Tracks:
1. POP STAR
4. Canvas
5. Pain
6. fake star
7. UPSET
9. Elegy
10. Twenty! Twenty! Twenty!
11. By My Melody
12. Itsuka Hanareru Hi ga Kite mo
13. Shashin
Ken Hirai’s FAKIN’ POP was released on March 12th, 2008. It’s his 7th album and peaked at #2 on the Oricon Charts, selling 161,038 copies in its first week.
Eh… Pain could’ve been better. I just didn’t really like the way it sounded. It’s more on the upbeat side, but it just doesn’t really capture my attention. Ken’s vocals are stellar though. It’s just a typical ballad with a steadier beat than most.
UPSET is probably the first song I’ve heard by Ken with a whole English part. It’s probably my favourite new track song on the album. It’s got an upbeat jazz sound which we haven’t heard for a LONG time. (His last upbeat, happy song was probably fake star.) When it breaks into the chorus it sounds like “HEY BITCH.” My reaction was “WOAH KEN. VIOLENCE IS NOT THE ANSWER.” He must be really angry. o.o
Twenty! Twenty! Twenty! seemed a little sloppy to me. It’s too happy smiley. The sounds didn’t really flow well together, in my opinion. It seems like he ran out of things to write about and just was like “HEY I KNOW. I SONG NO ONE WILL LIKE.” Purely filler material.
Ending the album softly, is Shashin. This song is about his deceased father, so Ken really puts his heart into this song. It’s a very sad-sounding song filled with emotion. It’s simple too, but that’s the good part because if it was something more dramatic it would probably be too over the top. The piano and strings add a nice, sad touch.
FAKIN’ POP is moderate at best. It could’ve been a lot better if he took the time to make the new tracks better and not packing so many singles into it. This album really relied on the singles to keep it going which was probably the only good part about, considering most of his singles were nice. Hopefully, he won’t wait so long to release his next album.
Overall Grade:
Agree with most of what you wrote, but being the anal Ken-fan I am (which I really really am xD), I feel the uncontrollable need to say a few things.
Pain: To be completely honest, I have no idea what it sounds like. It’s prety much very forgettable.
Upset: The first time all of us at the JPM forum heard it, we thought it was BITCH too. It turned out to be BABE YOU (or babe choo), hence the bitch-sounding-ness.
Twenty Twenty Twenty: Surprisingly, the only song you thought he did a horrible job writing was NOT WRITTEN by him. xD It was a collaboration between him and this guy called KAN for J-wave radio’s 20th anniversary.
Nevertheless, when it first came out, everyone thought he was on crack. I loved it to be just because he sounded like he was on crack. xD Perhaps Amy winehouse might suit me more. *shudders at thought*
The album was indeed moderate at best. His best ever was stil…. “Life is” I think. Hmmmm.
And this comment is getting really long but who really cares? xD You wanted to know a while back if I had any recommendations for AAA eras or something like that. Well, you could go with either of 3 eras.
Era 1 (2005-2006): All the stuff from BLOOD on FIRE to Samurai Heart/Winter Lander!!, or ATTACK to ALL.
Era 2 (2007): Starting with Get CHU!/SHE no Jijitsu all the way till Red Soul. Albums include CCC and AROUND.
Era 3 (2008): Stuff from Mirage onwards. Which means Mirage and Beyond Only. Unless you count that Best album.
Personally, I think most people associate AAA with their first era, so that has been reviewed quite a hefty number of times. You could try doing the 2007 year, which was a good year for them I think (I sound like I’m talking about wine. Hmmmm.) The 2008 stuffs are just…. bad.
Long comment over!
By: Raid on June 7, 2008
at 4:09 am