Here’s the final post! Like yesterday, there will be two categories: my top 10 album-only tracks and top 10 overall albums. Also, the lists will be in no particular and were chosen based on my personal thoughts. Previous star ratings from my reviews will not matter.

TOP 10 ALBUM-ONLY TRACKS

ayaka – Kimi ga Iru Kara

Hitomi Shimatani – Taiyou no Flare

BoA – AGGRESSIVE

melody. – Say Hello

Yuna Ito – Wish

Ayumi Hamasaki – GUILTY

Ami Suzuki – Mysterious

Crystal Kay – TIME GOES BY

JYONGRI – Still in Love

Utada Hikaru – Celebrate

Honorable Mentions
Tomiko Van – Utopia
Koda Kumi – Amai Wana
Nami Tamaki – EDEN
Leah Dizon – Not Too Bad

TOP 10 OVERALL ALBUMS

JYONGRI – Love Forever

Mai Kuraki – ONE LIFE

Koda Kumi – Kingdom

Mika Nakashima – VOICE

Ayumi Hamasaki – GUILTY

BoA – THE FACE

KOKIA – The VOICE

melody. – Lei Aloha

Ami Suzuki – Supreme Show

ayaka – Sing to the Sky

Honorable Mentions
Hitomi Shimatani – Flare
Nami Tamaki – Don’t Stay
Mr.Children – SUPERMARKET FANTASY
Utada Hikaru – HEART STATION

So that’s it! Regular reviews will continue now. I still have 4 releases from 2008 that I have to review and I’ll get working on them as soon as I can. ;D

I’m going to keep things simple this time…
Even though I like making lists (lol), I hate putting them in order! Part 3 of this special will go over anything related to singles so basically just A-sides and B-sides. Just remember that all of these will be in no particular order. Honestly, these are songs that I personally enjoyed so don’t be mad if your ~favorite song~ isn’t on here. Also, I couldn’t possibly create a “worst-of” list because I am way too nice! ;DD

TOP 10 A-SIDES

Ayumi Hamasaki – Mirrorcle World

Tommy heavenly6 – PAPERMOON

Leah Dizon – Love Paradox

Hitomi Shimatani – WAKE YOU UP

Koda Kumi – TABOO

ayaka – Okaeri

Ami Suzuki – ONE

alan – RED CLIFF ~Shin Sen~

Yuna Ito – miss you

Namie Amuro – NEW LOOK

Honorable Mentions
Mika Nakashima – ORION
JYONGRI – Kissing Me
Ai Otsuka – Kurage, Nagareboshi
Utada Hikaru – Prisoner Of Love 

 TOP 10 B-SIDES

Koda Kumi - Winter Bell

Leah Dizon – LOVE SWEET CANDY

BONNIE PINK – Pump It Up!

JYONGRI – You’re the One

Crystal Kay - Girl Move On

Yuna Ito – Mafuyu no Seiza

Mika Nakashima – FOCUS

Hitomi Shimatani – Kuchizuke Shiyou

YUI – Oh My God

Angela Aki – Final Destination

Honorable Mentions
Perfume – edge
alan – Seed of Green
Anna Tsuchiya – Imitation night
Ami Suzuki – A token of love

 Part 2 of my 2008 In Review special will cover any other album that was released this year. This includes B-side compilations, concept albums, and cover albums. I have 2 special album reviews at the end as well because I felt that they should be noted. Let’s get things going with…

CONCEPT ALBUMS

Ai Kawashima – Café & Musique ~Rojou Shuu 3 Gou~
This was Ai Kawashima’s THIRD concept album and this one had an acoustic theme. It features self-cover versions of her Indies songs and they have been rearranged to sound more acoustic with a laid back café lounge sound. While I think the concept of this album was ambitious, a lot of the songs end up sounding the same as a result. Every track just blends into each other so it’s hard to tell them apart. Her last concept album, which had a piano theme, was a lot better.

Overall Rating

3 stars

♦

KOKIA – Christmas gift
I have to admit that I was too lazy to review KOKIA’s full length Christmas album because it seemed tedious but Christmas gift does have some good songs. The album mostly comprises of covers but some original tracks do appear near the end. She sings all kinds of Christmas tunes but most of them appear on a whopping 13 minute medley. Not all the songs are Christmas related though like her covers of Amazing Grace and Hallelujah.

