Tracklist:

01 DAYS
02 PRECIOUS
03 TELEPHONE
04 LIES
05 STAR
06 STAND
07 WHY
08 JOKER
09 SKIN
10 BEAUTIFUL
11 FREAK <yasutaka nakata remix> (DVD-Only)

BEAUTIFUL is the 6th studio album by Japanese electronica artist MEG, and 3rd album to be produced by Nakata Yasutaka (capsule). Released on May 27, 2009. It was released in a limited CD+DVD edition which included extras such as a photo book and postcards, and unique packaging, as well as a regular CD-only edition in jewel case. It had one previous single titled PRECIOUS, and three promotional songs, those being SKIN, BEAUTIFUL, and FREAK <yasutaka nakata remix>.

MEG is probably best known for being 3-in-one! A singer, fashion designer, and model. In her music career, you see how she applies this on her singles, albums & promotional videos. Most of them capture the fashion & modeling concepts. Her 5th studio album, STEP, is a strong example of this. BEAUTIFUL is a big improvement from her previous albums, and I’ll tell you why.

The album starts with the nearly-2-minute intro DAYS, most people absolutely hate this synthesized mess. I on the other hand, thought it was absolutely genius. Sure, it makes your ears bleed a bit. But I find that appealing, and I think it makes a excellent start to the album. Right after DAYS, the first and only single from the albums shows up, PRECIOUS! PRECIOUS is a very happy-feel-good-bubble-gum-electro-pop song (if that makes any sense), and if you’ve seen the promotional video, you’ll see how innocent it really is. Honestly when the single first came out, I had mixed feelings about the song. I didn’t really listen to it much and didn’t really like it. But then, it grew on me, by a lot. I ended up loving this great and cute song.

After the feel good feeling that PRECIOUS leaves you, it continues with TELEPHONE. MEG in this album decided to practice her English, which the vast majority of songs in this album are mostly, or completely in English. TELEPHONE is one that mixes both English and Japanese. Of course, it’s hard to understand MEG’s English, and I didn’t completely get what she was saying until I got my copy and read the lyrics. But the English lyrics themselves are decent. TELEPHONE is a little bit more heavy than PRECIOUS, but still has the innocence and cuteness that PRECIOUS has. Now let’s leave the cuteness and innocence on the side for a while, because LIES needs room. I am absolutely a huge fan of MEG’s hardcore electronica songs, and I’m really glad this album carried more of these. LIES makes a perfect example of this. The lyrics of LIES makes you think she’s talking about a bad boy she has fallen for, at least that’s what I get. Definitely one of the best songs in the album.

To take a break of how hardcore LIES was, her only electro-pop ballad in this album comes up, titled STAR. Honestly this is the weakest track in the album. But it’s still very decent, and her strongest electro-pop ballad to date. Which means it isn’t so bad, but still makes me want to skip it halfway through it. After the downbeat sound that STAR had, STAND comes up. Truly a stand-out track from the album, as the song has a very latin-influence feel. And it’s very different from what we usually hear from her Nakata produced material. I definitely did not expect a song like this on the album, and it came out as a total surprise. But in the end, it’s a very enjoyable track.

Hardcore MEG is back! WHY is absolutely my top favorite song on the album. It’s perfect all around. Lyrics, synths, vocals, just plain perfect. It would’ve made a perfect promotional track. The song has this city-at-night feel. And makes a great club song. JOKER comes back, if I have to compare this song to another in the album, I’d probably choose STAND. JOKER like STAND, has a latin-influence feel, but not as much as STAND, it’s not that noticeable but it’s definitely there. Not one of my favorite’s, but still a very enjoyable song. Once again, MEG turns on the hardcore switch to the next track, titled SKIN, also being a promotional song for the album. The lyrics are quite short and repetitive, and half of the song is mainly instrumental. But this song is just plain amazing. Sure there are other songs I prefer, but it’s definetly in my top five favorites from the album.

