By Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link
Review: Misako Uno (AAA) - Sweet Hug
I love the J-Pop co-ed group AAA. From their excellent Buzz Communication album to singles like Deja-Vu, To Meet with a Reason, and Paradise, they might be one of my favorite J-Pop groups. So their hiatus is sad. Thankfully, the members have been giving us solid solo content for years, and Nissy and Sky-Hi especially show signs of becoming mega-stars.
As the only female in the group for the last few years (and before that, one of two for the most part), Misako Uno always had a lot of work to do harmonizing with the rest of the group. Her vocals drove several of the group's efforts in its own right. Thus, it is quite surprising how her solo career has yet to take off too much. Thankfully, she just released a full-album earlier this January. In it, my favorite song is probably Black Cherry, but it was released earlier, so I am going to review the title track Sweet Hug instead.
Sweet Hug has some J-Rock influences sprinkled throughout, though nothing too new. Still, it is fun, and worth a checkout. Then comes the pre-chorus, driven by trendy percussion. It slows the flow quite a bit, and I wish it functioned more like an actual pre-chorus, building the bridge between the verses and the chorus. The second chorus slows things down once again, another error.
The chorus is fun and nice I guess. But it an absolute waste of someone of Misako Uno's vocal abilities. Pause the song, check this link. Misako does nothing much, but her vocals are used along with Chiaki's to harmonize the whole track. Now check this link. See how Misako's vocals drive the song but do not cut from the other member's performance. Now, come back and listen to Sweet Hug, and compare. There is nothing per se wrong with the chorus, and it is catchy, but imagine how good it could have been. Even without the vocals coming front, a better arrangement like that in Lost would have helped.
We then get some piano to accompany the guitar in the chorus. It is a great choice and re-invigorates the track. The piano was always there, but now we finally can notice it. It gives this song a strong "Let's put on a show" feel, which really helps the song.
Overall a disappointment, Sweet Hug is a fine track, though I wish Misako came back with something more unique.
Well, I will listen to this track when I have time. The T1419 review is pretty polarizing indeed. Just as I expected it to be. I'm so sorry I made such utterly bad and distasteful remarks. But personally I loved it. I guess it is what it is. I already edited the review so go check it out if you have time. But it is just a short review. I just cut to the chase.
ReplyDeleteI actually enjoyed your review. I don't remember any distasteful remarks. In fact, I somewhat enjoy a contrary opinion.
DeleteWhen I made the comment, I was just trying to say my opinion, I am glad you like it, though it is not for me.
Well I also do enjoy a differing opinion but I felt like the distasteful remarks was of the actual nature of the song being so bad I barely noticed it, and hyped it up. I even thought, was I high? LOL. Anyways, my personal opinion will be always higher of that song. I just find it excellent. I'm glad I was able to see your funny reactions. Yan Zaman even said I was an imposter.
DeleteIt was very funny.
Well, if all critics agreed on all opinions, constructive criticisms would not be a thing.
DeleteI'd be lying if I said personal experience, and bias did not affect my thoughts on the song, I'd be a liar. Frankly, pure objectiveness is not a thing, and it is fine if you enjoy the song and want to praise it. In fact, I like the song a bit more since reading your review!
Glad you found the reactions funny, and glad you liked the song.
Thanks a lot. That was actually so inspiring of a blogger to say. I really learned a lot by reading your reviews. You are an inspiration. Well, gotta get back to fixing this mess I made, this time the right way. But to be honest, when yan zaman said it was bad. I knew all of the corresponding critics would be one with this tone. I was right. Now I know what to expect from them. Thanks for guiding me. It's been rough.
DeleteThanks for the comment, it was very inspiring to me. You have been commenting before I became somewhat successful, and it was always good to have a commenter who knew what they were talking about.
DeleteYa, unfortunately critics can be sometimes all with one opinion. I certainly was in the minority when I acclaimed KNK's Ride, which I still love. Thankfully I was still new, and no one cared to disagree. Sometimes a minority opinion is hard to hold.
This problem is made worse by the fact that English-language Asian track reviews is a really new market, and there a few family groups of blogs for new releases. If someone popular does a review first, everyone else follows that opinion.
Thankfully, there is a bright side to this co-existence: positive influence. You may notice in some of my recent reviews I let the lyrics get a small paragraph just for themselves. I started doing this after noticing those paragraphs in your reviews. I got inspired to write reviews after reading some of those big blogs, and little comment-section discussions are always fun. In the end, reviews are to share your thoughts with others. Thus, to change it due to dissent makes no sense. Not everyone will agree with you, you just do not have to agree with them.
Eek, I think I turned this into a lecture, sorry for the long-length.
Anyway, have been enjoying your reviews, keep it up!
No problem. No truer words have been said. To be honest I just wanted to be a critic that is different from the rest. I wanted to be very polarizing. Sometimes it feels great that way. Thank you again!
DeleteThank you for the comment! Enjoyed reading your new review! Your music reviews have slowly evolved to be better and better, and this is perhaps the biggest and best evolution yet. Looking forward to more reviews from you :)
Delete