 Overall Rating 

3½ stars

B-SIDE COMPILATIONS

Ai Kawashima – Coupling Best
Released on the same day as her single collection Single Best, this B-side compilation album kind of serves as its companion. It’s also 2 discs long and it’s funny that it features more songs than Single Best. Kawashima’s B-sides are actually pretty good but I think Disc 2, which feature the more recent songs, are better. The collection also includes a new song titled Deep Love that appears as the final track on Disc 2.

Overall Rating

4 stars

♦

YUI – MY SHORT STORIES
I was so happy when it was first announced that YUI would release a B-side album because honestly, her B-sides are awesome. The interesting thing about MY SHORT STORIES is that it feels like a studio album thanks to the tracklisting. The only song that I don’t like is Driving today because it’s so boring but everything else is gold. A new track titled I’ll be was included as promotion as well and it’s a nice way to open the album. Other artists that should release a B-side album are Yuna Ito, K, and Ai Otsuka…

Overall Rating

4½ stars

COVER ALBUMS

Tomiko Van – VOICE 2 ~cover lovers rock~
Tomiko Van’s 2nd cover album…or as I like to call it, “VOICE 2 ~Electric Boogaloo~”. Compared to her first cover album, this one is a lot better because it features covers of upbeat rock songs instead of boring adult contemporary songs. Similar to Hitomi Shimatani’s Otoko Uta ~cover song collection~, all of the songs were originally performed by male artists. There are some notable tracks including her versions of IT’S ONLY LOVE, You’re the Only…, and Aisubeki Hito yo to prevent a feeling of sameness. The first track, Cherry, was used to promote the album too.

Overall Rating 

3½ stars

UM…OTHER STUFF?

Coming up next are two studio albums that I didn’t review because of certain circumstances…anyway, here are mini-reviews instead. ;D 

GIRL NEXT DOOR – GIRL NEXT DOOR
Ah, the self-titled studio album by the new avex group GIRL NEXT DOOR. The group officially debuted in September for avex’s 20th anniversary and their music is a throwback to classic 90s J-pop (but with a modern electronic twist of course!). Anyways, the album is pretty good and I liked a lot of the songs. The vocalist, Chisa, has a nice voice and it’s pretty strong as well. While most of the songs on the album feature an upbeat electronic sound, there are some different songs like the ballad WINTER MIRAGE and the poppy Winter Garden. As for the other tracks, try out the album for yourself!

Overall Rating

4 stars

♦

Younha – Someday
This is one of the few instances where you’ll see a Korean album on this blog but I just HAD to mention Younha’s Someday because it is positively amazing. This was her 2nd Korean album and it’s a huge improvement over the first one. Someday covers a lot more genres including pop, jazz, rock, and even a little R&B. There are so many good songs on this album but one that particularly stands out is My Song and…, which is in English. Younha’s English sounds damn near perfect so props to her. If you like Younha’s Japanese music, I think you would LOOOOOOVE this album.

Overall Rating

5 stars

 ♦

So that’s it for Part 2! Get ready for Part 3 which will be coming AFTER New Year’s Day as my first official post of 2009. Part 3 will be all about singles and more singles so look out for it. ;D

It’s that time of year again and I want to look back highs and lows of 2008. Last year, I did this all in just one post, but now I decided to include even more stuff! Since the year isn’t exactly over yet, my list of the top singles/albums/etc. of 2008 will come later in the month. For now, let’s take a look at the releases that I DIDN’T review. This is Part 1 of a 4 part series and I will be examining the various best-of / single compilation albums that were released this year.

So I will be taking a look at 8 best-of albums and examine them in the order they were chronologically released. I will also be rating these albums so think of all of this as a bunch of “mini-reviews” or something.

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the brilliant green – the brilliant green complete single collection ‘97-’08
To celebrate their 10th anniversary as a band, the brilliant green released this single collection that features a total of 17 tracks. Songs exclusive to this album are the band’s first two singles Bye Bye Mr. Mug and goodbye and good luck (which were in English) as well as their 3 “comeback singles” Stand by me, Enemy, and Ash Like Snow. This collection is perfect if you want to try out this band because many of their earlier songs like BYE! MY BOY!, CALL MY NAME (JAPANESE VERSION), and Sono Speed de showcase their unique Western alternative sound.

