Artist: Various Artists
Album: Tribute to Celine Dion
Release Date: September 26, 2007

1. Ito Yuna – MY HEART WILL GO ON
Sometimes I wished Ito would sing more like this in more of her songs instead of that thin, breathy voice she usually sings in. The starts off nicely in this song with a breathy, but well-supported sound. I particularly like her voice in the chorus where she sings somewhere in between the breathy tone and a nice chest voice. Vocally it’s a bit weird when she comes in for the second verse as she sounds a bit too harsh. I particularly like her voice when she comes to her fuller chest voice near the near, albeit a few sloppy notes here and there at times. She does the dynamic crescendo decently throughout the song, although there’s still much to improve on as she sounds a bit mechanical throughout the song.

2. K (feat. Aki) – TO LOVE YOU MORE
The next song starts off with a bit of an R&B beat. K comes in with a bit of an echoey sound, but he sounds really breathy from the beginning, and it doesn’t sound all that good in my opinion. I really like the harmonies aki adds in the second time around the first verse. The harmonies are really gorgeous throughout the chorus. I don’t particularly like K in this song at all as he sounds very hesitant due to all the breaks in between each line of the melody. The echo effect added to the song makes them sound distant. K sounds much better when he starts singing out in the bridge though.

3. JUJU – THE POWER OF LOVE
This acoustic guitar version of the power of love is quite nice. I don’t know who JUJU is, but she starts off really nicely with a subtle sound. Her tone is rich and quite nice, and pulls off the chorus quite well. While JUJU sings very well throughout the song, I personally would like a bit more vocal variety in this song the song quickly becomes quite dull as she does the same thing for all the chorus. We’ve heard what she can do the first time around, so the next time around it’s not as impressive.

4. SOULHEAD – BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
The SOULHEAD duo pulls off this classic song wonderfully. The harmonies are excellently executed through the chorus, and the verses are really well done. I quite like the change of sound following the first chorus in terms of arrangement as I find it quite pretty. I think they should have changed their vocal style the second time around as well though.

5. Fukuhara Miho – BECAUSE YOU LOVED ME
Who is this? She’s actually really good, as well as having really good English, aside from random moments in the song when she changes back to a Japanese pronunciation which kind of puzzles me. Anyways, as uninteresting this song is musically, Fukuhara is amazing throughout this song and just pull it along simply with her vocal performance in this song.

6. Hoshimura Mai – IT’S ALL COMING BACK TO ME NOW
The next song starts off with an organ sound before the song starts. Hoshimura has a really unclear english and possibly the most unclear pronunciation thus far in this album. Vocally though, Hoshimura does a decent job with the vocals. It’s nothing really impressive though, but then again the song itself isn’t very interesting. I do like the little piano interlude halfway through the song.

7. Lyrico – IMMORTALITY
I love Lyrico :D. However, I don’t like the echo sound added to her voice, and the song itself is a little awkward melody-wise. It’s a little dull until she comes in half way through and actually starts to sing out a bit more. The song iself is possibly one of the dullest songs on the album and I’m unimpressed with it.

8. LISA – BE THE MAN
The next song is an acoustic guitar song and LISA pulls it off well with her voice. She sings well with emotion and makes the song quite pleasant to listen to. Her voice mostly spot-on throughout the song, and the melody is sung with sensibility and makes it one of the best songs off the album.

9. Kato Miliyah & Shota Shimizu – I’M YOUR ANGEL
This is a nice duet, although nothing compared to the original. Maybe it’s because I really liked the original and it was probably one of the songs of Dion that I put on repeat. XD Both Kato and Shota can be uncomprehensible at time, but they have nice tone, especially Kato. However, the both of them are an absolute snore throughout the song.

10. Hirahara Ayaka – THE PRAYER
Hirahara’s version of this song is kind of boring as it drags on and on through the song. Hirahara doesn’t really show off vocally in this song either. The arrangement of this song is just dull and doesn’t go anywhere.

Overall -
Favourite Track: BE THE MAN
The tribute album isn’t a bad one. Many of the vocalists performed quite well throughout the songs. However, I felt like a lot of the accompaniments for the songs were really dull and lifeless and didn’t really help the song. Not something I would listen to again, aside for a few tracks though.

Artist: K
Album/Single: The TIMELESS collection Vol. 1
Released: March 21, 2007

1. True Colors
As distracting as K’s accent is when he’s singing English, this is still a pretty song. I’ve always loved this song anyways oO;. Anyhoo, this version has a very beautiful backing with “bell”-like tones in the background. I don’t think K’s vocals are as good as they usually are, but they’re still pretty solid. For me, the highlight of this track is definitely the piano.

