Beyond the Sea

SINGLE REVIEW
Koda Kumi - MOON

1. Moon Crying
2. That Ain’t Cool / Koda Kumi feat. Fergie
3. Once Again
4. Lady Go!
5. Moon Crying Piano Version
6. Moon Crying Instrumental
7. That Ain’t Cool Instrumental
     / Koda Kumi feat. Fergie
8. Once Again Instrumental
9. Lady Go! Instrumental

This is Koda Kumi’s 40th single and it was released on June 11, 2008. This single reached #2 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 120,308 copies. The first track was used as the theme song for the drama Puzzle.

If you guys don’t already know, I’m a sucker for Koda Kumi’s ballads. 1000 no Kotoba, Promise, Yume no Uta, Ai no Uta, you name it. Much to my surprise, the first track on this quadruple A-side single is the bittersweet love song Moon Crying. Musically, I think the song is really ordinary and nothing special because it just has that standard sound you’d expect from a J-pop ballad. However, Kumi’s fantastic vocal performance makes this song more interesting. She has always put a lot of emotion into her voice and here is another great example of it.

The second track is the collaboration between Kumi and Fergie. That Ain’t Cool is officially labeled as “Koda Kumi feat. Fergie”, but it really should be the other way around. Fergie sings most of the song by herself and that includes the chorus, the focal point of the song (but that’s okay since I kind of like Fergie). I do have mixed feelings about the song because it has its high and low points. For one thing, the lyrics are a little silly, especially when it gets to Kumi’s solo verse, but I really liked the urban sound of the music at the same time.

The next track is a breezy, reggae inspired song produced by PUSHIM. Once Again is relaxing and very soothing to the ears thanks to the gentle violins and drums. As a whole, I thought the song as a whole was nice and Kumi performed it well, especially during the chorus.

The fourth track was no surprise since it’s similar to what appeared on Kumi’s 4 hot wave and FREAKY singles: the quintessential summer pop song. Lady Go! is average. but very vibrant from start to finish. At least it’s more varied than her previous summer songs because of the constant beats and recurring synth.

A more intimate piano version of Moon Crying makes an appearance as a first pressing bonus track. The piano arrangement by itself is very good and Kumi’s vocals still sound radiant. It’s a nice addition to the single.

Overall Rating

4 stars

ALBUM REVIEW
Koda Kumi - Kingdom

1. Introduction For Kingdom
2. LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki *
3. Amai Wana
4. Himitsu
5. Ai no Uta *
6. anytime *
7. Under
8. BUT *
9. Koi no Mahou
10. Aishou *
11. Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto
12. Wonderland
13. FREAKY *
14. MORE
15. Black Cherry

♦

Note: Songs with a (*) at the end of their titles have already been reviewed. Click on the links to see their reviews.
Songs in bold are new tracks and will be reviewed.

♦ ♦ ♦

This is Koda Kumi’s 6th studio album and it was released on January 30, 2008. This album reached #1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 606,441 copies.

Opening the album with a laid back, sensual R&B sound, Introduction For Kingdom is very well done. The harmonization of all the layered vocals singing love over and over was good, especially with Kumi’s adlibbing in the background. It’s a nice way to open the album until…

…LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki comes in and assaults my ears with bad vocals and a horrid rapping section. I will never like this song and you can thank Tohoshinki for that. There goes my hopes for a solo version (while Tohoshinki has their own version of the song OMGWHY?). Good thing it’s at the beginning of the album but that doesn’t matter since I always skip it anway.

The album’s first new full length track, Amai Wana, begins with Kumi doing some sexy talking with Arabian style woodwinds and plucked strings in the background. The song reminds me of Candy feat. Mr.Blistah but without the crappy rapping so that’s a HUGE plus. I really liked Kumi’s vocal range on this track as she sings in a lower, huskier tone during the chorus while reaching high notes in the verses.

The next track is the poppish R&B track Himitsu. This is a gentle song that features nice piano sequences, cutesy chimes, and a laid back beat. Kumi’s vocals are borderline cute, but they are still okay.

Yeah, yeah, Ai no Uta has been considered a generic ballad by others, but I still love it. With a lovely string arrangement and uplifting atmosphere, I really found this song to be something that Kumi hasn’t offered in a long time. It’s a sincere song with affectionate lyrics but most importantly, Kumi’s voice really shines since she actually controls it this time around.

I liked the smooth transition from Ai no Uta into anytime. Where the previous track was a dramatic love ballad, this one is much more carefree and upbeat. The music itself is incredibly pretty and I loved those gentle strings. Once again, Kumi demonstrates lovely, controlled vocals.

