Kuraki Mai – ALL MY BEST
September 9, 2009 |
 |
CD1 Tracklist
1. わたしの、しらない、わたし。
2. Love, Day After Tomorrow
3. Stay by my side
4. Secret of my heart
5. NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP
6. Simply Wonderful ~Radio Edit~
7. Reach for the sky
8. Start in my life
9. 冷たい海
10. Double Rainbow
11. Stand Up
12. always
13. PERFECT CRIME
14. Can’t forget your love
15. Winter Bells
16. key to my heart |
CD2 Tracklist
1. Baby I Like
2. PUZZLE
3. Beautiful
4. touch Me!
5. 一秒ごとにLove for you
6. BE WITH U
7. Silent love ~open my heart~
8. 会いたくて…
9. 白い雪
10. ベストオブヒーロー
11. Growing of my heart
12. 明日へ架ける橋
13. Time after time ~花舞う街で~
(theater version)
14. 風のららら
15. Like a star in the night
16. Feel fine! |
Kuraki Mai’s two-disk best album is loooonnnngggg. Oh, and one new song. But loonnnggg. But yeah, was never particularly a big fan of Kuraki Mai, so we’ll see how this goes. :D
I actually very much like わたしの、しらない、わたし。. It’s a fun, upbeat track with an addictive chorus. I especially like the little melody bit at the end of the chorus where Kuraki does all those little notes on the one syllable in the lyrics. I’m still not particularly fond of Kuraki’s voice as she seems to always sounds really thin in her tone, but her singing otherwise is nice and tons better than when she first started. It also helps that she has a nice amount of energy when singing this track and it displays well in the recording.
Love, Day After Tomorrow is one of Kuraki’s earliest singles, and it’s a nice laidback R&B track. Unfortunately, back then, her tuning wasn’t quite as good as it is today. This is probably one of the better tracks off the original album because her tuning is much better here. It has a rather nice melody and I’ve always quite liked the chorus for this track. Kuraki’s singing is rather subpar with her lack of support for her notes, especially in the chorus of the song reaching for a lot of them.
I’m sure I’ve heard Stay by my side so many times but I can never remember how it sounds like by looking at the name. This is a slow-paced R&B track, and it highlights Kuraki’s vocal weaknesses a bit more than the previous track. Kuraki attempts to sing out for this song, and she just ends up sounding really weak while doing it. Her tuning is rather questionable in this track and the melody isn’t quite as nice or addictive as the previous track. Vocally, Kuraki is strugging with the melody for a lot of the track as she sounds like she’s pushing the limits her of her voice at the time even though she’s not even singing that loudly. Kind of a bad track.
In a similar style to the past two tracks, Secret of my heart is one of my earliest Kuraki Mai songs. Kuraki’s voice continues to struggle on this track, and it’s nowhere as smooth or controlled as the track needs. Her singing is very amature here and has poor tone and poor musicality to it. However, the song itself I’ve always quite like. It has a lovely melody and despite Kuraki’s technical problems, her voice is convincing enough for me to listen to the track.
Apparently I didn’t like NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP (Never gonna let you down?) when I first reviewed her first best album. I remember this track I little bit more now that I’ve actually gone through her entire discography during the school year. This has a bit of a haunting feeling to the track and I actually find the track a little bit catchy this time around. I especially like that instrumental line in the background of the track. However, Kuraki’s singing is still absolutely terrible on this track. Her high range is out of tune; her lower range (the first verse) is out of tune. This song would have been a whole lot better with better technical training because it’s nearly unlistenable with her current lack of tuning.
Simply Wonderful ~Radio Edit~ starts off with a promising verse. Kuraki sounds a bit more polished here and her voice doesn’t sound nearly as thin in the opening part of the track, and as usual, she puts quite a bit of attention to the articulation of how she delivers her music, but as usual it kind of sacrifices a lot of her tone at the same time. The result of this track is much better than the previous tracks though because she’s more in tune and her singing is a bit steadier. The song is quite catchy, too =D.
