Artist: 倖田來未 (Koda Kumi)
Album/Single: Out Works & Collaboration Best
Release Date: March 25, 2009

1. Get It On
I’ve said it many times before, I love when Koda sings in this style of music. It really suits her well and it really highlights her voice. The layering effect and harmonization at the beginning is pretty cool and gives off a seductive feel. I remember really liking the “Introduction to the second session” off of her second Best album, but thinking it was much too short. I’m so glad she decided to record a full version. My only beef with this song is that Koda’s insane uncontrolled adlibbing at the beginning is horribly out of tune. Not a great way to start off a good song.

2. the meaning of peace (KODA KUMI & BoA)
This song brings me back to the days when I truly got into Koda Kumi. Koda never released a solo ballad version. Her solo version is so much more upbeat. Personally I like this arrangement much more. It has the typical keyboard playing from TK and he went easy on the programming here. The accompaniment really helps to move the song along. Koda definitey brings more power to the song, but BoA takes it back a notch and sings with a bit more emotion and some really nice phrases. Unfortunately, Koda manages to totally drown out BoA when they’re singing in unison. I wish they had worked on some harmonization because their unison doesn’t blend well, and that would have helped balance out both vocalists. The ending was not very strong either. It is a mess of cringe-worthy adlibbing and background vocals, minus that, it’s a nice ballad.

3. SWITCH feat. 倖田來未 & Heartsdales (LISA)
Nevermind “the meaning of peace”, it’s been ages since I have heard this song. The song starts off with a very deep beat which establishes itself as the main driving force of the song. LISA has a very soft and smooth voice. The low notes seem just slightly out of her range though, so it makes her sound incredibly quiet during the verses. I didn’t really like her higher parts during the choruses. She completely changes her tone and she’s not quite in tune (but she redeems herself during the bridge). Koda’s mini solo in the middle of the song has the same tuning problem, but she does well during her parts in the chorus. You don’t get to hear Heartsdales much until after the bridge. I think the song lasts a little too long for me and I often have a hard time keeping my interest until the very end, but it can be very addicting to listen to. It certainly is the most stylish of the bunch.

4. Heat feat. MEGARYU
Koda could not sound anymore dull in this song, and we’re talking about her in her comfort zone here. I actually like Koda’s vocal part, and it suited her voice really well, but the lack of movement of the melody in the verses apparently told her to sing with the least amount of musicality possible. The guys of MEGARYU really brought some flavour to the song, and kept it from being “just another Koda Kumi” song, but they still weren’t all that exciting. Koda’s usual tuning problems aren’t as prominent in this song, possibly because my attention goes mostly to the beat of the song. She does sound a somewhat strained especially during those leaps in the chorus, but I still liked the chorus the best, when you can hear the chord progression better instead of just the beat.

5. It’s a small world (Koda Kumi & Heartsdales)
Are you kidding me? I think this is the worst Disney cover Koda as done in her career. The song itself is really upbeat and the programming is very cheesy. I can sort of accept that, because I mean, it’s a Disney song. The happy ones tend to be very happy, but the “twist” they gave to it (Heartsdales rap and interjections of “That’s right, yo”), was not tasteful at all.

6. Just Go feat. KODA KUMI (JHETT a.k.a. YAKKO for AQUARIUS)
The other songs I’ve heard from the JHETT project, I’ve been pleased with (that’s only two). Koda’s song does not disappoint, too much. The mysterious melody of the chorus is very fun to listen to. I like the amount of musicality Koda manages to bring out in this song. It really highlights her voice and brings life to the rest of the song, and keeps the beat from getting tiring (it sort of does by the time you hit the end). I didn’t like the bridge very much though. It was weak in comparison to the rest of the song, and I’m sure they could have done something better than dry repetitions of “Go”. The harmonies may have worked if they didn’t saturate the rest of the song with the same harmonies already.

7. Hot Stuff feat. KM-MARKIT
As I’ve previously mentioned under her “Best~first things~”, the swearing I thought was pointless, and is uninteresting and repetitive (especially the accompaniment). It has two main themes that are repeated the most. The one that’s present during the chorus which I find overused for this genre, and the echoing of the first line of the chorus. That was also overused in this song and it completely ruined the novelty of that line. Koda can pull out some good R&B tracks, this just isn’t one of them.