2. Layla
Again with a very good accompaniment, flowing accompaniment, but this time to breaks out into a faster paced song. I actually really like this song. It has a nice ongoing pulse in it from the guitar bits which I’m REALLY loving. It’s very danceable and K does a good job with his vocals and keeps the song lively. I love the intrumental bits about 3/4 of it through.

3. Just the Two of Us
A pretty good cover of this song. It still has a solid accompaniment, considering its style. Still, the song here has a good pulse throughout which keeps me listening.

4. Da Ya Think I’m Sexy!
LOL to the title. Anyways! I love K’s vocal style in this song. It suits the song so much. The song it’s a bit too repetitive for my tastes, but it does have a solid sound throughout.

5. Angel
This is a dramatic ballad that has a nice flowing sound to it. There’s nothing much that’s special about it, but it’s still a very solid track.

6. Honesty
I like the melody of this song. It has a similar dramatic melody to the latter song, but accompanied not by the strong guitars, but with mainly piano and strings (with the occasional guitar). I really love the strings bits in this song; it kepts bring out the dramatic sound in this ballad. K is still showing fairly solid vocals.

7. Steppin’ Out
This song starts off with a driving basic beat and a simple bell rhythm on top of it. The song itself is pretty simple, but totally driven by the melody and the beat in the background. I don’t particularly like how he sings nearing 2 minutes into the song, but generally a good performance on all other parts of the song.

8. Just Once
Now these are the vocals I love from K. I love the simple piano accompaniment with his voice over it. This song is STUNNING. Loving the piano, loving his vocals.

9. I Like It
An R&B song that’s rather catchy. K’s vocals solid throughout. The song itself can get a bit boring after awhile, but again it has a nice beat to it, and I love how when he says “I like it”, you get a little instrumental line that plays right after it.

10. ONE LAST CRY
lol. Brian McKnight. Any case, what’s with me loving all these piano + vocal songs? In any case, I love the piano introduction, I love K’s vocals. As much as I dislike this song because of all those mediocre singers that sing it on the Idol songs and totally butcher it, K does a REALLY good job with this song.

11. Every Year, Every Christmas
Again, loving the piano introduction, and a nice soft song. It gets a bit boring after awhile, but still a very nice song.

12. Back at One (live)
I’ve always said this song doesn’t make sense XD. “… repeat steps one two three?” mmmm yeah, Brian McKnight. Whatever floats your float. ANYWAYS! Live cover! Again, his English is kind of a distracting here, but he generally good here. At points, he sounds a bit flat, but I think that’s the background singers too.

13. Bridge Over Troubled Water feat. Peabo Bryson (live)
I don’t really like K’s breathy vocals at the beginning. However, Bryson sounds really good. I don’t really like how they don’t really “duet” that much in this song. It’s just like K for the first bit, then Bryson for the second bit. However, the last bit of the song where they do sing together sounds REALLY GOOD.

Overall-
Favourite track: Just Once
K’s cover album is a pretty solid attempt. I haven’t heard the majority of these songs, but I was listening to most of them with interest. K generally sounds very good throughout this album and brings the songs to life and there’s a good variety of songs to listen to. I remember a good deal of these songs and how they sound like :). Overall, a pretty solid cover album, although it’s missing something special.

Artist: K
Album: Beyond the Sea
Release Date: January 18, 2006
Highest Ranking: 2
# of Weeks on Charts: 16

1. Cover Girl
I have to admit, I have never heard an upbeat song from K before (considering he released four ballads before the album), so this is surprise. His voice reminds me of Jesse McCartney, but smoother. The beginning of the song is very funky, but the rest of the song is a bit dull. K’s is very impressive, which it usually is, but I feel that the song doesn’t do much justice for his artistic ability, and barely scratches the surface of this vocal abilities. I wouldn’t say this is the best track to lead off with, but it’s fun to follow along, maybe dance too?

2. Girlfriend
I suppose it isn’t a surprise that the next track is a ballad, and one of the singles as well. The melody is a lovely piece of work. This song works as a R&B ballad, which suits K very well. K is singing in a bit of a subdued voice here, and not really letting all out. Maybe if he bumped up the emotional aspect a bit, it’d make this even better. I feel that he’s stuck being a bit too much on the technical side. I have to mention though, he has a nice falsetto. I’m not fond of the ending however. A pleasant song overall, but a little bit on the boring side.