Overall Rating

4½ stars

♦

Beni Arashiro – Chapter One -complete collection-
Released in March, this compilation album marked the end of the first chapter of Beni Arashiro’s career. It was the last release under her former label avex trax but also as “Beni Arashiro”…literally. She officially changed her stage name to BENI shortly after and transferred to Universal Music. This was definitely for the better because I am honestly not a fan of most of her music when she was in avex. There were a few good singles here and there like Cherish, How Are U? (her best song under avex), and Luna though. Besides all of her singles, there were some B-sides included like THE POWER and her cover of CALL ME, BEEP ME! too. Furthermore, the album contains 3 new songs: Southern Star, Mellow Parade, and BIG BANG. While her songs may have been subpar, Arashiro continued to improve as a vocalist throughout the years and she sounds fantastic now compared to when she first debuted.

Overall Rating

3 stars

♦

Younha – SONGS -teen’s collection-
Also in March, Younha released the most unnecessary album ever. She only released ONE studio album and a handful of singles prior to the release of this compilation album so I thought it was way too early. It was her only release in Japan this year too, but that’s okay because she’s been making awesome music in her native Korea instead. I’ve always enjoyed Younha’s style of piano rock and songs that I especially love in this album include Touch, Te wo Tsunaide, and Hakanaku Tsuyoku. What makes this album kind of worth it are the new tracks. They include the previously unreleased Scratch On The Heart, a Japanese version of her hit Korean song Password 486, and Kono Kokoro.

Overall Rating

4 stars

♦

Ai Kawashima – Single Best
To celebrate her 5th anniversary as a solo artist, Ai Kawashima released this 2 disc compilation album. Single Best contains all of the A-sides from her debut up to her 13th single Kimi ni….. and a lot of new tracks as well. Also, some of the singles like Zetsubou to Kibou and Tenshitachi no Melody have been rearranged and re-sung for the album too. Kawashima has a very pure and soothing voice so I think she sings these mid-tempo pop ballads quite well but she also performs the occasional upbeat song.

 Overall Rating

4 stars

♦

Namie Amuro – BEST FICTION
The mother of all compilation albums this year, Namie Amuro’s BEST FICTION was fucking huge. The album has sold over 1.4 million copies so far and Amuro is more popular than ever before. It contains all of the main A-sides from her last 3 album eras as well as all the songs from the 60s 70s 80s single. Also, 2 hot new tracks were included to promote the album: Do Me More and Sexy Girl. I think BEST FICTION is pretty much perfect in every way and a great introduction to Amuro’s brand of “hip-pop” (a fusion of R&B and mainstream pop elements).

Overall Rating

5 stars

 ♦

Ayumi Hamasaki – A COMPLETE ~ALL SINGLES~
This compilation album was a monster! To celebrate her 10th anniversary, this whopping 3 disc collection was released. It features every leading A-side from poker face up to Mirrorcle World so singles that had multiple A-sides like A, H, and all double A-side singles only included the first track. I listened to the whole thing all at once and it took a good 3 hours or so but it’s interesting to see how Hamasaki evolves as you progressed through each disc. I’m not a fan of her earlier songs, which means most of Disc 1, but she continues to improve as you move onto Discs 2 and 3. It’s no surprise that most of my favorite Hamasaki songs EVER are on Disc 3.

Overall Rating

5 stars

 ♦

melody. – The Best of melody. ~Timeline~
I’m going to miss melody. sooooo much and all I can pretty much say about her retirement is “too soon”. I really thought she was making the best music of her career prior to the announcement so I was pretty sad. Anyway, this album covers all of her singles but also includes 2 B-sides (So into You and My Dear). I’m not that fond of her debut material but her singles really start getting good after Believe me and everything that follows is very high quality pop music. The album also includes miss you, her popular collaboration with m-flo and Ryohei, as a bonus track.

Overall Rating

4½ stars

♦

Salyu - Merkmal
 I thought this release was pretty random too. Merkmal is a German word and it means something like “trait” or “attribute” so I thought that was interesting. Salyu released 2 studio albums prior to Merkmal so it includes some extra tracks next to the singles like her solo version of to U and 2 Lily Chou-Chou songs. Depending on the edition you get, there is a 2nd disc that includes some collaborations. Salyu has a funky voice but it’s not ear grating like certain ~edgy~ singers so I recommend this album. Her music is also pretty experimental, mixing offbeat alternative rock with pop.