I was really surprised with the next track because it just hits you. Opening with funky and mechanical-like synth, Under proves to be one of the album’s strongest tracks. The music just permeates with sexiness and steamy goodness (the same goes for the lyrics too!). The overall arrangement is pretty different and has a robotic quality alongside those heavy beats.

It just gets even better with BUT, the first song she released for the album. I still find the song insanely addictive, even to this day, and it never gets old for me. Combining various electronic elements, the music never lets up and it’s constantly in a state of adrenaline.

The album still has its share of cutesy pop, but I did enjoy Koi no Mahou. This song is a like a more upbeat Himitsu because I thought it shared similar elements. However, the vocals are slightly higher pitched and the music is definitely more pop.

Aishou starts right after the final line of Koi no Mahou and this song grown on me…exponentially. I don’t find it as uninteresting anymore and I like the sudden bursts of electric guitar than appear here and there. I now think the song is quite dramatic and performed well. Back when it was first released as a single, it was definitely overshadowed by BUT so it does sound better on the album.

The next two songs were kind of a blur to me. Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto is just kind of…there, if you know what I mean. Despite being a upbeat track accompanied with fast beats and acoustics, it’s just not all that memorable. This one will require multiple listens because it doesn’t have the “wow factor” of songs like Amai Wana or Under.

Kumi has officially overdosed on sugar because Wonderland is reminiscent of past bubblegum inspired songs like Birthday Eve and Koi no Tsubomi. However, it’s not as good as those songs and this one just seems predictable and out of synch with the rest of the album.

The end of Wonderland is quite strange because if flows right into the gleamy intro of FREAKY. That might have been intentional though. Anyway, this song has grown on me too, but I still think the chorus is silly with all that yelling to get GET FREAKY!.

Music-wise, MORE is one of Kumi’s more ambitious songs.  Featuring a jazzy lounge sound and piano, Kumi lets out her inner diva for a chorus that is to die for. Her vocals are very strong, but perhaps not strong enough for this type of song. She does a great job with the adlibbing and smoother, faster paced parts though.

Do you remember the INTRODUCTION from Kumi’s previous studio album? Well, it has gotten the star treatment and has been turned into a full length song, even though it’s only under 3 minutes in length. Black Cherry is an awesome elaboration of the original track, adding more instruments and lyrics. The ending sequence of the song is amazing too and I definitely wasn’t expecting it. As the final track, it kind of feels out of place though.

Kingdom was definitely an improvement over the sloppy mess that was Black Cherry. I do admit that Black Cherry had much better A-sides, but the album itself was disorganized and had half-assed new tracks. Except for the previously released singles (especially LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki), Kingdom is a lot better as an overall package. The transitions are better and the quality of the new tracks were beyond my expectations, even though I sometimes wish that she wouldn’t go back to that overly cute pop sound as heard in Wonderland. When it comes to Koda Kumi’s studio albums, this one just might be my favorite from her.

Overall Rating

4½ stars

SINGLE REVIEW
Koda Kumi - anytime

1. anytime
2. Bounce
3. anytime Free TEMPO Remix
4. anytime Instrumental
5. Bounce Instrumental

This is Koda Kumi’s 39th single and it was released on January 23, 2008. This single reached #4 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has so far sold 53,189 copies.

anytime is just one of those songs that always puts a smile on my face everytime I listen to it. Koda Kumi has done it again with this gorgeous and incredibly sweet pop ballad. The strings are really pretty and even though there is a pretty constant beat in the music, it doesn’t deviate from anything but actually gives the song a little personality. Kumi’s vocals are excellent as well and she reaches those high notes with gentle ease and precision. This song was supposed to be on the FREAKY single as just a B-side, but I’m glad that it got its own single release.

The B-side is an absolutely thumping track. Bounce is a spunky song filled with quick beats and short synth lines. Kumi’s vocals are carefree and flow quite well with the music, making this a fun song to jam to. An excellent B-side and definitely one of her better ones.

Included on the single is the FreeTEMPO remix of anytime. The remix has the classic FreeTEMPO touch with its faster paced vocals, jazzy piano at the beginning, and a buildup to a more club oriented sound further in. This guy makes good remixes, what can I say? The only problem I had was that speeding up Kumi’s vocals made them sound odd at times, especially during the verses.

Overall Rating

5 stars

SINGLE REVIEW
Koda Kumi - LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki

1. LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki
2. Dear Family
3. LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki Instrumental
4. Dear Family Instrumental

This is Koda Kumi’s 38th single and it was released on November 7, 2007. This single reached #3 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has so far sold 88,369 copies. The title track was used as the theme song for the Japanese release of the movie Resident Evil: Extinction.