Finally the last track of the album comes up, which is the title track, and another promotional song for the album. BEAUTIFUL! I was expecting more of this song, since it’s the title track and all. But I ended up being disappointed. It’s one of the weakest songs of the album, it isn’t bad but. Her vocals don’t go very good on this song. It has it’s ups and downs. But overall, not very memorable. This is where the album ends, but in the CD+DVD edition of the album, it has the promotional video for FREAK <yasutaka nakata remix>, which for unknown reasons it was left out the album (most probably because it wasn’t originally produced by Nakata Yasutaka.) But many people, like myself, decided to rip the song out of the video, and include it in the album on their mp3 players. This remix is a completely different version to the original FREAK, as most of the time remixes usually keep original production and mix it and add their own synths and whatnot. But this remix has a completely different production. The only thing that Nakata kept was MEG’s vocals, and they even sound different. But nonetheless this remix is absolutely great! It should have been added as a bonus track on the album. I hope this song in the future gets an official release, maybe on a remix album.

Overall I think this is her best album to date! MEG is definitely not for everyone, it’s one of those artists that you either LOVE or HATE, no in-between feelings. But it surely shows improvement to her previews albums, and it proves us that MEG will just get better and better with future releases. Being her most anticipated album, it sure has left us all MEG fans truly impressed.

Favorite Tracks:
07 WHY
04 LIES
09 SKIN
03 TELEPHONE
01 DAYS

Album Score:
A+

Tracklist:

01 WONDER
02 Joe le taxi
03 Cosmic Pink (THE LOWBROWS Remix)
04 AruとLito
05 WONDER (RimmiX)

WONDER EP is immi’s first major label release, and very impressive it is. immi is still very underground in the Japanese music scene, and hasn’t shown much popularity. But I’m sure that soon it’ll change. WONDER isn’t much different from her old material, but yet I can hear more quality. Her sound is very euro-electronica, and the reason of this is beacuser her producers are European if I’m not mistaken (which are N.A.i.D and Jetbikini). I absolutely adore this song, and makes a outstanding major debut. Unlike other electro-pop Japanese artists in the scene such as Aira Mitsuki, Perfume, Saori@destiny, and MEG, immi actually has a quality that makes her stand out from them. That is the vocoder. What I’m surprised about immi’s voice is that it fits so perfectly with electronic music that, if you’re a fan of Japanese electro-pop music, your mind automatically assume she’s vocoded.

Joe le taxi, also thrown in as a single from this EP, is another great song. I might say this is my favorite from the EP, I prefer it a bit more than WONDER. Joe le taxi is a cover, originally by French singer Vanessa Paradis. immi’s take on the French language isn’t that bad at all, but then again I’m not fluent in French so I shouldn’t know much. The song makes great use of electro synths, and makes a great song to listen with headphones only. Cosmic Pink (THE LOWBROWS Remix) isn’t a bad remix. At first I disliked it a lot, but then it grew on me. Still, I skip it when listening to the EP. I usually adore THE LOWBROWS remixes, and their original work too. But this remix of theirs seemed a little bit rushed. AruとLito starts with a very upbeat and pumped up intro. I absolutely adore the intro, but when the songs keeps going on and on, it gets a little repetitive. The 8bit sounds seem a little out of place, I don’t mind them, but I think the sound would’ve done better without them. But at the end, it’s still a very enjoyable song. But I don’t think it tops WONDER or Joe le taxi. WONDER (RimmiX), remix of WONDER, it seems that it must be a self-remix of N.A.i.D & Jetbikini, since they were the original producers of the song. Honestly this remix isn’t that great, I don’t think the vocals at first blend in with the remixed synths. The remix is kind of a mess if you ask me, it’s enjoyable in some points but at the end I still skip it. Either they should’ve worked better with this remix, or scrap it out all together. Not a very memorable remix.

In conclusion, very impressive major debut. immi’s career is now taking a huge turn. Becoming major is no easy work so I wish the best to immi! Her next EP, titled Alice EP, title track already released in single, demonstrated me that immi keeps getting better and better. But I’ll leave that to the review of Alice EP.

Favorite Tracks:
01 WONDER
02 Joe le taxi

EP Score:
A-

PS: For those of you who enjoy immi’s music, and would love to be part of a community that is all about her, why not join Cosmic Pink: immi Fan Community over at LiveJournal? You’ll be updated with news, media, videos, etc on her!