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Tracklisting
1) Over Load
2) No Answer
3) Over Load (Kenmochi Hidefumi Remix)
4) Over Load (Instrumental)
5) No Answer (Instrumental)
Over Load is Mika Nakashima’s 28th single, and the first in the post-VOICE era (and the first after the release of her KATE cosmetics compilation album, NO MORE RULES.) The title track was used as the promotional CM song for the new Lipton Limone commercial, in which Mika herself starred. It reached #7 on the Daily Singles Chart on its release date, and was released on the 13th of May, 2009.
After a brilliant studio album and an orgasmic compilation album, it’d only be right to follow it up with a fantastic era-debuting single, right? Well, Over Load fits the bill rather nicely, but not as nicely as I would have hoped. It sounds a bit empty with its focus on a few more thumping beats, especially after that orgasmic opening that utilised both strings AND synths together. Thankfully, the choruses make up for this, and sound a lot more epic in comparison to the initially simple verses. Unfortunately, the transitions lead a LOT to be desired. It goes straight from verse to chorus, and the difference in pitch makes this a very sloppy transition. I don’t know, am I too harsh and over-analyzing with transitions? Every song lately seems to be marred by some transitional error. Thankfully the second half of the song is a lot better than the first, as there’s a bit more going on arrangement-wise. It’s a great song, just not as strong as I would have hoped.
No Answer is kind of the FOCUS to Over Load’s ORION. It uses a lot of synths again, while keeping a kind of laid-back sound throughout the entire song. There isn’t much bad to say about this song. There’s more going on in it than Over Load, which makes it better to listen to, despite it being a really similar track. I don’t like how she says the title in a manner that makes it pop up so randomly and suddenly, but it’s not really anything you can complain about. That breakdown instrumental at just about three minutes in is nice to listen, too, as it sounds kind of on the verge of breaking into a techno song, yet it still keeps the Mika touch. Honestly, this song is LEAGUES ahead of Over Load.
The Over Load remix, however, isn’t really that good. It has a sort of tribal feel to it, and it never really reaches the epic points the original song had, and kind of falls flat when it comes to the chorus, especially since the quiet drums can’t support the high pitch of her vocals the way the synths and strings can. It butchered the song, quite honestly. There’s nothing more to say, it’s just same-y and boring.
Single Score
A
Favorite Track
No Answer
I know I bitched about Over Load’s dull verses and lame transitioning, but honestly, it’s not that bad a song. I’d listen to it again. I WILL listen to it again. It’s just that No Answer does a much better job at catching my interest and keeping me listening throughout the whole song. It would have made a good a-side in its own right, and probably should have taken this role. Either way, I’m happy with what we got. Part of me just wanted more, though.
Tracklisting
1) LIFE
2) SAKURA ~Hanagasumi~ (DAISHI DANCE) (花霞; lit. Cherry Blossoms ~Flower Haze~)
3) FOCUS
4) Eien no Uta (永遠の詩; lit. Song of Eternity)
5) ORION
6) Anata ga Iru Kara (あなたがいるから; lit. Because You Are Here)
7) MY GENTLEMAN
8) TRUST YOUR VOICE
9) IT’S TOO LATE
10) I DON’T KNOW
11) SHUT UP
12) conFusiOn
13) FLOWER OF TIME
14) Koe (声; lit. Voice)
VOICE is the 6th album from Mika Nakashima. It takes on a more adult contemporary pop/rock sound compared to her older works, and mainly features a- and b-sides from the singles of the era, with only five new songs appearing on the tracklisting: tracks 6, 7, 8, 13 and 14. It was released on the 26th of November, 2008.
VOICE had quite a challenge ahead of itself: It had to keep itself interesting, and try to maintain the flow between each of the tracks despite the large number of different genres and sounds that appear on the album, ranging from reggae in Eien no Uta, pop in conFusiOn, gospel/pop in TRUST YOUR VOICE and even full-blown rock in I DON’T KNOW and SHUT UP. It also had to remain interesting to listen to with the majority of the tracklisting being previously released tracks, which can be annoying if you aren’t starting at the album.
