Beat Laments The World

A metal-infused take on Asian music & other stuff

Alright, I’ll just do this now even though Koharu‘s new album hasn’t been released yet. Let’s hope it won’t have anything awesome enough that could’ve made it to this list.
I’m just gonna skip all the obligatory “this was so hard to do I almost killed myself blah blah blah” stuff since you already know, and start right off with the track at the 15th place. However, before I do, I’d just like to share this screencap of Sayumi with you that I found over at Your Opinion Doesn’t Count. Why? Because it, uh, motivated me to keep writing this list; maybe it’ll motivate you to read it, too? Hell, it might even be fake for all I know, but I’d like to stay under the belief that it isn’t.

Alright, after clicking that and taking a close look, get some tissues for that nosebleed of yours (or for any other needs dealing with other bodily fluids) and I’ll get started.

15th: °C-ute - Shiritsu Kyougaku: I’ve already delved quite deep into this Beatles-y track in an earlier post, so see that post instead.

14th: Kira☆Pika - Hana wo Pu~n: Ah, Hana wo Pu~n. If there was one H!P track this past year you either loved deeply or hated more than anything, this is it. I must admit, at first I was immediately in the latter group of people. However, like many H!P songs tend to, it grew on me. This one quite immensely, too. It’s just too crazy for me not to appreciate it, it’s too… Jankenpyon! What I find interesting about this track is that I’m still not bored by it in the least, not even after listening to it way too much since this summer; something I can’t quite say about some of this year’s other top tracks that I’ll write about next. I’d say this is largely due to how different this is compared to your standard H!P song, let alone a song done for a kids’ anime. Maybe it’d be going too far to call it progressive, so I’ll just call it very eclectic, for lack of a better term.

13th: Athena & Robikerottsu – Shouri no BIG WAVE!!!: Like the previous track, this one too was made to serve as a kids’ anime theme. However, unlike Hana wo Pu~n, I find that this track really sounds like one, too. Actually, to be perfectly honest, I’m not quite sure what the hell this track is doing on this list in the first place. What can I say really?This is one case where extreme cuteness just completely defeated my normally so sensible metal-philosophy, heh. It’s just way too addictive, I can’t help but listen to it. Damn you, Tsunku.

Sometimes I wish it’d be possible to not have to do anything else ever again except listen to this song on repeat alone in a small room. Nothing but this track, ever again. I’d sit there, quietly listening, just sometimes randomly yelling out “okkee!” or “ok desu!“. I believe this is the closest one could get to being in paradise. I think…

12th: Morning Musume Tanjou 10nen Kinentai – Bokura ga Ikiru MY ASIA: This is a track that will always have a special place in my heart as it was some of the very first Morning Musume music I ever heard. Well, almost anyway. It was either the Music Station or Music Fighter performance that I saw and was instantly thinking how cute Risa was and how good the girls sounded together, and that’s how my Morning Musume fandom began, basically. It’s yet another great, melodic ballad we all love Tsunku for crafting. Even Koharu doesn’t sound awful here! (though of course she’s still nothing compared to Nacchi or Maki)

Also, I have to add here that I think this is one of the most beautiful H!P PV‘s ever, visually. All that beautiful scenery, the whole Japanese feel of it, the elegant light blue dresses, the scenes with the wooden window thing with the tree leaves and those incredibly beautiful close-up slow-motions near the end make for simply a mind-blowing PV.

11th: Morning Musume – Egao YES Nude: This was the first single release by Momusu I heard when already being a fan. Admittedly not a very big fan at that point in time yet, but a fan nevertheless. At the time of its release, I couldn’t really have cared less for this track really; at that time I still thought Morning Musume was all about that sweetness heard in Bokura ga Ikiru MY ASIA, so naturally I was disappointed. Now looking back on it though, I can appreciate it much more.

The song, as you all know, is a catchy disco-influenced one, reminiscent of some older Momusu singles and also a song by another group that came out some months after this which you’ll also find on this list (can you guess which song I mean? :)). However, whereas time has only made Hana wo Pu~n better for me if anything, I can’t say the same for this song. I’m pretty sure if this song had come later in the year, I would’ve surely ranked it higher than this. I wouldn’t say ruined, but too many repeated listens have definitely taken their toll on this song for me. Time sure is a bitch sometimes, eh? But in any case, it is still a very solid song, failing to reach the top 10 just barely.

10th: Berryz Koubou – Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba: Listening to this track, I just can’t help but feel I should’ve placed it even higher, but looking at all the tracks following this one, I can’t bring myself to put it before any of those. So wow, 10th it is, and when first listening to this I was so sure this was definitely going to be in the top 3 of 2007, IF not the very best song altogether! Interesting.

