Brief ULTIMATE DIAMOND playback
So I just spent five and a half hours looping ULTIMATE DIAMOND on the flight back from Narita, turning each track around and back to front. And ended up writing my impressions using traditional pen and paper, something I probably haven’t done since I graduated from high school…
Basically, a couple of notes on each track as I listened to them. I believe most of the discussion is going over at danie~’s since that is er… the ultimate Nana shrine. I am but a mere admirer.
1. MARIA&JOKER
(Lyrics: Hibiki, Composition & Arrangement: Agematsu Noriyasu)
Smoking hot is the first thing that came to mind within the first couple of bars - its got a sort of jazz/bar feel to it that makes it sound like the perfect theme for Smagang. There’s a lack of hook or melody that might put some people off though.
2. Etsuraku Camellia (悦楽カメリア)
(Lyrics: Mizuki Nana, Composition & Arrangement: Ohnishi Shogo)
I’ve sort of overdosed on this by now, it was playing everywhere I went in Akiba. Still, a smashing song that although not as great as say, WILD EYES, still packs a pretty decent punch.
Writer notes: Ohnishi Shogo (大西省吾) is an accomplished musician, songwriter and producer who was the founding member of Sleepin’ JohnnyFish. He programmed & arranged Tomatsu Haruka’s Musuhi no Toki and has also previously worked with Johnny’s acts such as Kanjani8, TOKIO and Arashi. This is his first collaboration with Nana.
3. PERFECT SMILE
(Lyrics, Composition & Arrangement: Ito Hisayuki)
I was a little wary of how this could potentially play out - Ito Hisayuki’s band had the tendency to churn out odd folk songs about washing machines and sports wear in their days but my fears were unfounded. It’s a straightforward pop song that surprisingly fits Nana well, I really love it.
Writer notes: Ito Hisayuki (伊藤寛之) is from indie folk-duo SPORTS, who are on hiatus. I adore them (I have their CDs)!
4. Trickster
(Lyrics: Mizuki Nana, Composition & Arrangement: Agematsu Noriyasu)
Still kicks as much ass as the first time I heard it.
5. Mr.Bunny!
(Lyrics: SAYURI, Composition: Wakabayashi Mitsuru, Arrangement: Saito Shinya)
The looped intro had me thinking ‘Oh, is this like Polyrhythm’ but I was wrong. Another straightforward Nana dance/pop song - I quite like it myself, it has a bouncy beat that gets my head nodding (not asleep) along.
Writer notes: All three worked on songs for GA too – Saito & Wakabayashi on Take a Chance and Saito & Sayuri on Nostalgia.
6. Chinmoku no Kajitsu (沈黙の果実)
(Lyrics & Composition: Shihori, Arrangement: 天羽蓮花)
I suppose this is the most ‘Nana-like’ of the new tracks on UD - Justice to Believe, anyone? Epic, majestic, grand - certainly the song sounds like it was written specifically with Nana in mind. I sort of like it but not quite love it;
Writer notes: That arranger is so mysterious I can’t even read his/her/its name! Singer-songwriter Shihori (しほり) is however, no stranger to Nana having provided back-up vocals on Level Hi! and Nostalgia. This is the first time Shihori’s had her songs accepted for use on a Nana release (apparently she’s been trying since last year).
7. Brand New Tops
(Lyrics: Yuumao, Composition & Arrangement: Miyabi Tomoya)
Another one of the songs that got an early preview on radio. Hideous chanting/background vocals aside, I do find it pretty enjoyable. But then I have a tendency to enjoy the generic pop kind of Nana stuff that other people don’t (Violetta, Thermidor) - Brand New Tops is just fine by me.
8. Shonen (少年)
(Lyrics & Composition: Yabuki Toshiro, Arrangement: Yabuki Toshiro & Ohira Tsutomu)
Heh, I thought I might hate this with Yabuki involved but I surprisingly don’t. OK, the instrumentation is overcooked, Yabuki still wants his bloody sax solo (next time he does that to a Nana song I’ll shove the instrument up his backside) and the production is something out of the 80s but there’s a decent melody in there. A bit Inagaki Junichi-ish…. um never mind, I’m old and like gay old school Jpop. Yay me.
9. Gimmick Game
(Lyrics: Hibiki, Composition & Arrangement: Fujita Junpei)
GimiGe is like a poor man’s Astrogation - slower, not as catchy, and with twice as much Engrish. I’d pretty much lost my enthusiasm for the song after 5 spins realising the song was repetitive as hell; hearing the CD-quality version hasn’t changed my feelings.
10. Dancing in the velvet moon
(Lyrics: Mizuki Nana, Composition: Agematsu Noriyasu, Arrangement: Nakayama Masato & Agematsu Noriyasu)
Um yeah. Never really liked this, probably never will. I can put up with it as background music.
11. ray of change
(Lyrics & Composition: Saita Kazunori, Arrangement: Takahashi Koichiro)
Good god, what the hell is this. Weakest song on the album methinks, there is absolutely nothing about the melody or arrangement I like. It’s 4 minutes too long!
Writer notes: Saita (Saida?) is an unknown, and Takahashi is an obscure anison arranger. Figures that the song sucks.
