YES / Nakashima Mika

11 April 2007

中島美嘉 Nakashima Mika
YES

14.3.07
5th album
AICL-1798~9

tracklisting
CD
1 I LOVE YOU (Album Ver.)
2 見えない星
3 素直なまま
4 CRY NO MORE
5 ALL HANDS TOGETHER
6 DANCE WITH THE DEVIL
7 BLACK & BLUE
8 JOY
9 THE DIVIDING LINE
10 MY SUGAR CAT
11 汚れた花
12 GOING BACK HOME
13 祈念歌
14 WHAT A WONDERFL WORLD
DVD
1 opening
2 CRY NO MORE
3 BLACK & BLUE
4 ALL HANDS TOGETHER
5 MY SUGAR CAT
6 見えない星
7 I LOVE YOU
8 WHAT A WONDERFL WORLD (LIVE)
9 ending roll

purchase date 23.3.07

review
2 years after the release of an excellent album "MUSIC", Mika finally return with her 4th original album "YES". Like "THE END" released under NANA starring Mika Nakashima, "YES" failed to top the chart, thus breaking her record of having all of her full album debuting at the #1 spot of oricon.

Following the trend of including a cover song in every album, "YES" opens with the album version of "I LOVE YOU", another Mika-styled charming rendition of a J-pop classic. "見えない星" is the much hyped advance single similar in style as her star-themed mega hits "STARS" and "WILL". Released as a simultaneous single and produced by RYOJI from KETSUMEISHI, "素直なまま" is a mellow ballad typical to Mika's older work. Although Mika maintained her standard with quality soulful vocal in "I LOVE YOU", "見えない星" and "素直なまま", there isn't anything surprises to makes these songs standout.

Surprises are mostly found at the next jazz segment starting with the album's first single "CRY NO MORE". "CRY NO MORE" is Mika's attempt on gospel blues music. "CRY NO MORE" showcase mika's powerful vocal performances from the bridge onwards. "ALL HANDS TOGETHER" is one of my favourite single of 2006 and is my favourite song in this album. "ALL HANDS TOGETHER" is the charity single release last summer which proceeds is used to rebuild New Orleans. In collaboration with a reputable jazz band and choir from New Orleans, Mika challenged herself with some high notes in this song. "DANCE WITH THE DEVIL" is the lead track of this album. "DANCE WITH THE DEVIL" features a jazzy sound with a little country rock influence. "BLACK & BLUE" is the jazz-rock coupling track of "CRY NO MORE" and it is good to have this good B-side included here. Something notable would be Mika's use of falsetto in the chorus.

The album starts getting bored with "JOY" and songs to follow. "JOY" is a sweet all-English piano ballad that is very Mika in style. The simple arrangement makes this song unique, and it truly stands out after 4 vibrant jazz songs. "THE DIVIDING LINE" is a nostalgic folk-rock that has sentimental vocal in the chorus.

Reggae might be Mika's root, but "MY SUGAR CAT" is Mika first single to fall out of oricon top 10 and is her worst selling single since debut. Nevertheless, "MY SUGAR CAT" is still good by mika's standard. Indeed, "MY SUGAR CAT" stand out as an excellent track by placing it within this segment of lullaby.

After the up-tempo "MY SUGAR CAT", this segment reverts back to its folk-rock genre with "汚れた花" that has an introduction resembling a BEGIN's Okinawan folk tune. The next folk-rock "GOING BACK HOME" has words penned by Mochida Kaori from Every Little Thing. Despite starting with a jazz-like opening, "祈念歌" is another folk-rock that seems to drag play time longer. Although these 4 folk-rock numbers are very boring, Mika's vocal performance does help to make these songs a little more interesting. This is partly because I can feel Mika's sincerity through her vocal in all tracks.

This album ends with another cover song "WHAT A WONDERFL WORLD". Being a cover that is already being included in the "ALL HANDS TOGETHER" single, I absolutely think that this song should be omitted from this album.