3. Only Human
I love the quiet entry of this song. It’s just K and the piano (probably his playing too). Eventually this song picks up momentum and drive, and it turns into a powerful ballad. K’s singing definitely resonates throughout this beautiful ballad. Where Girlfriend was lacking in emotion, Only Human takes it all. The blend of K’s voice and superior vocal skills, emotion, gentle piano and everything else makes this song a perfect gem.

4. TAXI
A midtempo track, to follow the two ballads, and would be K’s second upbeat song off of this album. I like this infinitely more than Cover Girl already. Sadly though, K is receiving his first negative comment on his singing! I think he’s singing a bit flat and toneless during the verses. The performances throughout the chorus are better, but I wish he sang with a bit more flavour. This song isn’t bad at all, K might just need improve in his deliver of this song.

5. oka no ue no fune
Here, K returns to his beautiful ballad voice. This starts off using a similar technique as Only Human (quiet singing and accompaniment to later build up), but during the chorus especially, it turns more into an easy listening pop song. This is a very relaxing song to listen to and is quite nice.

6. Beyond the Sea
I’m excited, this is K’s sole composition off of his first album. I love the opening accapella section. The harmonies are just stunning with his lead vocals. The melody is very catchy and pretty at the same time. This song is very laid back and calming. I can’t help but describe the accompaniment as “cute” and quite fitting. I think I would have preferred it if K stuck to making this song completely acappela, that would have been very interesting. Either way, this song is very good as it is.

7. Play Another One ft. Mummy-D (Rhymester)
Another funky upbeat song, this time with the help of Mummy-D. K’s smooth voice stands out once again and gives a major sexy effect. I don’t know what’s with the random annoying English just before the chorus. There isn’t much I want to say about this song. I dislike the song as a whole. It’s not really catchy and it’s highly uninteresting. The whole track is pretty dry.

8. fly away
I’m beginning to think K really likes this “funk” sound to his upbeat songs. At least this song is able to save me from the headache the previous track gave me. This song is alright, but nothing too impressive to be honest. I’m beginning to repeat myself quite a bit, because I’m going to say what I’ve said for most of his upbeat songs: nice voice, dull and bland song, not enough emotion.

9. Friends Before Lovers
The beginning of this reminds me something from UVERworld (coincidental obviously). K starts off with a beautiful vibrato and impressive vocals right off the top. This song is another R&B ballad, but I wouldn’t say it’s as good as Girlfriend. He definitely shows more emotion here, but I think the composition doesn’t compare to Girlfriend. To put it simply, allow me to quote myself, “nice voice, dull and bland song”.

10. Dakishimetai
This song has a gorgeous piano line. The melody is quite pretty itself. By now, we all know that K shows his voice and his best vibrato in a ballad. I really love the melody because it’s so encaptivating, and K sings it with no limits. Simply gorgeous (especially that little part at the end).

11. over…
As nice as Dakishimetai is, over… just blows that song out of the waters. This song is by far my favourite one from K so far. He sings this song with beautiful contrast between the verses and choruses. On top of that, this song sounds so natural when he sings it. I really feel as if it just comes out of him with no effort what-so-ever. With a stunning melody, amazing accompaniment, you can’t ask for more.

12. Bye My Friends
K chooses to end his album with a mid-tempo track (but leaning more towards a ballad) which is a nice and fitting end (look at the title). Like over…, he sings this easily and it’s not difficult to find where he sits in this song. Ican’t forget to mention is beautiful voice either, it’s just too beautiful to be forgotten. My only complaint about this song is that the accompaniment could have been done better. I think if the programming was lessened and the acoustic guitar was given a bigger role in the song, it would have been much better and set a more acoustic mood.

Overall -
Favourite Track: over…
This is a very nice album, but I definitely had higher expectations of K, considering the immense talent he demonstrated through his singles. There are two distinctive styles present in this album: ballads and upbeat tracks (yes they’re that vague). In terms of his ballads, he’s capable of delivering very top notch material while doing a great job of it. It can be any ballad and he will most likely find a way to shock us all. As for his upbeat songs though, it is evident that he doesn’t do as well with those songs. Most of the times they’re nowhere near the quality of his ballads. I found that they mostly reduced the quality of the album overall and I would wonder when the next ballad would come up. Given the opportunity, K could go very far with his music. He has the talent, now he just needs to learn to use it. For a first album, it wasn’t too bad. He has one of the loveliest voices I’ve ever heard and powerful too (it probably could make any girl melt). I’m definitely looking forward to his second album.