12. Shinai (深愛)
(Lyrics: Hibiki, Composition & Arrangement: Agematsu Noriyasu)
I am happy to report that I love Shinai a lot more than I did back when it was released, and I think I love it even more here because it’s the only noteworthy ballad on the album.
13. Aoki Hikari no Hate -ULTIMATE MODE- (蒼き光の果て-ULTIMATE MODE-)
(Lyrics: Tsuji Junko, Composition: Matsui Shunsuke, Arrangement: Fujima Hitoshi)
Can we say filler? Indeed it is, and the best thing about it is that we don’t have to punish our ears with bloody COSMIC LOVE. Well actually it’s not really that bad, I’m just amused that TPTB chose to re-record some random chara song instead of just sticking something like Trinity Cross on.
14. Astrogation
(Lyrics: Hibiki, Composition & Arrangement: Suyama Jun)
My favourite song on UD, possibly one of my top 5 fave Nana songs of all-time as well… though I would really rather have had the song appear near the start of the album.
15. Yume no Tsuzuki (夢の続き)
(Lyrics & Composition: Mizuki Nana, Arrangement: Fujita Junpei)
The obligated Nana self-written, self-composed song. After Violetta, Super Generation and SEVEN she tries her hand at a ballad… and it put me to sleep every single time I listened to it. Duller than watching paint dry.
Level of Enjoyment
>Personally, my first impression is that I prefer GREAT ACTIVITY to ULTIMATE DIAMOND. The second half of UD is terribly inconsistent, and on the whole GA had a lot more immediately appealing songs (Nostalgia, HSC, Last Scene, SECRET AMBITION etc). But I suppose 5 hours is insufficient to properly judge the album, plus I haven’t even got my copy yet. GREAT ACTIVITY did take a couple of months to kick in so I’ll give UD a bit more time - who knows, I may like ray of change in 6 months’ time (highly unlikely).
As a note, ULTIMATE DIAMOND was second on the NINKI rankings behind Black Eyed Peas… shoot, when I was scanning the release list a couple of weeks ago I hadn’t bothered to check the international releases so perhaps the No.1 spot will remain elusive for Nana.
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:31 am
I second your love for Astrogation. It’s definitely one of top TOP Nana songs. I personally found Chinmoku no Kajitsu a surprise. I thought it was pretty good. Overall the CD was pretty good.
Are you back home yet? XD
June 2nd, 2009 at 1:06 am
Requesting recommendations for songs from Nana that are similar to “Hime Murasaki”. kthxbye
June 2nd, 2009 at 5:36 am
Yeah when I first saw Ninki I thought the same thing. But Nana’s not that far off and Ninki usually likes to underestimate Nana (not as many otakus are counted I guess?) so I wouldn’t panick just yet. But major FOL, I for one am sick of Black Eyed Peas and their “Boom Boom [CRAP]“.
And yeah “Astrogation” is my No.1 Nana song. Jpop taste FTW I guess.
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:41 am
Yay for Astrogation, it’s a really cool song (and I usually hate those techno-pop songs, but Astrogation manages to overcome that greatly).
I don’t agree about ray of change, it’s a good song for me. On the other hand, even if I do like DITVM, I like it a lot more when it’s performed live with real drums instead of the annonying electronic percussion.
I’m glad somebody else finds Maria~Joker enjoyable, it’s by no means mainstream but maybe because of that it’s such a good song, that seems more appropiate for a band than for a pop artist.
And WTH, Thermidor generic ? It’s one of my fav Nana’s songs, if not MY favourite (I even tried to get some ppl to translate it for me, with no luck). I can deal with the fact that ppl don’t like the song, but I don’t think it’s generic at all. Or maybe I haven’t listened as much jpop as you (I’m mainly into j-rock)
Thanks for all the data!
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:50 am
[...] Here I was, planning on blogging when I saw the leak, only to have my ass beat by danie~ and j1m0ne. So I won’t bother putting up a review when opinions on my side are about the same over there, so I’ll provide you with the tracklist, then head on over to Nana shrine and other admirers. [...]
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Astrogation = Love (Oh, so is Shin Ai, Trickster and Etsuraku Camellia, but the number of times they’ve all been looping in my head even before this album’s release makes that a given). And before you pointed out the excessive sax, Shonen was actually my favourite ‘new’ track on the album :S Great, guess I’ve been liking gay old school JPop all this while without knowing -_-”
June 4th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Was it just me, or the UD version of Dancing in the Velvet Moon sounded different than the single?
I remember the single had hideous clipping problems, did they fix it for the album?
June 4th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
@Kurogane
Yeah they fixed it. A bit.
June 8th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
replay gain reported the peak fell by about 0.15 to 1.08 for Dancing in the Velvet Moon.
i will agree that GA paints a more consistent and flowing picture than UD…… though a live or two might probably change my opinion
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Just wanted to ask, are the lyrics to Dancing in the Velvet Moon written by Hibiki or Nana? On wiki (yea I know wiki is not trustworthy >_<) it says the lyrics are by Nana but I’m guessing on UD the lyric credits go to Hibiki?
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:39 pm
^
Lol you’re right, I fugged up. Gonna fix it ASAP.
August 26th, 2009 at 7:07 am
IMO Nana is above average but not that great for me…this review have show utterly different taste from mine XD. Astrogation is my least favorite.