fan base J-Pop Thread: Flawless Foursome Rate ~10th Anniversary Alternative Edition~

[Maresia]

accidentally came across this song while listening to tomomi itano's 2014 cult classic S×W×A×G and i can't help but marvel at the excellence  is anyone here a fan?

[Suilen]

2 hours ago, Maresia said:

accidentally came across this song while listening to tomomi itano's 2014 cult classic S×W×A×G and i can't help but marvel at the excellence  is anyone here a fan?

Welcome NEW member who is totally not my second account because two people who listen to JASMINE in 2024 are two people too many.

 

-

 

 

 

avex really fumbled her (and jpop in general), wow. 

[Taste of Honey]

2 hours ago, Maresia said:

accidentally came across this song while listening to tomomi itano's 2014 cult classic S×W×A×G and i can't help but marvel at the excellence  is anyone here a fan?

Yes, this is a lowkey classic.  I also love these two:

 

 

 

 

[PerfectSacrifice]

Just discovered this thread. Sharing my favorite j-pop song.

 

 

[Suilen]

31 minutes ago, PerfectSacrifice said:

Just discovered this thread. Sharing my favorite j-pop song.

 

 

Love this gay rights activist 

[D.D.D.]

3 hours ago, PerfectSacrifice said:

Just discovered this thread. Sharing my favorite j-pop song.

 

 

Been 15 years and I go back to it frequently   a classic indeed 

[Britneyfan09]

11 hours ago, Suilen said:

15 years into j-pop, I feel almost as old as britneyfan99

 

 

 

So nice to see this thread have a resurgence and people discussing Kuu, Akina, Ayu, etc.

 

Just in time for Unicorn and Ayu's new album. Ayu's rehearsing for a new MV shooting now so the album announcement will be any day now.

[Britneyfan09]

On 2/7/2024 at 8:23 AM, Suilen said:

Also, instead of the onerous task of trying to rate Ayumi's/Namie's discographies, I'd suggest a ~Heisei diva rate~, which is an idea I've been toying with for a while but had to drop since Utada doesn't exactly identify as one anymore. But the gist is that we rate the best-selling studio albums by the girls who started their careers in the Heisei era, and without Utada the line-up would be like this:

 

Namie Amuro - Sweet 19 Blues

Ayumi Hamasaki - Duty

Mai Kuraki - Delicious Way

Ringo Shiina - Shouso Strip

Tomomi Kahara - Love Brace

MISIA - Mother Father Brother Sister

 

There's also Nanase Aikawa's Red, but it'd probably be overload, and who knows her, right?

 

It's not perfect, and quality-wise some artists have their best here and some... don't, but it is what it is since we don't exactly have a Japanese Pitchfork to dictate which albums are the best except for that best Japanese ROCK albums list that includes First Love and Perfume's GAME. Anyway, just throwing the idea out there, maybe we could do it at some point after Shiina.

Here for this but with replacing Mai with Kuu and Tomochan with Ami-Go.

[Suilen]

7 minutes ago, Britneyfan09 said:

 

 

So nice to see this thread have a resurgence and people discussing Kuu, Akina, Ayu, etc.

 

Just in time for Unicorn and Ayu's new album. Ayu's rehearsing for a new MV shooting now so the album announcement will be any day now.

Well, @AMIT kept saying that reviving j-pop thread was going to be impossible, but then I was like b*tch hold my sake. 

 

7 minutes ago, Britneyfan09 said:

Here for this but with replacing Mai with Kuu and Tomochan with Ami-Go.

Yeah, I'll probably revise the list of albums as Kahala isn't on streaming. I think Ami's isn't either? It's like TK is holding them hostage.