8. Rainy Day feat. KODA KUMI (KM-MARKIT)
I have to admit, I was sort of dreading this next track after “Hot Stuff”. Definitely too early for another KM-MARKIT track, but I was surprised by the difference this song carries. I actually like the arrangement of this song, especially the short, bowed strings on the offbeats. Somethings tells me this song was worthy of a really nice melody that it was sadly deprived of. It sounded like a promising R&B song, but all we get stuck with are KM-MARKIT’s totally boring rapping. He makes himself sound like background, as if he were mumbling at you. Koda’s parts are not even worthy to be mentioned (I will anyway). She sings a couple of uninspiring phrases, and all other times delivers some light, airy “adlibbing”. Note the poorly executed key change. The song sounds like it has direction, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by the vocal parts.

9. Super Sonic (KODA KUMI & D.I.)
This is the first time I’ve heard Imai actually sing (I thought they were referring to the producing when they credited his name). If you were looking forwards to hearing further poor vocal deliver from Koda, you hit the jackpot. She’s attempting to sing in a lighthearted manner, but instead ends up sounding toneless and horribly unsupported. She struggles singing in tune once again, and completely strains her voice. If you missed it during the verses, it’s incredibly noticeable against the poorly sung harmonizations during the chorus. The accompaniment overpowers both vocalists general, with the exception of a few moments during the chorus. Imai does prove himself to be a good producer in this song, and truthfully, the music is really enjoyable (particularly the chorus). I would have liked the song if the song wasn’t butchered by vocal disasters.

10. Candy feat. Mr. Blistah
After the previous track, I imagine sounds good following it. “Candy” isn’t a spectacular track, and is rather formulaic when it comes to Koda Kumi music. You have your token growly rapper (though I do prefer Mr. Blistah over KM-MARKIT), and yet another uninspired performance from our star. Actually, Koda takes on a growly type of style in her singing at times too throughout this song. Otherwise, she gets to sing a highly repetitive part, and does nothing to help her listeners along.

11. XXX feat. KODA KUMI (SOULHEAD)
I was seriously disappointed that “D.D.D.” didn’t make it onto this album, as I prefer that over this song. The songs are very similar, but the differences are what define them. “XXX” lacks the attitude and hard edge that “D.D.D.” had, and the sections don’t flow as well. The transitions into the already familiar sections of “D.D.D.” are weak. The poor ending was evidence of this. I know this song was meant to feature SOULHEAD more than Koda, and as great of a team as these three make, I still wished they went with the alternative.

12. KAMEN feat. 石井竜也 (Ishii Tatsuya)
The only other work I recognize by Ishii was his Gundam SEED involved single, which I really liked. I wondered how this duo would fair, because they seemed like an unlikely pairing to me. Surprisingly, they actually made it work well. I like when they trade off their vocal parts, because they actually sound like they’re singing to one another (not like Track 2, which sounded like the two ladies were singing at each other). Both phrase rather nicely, even when they’re only singing half a phrase, which is what I mean by they work well together. They their unison could use a bit more work because they tend to fall flat, which I suspect is due to lack of support from atempting to whisper the lines. The accompaniment does take away from the interest factor of the song, with it being slightly bland. Otherwise, I happen to think this song a rather lovely duet.

13. JOY (TRF meets KODA KUMI)
Honestly, when I saw “TRF”, I expected some upbeat, Europop type of track. I was instead, pleasantly surprised by a incredibly lovely ballad (I’m not sure if they original was this too, but whatever, this is nice). I really like the string work that TK uses, and it really shows that he’s able to work with other instruments and versatile despite producing chart-topping dance tracks. I wish there was more emphasis of the first beat in each measure, for both accompaniment and vocal parts. Sometimes it feels like it drags on unnecessarily because you sort of lose the sense of the triple meter, which I found crucial to the song. It would also help Koda from taking a few of those rhythmic liberties, and giving the song a lazy quality as opposed to a clean and moving performance. Speaking of Koda’s vocal performance, it was not impressive yet again. It doesn’t sound like she’s trying very hard to phrase anything at all. It just ends up sounding like she’s dragging her vocals along in a lazy manner. The idea was to sing legato – connected or joined notes – but certainly not in a drawn out.

