Tracklist:

01 MadNesS vol. 1
02 PROMiSE
03 ChaNge the WoRLd
04 Why oh Why
05 HEy GirL
06 KiSS KiSS xxx
07 RaiN
08 Oh Oh…
09 Something Missing
10 One of a Kind
11 WoNDeRLaND?
12 Shibuya de Punch
13 YOU
14 UP TO YOU

UP TO YOU is MiChi’s major debut album, and second album overall. MiChi is pretty much new to the Japanese music industry, who I think that achieved popularity among Japanese pop fans pretty quick. Her indies album showed that she had potential, but honestly I thought it was a very unorganized album. UP TO YOU on the other hand, was a very excellent major debut album. It filled all the empty spaces that her first indies album, MiChi MadNesS, left behind but at the same time it kept the very special indie touch that MiChi MadNesS had. Most people say that her genre is pop-rock, but if you listen carefully I’d say it’s not just pop-rock, but a mixture of electro and other genres as well. I see her more of an experimental artist.

MadNesS vol. 1 is simply an intro, that from the title you can tell she’s doing a reference to her first album MiChi MadNesS. Also sampling songs from the first album. There’s nothing much to say about this intro, but it’s a very nice opening for the album, very fun to listen to. But let’s keep moving on. PROMiSE, being also the first single of the album, starts off with a very nice guitar melody, and her pretty voice kicks in! PROMiSE is a very feel-good upbeat song. Makes you happy and even if you don’t understand Japanese, you can tell what the song is trying to say. What I love about MiChi is that all her lyrics are so Japanglish that you feel that you understand the song. The song it self is a mixture of pop-rock and electro-pop and makes a nice mixture indeed. Every time I’m in the mood for this song, is when I want to feel better about myself. Or am depressed about a situation, this song just makes me forget about it.

ChaNge the WoRLd, her second single from this album. ChaNge the WoRLd is yet another feel-good song. Pretty much I’d say it’s PROMiSE part 2, but it still has the quality that makes it stand out. It leaves out the electronica experimentation a bit, and sounds more pop-rock. I’d say her vocals on this song are more stand out than PROMiSE, and makes you see what a great singer MiChi is. Why oh Why, a different version of YOY, b-side of her YOU single. While the original YOY found on her YOU single is more pop and experimental I might say, which the genre of it is pretty undescribable. Why oh Why deals more with electronica, and I actually prefer this version than the original YOY. This version is more of a catchy song. The lyrics are great, and makes you want to sing along. HEy GirL b-side of her PROMiSE single, which also was thrown in as a single, is yet another catchy song. It takes experimentation as it’s main genre, and makes it pretty decent. Even though honestly I don’t think it stands out from the album, but I still consider it one of my favorites.

KiSS KiSS xxx, third single of the album, again a very similar song to her previous singles PROMiSE and ChaNge the WoRLd. Even though the song is super nice and catchy, I wanted MiChi to try something else with the song. But I guess I’m just saying this cause I already heard this song before the album, and was expecting it to be different than the previous singles. But in the end is not a bad song, and her vocals are great. RaiN is MiChi’s take on an acoustic pop song. And I might say she did a hell of a job. The song is nothing different from any other regular acoustic song, but yet MiChi’s take on it makes it special. Oh Oh… is probably the only song I don’t like so much from the album. I don’t hate it, but it annoys me. Mostly because of the lyrics which sound very childish and teen agnstish and in the way MiChi does the vocals. I don’t know if she tried to show her “bad girl” side on this song by swearing, but this song could have been scrapped out of the album. It sounds like a rejected Avril Lavigne song, in my opinion anyways.

Something Missing has to be my second favorite original album track (first one being Shibuya de Punch). There isn’t anything “wow” factor as I like to say about this song. But her vocals are very powerful in this song, and the song for some reason makes me think of my early teenage years. I think this song would made a great album promotional track! One of a Kind, b-side from her ChaNge the WoRLd single, could have been left behind. It’s not a bad song, but not a memorable one either. I have no feelings towards this song, but then again, I don’t mind listening to it.

WoNDeRLaND?, b-side of her KiSS KiSS xxx single, starts off with a harmonica, which makes it sound like a bluegrass song, and I hate bluegrass. But then the guitar kicks in and saves the day! Like One of a Kind, this song could’ve also been left behind. Nothing special about the song, but still enjoyable. Shibuya de Punch has to be the most outstanding original album track, at least in my opinion. The song takes experimentation to a whole new level. Experimentating mostly with electronica & 80’s  synth-pop which is why it makes it stand out from the rest of the tracks. Even though her vocals aren’t the most powerful in this song, it’s still great. YOU, her fourth and last single of this era, a very heartwarming ballad. Every artist needs a ballad now and then right? Though I just wish it wasn’t made a single. The ballad is very great and soothing. But it doesn’t make it stand out from any other regular ballad. Many of us were dissapointed with this single, mostly because MiChi’s sound had a big change. This song would make a good original album track. Making it a single was a bit of a mistake if you ask me. UP TO YOU, finally the last song of the album. For those of you long-time MiChi fans, probably at first judging from the intro, you would think this is just another original album track. But then heard Fxxk You And Your Money kick in. UP TO YOU is a new version of old song Fxxk You And Your Money found on her debut indies album MiChi MadNesS. The original song was completely in English, and had a more dance/electro-pop feel. While on this version, it’s completely in Japanese and it goes mostly to pop rock. Some changes has been made from the original, but most of it is just reclying the original song. I was a bit dissapointed, I honestly prefer the original, and for UP TO YOU being the title track of the album they should’ve done a great new song. But I have to say, I do love what they did in the end how they vocoded her voice in 8bit style, which is what I mostly love about the song.

In conclusion, this is a VERY impressive major debut album. It shows us what MiChi is really all about, and she really expressed herself perfectly in it. Though I must admit, for her next album she should work harder and not make the mistakes she did on this one. But for being her first major debut album, it was great! I deffinetly recommend it.

Favorite tracks:
01 MadNesS vol. 1
02 PROMiSE
03 ChaNge the WoRLd
04 Why oh Why
05 HEy GirL
06 KiSS KiSS xxx
09 Something Missing
12 Shibuya de Punch

Album Score:
A