There was one huge thing about LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki that kept me from enjoying the song. You guessed it; it’s the Korean boy band Tohoshinki (they go by like 3 other names but they are known as Tohoshinki in Japan) that performs the song with Koda Kumi. Their solo parts irritated me because of strained, over emphasized vocals and their voices clashed horribly with Kumi’s. She gives a good performance in her own right, but I couldn’t help but dislike the song more and more everytime I tried to listen to it. As for music, it’s very good and perhaps the only redeeming quality of the song. The various uses of synth and light beats are nicely done. Even though it’ll probably never happen, I hope for a solo version by Kumi of this song.

The B-side is the somewhat better Dear Family (since Tohoshinki isn’t in it XD). It’s a gentle R&B styled song with mild beats and background strings. Kumi’s vocals are very nice and controlled, a highlight of the track. She really lets out the gentle, sophisticated side of her voice throughout the entire song and I applaud her for doing so. It’s not a bad B-side at all.

Overall Rating

2 stars

SINGLE REVIEW
Koda Kumi - Ai no Uta

1. Ai no Uta
2. Come Over
3. Ai no Uta URBAN KISS Version
4. Ai no Uta Instrumental
5. Come Over Instrumental

This Koda Kumi’s 37th single and it was released on September 12, 2007. This single reached #2 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has so far sold 125,722 copies.

I ignored all the criticism surrounding Ai no Uta and come to my own conclusion that this is a wonderful song. Compared to her previous ballads, this one is more refined and sophisticated thanks to a simpler overall arrangement. Koda Kumi’s vocals are a lot more controlled this time around and because of this, she sounds a LOT better (especially during the lovely chorus). I also wanted to mention the lyrics as well because they are very sincere and heartfelt.

The B-side is upbeat and poppish Come Over. The song has a nice, peppy atmosphere with some light electric guitar in the background. I wasn’t really feeling this song and the chorus is somewhat dry. I guess you can say that I enjoyed the background music more.

The URBAN KISS Version of Ai no Uta is a first pressing bonus track and it tries to give the song an R&B vibe. It sort of works because some parts sound very nice while others don’t. The chorus is a good example because it sounds GREAT (the vocals blend well with the added beats), but the verses are a little lacking.

Overall Rating

4½ stars

SINGLE REVIEW
Koda Kumi - FREAKY

1. FREAKY
2. Sora
3. Run For Your Life
4. girls
5. FREAKY Surtek Collective’s Action Remix
    (featuring Peter Rap)
6. Sora / Yukihiro Fukutomi Remix
7. Run For Your Life / Kaskade Remix
8. girls / CUBISMO GRAFICO Beach Girls Mix

This is Koda Kumi’s 36th single and it was released on June 27, 2007. This single reached #1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 195,322 copies. IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a review of the first press edition which features exclusive remixes instead of instrumentals (the normal edition of the single has the instrumentals).

I’ll begin with the main track of the single, FREAKY. I really liked the progressive electric guitar of the song and they open the song rather nicely. The verses are great but the chorus was pretty disappointing. I thought it was annoying when Kumi yelled Get freaky all over the place during the chorus.

This single is not a quadruple A-side like 4 hot wave was and instead features 3 B-sides, the first one being Sora. This is my favorite track off the single because it’s very light hearted and fun. It has great vocals and a catchy melody which attracted me to this song.

The next B-side had it’s own PV for some reason. Run For Your Life is incredibly poppy and cutesy in terms of music AND vocals. It’s not that bad since the song has a catchy rhythm but it’s still a little over the top in some areas.

The last track is girls, a song that sounds WAY to similar to With your smile. Just like the last 2 tracks, this song is very poppy. Like I said before, it’s similarities to With your smile are uncanny, there’s no question.

The next 4 tracks are remixes. I’m not going to go over each one since that would take too long so I’ll give brief summaries of each one:

• The FREAKY remix is even more annoying than the original because Peter Rap screws it up with his horrible ‘reggae’ like voice.
• I really liked the Sora remix and it’s by far the best of the 4.
• I have nothing much to say about the Run For Your Life remix except that it makes the song more boring.
• Lastly, the girls remix is too long winded. It’s over 6 minutes and I just wanted it to end.

Overall Rating

3 stars

SINGLE REVIEW
Koda Kumi - BUT / Aishou

1. BUT
2. Aishou
3. BUT ~The Ghettobots remix~
4. BUT Instrumental
5. Aishou Instrumental

This is Koda Kumi’s 35th single and it was released on March 14, 2007. This single reached #2 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has so far sold 128,781 copies. The first track was used as the theme song for the Japanese release of the movie Step Up.