14. WON’T BE LONG (EXILE & 倖田來未)
Sad, but I don’t even remember the “Black” and “Red Cherry” versions of this song, so I don’t have much to compare it with. I do remember enough to say that I think I like this version the best. The accompaniment has a certain spunk to it that Koda’s album versions don’t have. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop this song from being completely dull. Neither artists sound overly enthused about this collaboration. The guys of EXILE have the stronger and cleaner vocals, but honestly, give them things that they want to sing. As for Koda, by now, is it a surprise that she sounds as boring as ever (and we can’t forget the messy adlibbing)?

15. Simple & Lovely (m-flo loves 倖田來未)
I often find m-flo’s collaborations incredibly enjoyable, but I failed to get into this song. It has nothing to do with Koda this time, actually I find her vocal part quite fitting and well executed. I don’t generally like it when Koda sits in her higher register, but she did a good job with her part here. The song itself lacks direction, and gets too repetitive by the end. The programming gets tiring really fast, so the choppy keyboard throughout the song doesn’t help the cause.

16. LAST ANGEL feat. 東方神起 (Tohoshinki)
The beginning of this song starts off promising. I really thought sounded like it’d be a good dance-pop track, but it failed to impress me, not-so-shockingly. Tohoshinki sound extreme next to the excessively monotone Koda, but that doesn’t distract me completely from their somewhat strained vocals. I do like how relaxed Koda sounds, because it sounds like she’s actually singing naturally, but I wished she had put some musicality into her performance. There’s nothing like being completely outperformed by your own featured artists.

17. That Ain’t Cool feat. Fergie
The contrast between this song and the previous is so drastic, it kind of takes you by surprise initially. Focusing on Koda first, she has a strange way of raising her intonation after every single phrase (my guess was in order to recreate the seductive feel Fergie aimed for), and it gets incredibly distracting. Fergie’s role in this song no doubt dominated throughout. She overpowers Koda during the choruses because she gets the upper melody. Koda also doesn’t try to sing out nor treat her lower alto part with as much importance as Fergie’s part. This may have just been a straight Fergie track. As Megumi previously mentioned, this is a very dry, uneventful song, and “That ain’t kuu”, seriously. A little (or a lot in this case) more effort next time, please!

Overall -
Favourite Track: SWITCH feat. 倖田來未 & Heartsdales (LISA)
This was one giant mess of an album. It clearly shows the evolution of the uninspired Koda Kumi, to a still uninspired Koda Kumi. Her constant struggles with good vocal technique and tuning really takes a significant toll in her music. It’s not a good thing when her poor tuning is no longer a surprise to the listener. Koda has a sound that could potentially be entertaining and fun to listen to, but instead, she sticks with overly generic and dry tracks most of the time. A lot of her collaborations seem promising, but end up disappointing severely. She also gets the wrong idea of being expressive via music and when she does try, she belts (or wails) as much as she can, with no sense of the music itself. Koda has been known to put out a great track once in a while, but I always dread her best albums simply because they demonstrates her lack of improvement as an artist.

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: SOULHEAD
Album/Single: Best of SOULHEAD
Released: February 21, 2007

1. STEP TO THE NEW WORLD
I love these girls’ sound; they blend very well and their songs are very well written and flow very well. Although their songs are very repetitive, they’re very pleasant to listen to. This song has a relatively linear melody, but there’s a very good pulse throughout the song which really drives the song forward.

2. LOVER, KNIGHT, MAN
The second song off this album has a very similar sound to the previous song, including a similar beat pulling it forward. Nothing much else different here.

3. OH MY SISTER
This one sounds a bit different, but it also doesn’t do much to impress me. It has the same sound. They still have a very good blend and nice flowing melodies. There’s also a small rap bit in this one as well.

4. Sora
The melody here is a bit different and they go into a higher end of their singing at the beginning. Still nothing special and different either. However, I do like the different melody in this one.

5. GET UP!
This one has a different flavour than the previous songs without losing SOULHEAD’s basic sound. It has more of a dance flavour in this one. Still, it’s not anything interesting. The melody here isn’t that interesting either.

6. YOU CAN DO THAT
I like the melody on the pre-chorus very much on this song. But again, there’s nothing much new with their songs.

