Shuffle And Repeat

Single Review
Ai Otsuka – Ren’ai Shashin

Ren’ai Shashin is Ai Otsuka’s 13th single. It was released on October 25, 2006 and reached #2 on the weekly Charts. It has sold a total of 147,975 copies, and charted for 20 weeks. It is the 75th best-selling single of 2006. The A-side was the theme for the movie Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru.

tracklist:
1. Ren’ai Shashin
2. Hanikami Jane
3. Haneari Tamago (Live Version)
4. Ren’ai Shashin (Instrumental)
5. Hanikami Jane (Instrumental)

Good Lord, I LOVE Ren’ai Shashin. It possibly is my favorite Ai-chin song after daisuki da yo., but either way, it’s such an amaaazing song.

The melody is really nice, and it goes very well with Ai’s vocals. The overall atmosphere was so calm, that makes the song perfectly relaxing. There’s something about the track that’s really really catchy too.

The piano and the really light beats made the song possibly epic, and the lyrics were just romantic. Again, I say this is definitely one of Ai-chin best songs!

The kiss we exchanged when it was raining,
Ties the both of us together
This feeling will not last my entire life, I can’t explain it well, but
After meeting with you, every day of my life  Has shone brightly
However, I still love you..

While the A-side was really a calm, romantic treat, the B-side, Hanikami Jane shows the normal, upbeat side of Ai-chin.

The happy-go-lucky arrangement of the song was quite similar to all of her other uptempoed songs, but was executed really well. Normally, I would sometimes hate Ai’s up-beat songs, but this song made a change.

The next track on the single was the live version of Haneari Tamago, a song from her LOVE COOK album.

I actually thought the live version was really good. It was really similar to the original version, which I think was a good thing. The piano accompanying her was pretty cool too.

Favorite Track:
Ren’ai Shashin

shuffle rating!
A+

Single Review
Ai Otsuka – CHU-LIP

CHU-LIP is Ai Otsuka’s 14th single. It was released on February 21, 2007 and reached #3 on the weekly Charts. It has sold 120,779 copies, and charted for 5 weeks. The title track was used as the theme song for the drama Kirakira Kenshuii.

tracklist:
1. CHU-LIP
2. Kimi ni Kaeru.
3. CHU-LIP (Instrumental)
4. Kimi no Kaeru. (Instrumental)

To be really honest, I’m not a big fan of Ai’s upbeat rock songs before but, CHU-LIP changed my opinion. I fell in love with it’s cheery atmosphere, and I really think the way Ai sings in this song is really cute. Everything was obviously in full-blast, and everything was enjoyable, no joke. My favorite part of the song would have to be the chorus, which i think is the mastermind of all the great hype, and catchiness happenning all throughout the song. Another favorite of mines is the part where Ai sings the “o-hong,o-hong,o-hong.” before every chorus because it’s really really catchy! The guitars were fun too, and I think without them, this song would be, well, not good (obviously). Anyway, this song is really energetic, and just by listening to it for once, it’ll get stuck in your head for days! Summing it all up, CHU-LIP is an excellent track, and is definitely a great addition to Ai’s great releases!

The B-side, Kimi ni Kaeru, uses more acoustic elements to create a more calm, and enjoyable background. The instruments were laid-back, and everything was mid-tempo(ed). The sound was very much relaxing to the ears, and The beats were well-blended with the guitar. I don’t know why is that but, what I do know that it helped this song to sound more great. In all, a great song too, and is a recommend! ^^

Favorite Track:
CHU-LIP

shuffle rating!
A

Single Review
Ai Otsuka – Frienger

Frienger is Ai Otsuka’s 11th single. It was released on April 12, 2006 and reached #2 in the charts. It sold a total of 173,115 copies in Japan, making it the 6oth best-selling single of that year.

tracklist:
1. Frienger
2. Amai Kimochi Maru Kajiri
3. Frienger (Instrumental)
4. Amai Kimochi Maru Kajiri (Instrumental)

After being impressed by all of Ai’s released singles for the “LOVE COOK” era, I had high expectations for the opener single for the “LOVE PiECE” era, which was Frienger. Sadly, I thought it was quite a step down because of it’s somehow lowquality-ness. I mean, I love the chorus tune and lines but, I didn’t really feel the same with the rest of the song. The chorus was catchy and fun but, the rest was a bit boring and was never really tht interesting in terms of sound, in my opinion. I also like the effort shown in making this song, which is obvious in Ai’s voice but sadly, it wasn’t enough to satisfy my tastes. I don’t like it that much but, i don’t really know about you guys. I just wasn’t really a fan of Ai’s all-out crazy songs just like this one. The title “Frienger” was interesting though. :p

The B-side, Amai Kimochi Maru Kajiri, in my opinion was a huge huge improvement from the previous track because in this song, everything goes a little bit slower in terms of it’s atmosphere. The melody wasn’t slow because it shows a certain upbeat-ness but, neverthless, I really liked it. Another great thing about this song is it’s more laid-back guitars because, well, it’s not that loud. Unlike in frienger, the guitars were the ones creating all those hype, which I didn’t like much. Anyway, I love how sweet Ai’s voice sounds in this song because it add to the song’s beautiful, sweet factor, which helps make the song sound 100% great. All in all, a great Ai-chan treat and is definitely the savior of this single.

Favorite Track:
Amai Kimochi Maru Kajiri

shuffle rating!
B-