A lot of people have expressed that BUT has a similar beat and synth style to Justin Timberlake’s SexyBack, but I have ignored this because I do not want to start any comparisons between the 2 songs. After the release of her latest album Black Cherry, I wasn’t really expecting much from this song but I was extremely surprised by it on the first listen thanks to the infectious rhythm and awesome vocals. I have had this song on repeat constantly because it is so damn catchy.

However, the other A-side was pretty lackluster. Aishou has uninteresting verses but a nicely done chorus. This Kumi ballad is a little different because of the frequent electric guitar, which I thought was a nice touch.

The first pressing bonus track on the single is The Ghettobots remix of BUT, remixed by B-Money. The remix’s arrangement is far less aggressive than that of the original and it has a few new elements like a percussion based beat and two different synth loops during the verses and the chorus.

Overall Rating

4 stars

ALBUM REVIEW
Koda Kumi - Black Cherry

1. INTRODUCTION
2. Get Up & Move!!
3. Ningyo Hime *
4. Yume no Uta *
5. Tsuki to Taiyou
6. Puppy
7. Koi no Tsubomi *
8. WON’T BE LONG (Black Cherry Version)
9. JUICY *
10. Candle Light
11. Cherry Girl *
12. I’ll be there *
13. Unmei *
14. With your smile *
15. Milk Tea
16. Twinkle ~English Version~
17. GO WAY!!
18. WON’T BE LONG (Red Cherry Version)

♦

Note: Songs with a (*) at the end of their titles have already been reviewed. Click on the links to see their reviews.
Songs in bold are new tracks and will be reviewed.

♦ ♦ ♦

This is Koda Kumi’s 5th studio album and it was released on December 20, 2006. This album reached #1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 1,030,321 copies.

The INTRODUCTION of the album follows the same style of the other intro tracks from her previous albums. It’s short but very good. It also includes complete English lyrics.

The introduction flows right into the first new full length track of the album, Get Up & Move!!. The song feautres aggressive synth along with a catchy loop that has English lyrics. The lyric You got me really horny from the beginning of the song just made me laugh when I first heard it but I do believe that this is the best non-single track on the album.

ALL of the songs from the 4 hot wave single are included on the album and the first one to appear is Ningyo Hime. The song shows a new, rockish side of Kumi’s music because of her change of vocal style and frequent electric guitar riffs.

Yume no Uta is the power ballad of the album and one of the better singles featured.  I especially like the bridge because of Kumi’s powerful vocals.

The next track was kind of boring in my opinion. Tsuki to Taiyou is a slower paced track but it sounds uninteresting and little on the flat side.

Track 6 is Puppy, another new song that sort of has an edgy vibe because of the vocals and sassy music arrangement. However, it still feels like another filler track since it flows into a much better song (which happens to be a single).

Which leads me to Koi no Tsubomi, an extremely cute song that is really uplifting. The music is fluffy and this is another great Kumi pop song.

Oh jeez. This new version of WON’T BE LONG (the Black Cherry Version) is BAD BAD BAD. I honestly can’t stand it and I wasn’t a fan of the original that Kumi performed with EXILE in November 2006 to begin with. This version features only Kumi’s vocals and the music tries to sound more urban to fit the rest of the album, but it fails miserably. The absolute worst thing is the DJ who yells out stupid, random things throughout the entire song like Where all my shorties at? and Everybody scream!. It is truly awful and probably the worst track on the album.

I was so glad the next track was JUICY, an R&B song that’s actually GOOD. It was also my favorite song from the 4 hot wave single.

Track 10 marks a turning point in the album because this when we are treated to 6 consecutive good songs beginning with the piano ballad Candle Light. The piano arrangement is very nice but the song is short, unfortunately.

Track 11, in my opinion, is the best song on this album. Cherry Girl is addicting, catchy, and has an extremely high production value.

Track 12 is another great song originally from the 4 hot wave single. I’ll be there is acoustic pop at its best.

Even though I thought Unmei wasn’t as good as the rest of the ballads on the album, it’s not that bad. The song’s main flaw is that it waits too long to reach its focal point (which happens to be the bridge) and then its already over.

I had feeling that With your smile would be one of the ending tracks on the album because it was also at the end of the 4 hot wave single. The music is upbeat and a little bit on the aggressive side compared to the bubblegum pop stylings of other songs such as Birthday Eve and Koi no Tsubomi.