When it comes to the flow of the album, there are some obvious troubles. The first three tracks are a good example of the better flowing sections of the album: from the ballad LIFE, to the dance ballad SAKURA, and ending on the synthy jazz song FOCUS, with the ballads having an easier time due to their similar nature, and the synths in SAKURA making that transition somewhat easier. However, there are two, possibly three, major signs of a trainwreck: acoustic MY GENTLEMAN flowing into the upbeat gospel pop song TRUST YOUR VOICE, which could have been handled a bit easier with an interlude or possibly a slight rearrangement.
However, we get to the point where the flow is just broken entirely, and it even becomes a problem beyond this, becoming one of the major pitfalls of the album: The inclusion of I DON’T KNOW and SHUT UP. They are nothing more than whiny rock songs that are trying to be comedic, and on an album as mellow and upbeat as VOICE, they can’t help but ruin the mood completely, especially with the horrible placement they got between IT’S TOO LATE and conFusiOn, two brilliant pop songs that would have flowed perfectly together. The ONLY way to justify them being on the album would be bonus tracks, but in this state, they’ve both killed the flow and mood, which isn’t good.
The majority of the tracks are rather nice: the single tracks (NOT including I DON’T KNOW) were a joy to listen to, and mostly worked well when placed together in one package. The new songs are where the attention should go here, especially on how they fit into the grand scheme. ORION and Kimi ga Iru Kara are both ballads, meaning they flow well and sound great together, with the mellow acoustic song MY GENTLEMAN leading as a nice lead out and a decent, if not choppy transition into my personal favorite track on the album, TRUST YOUR VOICE. Leading from the pop-rock conFusiOn into the jazzy, and also enjoyable FLOWER OF TIME was a bit risky, but the fact that conFusiOn does not go all-out makes this easier to take. Koe, the closing track and title track, flows well from FLOWER OF TIME, and acts as the stand-out ballad of the album. The flow was handled well with the subject matter they had, and the fact that most, if not all of the new songs were enjoyable made it even better.
When taking the album in myself for the review, it was nice to see that most songs had just as much impact as they had on their respective singles. When it comes to songs on the album as a whole, there are two main impact points: TRUST YOUR VOICE and conFusiOn. On an album with a decent amount of ballads, TRUST YOUR VOICE fits the bill of an uplifting, bright song very well, and said nature of the album just made the impact of the song even stronger, with this rule also applying to the random, fun song conFusiOn, which works well near the end of the album as a pick-up point instead of the second half of a single. Ending the album with Koe was the best possible decision, as the general nature of the song brings the album to a close in the perfect manner, which many other songs on the album could not have handled anywhere near as well.
Album Score
B+
Favorite Tracks
1) TRUST YOUR VOICE
2) conFusiOn
3) Eien no Uta
4) Koe
5) MY GENTLEMAN
As a whole, you had to expect a Mika Nakashima album to have a fair share of ballads: Most of the singles took this route as well. However, the placement of upbeat songs at different intervals throughout the album helped keep it from being an album split down the middle between two sounds, and while the flow COULD have been handled better, and I DON’T KNOW and SHUT UP could have been left off for a better package overall, the end result was a very solid album from Mika Nakashima.
Tracklisting
1) ORION
2) FOCUS
3) ORION (Instrumental)
4) FOCUS (Instrumental)
ORION is the 27th overall single from Mika Nakashima, the 5th in the VOICE era, and also the final (FINALLY!!) single in said era. The a-side was the theme song for the Japanese drama Ryūsei no Kizuna, in which Mika herself co-starred. The b-side was used in a television commercial for the Canon IXY Digital 920 IS camera. It peaked at #6 on the Oricon weekly charts. It was released on the 12th of November, 2008.
After I DON’T KNOW, ORION, a simple ballad from Mika, came as a good thing for me. However, I wasn’t overly impressed with how it turned out. The verses are simple, and their transition into the chorus was a bit awkward, which I think is happening WAY too much with music these days. Overall, it just sounds a bit generic to me, which I was disappointed by, yet not exactly surprised by.
