Morning Musume 12, Smart Album Release

Hi everyone, here I am with another review. I’ll be honest, ever since Fujimoto Miki was out of MM I wasn’t much of a fan anymore, I didn’t mean to, but their songs started sounding so similar and their static line up and lack of a decent TV show didn’t help at all. However, I’ve still been kind of a casual fan, randomly checking to see if thy make any music I like, and I have to say I absolutely loved their 10th album, while the 11th was just really bad IMO. There were a couple outstanding amazing songs there, but the rest was super lackluster and felt rushed.

I’m really excited now that their back to their audition / graduation system, so of course I’ve been checking out their stuff closely and rooting for Riho, my favorite 9ki I’m so vanilla!

First things first, just like last time I reviewed anything MM related, have a mini member review so that you know what to expect:

Aichan: I like her, but I’m over hearing only her voice in songs.

Reina: I like her voice so I’m ok with her. I’m not a big fan of her personality though.

Niigaki: Used to be my favorite, then she got increasingly more tragic haircuts that made her look like a mom and her face is all weird now… I think she plucks her eyebrows too much or something. She’s letting her hair grow longer again, thank god, and she’s looking much much better in the recent Mobekimasu single. Oh, I love her voice in recorded stuff, she tends to growl live and I’m not into that.

Sayu: Amazing being of perfection. She can do no wrong.

Aika: I dislike her.

Kanon: Cute, adorable, interesting, finally someone with a personality other than Sayu in the group! Let’s hope she doesn’t fizzle out like Reina and Risa did.

Erina: Cute. And awkward but happy, I love that in an idol.

Fukumura: Gorgeous, I love her voice.

Riho: She cracks me up with her huge ambition and how people freak out at it. She’s a fantastic performer and I’m glad she’s the new center of MM pretty much.

Alright, so with that out of the way, let’s review this album!

I like the covers. The angel thing is a bit stupid as are all the costumes IMO (catpeople, santa outfits, well, you get the point) but it was done beautifully and all of the girls look great (including Aika who doesn’t have an awkward facial expression going on for once). I’m not crazy about the green, I think the blue background of the RE was better, but it’s definitely one of the best efforts in MM covers in the late years (or in all times, let’s be honest, covers have never been their strong point).

What I don’t like is the title: Originally it was supposed to be Kakusan Kibou which sounded nice and fitting for Aichan’s last, and then they decided to go for Smart? What the hell does that even mean xD Oh well.

Let’s start this review!

1. Give me Love: Piano plus techno beats sounds very reminiscent of pretty much everything they did in the panda era. However, this is one of the songs that takes advantage of that sound and works it. I love the main vocals while the others provide support, Riho’s voice sounds so young next to Ai and Reina’s though, it’s kinda funny. Overall, I think this is one of the best representatives of Emo Musume, and I like the longing feeling on the girl’s voices. Shame for the lack of 9kis

Rating: 4.5/5

2. Only You: This is my favorite MM single since Naichau Kamo I just adore this song, it sounds different from what they had done, but still keeping some of their flavor. The weird song structure was also amazing to me, and the powerful beats. Ahhh I just really really love everything about this song.

Rating: 5/5

3. Silver no Udedokei (Reina, Riho, Risa, Aika): That rapper at the beginning was hilarious, it reminded me of Memory Seishun no Hikari. Anyway, Reina is sounding amazing, but Riho sounds like a certain whiny C-ute member. Yikes. Risa has always been good at rapping and I can’t for the life of me hear Aika in this song, but I’m not too familiar with her voice so it might be my bad. I think the song itself is pretty good, I’m getting Indigo Blue Love vibes from it, too bad that Riho can’t deliver yet, maybe with time she’ll learn to control her voice better and stop sounding so whiny and bad :s Her choruses seem to be fine, it’s just the high notes that sound super nasally, I’m not going to give up hope just yet although H!P has a track record of becoming even whinier and more nasally as time goes by… Let’s hope she also learns how to put more emotion into her singing, although it’s unfair to expect her to be perfect right off the bat, and when she’s paired with the major lead singer of the group.

Rating: 4/5 Reina earns a golden star.

4. Suki da na Kimi ga (Sayumi, Mizuki): This. song. is. perfection. It sounds like something out of an I’ve Sound album and I LOOOOOOVE that. We all knew that techno agrees a lot with Sayu’s particular voice, but I didn’t know Fukuchan would be such a good match as well! The chorus is super fun, and the verses are bouncy but still flirty and yeah, this is a freaking masterpiece. People have complained that they can’t hear Mizuki, but she’s just the pleasant sounding lower voice xD I think it’s awesome that she got a duet because that’s a ton of lines right there!

