Album Review: 安室 奈美恵 - Best Fiction / Namie Amuro - Best Fiction
sky | September 13, 2008
Info
Album: Best Fiction (Buy Album)
Artist: 安室 奈美恵 / Namie Amuro
Release Date: July 30, 2008
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Review By: sky
Review
Namie Amuro has survived in the Japanese music industry for the longest time, seeing Avex Trax grow from a small private recording label to one of the largest music labels in all of Japan. Of her 13 years on the music industry, she has never released a greatest hits cd, but that has changed with the release of the R&B based greatest hits album: Best Fiction. The album was released on 30th July, and is mainly a compilation cd, but also features two new songs, namely Sexy Girl and Do Me More.
The album begins with Do Me More, which is in the typical hip hop genre that listeners expect from her, and is a pretty fun song to listen to. Ensuing is Wishing On The Same Star, a slow, soulful ballad that just tugs at your heartstrings. Namie Amuro uses this song to showcase her powerful vocals and I think that this song is indeed one of her greatest hits. shine more uses violins for its introduction, and gives the album a classier feel. Put ‘Em Up, SO CRAZY and ALARM are all songs in the hip hop genre, and they are quite catchy. With those three hiphop songs in a stretch, Namie Amuro slows down the pace of her album by once again inserting a slow song, ALL FOR YOU. It’s another ballad that balances out the pace of the album thus far, and shows listeners that have never heard Namie Amuro songs before that she is capacable of more than just hip hop beats, or dance tracks(which she was famous for when she first started her solo career.) GIRL TALK once again brings an air of fun into the album, and is my favorite song on the album.
WANT ME, WANT ME gives off a more exotic feel, with a more middle eastern background music. She even sings in a way that reminds me of Indians, which shows how well she adapted herself for the song. White Light is an interesting song, because it was actually Namie’s first attempt at a Christmas ballad, but she still included a light hip hop beat in the background anyway. It certainly is an interesting song to listen to, and the beat really sets it apart from any other Christmas carol you’ll ever hear. CAN’T SLEEP, CAN’T EAT, I’M SICK, is a song that fuses jazz and hip hop. It ties with GIRL TALK for my favorite song of the album, and it very successfully fuses jazz and hip hop, for which I am glad. Baby Don’t Cry has a faster beat, and is a little more lighthearted, but equally catchy, and the background music makes one just want to snap their fingers to the music. Snap along I say!
FUNKY TOWN is another fun song that has slight hints of jazz influences, and is a very solid song in its own right. NEW LOOK is a very lighthearted song that makes one want to just jump about. For some reason it makes me think that it’ll be the perfect song for a cosmetics commercial. ROCK STEADY and WHAT A FEELING are songs that begin to wind down the pace of the album and help ease the album along the final stretch. WHAT A FEELING reminds me of an American song, Fergalicious, because of the beat in the background, but there’s no suit from either side about plagiarism, so it’s all good. The album concludes with another new song, Sexy Girl. It is a another interesting song to listen to, and in a sense, wraps up the album pretty well in my opinion.
Overall, this album was excellent. It really shows Namie Amuro’s talent, with a variety of different songs. Even though she’s more well known for her hip hop and R&B influences, she shows that she can branch off into other types of music pretty well too. This is one compilation you should get if you’re a hardcore Namie Amuro fan, and even if you’re not, it might just make you one. Till next time!
Lyrics
Do Me More
Wishing On The Same Star
shine more
Put ‘Em Up
SO CRAZY
White Light
CAN’T SLEEP, CAN’T EAT, I’M SICK
FUNKY TOWN
WHAT A FEELING
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nice review ^-^ but just to let you know: 1. she
klyoikou | November 12, 2008nice review ^-^
but just to let you know:
.
1. she has released a greatest hits album before (ie. “181920″ and “LOVE ENHANCED ~singles collection~”
2. Also, NEW LOOK, ROCK STEADY, and WHAT A FEELING were created in collaboration with Vidal Sasoon…so you were really close with the cosmetics commercial part ^^.
3. And finally, all three songs (ie. NEW LOOK, ROCK STEADY, and WHAT A FEELING) samples a song from the 60’s 70’s and 80’s eras (respectively). (not cover but sample!)
LOL sorry but i just thought you should know =^-^=