[Album Review] YUI's "HOW CRAZY YOUR LOVE"

Time sure passes by real fast. YUI has accomplished a lot since her debut seven years ago. In the time span of less than a decade, she rose to become one of the most prominent and influential Japanese pop and rock artist. Her fifth original studio album HOW CRAZY YOUR LOVE is released under the subsidiary labels of Sony Music Japan. It became a number one selling album on the weekly Oricon charts making it the fifth consecutive number one album for YUI. But do these numbers justify the quality of the album? Let’s find out.

Tracklist


1. HELLO

2. Separation

3. Get Back Home

4. Lock On

5. U-niform

6. Cooking

7. Rain

8. Good night

9. YOU

10. It's My Life

11. no Reason

12. Nobody Knows

13. Green a.live


Before the review, I would like to provide a little excerpt of YUI’s history and how I will go about reviewing this album because of my experience with her music. I have the utmost respect for YUI as a singer-songwriter as there is no denying her talents; she is extremely talented. Never have I viewed her as an idol; I save that for 48 other people. I have been listening to her music ever since her first debut single “Feel My Soul” in 2005. This was even before her hit song “Good-bye Days” which was a movie tie-in to Taiyou no Uta. Undoubtedly, one of the sources that got YUI’s popularity soaring was her tie-ins with anime songs and her more upbeat rock songs. However, sometimes I wish that her other songs were more well known too. If given a chance to rate her previous albums, none of them would fall below a 4 out of 5 rating. With these things in mind and my respect for YUI, I gave my most professional ear to her newest album. Let’s get on with the review.


Review

When it comes to YUI’s music, I feel that there is a cycle of denial and then acceptance. After her indie sounding debut album, she released a fast rock song, “Roling Star”. At first, I could not accept the route she was going on but the more I listened to it, the more I fell in love with it, thus the came acceptance. Then comes “CHE.R.RY”, a very happy pop song that once again surprised me and I fell back into the cycle. Similarly, “HELLO” is a happy pop beat and a great song to start off the album. This song along with “YOU” was used in the movie Paradise Kiss starring Kitagawa Keiko and Mukai Osamu. “It’s My Life” and “no Reason” are great upbeat songs as well. After going through the album a couple of times, I discovered that happy and encouraging songs were prevalent. Not that it is a bad thing; in fact it is wonderful and appreciative that YUI wrote these songs, as 2011 was not the greatest year for Japan.

YUI's "Rain"

“Rain” is one of the more rock sounding songs in the album. Released around November of 2010, the song not only sounds great but there is a tint of Christmas feel to it. After such a powerful song, comes a short little piano piece called “Good night”. I always felt taken aback when albums included a ‘song’ that is less than a minute. But “Good night” was a beautiful song to fit into the middle of the album and a great musical segue to “YOU”. “YOU” was originally the B-side to her single Hello～Paradise Kiss~. A beautiful piece and I simply adore her music when she includes some piano into her songs. Almost all of YUI’s B-sides sound really good and some people might feel it was disappointing not to see them all in the album. But really now, we buy the album for more original material. YUI does that just fine albeit the fact that some of them might be slightly forgettable.


YUI's "Green a.live"

What is YUI without her acoustic guitar? “Get Back Home” and “Green a.live” are two slower-paced songs that showcase her beautiful acoustic guitar playing. Both songs are a wonderful listen. “Green a.live” was one of the best closing songs to the album. In a recent interview with YUI held by Oricon, she told the interviewer that she wanted to leave the listener with questions, which is why this song was put at the end. YUI wrote this song after visiting the areas affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. She wanted to express her feelings through this song and also raise many questions about life. Only when you understand the meaning behind it can you fully appreciate her emotions in the song.

Let’s face it; YUI is one of the most popular artists in Japan. People rate her highly but sometimes she can be overrated. She is not a fashion icon nor does she wear skimpy clothing dancing in her music videos. I am not saying you shouldn’t love her, but just remember why you love her. People buy her musicbecause of her music. Four out of five rating is a great score. But it didn’t get any higher because I know YUI can do even better. Her first album, in my honest opinion, is one of the greatest albums I have ever heard. And the three albums after that are solid and great releases as well. With this impressive track record, you can expect even greater things for her in the future. Fans of her music should get this album. And if you haven’t heard of her music yet, this album is a great start and then be sure to try out her other works as well.

Copy from and thanks to www.jpopasia.com