Ayumi Hamasaki’s Secret

Ayumi Hamasaki‘s new album “Secret” is out and need not to say, being a huge fan of hers short of having her name written all over my T-shirts, my forehead, my jeans, and God-knows-where, I bought the album without knowing what was inside. “Secret” comes with a CD of 14 songs that is just under one hour of music (very rare of hers and I read that initially “Secret” was meant to be yet another mini-CD like “Memorial address”) as well as a DVD of 7 video clips and the making clips for all 7 videos. I have given some days for the album to sink in – as I have a tendency to get over excited on stuffs of this scale – and here is my review.

Why “Secret”?

Asking me to rank Ayumi’s studio albums is like asking a woman if she can give you her favourite list out of a box of mixed chocolate. Chances are, she likes them all and so do I. But if you were to tempt me with an all expense paid visit to Ayumi’s upcoming tour in Japan, I would say “Secret” would rank quite high.

“Secret” has Ayumi’s trademark all over it from the music arrangement and melody point of view (can’t comment much on lyrics but I read that she, as the lyricist for her songs, is mature and poetic when it comes writing her own lyrics). It still has some minor surprises here and there but overall, if you like her previous works, you will love this album. Do try out track 3 (“Startin’”) and the last track (“Secret”). These two are my favourite tracks.

The DVD that comes with the album is a real gem. I enjoyed the making clips a lot because it shows how much effort has been poured into making those great videos.

Why “Ayumi”?

Ayumi Hamasaki is a phenomenon in the Japanese music industry. She is a great performer, a singer and songwriter who churns out hits after hits. Take a look at her yearly Arena Tour video recording and I doubt if you have seen anything of that sophistication and commercial scale. Go and read about her at Wikipedia when you have time.

So why wait? Get her new album today!

2 thoughts on “Ayumi Hamasaki’s Secret

  1. Mark

    Not being a great fan of J-pop, I’ve not picked up any Ayumi’s albums before. I came very close to purchase a few some time ago, but my greatest barrier is of course that of language. The closest experience was many donkey years ago when my sister was all crazy over the group that sang “Say Yes”. And of course they used to show the “Red White” competition over TV. I think over the years, many Mandarin songs have been translated and remixed from Japanese songs. The only Korean album I have is actually the soundtrack for “My Sassy Girl”. You missed out the point that her album covers are always very sexy… very nice. I might consider her new album 🙂

  2. wilfrid

    Indeed language barrier is the common reason why many friends of mine are not into J-pop. For me, I have a collection of International CDs from France, Italy, Arabic, etc. And in fact, because J-pop CDs usually come with Chinese translation of the lyrics, at least I know what these Japanese are singing about if I bother to read.

    I have given some thought about this language barrier. When was the last time we listen to the entire album and really pay close attention to what the artists are singing about? I have listened to the Red Hot Chili Pepper new double CDs and I have to confess that none of the song’s lyrics got registered in my mind. Ya, I remember the melody but not the lyrics. Of course some songs are exceptional (such as artists who are famous for their lyrics) but most of the time, I personally register the melody more.

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