Overall Rating

4½ stars

♦

Get ready for Part 2 which will be coming tomorrow! Part 2 of this special will cover miscellaneous albums that I also didn’t review like cover albums, concept albums, etc., so stay tuned. Also, I’ve been preoccupied lately so I couldn’t review any new releases…and I’m sorry about that. Persona 4 is so addicting!

メリ・クリスマス!

♥♥♥

The main reason of this post was so I could show off that awesome picture, but I also want to share my favorite Christmas and winter themed J-pop songs too! It was pretty easy to compile this list but it was kind of hard choosing my favorite winter J-pop songs. There’s a lot that I like but I managed to narrow it down to 10 songs.

BoA – Meri Kuri
I think this is an example of the perfect Christmas song. Released back in December 2004, Meri Kuri still remains of the BoA’s most popular Japanese songs to date. She has a lot of good winter songs, but this one has the perfect atmosphere for the holiday season. The single also has some winter songs as well including the upbeat MEGA STEP and a nice cover of The Christmas Song.

Do As Infinity – We are.
Released in November 2000, back when Do As Infinity was still a fairly new band, they released this awesome Christmas themed song. We are. is very cool in that it incorporated the band’s pop rock style into the mix with a combination of strings, electric guitar, and bells. It’s a lively song as well, focusing on the main lyric “We were born amid the thousands of stars”. It’s one of the band’s most unique tracks too.

Every Little Thing – Koi wo Shiteiru
The ideal winter love song! In an ironic twist, this double A-side single was released on Halloween! Every Little Thing’s Koi wo Shiteiru was one of my favorite ballads of 2007 and one of the duo’s best songs in recent memory. This is a sweeping winter ballad and it’s very pretty as well. The single’s other track, a cover of Noriyuki Makihara’s Fuyu ga Hajimaru yo, was pretty good as well.

Hitomi Shimatani – Konayuki
In November 2002, Hitomi Shimatani released a winter themed mini-album titled Poinsettia ~Amairo Winter Memories~ and as far as I’m concerned, it’s the best one. Shining and CHAIN got nothing on it!  The first track, Konayuki, is my favorite song off the mini-album. It is such a gorgeous song and Shimatani’s voice is positively radiant. This was around the time her she was beginning to improve vocally as well and it really shows in that song.

K – First Christmas
Here is a Christmas song with some soul! Released in November 2006, First Christmas features jazz and gospel elements alongside the normal holiday stuff. The romantic lyrics are nice and I like how it’s about sharing your first Christmas with someone you love as well. On the single, a cover of Luther Vandross’ Every Year, Every Christmas is included.

Koda Kumi – you
The first sad song on this list is Koda Kumi’s you, released back in December 2005. This was the first single in her huge 12 singles campaign as well as the most successful (it was the 1st #1 single of her career). A song about a lost love, Kumi sings with a lot of emotion, especially during the final verse. She is even sporting the look as well, dressing as an Eskimo on the cover!

Mai Kuraki – Silent love ~open my heart~
One of my favorite Mai Kuraki songs is the heartwarming Silent love ~open my heart~. I think it’s her best winter ballad, but she has other good winter songs like Shiroi Yuki and All I want. What I like the most about this song are the lyrics: they are SO sweet. Kuraki also sings beautifully too and her voice just makes you want to melt. It’s perfect for a cold winter’s night.

Mika Nakashima – Yuki no Hana
MOST DEPRESSING SONG EVER. Unlike the song I mentioned before, Mika Nakashima’s Yuki no Hana makes you want to freeze over. When it was released back in October 2003, it become one of her most famous songs and the main reason why her 2nd album LOVE became so successful. This is also a song that showcases her incredible vocal range. Those high notes during the chorus are amazing.

Namie Amuro – White Light
Believe it or not, White Light was the first song by Namie Amuro that I ever heard. I loved it on the first listen and I officially became a fan after that (I listened to Come and WANT ME, WANT ME next so that sealed the deal XD). The song is a relaxing mix of Christmas cheer and Amuro’s trademark “hip-pop” style. For a mid-tempo R&B ballad, this song is pretty hot. She is fierce as hell so it all works out in the end.