Rating: 5/5

5. Kaiketsu Positive A: Funky music! The verses are fun and the rolled Rs are funny xD Sounds like it would be a great song to watch performed. The downside is that the chorus sounds a bit generic to me, like not too memorable. And I really don’t know what they’ll do to perform this without Aichan’s powerful deep voice xD Maybe Kuduu and Zukki have to step up and cover for her absence.

Rating: 3.5/5 The trumpet gets old fast.

6. Kono Ai wo Kasanete (Risa, Ai): I hate the synth x_x It’s actually one of the reasons why I didn’t bother anymore with MM’s music, the overbearing synths irk me. The girls sound lovely, but this is a forgettable song, musically speaking, which is a shame, but kind of expected since their duets have been mostly ballads AFAIK.

Rating: 3/5

7. Kono Chikyuu no Heiwa wo Honki de Negatterun da yo!: Disco music! Tsunku seems to have an obsession with it xD I have to admit that I didn’t like this song much when it first appeared, I thought it sounded too similar to stuff they had done in the past, but after listening to it a million times I like it a lot more. It’s just groovy, and the chorus change of pace is very refreshing and overall cool. I approve.

Rating: 4/5

8. Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai: You know, after seeing the complete and utter ReinAi domination of every single song in the past 4 or so years I never thought I’d see another single lead by anyone else, and especially not by Sayu This song is awesome <3 It makes full use of the silly lyrics Tsunku writes (that made me facepalm so hard when coupled to his “serious” sounding songs) and Sayu is simply a ball of charisma and starpower, you can’t deny that! Pretty much everyone gets to participate in this, and while it’s a wacky song (with the best PV I’ve seen for MM since like, Mikan or something) it manages to still be cute and catchy. I just love it. I also like how they didn’t give Aichan her usual share of 70% of the songs lines, to give people a taste of what MM might sound after her graduation.

Rating: 5/5

9. My Way ~Joshiko Hanamichi: The melody sounds recycled for some reason… But I like how rocking and energetic it sounds. The chorus sounds generic again, but I’m sure this one will really shine when performed live. Sounds like a reject Buono album track, but I love Buono, so that’s ok xD It drags on a bit though, that detracts from it (that and the horrendous synth solo. Ew.)

Rating: 3.5/5

10. Otome no Timing (Aika, Kanon, Erina): I don’t want to be mean, but does everyone who get grouped with Aika lately is stuck being in the background with her forever? I hope that’s not the future of Zukki and KY, as I really like them. This one is a cute little song and Aika sounds really good and pleasant, which is always a great thing to hear, since I don’t like how she strains her voice sometimes. This song is ridiculously generic and forgettable though, it sounds like a bad anime ED. A shame, but I’m happy for Aika and her new pretty voice <3 The synth also made a horrible appearance here…

Rating: 3/5

11. OK YEAH!: When I saw that title I cringed, I hate the nonsense in H!P stuff unless it’s backed up by a nice wacky setting or something like that, but I figured since lately they are so “grown up” it wouldn’t be like that. But I was wrong! And I’ve never been happier to be wrong in my life. This song sounds like a genkier version of one of my favorite MM songs of all times, Say Yeah, Motto Miracle Night!. I love the fast beat, and the DDR feeling it has, and the call and response thing makes it perfect for lives, which are MM’s thing lately. Amazingly perfect song <3

Rating: 5/5

12. Majidesukasuka!: I love this sooooong <3 I was anxious about what they’d do with the 9kis, but it turned out to be a great song, happy without being too sugary, and with the fairest line distribution in H!P in ages. This song just puts me in a great mood whenever I listen to it!

Rating: 5/5

Overall rating: 4.2/5

This is a great album, and a huge relief for me after the trainwreck that was Fantasy Juuichi. I feel like I can listen to most of it, and while the typical MM songs can get a bit formulaic, they are wonderfully done for the most part and are capable of conveying that energy MM is known for on stage.

Reina is the star of the album for me, she’s really a fantastic vocalist and her performance in Silver no Udedokei blew me away again (she always does that whenever I hear her or see her performing anything xD).

Listening to this album made me realize how much I’ve loved Aichan all of this time even though I was sick of her being 60% of every MM song with Reina being 35% and the other girls getting the leftovers. Aichan’s one of those idols that are born only every hundred years, like Akimoto Yasushi would say, her talent is undeniable and she will be remembered as one of the most iconic MM members for everything she did for the group, now it’s time for her to move on, and the group is already starting to change and sound different and exciting!

Some things will never change, like AiGaki getting a slow song or Mitsui getting the throwaway song, but I’m still happy about what they accomplished with this album, and it’s such a fantastic send off to Takahashi!

I won’t say that I’ll ever get on board of the MM train again, but they definitely have piqued my interest more than they had in at least 5 years, and I’m really looking forward to where this new direction takes them, musically speaking.