REVIEW: MORNING MUSUME “Platinum 9 DISC” (The Groove Music Life)
P9D: Deserving of Platinum Status? (Stardust)
Platinum 9 DISC <3 (Renai Revolution 21)
Platinum 9 Disco Review (Macaroni-i)
Platinum 9 DISC, news, previews & reviews (Mayuge Madness)

Lots of bloggers have given a good listen to Morning Musume’s 9th album.  Time to check the scorecards…

CJ notes how hardworking the Musume’s have been lately.  What with two full-length albums and two singles in the can within the last few months.  He gets into the technical aspects of each song, which is a CJ trademark.  Ultimately he gives the album 5-stars  He really takes note of the solo tracks, and is pleasantly surprised by Sayu’s “breathy and sultry” performance.

After hearing the previews, Mars predicted this would be MoMusu’s best album in years.  He feels the album does hold up to that prediction.  Although he does have a couple of grips.  Most notably a lack of non-single “group tracks” and an excess of solo efforts.  Of the new material he likes SONGS a lot.  8.5 out of 10 from Mars.

Wendy loves almost every song.  The exceptions being the Aika and Sayumi solos.  She feels Watashi no Miryoku ni Kizukanai Donkan na Hito would have been a better fit for Eri or Jun Jun.  The rest of the tracks all get high ratings.  Especially SONGS, which gets a “Spinal Tap” 11 out of 10!

Cat gives the album a “Buy Buy Buy” recommendation.  Although she also isn’t enamored with Aika and Sayu’s solos.  Well, at least she gives Sayu a big “thumbs up” on the ROFL scale.  She loves all of the included single tracks, and really likes Eri’s solo.  Cat even surprised herself with how much she enjoyed the album.  4 out of 5

Liamers has linked a bunch of sample tracks and live performances from YouTube.  He spends most of the writeup analyzing the girl’s singing efforts.  And as a result he becomes yet another reviewer “laughing” at Sayu’s solo effort.  (I gotta hear this!)  Liamers is mainly excited to hear his fave girl Risa getting a lot more solo lines on the album.  And he cannot find a track he doesn’t like.

So far SONGS and Kataomoi no Owari ni are getting the best feedback.  And the album is well-recommended.  We will see if that holds up through a second batch of reviews…