Another ballad. Reach for the sky is another lackluster ballad from Kuraki which highlights some of Kuraki’s poor singing habits. As I said in the previous review of her best, it tries a bit too hard put a focus on Kuraki’s singing. To her credit, her tone is a bit improved here, but her habits kind of break the flow of her voice. Her vibrato is shaky and really does not sound pleasant on this track. The song itself is a bore, but at least Kuraki’s voice is vaguely pretty at times on this track.
Start in my life sounds far too much like “Reach for the sky”, especially since they come right after another. The tempo is similar, the drum beats are similar, and the accompaniment is similar. The melody itself has the same kind of feel to it, but the melody doesn’t suit Kuraki’s voice as much and I can’t help feeling rather bored throughout this track. It’s really not that interesting, especially since I didn’t like “Reach for the sky” in the first place. No thanks. Kuraki’s voice is same old shaky, unmelodic stuff. At least her pitch is better than in the earlier tracks.
How much more midtempo R&B stuff do we have to sit through? 冷たい海 is the third one in a row, but at least this one tries to have a slightly different sound to it. It has a slightly darker feel to it, but it has the same tempo and similar beats to continue this combo of stuff. To this song’s credit, this song actually attempts to be catchy with its chorus. Too bad this is the third song in a row in this tempo. I’m bored to death. Oh, her lower range doesn’t sound as bad this time around, unlike “NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP”. She’s actually hitting notes there now.
Is it really that hard to get an upbeat song after all of there slower tempo songs? Double Rainbow is a ballad and another song I don’t particularly remember. Her opening adlibbing is poorly tuned and thin, which is unfortunate already. It makes a really poor first impression for this track. The song itself is pretty standard R&B beat ballad. The singing itself continues to be substandard with really bad tuning and poor support for Kuraki. If this is supposed to be one of Kuraki’s best, I would run far, far away. The tuning is horrendous and the song is bland.
Is that an upbeat track I hear? Stand Up is a nice change from the boredom that came before it. It starts off as an acoustic guitar centered track. Her tuning is still shaky as she continues to struggle with the melody of the song. Kuraki is more listenable on this track, however, despite her technical difficulties with the song. The song itself could possibly be catchy if you can ignore Kuraki’s poor singing, especially considering the chorus. However, I’m far too distracted by poor notes throughout the song to enjoy the song entirely.
Are we done with the really bad singing? always is one of the tracks I remembered from previous listen to her. Her pitch is better but her phrasing continues to be choppy and unmusical. Regardless, this is still an improvement for her because this song is actually quite nice. It’s a midtempo R&B track with a slightly mysterious-sounding opening and a brighter-sounding verse. This is probably one of the better songs on this album so far: the melody is pleasant, Kuraki’s voice is decent and she brings life into this track.
PERFECT CRIME is probably one of my favourite upbeat tracks from Kuraki. This song is purely addictive and has a nice dark feel from the low guitar and bass sounds that support the track. Kuraki pulls off the energy in this song very well, and that’s probably one of her few vocal strengths that she uses to her advantage. The style, articulation, etc in which she sings fits the track perfectly. It’s a perfectly addictive track, even if Kuraki’s singing isn’t the best in general.
Compare Can’t forget your love to her pitch in “Double Rainbow”. While she still has some trouble, it’s just much better supported in this track than in her previous ballad. I’m not too fond of the over-emphasis of her longer notes, which really break the flow and phrasing she might be trying to create with her vocals. At the very least, there she is actually attempting to pull off a legato feel to her singing, which she does much better this time around, although her singing is a little shaky overall. Nevertheless, it’s nice to hear Kuraki improve her vocals here as compared to her previous ballad on this track.
Not going to lie, Winter Bells was one of my early favourites off of Kuraki’s discography when I first discovered her. It’s a winter track, obviously but the song itself is very addictive and Kuraki’s voice is generally controlled and has better pitch. Her voice has its usual problems such as a really thin tone in the upper range, but in general is much more pleasant and smooth in this track. The song itself is very fun, christmassy, bouncy and happy.