Tommy heavenly6 – I♥XMAS
Even a ~hardcore~ chick like Tommy heavenly6 got into the Christmas spirit! After the epic Halloween themed Lollipop Candy♥BAD♥girl, she released I♥XMAS in December 2006. I love this song and it’s actually quite aggressive, making this a high octane Christmas track. I like that it’s just a full blown rock song and it relies on the lyrics instead of the music.

Sooooo…that’s it. For the last days of 2008, I’ll start working on my epic 4 PART 2008 In Review special. In the meantime, reviews of Ayumi Hamasaki’s latest single Days / GREEN and Tomiko Van’s new album Van. will come in the next 2 days.

Now it’s time for the blog’s 2nd feature! This is a list of my top 15 single covers. Actually, thinking of only 15 was harder than I thought because I like so many single covers. In the end, I chose covers that were aesthetically pleasing to me (among other things). Just like the last post, the list is no particular order. Here we go!

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Starting off this list is a cover that is trippy and really far out. To simply put it, Utada Hikaru’s traveling is a visual mindfuck. I love the scattered colors and Utada looks like she is actually moving or “traveling”. There is too much going on in the cover to comprehend but it looks really abstract and stylish.

Ami Suzuki is a fierce bitch. She pretty much showed how fierce she was with the cover of ONE. I posted the CD only edition because I think it’s the better cover and her pose is hot as well. I really liked the fluorescent colors of the background and her sparkly multicolor dress went good with that.

 
What’s Mai Kuraki doing here?! I will admit that almost all of her covers are pretty plain but 2004’s Ashita e Kakeru Hashi stands out. She looks pretty here and the watercolor effect of the background is very nice.

I’m pretty sure that you can pinpoint why main reason why I included the cover of Ken Hirai’s Canvas / Kimi wa Su・te・ki♡ on this list. The Ferris wheel, of course! The superimposed lights of the Ferris wheel are hypnotizing and take half of the image, so it catches the eye’s attention. Ken’s not looking bad either. ;D

 
The only monochrome cover on the list is Hitomi Shimatani’s Mahiru no Tsuki. I think that this a very elegant cover and Hitomi looks gorgeous too. There is also an old fashioned aspect about the image due to how grainy it is.

This was sort of a last minute thing but I decided to include alan’s Sora Uta on the list. I chose the CD+DVD cover and there is something really captivating about the image. The blue sky with the rays of sunlight shining behind her make for a really majestic looking cover in my opinion.

A personal favorite of mine. BONNIE PINK’s 2003 single Tonight, the Night has such a whimsical feel to it. The purple and yellow on her face is a really cool effect and I loved the city lights in the background too. It’s interesting how her body is transparent and the lights can be seen through her as well.

Hey, it’s YUI! The CD only cover of the I remember you single is actually my favorite cover from her and for one big reason. IS THAT A SMIRK, YUI?! She obviously looks better when she smiles and this is seriously the only cover where she does that. The winding road surrounded by foliage as the background is pleasant too.

YEAH YEAH, I love Koda Kumi’s Ai no Uta. Get over it. I love the covers even more though. I chose the CD+DVD edition because it shows Kumi next to the giant glass teardrop, my favorite thing about the cover (even her nails are like that too!). The overall image is very pretty and Kumi looks the part as well.

Of course the J-diva herself would make an appearance on this list. The cover of Ayumi Hamasaki’s BLUE BIRD is so vibrant and visually appealing. I chose the CD only edition (or Jacket C) because I think it’s the best of the 3 covers of this single. I like the bright fabrics featured in the picture and Ayu looks stunning as usual.

I find the cover of Tsukiko Amano’s Koe to be somewhat haunting. Blue is my favorite color and it is used to full effect in this cover. Even though you can’t tell here, Tsukiko is wearing a Gothic lolita inspired outfit and she is looking quite fierce. The ocean like background with the intricate white flower designs is beautiful.

The perfect cover for the winter season! BoA’s Meri Kuri has a very cute cover, showing her in a yellow dress and looking up as the snow is falling. The urban city landscape was a nice touch too.

