Berryz Koubou’s 5th Album Track List
Here’s just a quick update for the moment. It’s been almost a month since my last post, but most of my time has been taken up with personal/family matters (all good, just busy busy) and Miya’s birthday countdown which happened at my Miya worship blog.
But, now that Miya’s birthday has past, I should be getting back to my usual blogging habits.
So, it’s been a little while, but Berryz Koubou’s 5th album has been announced and, it’s been long enough that even the tracklist and covers have been leaked already.
Tracklist:
1. HAPPY!stand Up
2. Kono Yubi Tomare (Momoko, Chinami & Maasa)
3. Baka ni Shinai de (Saki Shimizu, Miyabi, Kumai & Risako)
4. Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance
5. Ah Merry- go-round (Saki Shimizu & Momoko)
6. CLAP! (Chinami, Miyabi & Yurina)
7. REAL LOVE (Risako Sugaya)
8. Yume o Ichi Tsubu ~Berryz Kobo Ending Theme~ ( Berryz Kamen)
9. Dschinghis Khan
10. Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi
11. Special Generation ~ Eccentric Remix
So, some thoughts on this tracklist (can you feel the rage that’s on it’s way… XD)
BAAHH!! WHY OH WHY does Risako get a solo on this album? WHY?! Yes, she’s the face Berryz Koubou, seeing as she gets the majority of screen time in PVs. But dear me, must she be the voice of Berryz as well? Really, this wouldn’t bother me so much, because I don’t actually find her too painful recorded most of the time. I really enjoyed the duet she did with Momoko on Berryz 4th album. It’s just that she’s already had a solo song on a Berryz album… ‘Yeah Meccha Holiday’ anyone? And I wasn’t too fond of that… But that may be due to my unwavering loyalty to Matsuura Aya and the inability of anyone to really live up to Aya’s greatness in my mind. But truly, Risako’s the only Berryz member to have a solo song on an album (from what I can recall, since wiki.theppn is currently down and I can’t verify this easily at the moment), and now she’s going to have 2. Where the heck is my Miya solo?! T__T
On the note of solo songs… Is Maasa getting one? I’ve heard people speculating on it, since Maasa is the only member who isn’t listed twice in the mini-group songs. It would make sense if she got the Berryz Kamen song, but if it was something similar to what Umeda Erika of C-ute got on C-ute’s 3rd album, there should be some mention of Maasa in the song list…
A radio rip of the Special Generation remix is out, and it’s… Interesting to say the least. I don’t quite know what to make of it.
GAH! What’s with the gloves? o_O
I wish I were more excited for this album. Berryz 4th album was awesome. If there is a song on this album that can rival my love for ‘Sayonara Hageshiki Koi’, it will make the album totally worth it, despite my lack of enthusiasm for Risako’s solo. However, none of the singles on this album are in my top bunch of Berryz singles, so right there, the album’s getting off to a shaky start for me… I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.
It also seems that Berryz were featured in Happy Homeroom, and Ayabie from the JPH!P forums has a translation of the article:
Captain: Our fifth album 5 (Five) is being released on 9/10!
Chinami: So there’s a total of 8 new songs on the album this time. How awesome is that!?
Yurina: The different variations in the songs is really something. For example in Maasa, Captain, Chinami and my “Yume wo Hitotsubu”, right in the middle of everything it’s like the world changes completely in an instant.
Chinami: “BE” is also a title you can’t really imagine what it’s like. It’s actually a really slow one, and it’s got a enka kind of feeling to it!
Miyabi: In the same song, I tried to put myself in Tsunku-san’s shoes and mimic his singing style… but as expected it’s tough.
Momoko: When we got the lyrics for “Ah Merry-go-round” that Captain and I sing in, it gave me quite a surprise. (lol)
Captain: I saw the super long monologue and kind of went “Whoa!?. (lol)
Risako: There’s a monologue as well in my solo song “REAL LOVE”~ It’s so grown up I doubt if I’m the one appropriate for it (lol), I also sang it in a voice that I’m usually not used to.
Maasa: Keep an eye out for Momo’s, China’s and my “Kono Yubi tomare!” collaboration which features us three girls that normally have differing characters. (lol)
Chinami: Kind of like a “Chase your dreams” type of song. It’s really great!
Miyabi: “CLAP!” has China, Kumai-chan and I singing, it’s really up-beat which makes it refreshing.
Yurina: The sound of the guitar and stuff is really cool.
Momoko: The guitars in “Happy! Stand UP” that has all of us singing, is also nifty! It’s got a whole bunch of sounds in it!
Captain: The whole album is packed with all of us showing more grown up sides of ourselves, and the same thing could be said about “Baka ni shinaide!”!
Yurina’s looking so pretty here
A few people in the forum mentioned this, and I thought it as well when I first read this translation…
Risako: There’s a monologue as well in my solo song “REAL LOVE”~ It’s so grown up I doubt if I’m the one appropriate for it (lol), I also sang it in a voice that I’m usually not used to.
So she sang it in a voice she’s not used to, huh…? I hope that means it’s awesome and totally worth giving her a solo song for… *crosses fingers* And Miyabi singing in Tsunku’s style… What exactly is Tsunku’s style? It will definitely be interesting to hear that, but I’m always interested to hear anything Miya sings, anyway. Also, Miyabi’s second mini-group song (with Chinami and Yurina) has some awesome guitars in it..? Maybe this will be the ‘Sayonara Hageshiki Koi’ rival! … Well, I can always dream, right?
Actually, typing up this post has gotten me a little bit more excited for the album… Well, it’s almost September… which means the album’s almost here. I can’t wait! 
Of course I saved the best for last… XD
August 27th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
[...] Berryz Koubou’s 5th Album Track List [...]
August 28th, 2008 at 4:29 am
I’m still a total n00b at this H!P thing. =/
August 31st, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Yes not much longer to wait now!! I’m loving both covers although the close up one a bit better I think…good thing I ordered both of them as I wouldn’t know which was which.
Great to see so many new songs and an overly occupied album with too many previously released singles. I’m curious to hear what Risakochan sounds like now that I’ve read her comment on her solo song. LOL I do adore her though so I don’t mind another solo for her although I too would love to hear a Miya solo….Momo solo? Momo has some really great pairings here too as one can never have too much helium love! I can’t even remember what the extra(s) are with these releases…I guess that makes it that much more exciting too! ^-^ Very adorable UFA photos. 
September 13th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Just got 5 today. Got the LE version with dvd. The contest was funny, only a couple of songs, not videos. Listening to cd now, Am on Risako’s single and it’s ok. Enjoying it so far. Thank you for the ubdates and information.