Unlike her previous 2 albums that focused on jazz music, "YES" only had 6 jazz numbers and 5 of these songs were already released as singles. This might be the reason of poor sales as Mika's name is so closely tied with Jazz since the success of "RESISTANCE". Furthermore, all single materials, with the exception of "MY SUGAR CAT" are being lumped in the beginning of the album, resulting in an unhealthy mix of boring folk-rock towards the end.

This album is definitely not as great as "LØVE" or "MUSIC". I think "YES" is even worse than "THE END". If not for the high quality singles, I would not have bought this album.

With the exception of "素直なまま", the pv of all singles and a live footage of "WHAT A WONDERFL WORLD" are included in the DVD. Among this collection, beautiful video would be "CRY NO MORE", "見えない星" and "I LOVE YOU". Various trends show that Mika's reign as the Princess of J-pop is badly threatened, especially with the rise of Koda Kumi and consistent quality of Otsuka Ai. Mika seriously needs a new hit song to save her career.

recommending #5 ALL HANDS TOGETHER, #4 CRY NO MORE, #1 I LOVE YOU (Album Ver.)
rating 3/10 bad

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YES / Nakashima Mika   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.

THE END / Nakashima Mika

11 January 2007

中島美嘉 Nakashima Mika
THE END

13.12.06
4th album
AICL-1783

tracklisting
1 一色
2 EYES FOR THE MOON
3 GLAMOROUS SKY
4 BLOWING OUT
5 MY MEDICINE
6 NEGLEST WIND
7 REAL WORLD
8 ISOLATION
9 BLOOD
10 一色 (ALTAnative mix)
11 MY WAY

purchase date 22.12.06

review
With the conclusion of the "NANA" movie series, a first and last album is released by mika under the pseudonym "NANA starring MIKA NAKASHIMA". This album contains all previously released songs performed by mika under the NANA identity and new songs of the rock genre. Therefore, this original album also doubles as a soundtrack for the "NANA" movie series. "THE END" is mika's first full album that failed to debut at #1 on oricon, as it only peaks at #2.

"一色" is the theme song for "NANA2" and was released as an advance single. Like its predecessor "GLAMOROUS SKY", the lyrics of "一色" is again written by Yazawa Ai, the author of the "NANA" comics. However, "一色" is composed by TAKURO from the well known J-rock band GLAY. "一色" might not sound outstanding during the 1st listen, but after a few runs, I think this song is actually much better than "GLAMOROUS SKY". Eventually, "一色" becomes my favourite new song in this album. "一色" starts off mellow, with only mallets and acoustic guitar, but more instruments joins in gradually and finally exploded into a ballad-rock number at the 1st chorus. After the end of the 1st chorus, the song turns mellow again, but not as soft this time. It reverts to ballad-rock at the 2nd chorus and remains as such till towards the end, before it turns calm again. The climax of the song would be the yelling of "sweet dreams baby" at the bridge. The most touching part of the song is that, the lyrics and emotions of the song fits in nicely with the character development of the 2 Nana in "NANA2". In many ways, "一色" reminds me of "Fed up" from her 3rd album "Music", which is mika first attempt in ballad-rock, but more towards the orchestra side. The pv of "一色" features specially filmed monochrome footage of NANA starring MIKA NAKASHIMA singing against a white background and wandering around the streets. It is also beautifully edited with meaningful shots extracted from "NANA2". The pv fully captures the essence of the song.

The ALTAnative mix of "一色" completely destroyed a good song. The instrumental and vocal track sound as if they are 2 different tracks that are being played simultaneously from 2 different players. Mika's soulful vocal doesn't seem to fit into the punk rock arrangement. Sadly, this is the version being used in the "NANA2" movie soundtrack, which is very disappointing.

"EYES FOR THE MOON" is featured in "NANA2" and is included in the "一色" single. "EYES FOR THE MOON" is written and composed by TAKURO and the song sounds very much like the ALTAnative mix of "一色", but definitely better. It has a more catchy chorus and arrangement.

