hear one. At least you’ll get a lot of varied people~
So, later on, expect a review of Perfume’s GAME album, and most likely one of these two reviews~
(Here is is, Ethan, you’d better be happy. >>
Happy early birthday, too~)
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