Secret / Hamasaki Ayumi

11 January 2007

浜崎あゆみ Hamasaki Ayumi
Secret

29.11.06
9th album
AVCD-23178/B

tracklisting
CD
1 Not yet
2 until that Day…
3 Startin'
4 1 LOVE
5 It was
6 LABYRINTH
7 JEWEL
8 momentum
9 taskinst
10 Born To Be...
11 Beautiful Fighters
12 BLUE BIRD
13 kiss o' kill
14 Secret
DVD
1 Startin' (video clip)
2 Born To Be... (video clip)
3 BLUE BIRD (video clip)
4 Beautiful Fighters (video clip)
5 JEWEL (video clip)
6 1 LOVE (video clip)
7 momentum (video clip)
8 Startin' (making clip)
9 Born To Be... (making clip)
10 BLUE BIRD (making clip)
11 Beautiful Fighters (making clip)
12 JEWEL (making clip)
13 1 LOVE (making clip)
14 momentum (making clip)

purchase date 11.12.06

review
This album was purchased as part of my 21st Birthday Celebration and it is the only CD bought and heard on 11.12.06 (actual day).

With only 2 singles released prior to this album, "Secret" was initially planned as a mini album, as it has the least single A-sides among all of ayu's original album. But with more songs completed on time, the mini album was eventually expanded into a full album.

"Not yet" is ayu's typical techno introduction track. In addition, there are 2 more interlude tracks on this album, namely "LABYRINTH" and "taskinst". All 3 instrumental tracks are not bad, but nothing particularly interesting either. "Not yet" transit smoothly to "until that Day…", similar to how "Introduction" transit to "Fly high" in "LOVEppears". "until that Day…" is a techno song typical in recent ayumi works and this song definitely builds up energy as the opening number of this album. "until that Day…" is a good song, with the right mix of emotion and vocal technique. I love the use of acoustic guitar towards the end of this song; it fits the dark and desperate mood nicely.

"Startin'" is ayu's excellent spring single release of 2006 and it is the best song in this album. "Startin'" is a techno-rock track similar to "STEP you" and the song has a very interesting pv. In the video ayumi imitates several J-pop princesses of avex, which I personally think is a good move to demonstrate her dominance and the amount of power she is still holding on to in the company. ayumi first appeared in a 'Koda Kumi style' outfit similar in style to those Kumiko wore in her "Selfish" pv, the only difference is, ayu's adaptation is not so revealing. Next is a gothic style black dress with a huge hat that resembles BoA's "everlasting" pv. The 3rd costume is a yellow racing suit which suzuki ami wore a red one for her "Eventful" pv. Besides this, ayumi also rides on a bike like what amigo rode. Otsuka Ai also rides a scooter for her "フレンジャー" pv.

Since "Duty", ayumi has always include a hard rock number in her album. Excellent hard rock songs includes "End of the World", "evolution", "Because of you", "About You", etc. She also tends to close her album with song of this genre; like "girlish", "flower garden" and "+". But with the decline in ayu's overall performance, it is most obvious in her vocal performance for this genre. "1 LOVE" is a hard rock song and I don't like her coarse vocal performance for this type of music in recent album. "1 LOVE" suffered the same problems with recent songs of the same genre like "Humming 7/4" and "Ladies Night". Furthermore, "1 LOVE" has a very disgusting pv.

"It was" starts off softly like a R&B ballad and then explode into a mild ballad-rock piece. The song was initially planned for inclusion in her previous album "(miss)understood", which is most probably being replaced by one of the collaboration with GEO. Therefore, the inclusion of this previously unreleased song is likely due to the need for more filler tracks from the sudden expansion. In fact, "It was" focus on acoustic guitar makes it shares a similar sound with majority of the songs included in "(miss)understood". Nevertheless, "It was" is the better non-single track in this album, and much better than most of the GEO collaboration tracks.

The video of "JEWEL" was the most expensive pv ever made in J-pop history due to its expansive use of expensive jewellery. However, it just proved the theory that expensive does not necessary means better quality. It is a very boring video according to Wataru Takeshi standard, considering that he directed excellent videos like "appears", "kanariya", "vogue Far away SEASONS", "SURREAL" and "M" for ayu. For the song itself, "JEWEL" is a decent slow ballad by ayumi and one of the better songs in this album. In the past, "JEWEL" might be chosen to be released as a simultaneous single for its quality and high budget pv.

"momentum" is ayu's long-awaited ballad-rock song, but definitely not her best. Nevertheless, it is still great to see this type of music genre being featured here. The pv reminds me of "No way to say", but a more boring version.

Coming next is "taskinst", followed by some of the worst songs in this album. "Born To Be..." might sounds annoying at first, but this song will get better after a few listen. "Beautiful Fighters" and "BLUE BIRD" are the worst songs in this album, which I will simply skipped because I had reviewed these 2 songs in my previous review, so I won't spend time complaining here.

"kiss o' kill" has an eerie sound and this techno-rock number sounds like an answering, reply or opposite version to "until that Day…".

"Secret" is the much-hyped theme song of Hong Kong movie "Confession of Pain". The song reminds me of her classic "Who..." and it is the best new song in this album. "Secret" is an excellent ballad that showcased her emotions very well and it fits neatly with the mood of the movie. If ayumi still release recut single, "Secret" will easily be recut as one due to its superior quality and huge tied-up.

Overall, there is nothing bad in this album. Most songs are of good to above average quality. In fact, "Secret" is actually quite good in accordance to her recent standard, but only above average if compared to ayu's golden standard. This album isn't as bad as "RAINBOW" or "(miss)understood", which are her 'all time worst album' to date and none of the songs are as horrid as "Real me", "HANABI ~episode II~" or "Bold & Delicious". It is interesting to note that the 3 single tracks "Born To Be...", "BLUE BIRD" and "Beautiful Fighters" are actually the worse songs in this album. For the new songs, most of them sounds good, but are not as great if compared to her old classics.

recommending #3 Startin', #14 Secret, #2 until that Day
rating 8/10 good

Buy it here:
Secret [Jacket A / CD+DVD] / Ayumi Hamasaki
Secret [Jacket B] / Ayumi Hamasaki

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