The final track off the first disc, key to my heart is an almost-ballad midtempo track and although the song itself isn’t particularly interesting, it’s a pleasant track to end off the first track. I remember this song, but I don’t particularly remember it well. Kuraki’s voice is nice in this track and fits the softer feel of this song. I’m not particularly a fan of this song but it’s not a horrible song itself. Quite pleasant and nice. My favourite part is probably the speaking part in the bridge and how they layer the chorus over it.
THE SECOND DISC. GOD, WHY IS THIS SO LONG.
I actually don’t remember a whole lot of the songs off the second disc, but I like Baby I Like. Kuraki’s voice is much smoother and she seems to have improved a whole lot since the tracks off the first disc. Her voice has a much richer tone rather than her really thin tone from her earlier tracks. Her voice is so much nicer here and she doesn’t over emphasize like she did as well. The song itself is a nice midtempo R&B track with a slightly dark atmosphere from the accompaniment. Although it’s not an eventful song, I quite like the whole feel of the track and I enjoy Kuraki’s performance on the track.
Do I hear an upbeat song? PUZZLE continues with the improved singing from Kuraki in the lower range. The upper range is still a bit thin, but it’s still much better than some of the earlier songs. I actually find this song a bit addictive, although the random dude interjecting in the chorus is really annoying and distracting. I would have done without his presence in the song. The song has quite a bit of rap in it, but she sings the song well and I quite like the dramatic strings accompaniment that comes with the song. It matches with Kuraki’s dramatic interpretation of the song. The guy just sounds bored in the song. Get him out.
This is one of those cases where the style of the song matches with Kuraki’s lighter voice. The airiness of her voice in the opening adds a nice angelic tone to the opening. Her voice sounds quite nice. I especially like how she sings in her fuller voice in the main melody while she leaves the airiness to the accompanying vocals. This has a lovely instrumental arrangement and vocal arrangement, especially in terms of how it adds to the main melody. There are some points where they kind of overpower the main vocal by adding a bit too much accent in its delivery but otherwise, it’s a nice song.
I’ve always liked touch Me!. It a catchy R&B song with a nice strings and bass accompaniment. Her opening lower range verse is a bit shakey but otherwise, she delivers this with a lot of energy and hits the notes decently. I’m not too fond of the verse but the chorus is addictive with all the fast-moving passages and the almost disco-like accompaniment from the bass and the chords in the background. Again, not too fond of her thin voice at times, but otherwise, fun song.
More upbeat songs? I’m all for it! 一秒ごとにLove for you is another fun track, but this time more in the rock-pop realm. It’s quite a fun song and Kuraki’s singing fits the track quite well. I like the constant “Yeah!”s happening in the song and the guitars and other accompaniment are quite energetic. Something about the mixing of the song bothers me a bit, but otherwise it’s quite a catchy, fun song.
Seriously? More upbeat stuff? BE WITH U is a catchy acoustic guitar song, though, so I’m not really complaining. Her voice here reminds me a bit too much of how she used to sing her upbeat songs from her earlier career but with better pitch. Her voice is overly thing and airy with a really shakey vibrato. Thankfully, the song is actually really quite catchy though. I personally enjoy acoustic songs o that’s a plus for me. I really enjoy the really bright, joyful chorus for this song. The additional background vocal group really adds to this song nicely. It’s a really cute song and despite the thinness of Kuraki’s voice, I find she really pulls off the style of hte song nicely with the stacattos.
Yup, here comes another ballad. Silent love ~open my heart~ is a nice winter ballad. Again, her phrasing is nice, although again her shaky vibrato gets the better of her and makes her sound not as confident in the melody. It’s kind of unfortunate since the song is quite nice. I’m kind of indifferent to this song otherwise. It’s rather generic but the arrangement is nice. I’m not that fond of Kuraki’s singing on this track because of the previously discussed points. Otherwise, her pitch is decent, just her delivery does not flow very well with the rest of the accompaniment. It’s much too shakey.
Wow, are we really going to get another batch of Kuraki ballads? 会いたくて… is another ballad this time with a piano and bass accompaniment. Her voice is a little less shakey on this track, but the song is equally as generic as the previous song. Kuraki has some nice moments in this song, though. I especially like some of her held notes and her vibrato is a bit steadier this time around. Her voice still struggles a bit with certain high notes which again breaks the phrasing of the song. However, the problems on this song are fewer.