[Maresia]

10 hours ago, Taste of Honey said:

Yes, this is a lowkey classic.  I also love these two:

 

 

 

 

i HAD to listen to the rest of the album immediately following my discovery of sad to say, and thankfully it did not disappoint! this was such a great era for j-r&b. L.I.P.S. made my bussy explode 

[Sheegs]

Her work as Mizca not being on Spotify is my 9/11

 

 

[playboi]

 

How wasn't this this pop masterpiece a massive global hit 

Edited February 25 by playboi

[Suilen]

1 hour ago, Maresia said:

i HAD to listen to the rest of the album immediately following my discovery of sad to say, and thankfully it did not disappoint! this was such a great era for j-r&b. L.I.P.S. made my bussy explode 

This is not my dupe account, I swear on Kana Nishino's career.

 

4 minutes ago, playboi said:

 

How wasn't this this pop masterpiece a massive global hit 

Whew, a classic.

 

-

 

I finished listening to the entire discography of Mai Kuraki including all those songs that were only featured on her Best albums, will try making a playlist of the highlights and post it tomorrow. My favorite albums were FUTURE KISS and Diamond Wave; Unconditional Love, If I Believe and 君 想ふ ～春夏秋冬～ were also cute. I encourage other "veterans" to make playlists with their personal highlights for various artists so that people who want to explore j-pop will have an easier time.

[Maresia]

39 minutes ago, Suilen said:

This is not my dupe account, I swear on Kana Nishino's career.

do not use kana's name in vein 

[Suilen]

Funny how I'm the first person that even mentioned her. No impact, I fear. So much for being the Taylor Swift of Japan. The gays with daddy issues that were listening to her grew up and became daddies themselves, no longer able to relate to her music and turning to more mature artists like Ai Otsuka.

 

[Britneyfan09]

16 hours ago, Suilen said:

Well, @AMIT kept saying that reviving j-pop thread was going to be impossible, but then I was like b*tch hold my sake. 

 

Yeah, I'll probably revise the list of albums as Kahala isn't on streaming. I think Ami's isn't either? It's like TK is holding them hostage.

Hmm..I don't mind Mai and Kahala being included tbh. Delicious Way is probably one of the better most successful albums in the list. Maybe just add Kuu and Ami into the mix but not sure if that'll make it too much. Both Ami and Kahala's TK albums are available on Spotify/Apple Music for me so maybe it's just not global. 

Edited February 25 by Britneyfan09

[AMIT]

23 hours ago, Maresia said:

accidentally came across this song while listening to tomomi itano's 2014 cult classic S×W×A×G and i can't help but marvel at the excellence  is anyone here a fan?

sad to slay is a mega bop to this day, taste  I go back to much of the album still but especially sts and This is Not a Game, the artistic VISION was just too much to ignore I fear 

 

this deserved to smash low key

 

 

Tomomi's albums are available for me as well (Apple Music), but for Ami none of her pre-avex discography seem to be available, not even the full DOLCE album either (though FREE FREE / SUPER MUSIC MAKER are in in single form). I hate it here because Bitter... is my fave song of hers. 

[Meloetta Carey]

Are there any Yumi Matsutoya enthusiasts? I only know "Haru yo Koi" because Ayu covered it and "Wanderers" after coming across the live version which was so good that the ones on Spotify seem kinda dull in comparison. 

[Suilen]

4 hours ago, Britneyfan09 said:

Hmm..I don't mind Mai and Kahala being included tbh. Delicious Way is probably one of the better most successful albums in the list. Maybe just add Kuu and Ami into the mix but not sure if that'll make it too much. Both Ami and Kahala's TK albums are available on Spotify/Apple Music for me so maybe it's just not global. 

 

3 hours ago, AMIT said:

Tomomi's albums are available for me as well (Apple Music), but for Ami none of her pre-avex discography seem to be available, not even the full DOLCE album either (though FREE FREE / SUPER MUSIC MAKER are in in single form). I hate it here because Bitter... is my fave song of hers. 

I'll see what albums are available in what countries and make a decision based on that, then. Mai's discography became available only last December, and someone said Namie's was sacrificied for that. Judging by what I've heard, well...

