愛 am BEST / Otsuka Ai

11 June 2007

大塚愛 Otsuka Ai
愛 am BEST

28.3.07
best album
AVCD-23271/B

tracklisting
CD
1 桃ノ花ビラ
2 さくらんぼ
3 甘えんぼ
4 Happy Days
5 金魚花火
6 大好きだよ。
7 黒毛和牛上塩タン焼６８０円
8 Cherish
9 SMILY
10 ビー玉
11 ネコに風船
12 プラネタリウム
13 LOVE MUSiC
secret track
99 BABASHIのテ―マ
DVD
1 桃ノ花ビラ Music Clip
2 さくらんぼ Music Clip
3 甘えんぼ Music Clip
4 Happy Days Music Clip
5 金魚花火 Music Clip
6 大好きだよ。 Music Clip
7 黒毛和牛上塩タン焼６８０円 Music Clip
8 Cherish Music Clip
9 SMILY Music Clip
10 ビー玉 Music Clip
11 ネコに風船 Music Clip
12 プラネタリウム Music Clip
13 LOVE MUSiC Music Clip

purchase date 10.5.07

review
It has been a very long time since I'm so pleased with a best album. The reason is because recent best albums were very commercialize and were simply released to make huge profit using the lowest budget. There is little new materials and minimal sincerity. However this problem does not seems to exist in "愛 am BEST". The CD of "愛 am BEST" includes all single A-sides released within 2003-2005, whereas its respective PV were included in the DVD. Plus, the booklet also published the image of the single besides the lyrics of its respective song. This is something simple that provides a thorough review of the artist. While this seems like a necessity, it is ironically rare in many best albums. Furthermore, numerous behind-the-scenes photos are compiled. The making clips of most PV were also edited into a special credit roll.

"愛 am BEST" opens with ai's debut single "桃ノ花ビラ" (literally translated as peach petals). Written as a tribute to her friend, "桃ノ花ビラ" is a high quality debut from a singer/songwriter. The use of traditional Japanese musical instruments reminds me of Namie's evergreen classic "NEVER END". Filmed in a forest (I think it might be the same forest as the PV of globe's "genesis of next" and dream's "Yourself"), "桃ノ花ビラ" has a green PV that is enhanced with CG effects to add an animated peach character, butterfly-like peach petals and many other insects. Notably is Cyndi Wang did a Chinese cover of "桃ノ花ビラ" in her 3rd album.

The second track is ai's breakthrough signature tune "さくらんぼ" (literally translated as cherry). This lively pop-rock has a minimal retro-jazz touch. Similar to many SPEED's euro-pop songs, "さくらんぼ" is capable of brightening up a gloomy day. It has been a very long while since a J-pop artist released a new song from this genre, which brings back fond memories. "さくらんぼ" has a cute PV centring on shades of red complemented by a variety of pastel colours.

Beginning with an Oboe solo, "甘えんぼ" (literally translated as indulgence) is a typical ballad that yields little surprises, especially after hearing 2 great singles. Despite being an Oboe player and my strong love for Oboe, I don't like "甘えんぼ" as I find it boring. But "甘えんぼ" is still a decent ballad of acceptable quality, just not as good as other outstanding ballad by ai. Filmed during winter in a park of Tokyo, "甘えんぼ" do have a beautiful PV starring ai as a cat spirit. Again, a wide range of pastel colours was used to create a cosy ambience.

"Happy Days" is a catchy summer pop-rock much in line with her hit "さくらんぼ". "Happy Days" rocks much tougher through extensive use of bass and drum beat. However, ai distorted vocal and the numerous "um!" in the chorus can get annoying at times. The PV of "Happy Days" is filmed in a pseudo-outdoor set with rolling field and bright blue colour sky. This exaggerating PV fits perfectly for the song, especially with the use of loudspeaker.

"金魚花火" has always been my favourite song from ai since watching her performing this song in "a-nation '04". The arrangement of "金魚花火" consists of an acoustic piano accompanied by numerous types of mallet instruments that truly replicate the style of traditional Japanese music. Fireworks is an essential element of summer in Japan and fireworks play a key role in the lyrics of "金魚花火". The use of bass drum to create the sound of fireworks being ignited enhanced the loneliness and desperation on a summer night. This beautiful ballad with poetic lyrics and creative arrangement fully demonstrated the multiple talents of ai. "金魚花火" has a very beautiful PV and the full story is available in the DVD of her 2nd album "LOVE JAM".

"大好きだよ。" is another of my favourite song from ai. "大好きだよ。" is a ballad performed by a mini orchestra and arranged with a little rock sound added. It is upon hearing the demo of "大好きだよ。" that avex decided to award ai a contract. "大好きだよ。" has a very sad PV showing memories of ai with her dying boyfriend. An alternate pv is included in her 2nd album "LOVE JAM". The animated version features Ai's self-drawn cartoon rabbit character "LOVE" and this is the pv that introduced me to Ai.

"黒毛和牛上塩タン焼６８０円" was recut from "黒毛和牛上塩タン焼７３５円", the lead song of her 2nd album "LOVE JAM". It was rearranged from an acoustic jazz song into a ballad-rock number and renamed "黒毛和牛上塩タン焼６８０円". The strange title of this love song originated from Ai's favourite dish from a restaurant in her hometown Osaka. Both versions have its strength and weakness, so it is hard to decide which is better. The hilarious PV of "黒毛和牛上塩タン焼６８０円" features ai in gothic rock-chic image barbequing pieces of beef for the actor. For the cover art, bull horns are even added to complement this dark image. I really like this concept.

Being a huge fan of manga "NANA", ai participated in the tribute album for the comic by contributing "Cherish". "Cherish" is a ballad-rock performed under the image of REIRA, the vocalist of TRAPNEST, one of the band featured in the comic. Being a fan of "NANA" myself, I like "Cherish" because this ballad-rock fits the image of TRAPNEST more closely than Ito Yuna's songs. The PV of "Cherish" creates the exact gothic ambience of Scotland where TRAPNEST likes to record their album in the comic.

"SMILY / ビー玉" is ai's first single to debut #1 on oricon. Like "さくらんぼ", "pretty voice" and "Happy Days", "SMILY" is ai's typical cheerful happy-go-lucky pop-rock tune with a cheeky PV. "ビー玉" (literally translated as marble) is a medium tempo cute pop song with a colourful PV. I personally think that "ビー玉" is the worst song in this best album.

"ネコに風船" (literally translated as cat and balloon) shows ai venture into country-rock. I don't really like "ネコに風船" initially, but after watching the PV, I am instantly hooked to this acoustic guitar piece. "ネコに風船" has very creative lyrics that is written from a cat's perception on the human world and ai's writing style is very similar to literature of the Showa period. The lyrics are complemented with a retro Showa-style image and a PV that perfectly suits the theme.

"プラネタリウム" (literally translated as planetarium) is my 3rd favourite song after "金魚花火" and "大好きだよ。". Featuring acoustic piano and alto flute, "プラネタリウム" delivers a traditional Japanese music vibe similar to "金魚花火", but the overall ballad-rock arrangement creates a more modern sound. Despite being a great song, "プラネタリウム" has the most boring PV in this collection, with only very few scenes that can be considered beautiful.

"フレンズ -サバカン ver.-" was initially planned to be included in this best album. However, the confirmed tracklisting replaced it with "LOVE MUSiC". "LOVE MUSiC" is extracted from her 3rd album "LOVE COOK". It is a country-rock, but unlike "ネコに風船", it has a more varied arrangement that is enhanced with a Bassoon. Quoted from her "LOVE IS BORN" premium live, "LOVE MUSiC" is ai's message to her fans. The PV of "LOVE MUSiC" is specially filmed for this best album. A heart is placed in the centre throughout the PV.

Creativity can be found throughout "愛 am BEST". Even the title has double meaning of 'I am BEST' and 'Ai is the best'. Creativity is most notable by having the secret track recorded on track 99, a reference to her birthday (9 September). In order to do so, tracks 14 to 98 were deliberately left blank. The secret track, believed to be titled "BABASHI" is ai's typical whacky track that keeps repeating the only lyrics "BABASHI" throughout.

Like the CD, the DVD also contains a secret track and it is even trickier to find it. To watch this secret track, user have to process a set of command in between the skydiver opening and the menu. User needs to press the DVD Player Remote Control ↑ button 9 times, → button 9 times, ↓ button 9 times, ← button 9 times and finally pressing the enter button. Immediately after the execution of this command, the PV of "BABASHI", titled "BEST OF BABASHI" will start. The menu will appear after "BEST OF BABASHI" ended. This command also works for overseas (OS) version, so there is no need to buy the much more expensive japan (JP) version for this secret PV.

It is a deliberate decision that the 4 newer singles released after "LOVE COOK" were excluded from this best album. It is likely due to limited storage to record 18 songs in a CD or because ai's 4th album is in the pipeline. "愛 am BEST" would have been better if Ai had included the lead song of her first album "しゃぼん玉" into the tracklisting and printed her full discography in the booklet. Otherwise I'm really very satisfied with this best album. Those interested with the DVD should watch the animated PV of "ユメクイ", as it is created with reference to all PV prior to it.

recommending #5 "金魚花火", #6 "大好きだよ。", #12 "プラネタリウム"
rating 10/10 excellent

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