FOCUS, however, is a huge step up. It begins with a rather odd and unexpected synth arrangement, slowly getting louder and fuller with Mika singing over it, and I THINK she has a bit of a vocoder on her voice here. I like the whole kind of ethereal, slightly futuristic vibe the synths have here, and when the brass comes in during the chorus and give it a much lighter, more upbeat vibe, it was definitely a very good sign. It’s a very catchy song from Mika, and easily could have been made the a-side over ORION.
Single Score
B
Favorite Track
FOCUS
The a-side wasn’t really too great, and was easily outshined by the upbeat, energetic b-side, which has happened in EVERY single this era. It was to a lesser degree on singles like SAKURA and Eien no Uta, but it’s definitely noticable here. With so many singles coming up on the album, I’m not really sure what to expect from it.
Tracklisting
1) I DON’T KNOW
2) SHUT UP
3) I DON’T KNOW (Instrumental)
4) SHUT UP (Instrumental)
I DON’T KNOW is the 26th single from Mika Nakashima, the fourth in the VOICE era, and is also a collaboration with Morisanchuu, some group made up of three fat chicks no one gives a damn about. It was released on the 23rd of July, 2008.
I have one word for when an era gets to a single this bad: Over-extended. (Hey, it counts…) I DON’T KNOW has to be both the worst, and the most hilarious, single I have ever seen released. It’s a pissy, whiny girl-rock song, and it carries a rather generic rock sound to it that isn’t really interesting at all. Mika’s singing in horrible English here, and those fat chicks shouting in the background aren’t helping me last through the song any better. The chorus, which was the one thing that could have saved this song, was ended in the most awkward way possible. This song wasn’t hilarious, it was just sad.
SHUT UP, however, is a different story. It has a much more aggressive, yet still unbearably generic, punk-rock sound to it, and even starts off with some kind of drag race sound effect that sounds overly out of place. I can hear talk of wheels in the lyrics, but I can’t make it out through the Engrish. The chorus is the real hilarious part. The minimal English you can make out is just not really worth listening to since the rest is so undecipherable, and the way Mika screams the title is just laughably screechy. I like it a bit more than the a-side, but… Come on. It’s not laughably funny, it’s hilariously bad. That horrible squealing between those GOD DAMNED FAT CHICKS at the end was just horrible. I can’t even say horribly funny.
Single Score
D-
Favorite Track
SHUT UP
It’s whiny girl rock. And it sounds horrible. I know Morisanchuu are a comedy band, but… Come on. Did Mika really have to stoop to THIS? At least make it somewhat funny lyrically instead of making it laughably bad. Why is a song called SHUT UP including lyrics relating to cars, anyway?
Tracklisting
1) SAKURA ~Hanagasumi~ (SAKURA ~花霞~, lit. Cherry Blossom ~Flower Haze~)
2) SAKURA ~Hanagasumi~ (DAISHI DANCE)
3) conFusiOn
4) SAKURA ~Hanagasumi~ (Instrumental)
5) conFusiOn (Instrumental)
SAKURA ~Hanagasumi~ is Mika Nakashima’s 25th overall single, and the third in the VOICE era. The a-side, however, was not added onto the VOICE album, with the spot going to the DAISHI DANCE version instead. It was released on the 12th of March, 2008.
SAKURA ~Hanagasumi~ opens with a gorgeous piano solo, before a simpler melody comes in with Mika’s voice. The minimalistic sound the song has gives off a rather sad vibe, as well as a sort of lonely feeling. The whole song is rather simple until more strings and drums come in at about two minutes into the song, giving it a much fuller, more meaningful sound. It’s a beautiful ballad, it’s just a shame it was left off of the album.
Thankfully, the SAKURA DAISHI DANCE Version isn’t too bad either. It replaces the piano with dance beats, and gives the song a more interesting, yet less meaningful sound. It’s also two minutes longer than the original. In all honesty, as good as this song sounds with dance beats instead of the piano, I really would have preferred to have the ballad appear on the album instead. It’s nice to hear some strings and piano in this version, but it’s nowhere near as gorgeous in this state.