Anyways, this single continued in the vein of the sort of mid-tempo, ballad-y goodness of the previous single, VERY BEAUTY. Still, it’s very different, and it seems there are lots of people who love this single but absolutely hate VERY BEAUTY (and the other way around, too) for some reason, though I myself am a fan of both. A slightly eastern sound, occasional twangy electric guitar, interesting percussion, perhaps a slightly mysterious atmosphere the female background vocals in the pre-chorus create, that whole “60′s” feel and the simple but enjoyable “anata ga suki / mune ga itai” type lyrics; all are points that make me love this song. I thought the PV for this one was quite boring to watch really (even if Miyabi did look more adorable than ever), however, like I promised in my introductory post, none of that affects my overall opinion… which is that this song stands at position number 10. However, Berryz did do a couple songs that were even better than this in 2007…

9th: °C-ute – JUMP: Like with Shiritsu Kyougaku, I already reviewed this song in an earlier post. Don’t ask me how this can be HIGHER on this list even if it was lower than Shiritsu Kyougaku in the previous one, I honestly have no clue. Weird stuff.

8th: Ongaku Gatas – Narihajimeta Koi no BELL: To me, this group is made of pure concentrated awesome. One of my all-time favorites of Musume, Yossie, the one with the squeaky but lovable voice, Country Musume Satoda, the slightly smaller-cheeked sweetheart Konno (boo for smaller cheeks!) and very promising up and coming Eggs such as Noto Arisa, Korenaga Miki and Mano Erina. With an otherwise great line-up like this and Tsunku writing awesome songs for them, not even the eggs can spoil this group for me!

This was the song I made a reference to when writing about Egao YES Nude. As many people have noted, they share some similarities. I think this song is much better, though; it takes what’s good about Egao YES Nude and takes it one step further, adding in several more ounces of awesomeness, or whatever the unit of measure for awesomeness is.

7th: GAM – Ichaicha Summer: When listening to GAM‘s debut album Amai Yuuwaku, I wasn’t really expecting anything special; I had only liked Melodies a lot before hearing it, the other singles didn’t really appeal to me yet. However, I was very pleasantly surprised. This album turned out to be one of the absolute best of 2007, and probably one of the more solid albums of H!P altogether!

The song itself is great. While it doesn’t really sound summery at least for me (actually it sounds more like a Christmas song to me!), it’s still a very “feel good“, cheery kind of song. Maybe not one of the most musically sophisticated or varied songs, but I absolutely love that happy, Miki-dominant chorus. “Zenbu, ze-n-bu!” A lovely song, never failing to get me into a good mood.

6th: Berryz Koubou – Sakura Nyuugakushiki: Last track on their newest album. I was surprised to find something this good as an album track, but then again I can’t really imagine this being released as a single, either. Hmm, now that I think about it, it’s THIS song rather than Semi that reminds me of °C-ute‘s Shiritsu Kyougaku.

This is also definitely the better of the two “sakura songs“. While you won’t find the other one even near this list, this one is excellent and is only barely not making its way into my top 5. What I like the best about this song are the highly original and maybe even slightly unusual vocal melodies, wildly going from the lower to upper vocal register and back. I just admire Tsunku for still being able to come up with stuff that sounds so fresh like that, even after so many years of non-stop songwriting. How the hell does he do it?

Entering the top 5…

5th: Morning Musume – Kanashimi Twilight: Ah, Kanashimi Twilight. You just had to know this was going to be on the list. The most rocking of all Momusu singles, past or present. This song is indeed awesome, but like with LOVE Machine, it’s gotten to the point with me where too much listening has kind of ruined it a little for me already.

Still, even if I’m listening to it for the umpteenth time and maybe I thus can’t recognize all its greatness anymore, I can still see it for what it is; probably the closest thing to anything even remotely “metal” they will ever do, the single with most units sold in its first week since 2005′s Iroppoi Jirettai and not to mention a hell of a way for Yossie (and Miki) to bid farewell to Morning Musume. Oh, and that solo line by Mittsi? Probably the best thing in the whole song. Well, it would be, if it wasn’t for Yossie (who just owns this song) and her solo part after that awesome guitar solo.

Attached is the Music Station performance with Yossie looking cooler than perhaps ever before.