Track 15 is Kumi’s first attempt at music composition and surprisingly, Milk Tea is not bad at all. I actually like it a lot to be honest. It’s simple, yet effective as it progresses. This song is actually the final track on the normal edition of the album.

The next 3 tracks on the album are first pressing bonus tracks starting with the English version of Twinkle. The Japanese version originally appeared on an collaboration single called Amazing Nuts!. The lyrics of the English version aren’t bad but the way they are sung is the problem. Kumi still has problems with her English pronunciation because she says certain words like ‘clap’ and ‘pride’ wrong. I’m sure you can figure out how she said those words. XD

The next track is GO WAY!!, a song that she performed for the 14th Crayon Shin-chan movie in 2006. In some ways, it has a tropical pop sound similar to Shake It Up, but much worse. Let’s just say that this song really annoyed the heck out of me.

The final bonus track is ANOTHER version of WON’T BE LONG but this time it is the Red Cherry Version. At least this one is tolerable because it features the original music of Kumi’s collaboration with EXILE and again, only her vocals. That means there is no annoying DJ to mess things up even further.

Black Cherry was an interesting album to say the least. It has a broad range of musical genres from ballads, R&B tunes, and then some. Some of the new album tracks were somewhat disappointing and the Black Cherry Version of WON’T BE LONG is just plain horrendous. The A-sides, however, are still excellent and of very high quality even though there are so many of them (Cherry Girl, JUICY, Koi no Tsubomi, and Yume no Uta were my favorites). I didn’t really like the first pressing bonus tracks that much either. The individual tracks of Black Cherry a.k.a. THE SINGLES make this album worth it.

Overall Rating

4 stars

SINGLE REVIEW
Koda Kumi - Cherry Girl / Unmei

1. Cherry Girl
2. Unmei
3. Cherry Girl -Space Cowboy Remix-
4. Cherry Girl (Instrumental)
5. Unmei (Instrumental)

This is Koda Kumi’s 34th single and it was released on December 6, 2006. This single reached #3 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 100,275 copies. The first track was used as the theme song for the drama Cherry Girl where Kumi made her acting debut and the 2nd track was used as theme song for the movie Oo-Oku.

Cherry Girl is the best song she has released for her latest studio album Black Cherry in my humble opinion. One of my favorite things about this extremely sensual song is the constant ‘whiplash’ bass beat in the background. The song’s production value is great and the way it mixes electric guitar and heavy bass makes this one of Kumi’s hottest tracks yet.

The other A-side is the somewhat boring Unmei. It’s an acoustic / piano ballad that doesn’t have the power of previous ballads like Yume no Uta but instead is more gentle and controlled. The song doesn’t get good until the bridge and when things start to actually pick up, the song is already over.

The Space Cowboy Remix of Cherry Girl only appears on the single as a first pressing bonus track. It’s nowhere near as good as the original but adds some interesting elements such as brass and brief pauses in the music.

Overall Rating

4 stars

SINGLE REVIEW
Koda Kumi - Yume no Uta / Futari de…

1. Yume no Uta
2. Futari de…
3. Yume no Uta (Quartet Version)
4. Futari de… (WHOOSH MIX)
5. Yume no Uta (Instrumental)
6. Futari de… (Instrumental)

This is Koda Kumi’s 33rd single and it was released on October 18, 2006. This single reached #1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold a total of 301,169 copies. Both of the A-sides on the single feature the same melody but the musical arrangements and lyrics are completely different. Tracks 3 and 4 were first pressing bonus tracks.

Yume no Uta is the more serious and dramatic song on the single because it features powerful and epic strings. The lyrics depict the sadness of being apart and Kumi’s vocal performance really shows it. She really lets out the power of her voice and this is clearly evident in the bridge, my favorite part of the song. There is a brief pause in the music where it completely stops and the final chorus begins.

Futari de… is pretty much the complete opposite of Yume no Uta in terms of musical arrangement, atmosphere, and lyrics. The main melody is drastically toned down as well as Kumi’s vocals. The lyrics are about the joy of growing up and moving on and according to her official site, and it acts as the other ’happier’ outcome of the love story that is told in Yume no Uta. In a way, the lyrics in the song describe something else that could have happened.

The Quartet Version of Yume no Uta was excellent in my opinion. It features a complete string arrangement that is absolutely stunning and it allows Kumi’s voice to simply resonate because there are no background vocals.

I thought the WHOOSH MIX of Futari de… was okay. It starts off pretty good but it gets kind of annoying when Kumi’s voice starts becoming electronically distorted during the bridge. Aside from that, the remix makes the song sound more upbeat but the way it ends is kind of dumb.

Overall Rating

4 stars