The single ends with conFusiOn, which has random voices talking over rather random sounds. This has a semi-rock vibe to it with the electric guitar and drums playing along to Mika’s singing. The arrangement is just verging on aggressive, but as a whole, it’s rather calm. The cymbal bashes and random beeps added into the chorus give it that little extra power it needed, and the upbeat sound of the song was nice to hear after two ballads. I am VERY glad this got onto VOICE, because it’s an interesting, fun song that I definitely enjoy listening to.
Single Score
A
Favorite Song
conFusiOn
As gorgeous as the original SAKURA was, and as interesting as the DAISHI DANCE version was, it was just so nice to hear an upbeat, random song fill the void and keep it from being a huge downer. Every song on this single offered something different and something interesting, as her last single did as well, making it a great third single for the album, and definitely leaving me excited to see what the other singles and the album offer us. (I still haven’t listened to any of them, so it’s going to be interesting~)
Tracklisting
1) Eien no Uta (永遠の詩, lit. Song of Eternity)
2) You’d be so nice to come home to
3) Eien no Uta (Instrumental)
Eien no Uta is Mika Nakashima’s 24th overall single, and the second in the VOICE era. The title track was used as the theme song for the movie Southbound, and the b-side is a cover fo the Cole Porter song of the same name, recorded with the Jazz band Katteni-Shiyagare and later appearing on their tribute album. The single was released on the 3rd of October, 2007.
Eien no Uta is a rather surprising song. Of all things, it’s reggae. I really didn’t expect that, and I’m not sure why. I like the saxaphone usage in the beginning, and the Jamaican guy talking at the beginning sounded alright, actually. Mika’s husky voice fits the laid back arrangement well, and both she and the arrangement sound great throughout. It was a surprising turn of events, and I highly prefer this a-side to LIFE.
Next up is, oddly enough, a Jazz track, You’d be so nice to come home to. Mika’s English isn’t too bad here, and she sounds great singing along with this Jazz arrangement, as well. It’s rather linear in its arrangement until the breakdown near the end of the song, but it’s an extremely catchy tune. I’m still surprised that I can actually understand Mika in this song, and that was a nice surprise, because it makes the song that much more enjoyable.
Single Score
A+
Favorite Track
You’d be so nice to come home to
Overall, a great second single for the VOICE era! Both tracks were very interesting and were great listens, each with their own pluses. There wasn’t really much I didn’t like on this single, the two different genres of music worked well together. Bravo!
Tracklisting
1) LIFE
2) LIFE (Ballad)
3) IT’S TOO LATE
4) LIFE (Instrumental)
5) IT’S TOO LATE (Instrumental)
LIFE is Mika Nakashima’s 23rd overall single, and the first in the VOICE era. It was released on the 22nd of August, 2007.
LIFE opens with a simple piano melody, accompanied by strings, that slowly grows louder, before going into a jazzier, yet still not upbeat sound. Mika’s raspier voice suits the sound of the song well. While the simple arrangement is nice, I do feel that there’s a lot to be desired when it comes to the transition between the verses and chorus. The bridge in the song doesn’t do it very well, and the fact that the chorus itself feels like it’s missing something important doesn’t help at all. It’s a good song, but I was hoping it would be better.
And now we have the “remix” of the single, the LIFE (Ballad) version. It features the vocals in a much slower manner, and they also come in much sooner, to accompany the sweeping arrangement, which includes the piano and strings. But overall, something’s still missing. It’s still not a great song when it’s made into an orchestral ballad, but that may be because they didn’t put in anything to really draw your attention to the song. A failed attempt.
The b-side, IT’S TOO LATE, is a chaotic, jazzy number that contrasts to both versions of LIFE, as it features what the title track itself lacked: A little bit of >>LIFE<< in the vocals. Her voice could be a bit livelier (though I do like how she says the title, when it eventually comes up), but the arrangement of the song itself is great. I always love Mika’s jazzier numbers, and this song is another great one to add to her list of these songs. Some note hitting here and there is all I can think of to improve the song.
Single Score
B-
Favorite Track
IT’S TOO LATE
Okay, so this wasn’t a BAD single, really. It just left a lot to be desired when you really sat down and paid attention to it. The songs sound nice enough, but each one of them is missing at least ONE THING that would make them sound a whole lot better, had they actually been present. It’s not a great way to start the era, but it’s not a bad way, either.
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