4th: GAM – Aijou Oasis: Discovered at the same time as Ichaicha Summer when listening to GAM‘s debut album, but I didn’t learn to love it until after seeing the DVD recording of their first tour. Really I’m kind of lost for words on what to say about this one. Just watch the attached video and maybe you’ll “get it“, too, if you haven’t already. One thing I can point out is that I love how simplistic and quiet the verses are compared to the loud chorus. It creates almost a magical feeling during the verses. I’ll just say that this is by far my favorite performance from the DVD, and possibly my favorite GAM song altogether (only rivaled by the piano version of Melodies). It’s THAT good. Really, considering how this group has probably the two single most talented vocalists of the whole Hello! Project thing, all I can do is ask myself how there are still some people out there who AREN’T fans of this group yet. Puzzling.

3rd: Ongaku Gatas – Yattarouze!: Yeah, DANCE☆MAN is BACK, and hopefully for good! I just don’t understand people who don’t love this song (not to mention how it sold LESS than Narihajimeta Koi no BELL). It’s got that trademark DANCE☆MAN sound we all love and a damn solid composition behind it. Catchy as hell, too! While the PV might be cheap looking, it is still very visually pleasing (save for Yossie‘s hair…), at least to my eyes.

And ok, I need to say something here I thought I’d never say about any dance ever, as I basically consider the idea of dancing itself to be retarded. So if you keep that in mind, this should have some extra weight to it when I say it: the dance is fucking awesome. Don’t you think? Much like the song, it really reminds me of the old Golden Age era Morning Musume dances such as Renai Revolution 21. Goofy as hell, but fun. Actually, in my opinion this song along with its dance is a huge hark back to the Golden Era, much more so than for example Mikan, which many hailed as sounding very Golden Age-ish. Well, they might both be going for that sound, but in my opinion this is how Golden Age pt. 2 SHOULD be done. Although maybe the general public doesn’t agree with me, what with only about seven thousand copies of this being sold in its first week. Ah well, that’s besides the point anyway, I don’t care about the general public. I just hope the low sales don’t discourage Tsunku or anything, I wish he knows deep inside that he made an awesome song, it’s just the people who didn’t get it.

2nd: Berryz Koubou - VERY BEAUTY: The very first song I heard from Berryz Koubou and one that to this day remains godly good in my books. Even though I guess I’m in the minority preferring this over Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba, there’s just this undeniable charm in this song for me. While the PV is maybe a bit in the same league as Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba‘s PV which I found boring, this one is much, much better and very visually pleasing, too. I love it. One of my favorite H!P PV‘s, I think. And while I can’t really identify myself with the lyrics of the song (I rarely can when it comes to H!P, heh), I really enjoy them. Or maybe it’s not so much the lyrics themselves I enjoy, but how fantastic they sound when sung by these girls. And as for the song itself? Sorry, but I do not even know where to begin, I have no words. It’s just perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing in it musically.

So, it’s one of the most memorable and beautiful H!P ballads ever, with an excellent PV & lyrics, the girls all looking adorable and to top it off, the first song I ever heard from Berryz; thus, a totally spot-on release. You’d think this would definitely take the number one spot, right?

Nope, there was one song to come out in 2007 that I can and will rank even higher than this one…

1st: Morning Musume Tanjou 10nen Kinentai – Itoshiki Tomo e: My number one pick from all of Hello! Project‘s songs in 2007. That alone should say something about how I feel about this track.

I got into a sort of writers’ block now as I reached this song. My tactic was to listen to the song on repeat and let the words come to me. I’ve listened to it several times now and watched the PV a couple of times too, but I still have no idea how to properly put my feelings about this song into words. But I’ll try anyway.

It’s beautiful. Utterly beautiful.

All the vocals are. All the instrumentation. That instrument reminiscent of a sitar in the beginning, the acoustic guitar, the soothing keyboards, that bass… The chorus is beautiful, as are the verses. The way Kaori and especially Maki sing their respective “Nee Kirei ni / Natta ne / Watashi mo makerarenai / Jinsei ni suru wa” lines after the chorus is not only beautiful, but also fucking awesome. One of Maki‘s best vocal performances? You bet. The PV is beautiful, even more beautiful than the one for Bokura ga Ikiru MY ASIA. Risa, Nacchi, Maki, Kaori and Koharu are. No need to fix or add any more make-up there, girls; you already look perfect as it is. Nacchi walking on water is, too. This song is beautiful and perfect in pretty much every way. Overall a very fitting song to be released by the 10th anniversary commemoration unit. Oh, and last, but definitely not least, all their smiles are beautiful:

So yeah, there you have it. Needless to say, I thought it was an excellent year for H!P in 2007. I can’t wait to hear what Tsunku brings us in 2008.

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