Beyond the Sea ~ The Style. Edition

The cover of the CD+DVD edition

KISS KISS KISS / aishiteru… is Ami Suzuki’s 31st single and it was released on October 28, 2009. The single reached #28 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 2,448 copies.

IDGAF what anyone says. Ami looks HOT. ♥ The other cover is great too.

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The last single Reincarnation was crap (minus the Dub-I-Dub cover lol) so I didn’t know what to expect from Suzuki at this point. Fortunately, she stepped it up with this single! Both A-sides have their strong points but I definitely prefer one over the other. I’ll explain in a bit.

First of all, let’s go over KISS KISS KISS and its multiple versions. The Japanese version is track 1 and it’s an upbeat dance club number. I thought the music was good with its various synth and beats but what I liked the most about this song was the rhythm. The chorus is very catchy as well since it has a simple hook featuring English lyrics. Vocally, Suzuki sounds great and she isn’t all over the place like she was in Reincarnation.

The 2 extended versions of the song are the same except for the different languages of course. You know the drill with this stuff but I just have to mention the English version (track 4). Suzuki’s English is so hard to understand but there’s this line about sandwiches and sauce that is so funny. Look up the lyrics and see what I mean.

While KISS KISS KISS was good, I was extremely surprised with aishiteru…, a song that utilizes heavy synth riffs. It was produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka (he’s better known as Fantastic Plastic Machine) and in the end, I thought this track was just plain awesome. Once again, it has an infectious rhythm and Suzuki’s vocals are controlled. Here is a production that is done RIGHT! I love it. There’s also an extended version that appears as track 5.

Pros: aishiteru… is the star of the single but overall, everything is a HUGE improvement over Reincarnation.
Cons: I will never care for these extended versions. EVER.

BASICALLY…both A-sides are catchy as hell. Nice rebound, Ami.

Overall Rating

4 stars

Tracklisting

1. KISS KISS KISS (Japanese Version)
2. aishiteru…
3. KISS KISS KISS (Extended Japanese Version)
4. KISS KISS KISS (Extended English Version)
5. aishiteru… (extended)