This has got to be one of Mika Nakashima’s prettiest covers. Sakurairo Mau Koro  has a lot of pink, but in a good way. I really liked how the background is like a painting, showing pastel colors with the cherry blossoms looming overhead. It also shows Mika in a pink dress sitting next to a piano (hey, she’s not Angela Aki! XD).

By far my one of my favorite covers ever is of KOKIA’s 2003 single Kawaranai Koto ~since1976~. The picture is a side shot of her with a gorgeous fading sunset as it transitions into night. I think that is the only time that she is shown with almost completely black hair and she looks pretty different. This is also one of those few instances where I love the text. It’s very artistic with the animals in the letters.

The final cover on the list is also one of my all-time favorites. Ai Otsuka’s Kingyo Hanabi is amazing and the cover I chose is the CD only edition. It’s simple but the sparklers surrounding her give the image flair and overall it’s a very cool effect. It also interesting how the sparklers are falling down like rain.

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Wow, that actually took longer than I thought. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed reading (and looking at) this post! I’ll think of more features later since there will be less things to review as the end of the year comes around.

I thought my blog needed a little spicing up so I decided to add some special articles. I looooove creating lists and all that junk so I hope this will be the first of many of new features here at Beyond the Sea.

The first feature here will be my top 10 favorite album covers! I’m a whore for cover arts, especially albums, so this list was actually kind of hard to make. I’m extremely picky when it comes to this stuff too. This list is in no particular order~

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There’s something about Nami Tamaki’s Speciality that I find very striking. It definitely stands out compared to her other covers as well. This is the CD+DVD edition and it features a side shot of Tamaki (compared to the CD only’s frontal shot). The purple color scheme is very sleek and it includes the huge glasses and the thick borders. The text as well as its placement is good too (I’m very very very critical when it comes to text).

For me, the cover of Utada Hikaru’s DEEP RIVER is iconic. It shows such a bare, yet dignified depiction of the singer and since the cover is monochrome, it just pumps up that effect. I love simple (and textless!) covers and this is one of the best.

This is an awesome, traditional Japanese styled cover. Tsukiko Amano’s Tenryuu shows her in a red and white kimono sitting in front of very elaborate background. It’s so intricate and detailed! Plus, the red diamond on lower left corner contains the title too.

I have one word to describe this cover: CUTE! The cover of Mika Nakashima’s LOVE has a brilliant shot of her with a little smirk on her face and an orchid in her mouth. I thought that adding the orchid was indeed lovely. There’s also her HAIR! It’s her best look ever.

This is one of those covers that do not match the lyrical content of the album. Miwako Okuda’s debut album Futari (“two people” in this context) was EMO, plain and simple. The cover is mysterious because you don’t completely see the second person that she is with. Plus, I’m not sure what that drawing that they’re touching is (even with the large high quality scan I have). Thoughts anyone?

I loved the theme of Namie Amuro’s PLAY. This is the CD+DVD edition and it shows her in a sexy cop/dominatrix outfit. Several elements of the cover like the riding crop, the tie, and the hat just scream style. The “PLAY” logo is also very cool.

The cover of melody.’s Lei Aloha easily gets my pick for best scenery. Shot in Hawaii, the cover is natural beauty at its absolute best. The cloudy sky, ocean waves, and green mountains are spectacular. Like with her other albums, the text is in white Ariel font to keep with tradition. Also, this her first album cover to not be a close up shot.

Ai Otsuka’s 4th album, appropriately titled LOVE PiECE, has a really creative cover. Comprised of 6 photos representing a different color, each picture is a piece of a puzzle that creates the final product. I loved this concept and how each different picture combined to make just one in a neat jigsaw format.

This is another memorable cover for me. Do As Infinity’s debut album BREAK OF DAWN shows an amazing monochrome shot of the band who are completely dressed in black with lead singer Tomiko Van up front. The left side is interesting as seems to begin to repeat. The yellow text really stands out too since it contrasts with the picture.

OMG! This is probably my favorite album cover in existence. The cover of BONNIE PINK’s Present is an insanely vivid mix of colors, pastels, and hues. I love her pose and facial expression too. I prefer the booklet’s cover since it’s tinted blue (the first pressing slipcase is pink).

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So there you have it! Stay tuned for the next feature which will be even bigger: my top 15 single covers! Yep, that’s right: there will be 15 since I like A LOT of them.