7. NO WAY
I like the melody and singing in this one very much. Although it still doesn’t stray that far from their usual songs, the melody here shines a bit more than some of the previous tracks. The singing from the girls is top notch. They do, however, sound kind of bored and the song seems to drag a bit as it’s a bit slow.

8. AT THE PARTY
This one has a bit more attitude from both of the sisters, and a bit of a different sound. The random bit that sounds like it’s from Lady Marmalade is a bit random. Still rather uninteresting.

9. Fiesta
This one has a bit of a latin feel to it without actually being latin music. Most of it is in the melody and harmonies and in the accompanying percussion at parts of the song. However, it still has a lot of typical r&b stuff in it. The piano bit is very good and I like the synthesized sounds on it.

10. SPARKLE TRAIN
This is one of the songs that really shine on this album. I remember listening to this several years ago and I really like it. It has a very bright song and I love the harmonies in the chorus between the girls. The rap works well with the song. This is a light r&b track with a really nice flowing melody.

11. Got to Leave
I love the chorus for this when they go “go go go”, it’s rather catchy. The syncopation here works well. The sound for this song also has a bit of attitude and I quite like the bass beat in the background. This little R&B song is rather catchy and I like it.

12. Pray
I really like the introduction to this song with the stuttered bits by one of the girls. The melody here is quite catchy, and I like some of the stuff that’s going on in the background. It still has a bit of a typical sound for them although not as boring as some of the earlier tracks like these.

13. XXX feat. Koda Kumi
I’ve never liked this version of DDD. The other is much better. The opening has a very awkward sound in comparison to the rest of the song. It’s like DDD, but nowhere as good and catchy. The whole sound is a little awkward.

14. Kimi no Kiseki
Finally a ballad, or something ressembling a ballad. This one is a bit boring as well, but I quite like the melody; it flows well and singing is quite good.

15. itsumademo…
The introduction to this song is rather cute; there’s some cute bells going on in the background. This is a much better ballad than the previous song, although the singing isn’t as good as it could have been (but still not bad). They still seem rather bored as they don’t much vocally with this song. They sing it stylistically alright, but they could have done so much more with this song.

16. Dear Friends
More ballads. What’s with people and putting all the ballads at the end? This one’s a bit dull and they sound really rather bored as well.

17. FEEL LIKE JUMPING
This is another typical song from there, but they sound a bit less bored and does this song well stylistically with how they sing they song. It’s a nothing new, but it’s a nice, fun, upbeat song that’s quite listenable.

Overall-
Favourite track: SPARKLE TRAIN
The best of soulhead was rather boring. I couldn’t find much that was creative or that stood out in this album. Although the girls do sound good in terms of their harmonies and blending as well as some of the songs they have, they lack variety and songs that stand out. Also not much of a best of because I think they have much better songs than the ones chosen on the album.

BRAIDED
Artist: SOULHEAD
Release Date: April 28, 2004

Oricon Chart Statistics
Highest Ranking: 4
Number of weeks on charts: 13

1. BRAIDED-intro-
I’m not sure what the point of this track is supposed to be, but it’s not very fun to listen to. It’s really short, but it’s really just annoying and in my opinion, pointless.

2. YOU CAN DO THAT
Now we’re getting into a real song after 1 minute of waste. This is has a pretty catchy chorus and smooth verse. I love how the two sister’s voices blend together, they do a great job complimenting each other. A rather typical R&B track overall, but the rhythm and beat is great, their singing nice to listen to and the song takes a couple of turns for the better. This song has great flow and each section does a good job setting each other up.

3. AT THE PARTY
An interesting sound change for the R&B duo, the beginning actually sounds more like a rock song, up until they begin singing. The chorus once again is the highlight of the song. This is just mostly loud, if I had to describe it. The beat is heavily driven but not much else to it. But as a contrast to YOU CAN DO THAT, the verse really takes a turn to show the ladies rapping abilities.

4. Jiggy Uhh..pt. 1-skit-
First of 3 Jiggy Uhh.. songs; it’s pretty catchy, and a nice break (although I think a little bit too early for one). I like the harmony and SOULHEAD quickly brings out the character (and does it well) of this short interlude.

5. Kokuhaku
It may just be me, but I feel like I’m listening to a continuation of Jiggy Uhh…; the beat sounds very similar. The chorus kind of merges into the verse and I can’t really tell when it stops or begins (if the chorus was repeated every so often). The whole song sounds more or less like one seamless track with no beginning or end and frankly, quickly gets boring.