 

3 hours ago, Meloetta Carey said:

Are there any Yumi Matsutoya enthusiasts? I only know "Haru yo Koi" because Ayu covered it and "Wanderers" after coming across the live version which was so good that the ones on Spotify seem kinda dull in comparison. 

Definitely can't claim to be her enthusiast or anything and I'll probably never manage to listen to all of her albums, but DELIGHT SLIGHT LIGHT KISS and U-miz were nice and include two of her best singles.

 

 

 

Edited February 26 by Suilen

[AMIT]

So given y'alls opinions and recommendations I decided to go with BITTER AND SWEET for my first Akina album (not counting FIXER). 

 

I liked it! Much of it sounded like what one would expect from a female pop artist from the 80s, and I can't say anything gripped me like that (yet), but it was definitely a pleasant listen overall and very consistent. On a more general note I appreciate that her albums at a first glance look concise both in track numbers and overall length. Now I'm thinking of taking a u-turn and going for Possibility next, maybe. 

 

Am I the only one who think she sounds uncannily like early Namie (from her TK work) on BABYLON? 

 

Also I love the album cover and it was one of the reasons I went for it first and it did not disappoint!  @Suilen @madonnas

 

[Suilen]

Love this song by a talented and an unretired artist from one of her best albums:

 

 

And recently discovered these b-sides from this album's single (I've heard all of hers expect for them), and wow, she's really the queen of b-sides. I fear that if she ever puts them on one album like Sheena did with Watashi to Houden, some girls would be shaking.

 

 

 

Edited February 26 by Suilen

[Suilen]

37 minutes ago, AMIT said:

So given y'alls opinions and recommendations I decided to go with BITTER AND SWEET for my first Akina album (not counting FIXER). 

 

I liked it! Much of it sounded like what one would expect from a female pop artist from the 80s, and I can't say anything gripped me like that (yet), but it was definitely a pleasant listen overall and very consistent. On a more general note I appreciate that her albums at a first glance look concise both in track numbers and overall length. Now I'm thinking of taking a u-turn and going for Possibility next, maybe. 

 

Am I the only one who think she sounds uncannily like early Namie (from her TK work) on BABYLON? 

 

Also I love the album cover and it was one of the reasons I went for it first and it did not disappoint!  @Suilen @madonnas

 

Glad that you enjoyed the album and I wouldn't say that POSSIBILITY is that big of a departure from it but you do you. I had to relisten to the album to confirm the bold, and while there might be some marginal similarities and I love both, Namie was never a vocalist even at her best, and Akina's voice is the reason most of her discography is listenable compared to, say, Seiko Matsuda, whose croaking renders all those songs invalid no matter how good the production is (I guess her English albums managed to dodge the problem to some extent). BIBLE, my ass, more like penny dreadful.

[AMIT]

5 minutes ago, Suilen said:

Glad that you enjoyed the album and I wouldn't say that POSSIBILITY is that big of a departure from it but you do you. I had to relisten to the album to confirm the bold, and while there might be some marginal similarities and I love both, Namie was never a vocalist even at her best, and Akina's voice is the reason most of her discography is listenable compared to, say, Seiko Matsuda, whose croaking renders all those songs invalid no matter how good the production is (I guess her English albums managed to dodge the problem to some extent). BIBLE, my ass, more like penny dreadful.

I didn't mean to shade Akina or Namie, but I did think of you when I caught the resemblance. 

[Suilen]

7 minutes ago, AMIT said:

I didn't mean to shade Akina or Namie, but I did think of you when I caught the resemblance. 

I did make me think of how she ended GaGa.

[romiskes]

On 2/24/2024 at 8:44 PM, Maresia said:

accidentally came across this song while listening to tomomi itano's 2014 cult classic S×W×A×G and i can't help but marvel at the excellence  is anyone here a fan?

GOLD, Complexxx and JASMINE 2.0 are masterpieces, JASMINE is always serving excellence. She dropped a new single a week or 2 ago, it samples J.Lo's "The One" and it's soooo good: