Old Shadows Linger

★ A Song For XX-Ayumi Hamasaki

Date: Saturday, July 17, 2010 | Time: 7/17/2010 08:05:00 PM

A Song For XX

Ayumi’s new debut album since her first R&B “A Y U to the M to the I” album “Nothing From Nothing” flopped BIG TIME. After a hiatus of 3 years, Ayumi wanted to get SOMETHING from NOTHING—in other words, a solid album that will mark her comeback (er, from what, exactly?) and consolidate her as the EMPRESS of JPop. So how is it? Track Listing: 2. A Song For XX 3. Hana 4. Friend 5. Friend II 6. Poker Face 7. Wishing 8. You 9. As If 10. Powder Snow 11. Trust 12. Depend On You 13. Signal 14. From Your Letter 15. For My Dear 16. Present. Wow, what a lot of songs! Compare this with her latest album more than 10 years down the road… which only has 12? (I’m talking about you—Next Level). Yes you. A Song For XX is, in my opinion, the best song on this album. It’s the first—and last time she started out strong. It’s rumoured that it is about her father (with some fans citing that this is WAY better than Shakespeare). Whichever the case, the song is very emotional and has a sweet lilting sound. The chorus became rockier and was darker. Very touching ballad. It deserves 4.5/5 not because it’s some groundbreaking tune but because of what I felt listening to this. Hana started out like some jazz track. Urgh, my eardrums are gonna burst. Ayumi spits out syllable by syllable, trying to sound edgy. It sounds… forced. Very boring track… Not “bad” but certainly NOT GOOD. 1.5/5 Friend starts out electronica style. It seems to be a relaxing track. Ayumi sings “smiling from the heart” style lyrics, about happiness and future. It sounds like a summer song, LOL. It is very happy and got a little hook. 2.5/5 Friend II starts out with sad guitars churning depressingly. Ayumi sounds surprisingly happy. She’s singing about decisions and her friend—whom she know everything about. This song is boring… and somemore Ayumi gave us a happy mood although the song is supposed to be regretful. 1.5/5 Poker Face is really different from Lady Gaga’s song of the same name (if you call that a song). The opening sounds REALLY SIMILAR to Nami Tamaki’s Get Wild… But since it’s earlier, you can only accuse Nami of plagiarism. But this sounds boring… no up and down. Ayumi looks a lot like Ruby Lin with short hair. 2.5/5 Wishing starts out with sad piano and bells. Ayumi finally has got the right tone—sad. It’s a wispy longing track. The chorus is very grand. 3/5 You turns out sad, in the same vein as Wishing. It is a very pleasant song. 4/5 As If is—you’ve guessed it—a piano ballad as well. Until the drums kick in. The tune just sounds… weird. 1.5/5 Looks like Ayumi has 2 modes—sad mode and relaxy mode. Powder Snow is no exception… it’s got piano and sad muted drums. Ayumi sounds timid and sad. Midway she sounds more mysterious. 4.5/5 Trust is despairingly still the same. No matter how nice these kind of songs are, you can’t listen to them FOUR TIMES IN A ROW AND COUNTING! Ayumi sounds less sad. She sounds too shrill. 2.5/5 Depend On You starts out echo-ey and and mysterious with “whooshing” sounds. The lyrics are fairly corny with “if you’re tired… I’ll be here”. A bit catchy. But it’s too upbeat for me. 2.5/5 Signal has faux rock beats—more cabaret style though. Ayumi sounds poppish. The chorus sounds too abrupt. My heart almost jumped out of my ribcage listening to this. I’m pretty sure this can induce a heart attack. 2/5 From Your Letter is weird. It starts with finger snapping than trills, is it a jazz song? Then comes flute and drums. Isn’t it the weirdest mix? Ayumi sounds jazzy. It is a very slow song. Worst song so far. 1/5 For My Dear is a ballad with (what else) piano. Oh my God, Ayumi’s voice is REALLY shrill! 2/5 Present has weird little bells making it a very new-agey track. Then when the happy harmonica kicks in, it’s very jazzy like. Boring and not in a good way. It’s boringly bad. 2/5 Overall, this album has grown on me and I no longer think it SUCKS (Nah, that title is reserved for Duty and Guilty—all the albums ending with ty, thank you). But her voice has lots of room for improvement, and the songs are boring with no variety. There are no WOW 5/5 worthy songs here, and the better songs are few and far between. The ending was wimpish. Too many ballads are grouped together. I’ve been very lenient already. Overall rating: 37.5/15=2.5 Recommended songs: A Song For XX, Powder Snow

Labels: music review

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