Time for another winter ballad! 白い雪 actually has quite a nice arrangement. I like some of the vocal stuff going on in the background and the piano accompaniment is quite lovely. I’m still not too fond of Kuraki’s voice or singing in general, but I can appreciate the prettiness of this song’s arrangement. I find Kuraki’s voice is a little too heavy for the light arrangement except for the bridge where it becomes more dramatic with the lower strings.
Now that we’re done with the obligatory ballads, ベストオブヒーロー comes in with its upbeat, electronic sound mixed with acoustic guitar. This song is actually quite fun, and I enjoy Kuraki’s singing on this track. Again, she pulls off the style of upbeat songs quite well and puts a lot of energy and personality in her upbeat songs. The song is quite catchy, and some of the arrangement elements are quite intriguing overall, especially with some disco-influenced electronic sounds at times.
Kuraki seems to be on a roll with some of these upbeat songs. Growing of my heart is another upbeat song. It has a darker feel with the accompaniment and is overall much more dramatic in feel than some of the previous songs. I quite enjoy the melody of this song, especially the addictive chorus. There’s some nice electronic elements as well as rock elements with the electric guitar. I quite like the arrangement of this song in general as it adds a lot of omph to the song.
As you can probably tell, I’m not a big fan of Kuraki’s ballads, and 明日へ架ける橋 doesn’t seem to be that much different. I do enjoy this song itself: it has a lovely string accompaniment and a nice melody, but Kuraki’s voice always sounds really forced and unconvincing in her delivery for ballads. She continues to over-accent certain notes which ends up sounding rather unmusical.
It took me a few years to actually like Time after time ~花舞う街で~ but now I quite like the track. Her voice is still choppy at times, but I do enjoy when she pulls off a nice legato in parts of this song. Her voice still leaves something to be desired, but I adore the song itself. It has a lovely melody and has a bit of a lonesome feeling to the arrangement which I quite like. This “theatre version” is quite nice, although I don’t remember the differences. This has a nice acoustic guitar for the verses while the chorus has strings. Lovely.
I really like how 風のららら sounds right after “Time after time”. The opening is really pretty with the background vocalists singing and the “windy” feeling of this song. The harmonies at the beginning are nice and the melody is nice. Kuraki’s entry in the song is a little abrupt and doesn’t seem to work with the opening of the song very well and from there’s it’s kind of a downward battle. The chorus is awkward with Kuraki’s poorly supported voice singing those tense, long notes in the echo portion of the melody. Such a waste of such a lovely opening. The rest of the song really isn’t worth my time.
I find it kind of strange that they put slightly older songs at the end. Like a star in the night is antoher ballad. This goes back to Kuraki’s choppy singing, but the song itself is quite nice. I’ve always quite the melody of this song and the gentle piano accompaniment. Kuraki’s singing is a hit or miss. Her legato is nice, but when she starts adding those horrid accents, it becomes choppy once again. From there, the song just starts to drag and drags on for the next five minutes and a half. No thanks.
This is a strange final track of the song, but it’s a really fun song. Feel fine! is a catchy upbeat song that I’ve always liked. Again, Kuraki pulls off the upbeat songs much better since her singing style has a tendency to be choppy and she likes putting accents into her notes, which works well in these kind of songs. But yeah, another addictive upbeat song from Kuraki and a fun ending to her extremely long best album.
As horrifyingly boring the first disc for Kuraki Mai’s second best album is, the second disc is a much better listen in general. The two-disc compilation of Kuraki’s career is a bit too long for my liking, but contains some fun songs, some pretty songs and a whole lot of generic, boring, poorly-sung songs. Kuraki isn’t an amazing vocalist, but she has improve immensely since she’s started. Her pitch is better and she has a nicer, fuller sound than when she first started. Her best album isn’t very good, but it is a decent representation of her career and her gradual vocal improvement over the years. It’s not really worth all its versions and the amount of time it takes to listen to this album, though. This compilation was overkill. However, the material itself is okay in general.

Favourites:
Feel fine!