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Namie Amuro - Genius 2000
Review by: Diana Kou
She was born September 20th, 1977
in Okinawa, Japan. Her blood type is 'O', she is approximately 5'1"
tall, approximately 100 lbs. and her measurements are 30-23-33.
Settled at the age of 22, married with one child, Amuro had taken
time off in 1998 before proceeding to make her latest albums, one
of which is the topic at hand : "Genius 2000". Not only
a major pop star, but a trendsetter as well, Amuro has had a most
successful career with the help of music mastermind, Tetsuya
Komuro.
As with many other TK works, I
obtained this album from my good friend Troy "Yen"
Gonzalez, recording engineer at True Kiss Disc, Honolulu. He
participated in the recording of tracks 6, 9, 10 & 13.
As every review I do on CDs, here
are the track numbers and reviews:
Track 1 - Make the Connection
Complete
Boy, and I thought I was repetitious! ^^; TK inserts first
and last track scenarios for this album, those of which sound
like connecting to the Internet. Nice touch, really.
Track 2 - Love 2000
An awesome way to kick off a pre-millennium album! This song
is a bit of dance and rock at the same time, with the occasional
voice mixing. I have not heard Amuro's other album-works except
for "Concentration 20", however I can confidently say
that this song ranks in the top 10.
Track 3 - Respect the Power of
Love
This was the first music video I had seen of Amuro, and the
song reminds me a bit of how American R&B used to be in the
early 90's. Amuro really puts a lot of 'soul' into her singing.
Track 4 - Leavin' for Las
Vegas
'This has a more modern theme of American R&B to it,
rather the 1998 year of style. The classic beats and sounds that
anyone could enjoy 'bumping' to... LoL. Nevertheless, this song
deals with risking and riches, with the classic phrase, "Gotta
get some money".
Track 5 - Something About the
Kiss
One of my more favorable tracks on the album. Obviously a
hurt-ballad-beat song, this song follows the theme of basic heart-break
songs. This is where the style of Amuro is really revealed, in
that which she mixes Japanese singing with English singing in the
background. A translation factor, if you will.
Track 6 - I Have Never Seen
The way Amuro sounds here almost reminds me of Tomomi Kahala
(Solo J-Pop artist) - - The way she 'waves' her voice is almost
like the texture at which Kahala does. Another of my favorable
tracks because of the way it flows -- Not too rough, not too
mellow.
Track 7 - Still in Love
This is a cute song, with nice beats as well. It reminds me
of another early-mid 90's American song... but of course, the
name escapes me. It just goes to show how much American music has
even influenced Japanese.
Track 8 - Mi Corazon (te' amor)
A most favorable track to many who have heard this album.
What I suspect is that the flavor of the Spanish Guitar and
somewhat dance-salsa splash is different than the other tracks on
this album, thus making it 'stand out'. The lyrics and English
input is great too.
Track 9 - You Are the One (featuring
IMAJIN)
I just recently saw the group 'IMAJIN' on a Japanese Soap
Opera called "LIVE" (starring ex-SPEED member Eriko
Imai). These guys really do a great job with Amuro, as they
mentioned in the soap opera! This song is a R&B, as most of
Amuro's songs are, but more soulful.
Track 10 - Kiss-And-Ride
I love this track. Its so deep and smooth sounding, however,
I can't escape the fact it sounds like a make-out song ^^;;; Ah
well! Good is good, neh? You can assume what the song relates to
in which were Amuro says, "karui kiss, daisuki na anata no".
Track 11 - Things I Collected
Another great song... yet, another make-out theme! Ahh gee.
What's been on my mind lately! Just kidding of course! Amuro's
voice seems more lustrous here compared to the other tracks,
proving one heck of a song.
Track 12 - Next to You
I know I mentioned this to Kaneda-kun once or twice, but
this song really reminds me of Jennifer Lopez. Why? No idea! I
suppose it just sounds like her first single that was released
late last year, but this song is much better, in my opinion. ^_^
Track 13 - Asking Why
Another ballad. You could say this album goes through a
series of themes because of the more R&B hyped songs, then to
the slower R&B ballads. I also love the fact that Amuro
speaks so much English in her songs, which I know is pretty
common these days in Japanese music. I just get a kick when she
says "Boy, stop feeling sorry for yourself".
Track 14 - Give It A Try
Yet another ballad. This is one of the ballads I favor most
from the bunch because of its content. Rather than heart-break,
its more about reconciliation. Aww! Its almost like a closing
statement, because it follows straight into the...
Track 15 - Log Off
With each log-on, there is a log-off. This short piece
features TK's masterful piano playing once more as a bid of
farewell to listeners of Genius 2000.
A little more detail about the
Slip Case:
The slip case (as seen in the
upper-right corner of your screen) is the beautiful cover of
Genius 2000, featuring Amuro posing with an almost Mona Lisa-like
smile. It is beautifully decorated with yellow butterflies (digitally
enhanced, of course ^^;) surrounding Amuro, implicating the color
scheme of the album, which is blue and yellow. The album cover
itself simply features the track titles (in yellow) before a blue
background, and the pamphlet features nice images of Amuro in a
dressy suit.
With that said, Amuro's rest paid
off, thus producing a beautiful album to enjoy until her next
release. You never know when her next move will occur, so keep an
eye out!
Want to
hear a sample of Namie Amuro - Genius 2000?
3 songs: Leavin'
for Las Vegas, Love 2000, Kiss-And-Ride
MP3, 22 KHz, 32 kbps, 170KB, 0:42 - click
here to listen |
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| Review Info
File |
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Title:
Namie Amuro - Genius 2000 |
Format:
CD Audio (CDDA), 15 tracks |
Production:
Tetsuya Komuro & Dallas Austin for DARP, Inc.
Avex Inc. |
Rating:
A |
Comments:
Sells for ¥3,059 / ¥2,913 conversion.
Comes with a Slip Case Cover Box.
Released January 26th, 2000 - Out of Print January 25th, 2002 |
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