6. Itsudemo Kimi no Koto wo
A song with a lovely melody to go with it and definitely the best part of the song. I love the smooth vocals that go along with this song as well. It’s a very laidback track and one where I can just sit and listen to. It’s a tad bit on the long side, so it can get a little tiresome, but more or less a solid track.

7. NO WAY
This is easily a forgettable track. The chorus is kind of irritating with the repetitive “No way” and not very strong. The verse isn’t too bad, but at this point of the album, the verse sounds like it came from one of the previous tracks. -_-

8. A pretense of love
It may just be me again, but I think I’ve heard those harmonies earlier one. I like the melody, and the verse is something different that I haven’t heard yet, however, with a nice melody like this, I can’t help but think that the ladies could have done something more creative because I’m beginning to think everything sounds the same.

9. I&I-interlude-
Another interlude, which I’m beginning to get tired of (especially because there’s still half the album left).

10. Forgive me
SOULHEAD finally slows it down with a ballad, the first of the album. A typical R&B ballad, but still nice. I actually appreciate this a lot since it takes a nice turn for the album. Great vocals yet again, and another delivery of a nice melody. However, it does lack a distinct sound or uniqueness for the song itself.

11. words of love
The song takes off in the lower range, and slowly rises in range. The ladies are quite good with composing songs that flow. The verse and chorus fit hand in hand and really compliment each other nicely. Unfortunately, this is another song that falls under the “I think I’ve heard this” category again.

12. Jiggy Uhh..pt.2-skit-
If you remember Jiggy Uhh..pt.1, this isn’t anything like it except for the melody and lyrics. Part 2 has more resemblance to AT THE PARTY in terms of sound.

13. D.O.G.-album ver.-
This is an interesting song. The harmony isn’t quite what you’ve been hearing up until now. A lot of the previous songs were more smooth R&B but this song really emphasizes on the ladies rapping ability. It leans towards the hip-hop side than R&B. It’s a more of a dark feeling song, but the duo takes their strengths, such as their superb harmonizing abilities, and make use of it in another way, which is, again, something to appreciate in this album due to their lack of variety thusfar.

14. STAY THERE
I can’t stand this song. I simply don’t like the chorus. This is another song geared towards SOULHEAD’S rapping than their singing. When they do sing though, there isn’t much going on. This song may have done better had it shown up earlier in the album.

15. FOR ALL MY LADIES
And we’re back to what we’re used to by now. However, this time, the duo incorporates rapping and singing at the same time. However, a downfall of this track is that it follows 3 tracks that have had rapping occurring mainly in the verses, and isn’t as strong as something like D.O.G., so it easily gets dull.

16. Jiggy Uhh..pt.3-skit-
The most annoying version of Jiggy Uhh.. of the 3. Easily forgettable.

17. Konomama
Another ballad from the SOULHEAD duo. I personally think this one is strong than Forgive me. The melody is more interesting without sacrificing the flow. As a bonus, the ladies also don’t sound as bored in this song, so if you can make it to this point of the CD, this is a really nice track to wait for.

18. GET UP!(bonus track)
Even though Konomama is really a nice track, and I wouldn’t have minded if the CD ended with that, I’m a bit relieved that they decided to put a upbeat bonus track at the end. It’s a pretty empty song though, and not much occurs. The instrumentation and accompaniment is different from what they’ve presented so far, so it does make up for what they lack in this song.

Overall -
Favourite track: Konomama
I actually decided to give SOULHEAD a listen after hearing that they were heavily involved with D.D.D. (from Koda Kumi). I was very impressed by their voices and their composition, so I was expecting quite a lot from this album. SOULHEAD still impressed me with their voices and blend, and they have a knack for creating nice melodies and each song has great flow. However, what disappointed me the most about this album, was their lack of variety and creativity. Very few tracks really stuck out and for the most part, each song sounded too similar. Even without counting the short interludes, that still leaves 13 tracks, and in my opinion, I would have rather settled for 13 strong and creative tracks than the 18 they presented in this album. Talent-wise, I think SOULHEAD has it all, but this effort just falls short of what I was expecting based on their potential. Hopefully their other albums are much better than this.