Anyway, today we're gonna go old school and by old school I mean two years old. That's right, today I'll be discussing one of Morning Musume's most successful singles, "One.Two.Three / The Matenrou Show"!
Now, I'm very familiar with this single, which is why I feel very comfortable with reviewing it. So, like all my single/album reviews, this will be track-by-track.
Remember, if you guys need MP3s, you may always ask me for them!
SAA, LET'S STAATO!!!!
1. One.Two.Three
Major Vocals: Tanaka Reina, Sayashi Riho
Secondary Vocals: Michishige Sayumi, Fukumura Mizuki, Sato Masaki
Minor Vocals: Suzuki Kanon, Ishida Ayumi, Iikubo Haruna, Ikuta Erina, Kudo Haruka
WOAH WOAH~! "One.Two.Three" is a song that will captivate you from the first time you hear it with its extensive and clever use of autotune. Notice, "clever." Some H!P songs use autotune when really not necessary, but it is the charm of One.Two.Three. And I think Tsunku knew that when he produced this song, he knew its charm point and stuck with it. With less-than-fair line distribution, lines 95% sung by Tanaka and Sayashi, it loses some of its charm. It's a bit more forgiving in this song, though, because of its heavy autotune. The times bad line distribution really irks me is when a song is moderate tempo, or a ballad, or just not autotuned heavily. Overall, this is a high quality song, and I still enjoy listening to it to this day.
WOAH WOAH~! "One.Two.Three" is a song that will captivate you from the first time you hear it with its extensive and clever use of autotune. Notice, "clever." Some H!P songs use autotune when really not necessary, but it is the charm of One.Two.Three. And I think Tsunku knew that when he produced this song, he knew its charm point and stuck with it. With less-than-fair line distribution, lines 95% sung by Tanaka and Sayashi, it loses some of its charm. It's a bit more forgiving in this song, though, because of its heavy autotune. The times bad line distribution really irks me is when a song is moderate tempo, or a ballad, or just not autotuned heavily. Overall, this is a high quality song, and I still enjoy listening to it to this day.
2. The Matenrou Show
Major Vocals: Tanaka Reina, Sayashi Riho
Second Vocals: Michishige Sayumi, Fukumura Mizuki
Minor Vocals: Suzuki Kanon, Ishida Ayumi, Iikubo Haruna, Ikuta Erina, Kudo Haruka, Sato Masaki
"The Matenrou Show," you could say, is the complete obverse to its predecessor. It is a jazz-funk song that, once again, speaks about love. The song uses terribly awkward and broken English phrases in the verses, such as "the modern girl," whatever that is supposed to mean...and don't even get me started on "the mountain top." This song is even worse than "One.Two.Three" in terms of line distribution, with Riho and Reina singing literally 100% of the solo lines. You might as well not even call it a Morning Musume song, for it is Riho, Reina, and the background singers (who you can barely even hear clearly over Tsunku's pedo-vocals.) In this song, the line distribution is not forgivable because it is not a heavily autotuned song like "One.Two.Three." The song itself is good, though, I just wish the freaking line distribution was better!
"The Matenrou Show," you could say, is the complete obverse to its predecessor. It is a jazz-funk song that, once again, speaks about love. The song uses terribly awkward and broken English phrases in the verses, such as "the modern girl," whatever that is supposed to mean...and don't even get me started on "the mountain top." This song is even worse than "One.Two.Three" in terms of line distribution, with Riho and Reina singing literally 100% of the solo lines. You might as well not even call it a Morning Musume song, for it is Riho, Reina, and the background singers (who you can barely even hear clearly over Tsunku's pedo-vocals.) In this song, the line distribution is not forgivable because it is not a heavily autotuned song like "One.Two.Three." The song itself is good, though, I just wish the freaking line distribution was better!
3. Watashi no Jidai!
Vocals: Tanaka Reina, Michishige Sayumi
This song is a 6ki power-pop song. It was the first B-side I heard of this single, a while ago, back when I was first getting into Hello! Project. In fact, I knew this song before I knew "The Matenrou Show." The main problem I have with this song is hearing the cringe-y contrast between Reina's great singing and Sayu's weak vocals. You can hear Sayu straining on the "high notes," and it is not pleasing to the ear. However, it is always nice to hear this pair singing together, for pure nostalgia purposes. The hook of this song is strong, and despite its weaknesses, I'm glad this song was included on the single.
3. Aisaretai no ni...
Vocals: Suzuki Kanon, Ikuta Erina, Sayashi Riho, Fukumura Mizuki
This song was always the one I always skipped on the single -- not because I dislike 9ki, in fact, I am a fan of Eripon and Zukki, and somewhat Fukumura, but simply because this song is quite boring. A nice touch, though, is that Zukki opens the song. The song features the girls whispering the title syllable-by-syllable, and I think that is the most redeeming part of this song, to be honest. The chorus is incredibly boring, and 9ki deserves a much better song, in my opinion. You can barely hear Eripon in this song because, like always, she was given the short end of the stick. The guitar solo in the bridge does not fit in the song at all. Overall, I feel as if this song is a filler, very weak, and 9ki deserves better.
3. Seishun Domannaka
Vocals: Ishida Ayumi, Sato Masaki, Iikubo Haruna, Kudo Haruka
This is no doubt the strongest B-side of the single. Each girl gets a chance to shine in this song, something "Aisaretai no ni..." lacked. This song is cheerful, and reflects the idea of young love. Usually I do not love cheerful/genki songs, but this song is an exception. It was well-produced, well-distributed, and no girl felt out of place. The one girl who particularly stands out to me in this song, though, is Iikubo Haruna. I would say it's the deepness of her voice, but Daishi's voice is not exactly high-pitched either. I think it's because you can really tell Harunan gave it her all in this song, and she's only improving more and more by the day. I'm really happy she got the last line, because she finishes the song beautifully. All the girls excel in this song, though. So overall, best B-side of the album and great song.
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I hope you enjoyed my review, everyone. I really put in all the opinions I could, and you may request more reviews for me to do! Thanks for reading! Calli, out!
