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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