"GLAMOROUS SKY" is the theme song of "NANA", with lyrics written by "NANA" author Yazawa Ai. "GLAMOROUS SKY" is composed by HYDE from another reputable J-rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel. This song is too pop music to be considered a true punk rock. But nevertheless, it is still a very good rock song.

"BLOWING OUT" is written and composed by mika's regular collaborator Lori Fine from COLDFEET. The lyrics for half of the song is written in English, making this song resembles "MY MEDICINE". "MY MEDICINE" is an all English song used in "NANA" that truly showcase mika's strength in vibrato. The arrangement of "NEGLEST WIND" sounds rather retro, reminding me of yaiko's "一人ジェンガ" and it is the least rock track in the album. Like the previous track, "REAL WORLD" sounds retro and it reminds me of a song by hitomi in her "LOVE LIFE" album.

"ISOLATION" is another song from the "GLAMOROUS SKY" single. "ISOLATION" was the 2nd best song in that single. "BLOOD" is the best and my favourite track from the "GLAMOROUS SKY" single. Both "ISOLATION" AND "BLOOD" are ballad-rock number that fully utilized mika strong blues vocal and relates back to her jazz roots.

With only 9 original songs, "THE END" is only slightly longer than a mini album and the 2 bonus track included only pulls down the overall quality of the album. "MY WAY" is a cover of a punk classic. With eerie sound effect and spooky lyrics, this is the worst song in this album and it features one of mika's worst vocal performance to date. I don't understand why there is a need for this cover to be included in this album. If a SID Vicious classic is really necessary, I would rather it to be included in the "NANA2" soundtrack or "一色" single, not here.

Although the inclusion of the 4 songs from the "GLAMOROUS SKY" single is a much welcome move, I actually prefer the 3 new songs to be inserted into the "一色" single. With more new materials included, the "一色" single might be able to break sales record again (like what "GLAMOROUS SKY" did last year). Even if Sony needs to upgrade the status of "一色" from a single to a mini album, it is still cheaper than a full album.

Lastly, the cover art of this album is very bad. mika really looks like a corpse or zombie on the cover and in the booklet. Unlike photos from "GLAMOROUS SKY" and the pv of "一色", photos in "THE END" does not show any feature of Ozaki Nana.

recommending #1 一色, #9 BLOOD, #3 GLAMOROUS SKY
rating 5/10 ok

Buy it here:
The End / Nana starring Mika Nakashima

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THE END / Nakashima Mika   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.

LEGEND / Nakashima Mika

中島美嘉 Nakashima Mika
LEGEND

20.10.04
13th single
AICL-1586

tracklisting
1 LEGEND (Main)
2 LEGEND (Original)
3 FAKE
4 Carrot & Whip
5 LEGEND (Instrumental)

purchase date 16.12.06

review
Unlike many of Mika single A-side, "LEGEND" actually has 2 arrangements included, just like what ayu did for "WHATEVER" and hikki did for "Addicted To You". The "Main" version is the actual A-side and it is a fusion of various music genres like Drum 'N Bass, Techno and Electone Ballad. If I really need to categorize "LEGEND", it will fall under the pop-trance genre and mika's beautiful vocal fits in with the music nicely. The "Original" version is mika's usual jazz arrangement which does not stand out as much as the "Main". I personally think the inclusion of this version is to appeal to fans who are not used to the experimental "Main" version. The lyrics penned by Mika is equally experimental, with theme based on numerous legends, myths and fairy tales, which are all beautifully captured in the song's pv.

"FAKE" is a lazy laid-back jazz number showcasing mika's improved vocal range and techniques in this genre. "Carrot & Whip" is her new attempt on lovers rock, after the success of "接吻". "Carrot & Whip" is a happy and relaxing song that showcased mika's talent in jazz.

With 3 excellent songs included, great cover and pv, this is a very good single.

recommending #4 Carrot & Whip, #3 FAKE, #1 LEGEND (Main)
rating 9/10 very good

Buy it here:
LEGEND / Mika Nakashima

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LEGEND / Nakashima Mika   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.