EVERYDAY Zekkouchou!- The Party!
- Aa! Koi (Airi Suzuki)
- Bye Bye Bye!
- Lonely girl’s night (Maimi Yajima)
- Kimi no Senpou (Saki Nakajima, Chisato Okai & Mai Hagiwara)
- SHOCK!
- Shigatsu Sengen
- “Zansho Omimai Moshiagemasu.” (Airi Suzuki)
- Yume ga aru kara
- Shochuu Omimai Moushiagemasu (H22 Remix)
Albums are a great time to reflect on the past and make future predictions. In the case of C-ute, Shocking 5 marks the last original album which will contain Erika Umeda’s vocals, while Kanna Arihara will fade into non-existance as she failed to make any of the singles released by the group for this album, despite being a member during at least one of them.
EVERYDAY Zekkouchou! – I was quite surprised that this was the opening track from the album, but it actually fit quite well. This track is rather soothing, yet upbeat, and sets the tone of the album. I love the brass on this track, it gives it that added feel good factor.
The Party! – A pretty mellow track, sung in unison by the girls. I’m still rather undiecided on how much I like it, the backing vocals are pretty decent for C-ute, and although the track is soothing, it is over-synthed to an extent. A better arrangment could have possibly done this song justice, without the horrible schreeching in the background.
Aa! Koi (Airi Suzuki) – This track is truely bizzare. It has really harsh electric guitars powering it through, and the vocals remind me of something pretty dated. Airi does a gret job here, but put together, the track reminds me of something you’d hear on a 90’s anime character song single, or from a Sailor Moon musical. Despite this, it’s actually quite fun, if only for the novelty.
Bye Bye Bye! - Erugh I hate this song. It sounds like some bad 80s track and I’m not too keen on the vocals – everytime I hear this, I think of the dance off scene from American Pie: The Wedding. I’ll give it that it’s a bit “zany” in the warping of the vocals, but it’s not a track I can listen to too much.
Lonely girl’s night (Maimi Yajima) – This is one of the few recent tracks which reminds me of the old Hello! Project. Beautifully arranged with a great strings section, Maimi’s voice – although not the best in C-ute, does well on this track. What spoils it – THOSE GOD DAMN SYNTHS! This song would sound absolutly esquisit if it lost the scratchy synths on the chorus. Despite this, this is my favourite track on the album.
Kimi no Senpou (Saki Nakajima, Chisato Okai & Mai Hagiwara) - Oh how kind, the three C-ute backing dancers get a track to share. It’s pretty fun, even if it is oh-so-typically Hello! Project. It’s a cute, enjoyable track, a bit catchy, a bit Country Musume – but it works for me.
SHOCK! - This song sounds a bit like the James Bond theme gone wrong. It isn’t a great track and reminds me far too much of Forever Love (maybe the spy theme). Is this track as bad as everyone’s making out? Well I think it would have been a half decent album track – maybe – too many synths for me… and we all know what I think of them.
Shigatsu Sengen – Another mellow album track. Doesn’t do much for me, but it’s easy listening, contains a rocking guitar, and non-offence in every way. Fits in with the other album tracks pretty well!
“Zansho Omimai Moshiagemasu.” (Airi Suzuki) – Another Airi solo? Well why not! This was the b-side to “Shochuu Omimai Moushiagemasu”, and is pure b-side material. Although I like the musical arrangement and love the piano, it’s non-descript. I don’t think Airi, yet, has the vocal prowess to really pull this track off. I could imagine Nacchi or Ayaya – even Lin Lin or Ai, being able to give this track a lot more feeling and depth.
Yume ga aru kara – Another group singing effort, and a nice ballad to end the album with. Beautiful arrangement, the girls sound great singing together in unison. When C-ute produce something as wonderful as this, you wonder why they have been given some completly appualing songs to release as singles. Is that really what the public want – I’d much rather this.
Shochuu Omimai Moushiagemasu (H22 Remix) – I never expect much from remixes, but this was actually great. Very unpredictable – takes you from 8 bit music back into thudding J-Core type beats. Would not recommend death looping as it might drive insane, but I love this!
If you were reading the track by track version, you could sum up what I said as “album tracks good, singles bad, too many synths” – but there’s also some underlying factors in my biased judgement. My efforts to keep up with C-ute and their music recently have more than waned. I felt they haven’t really produced an “enthralling” single since LALALA Shiawase no Uta, nor does the format of C-ute (Aira + Mami constant lead) really work me up into a frenzy. I don’t dislike them, don’t get me wrong, I just dislike the music their given. From the spate of dancy singles they’ve been given, I was fully expecting this album to be bursting with synths, and holding appualing tracks.
In fact, the main shock about shocking 5 is what easy listening it is, a lack of marmite (love them or hate them) tracks with the exception of the singles, the album tracks are all pretty melow and laid back, less synthy. This instantly confused me, surely SHOCKING 5 was going to be full of god awful tracks like BYE BYE BYE and SHOCK? – what is this music with real instruments – what are these ballads – does tsunku know about this?!?!?!
The un-shocking thing is what we knew beforehand – who was singing which track. Although most tracks are “group” efforts (which are mainly led by Maimi and / or Airi) while Maimi and Airi feature their own solo tracks, Mai, Chisato and Saki have only one track to share between them. Unfair? Well, no, it just solidifies what we already new about C-ute’s music really. I know that I will get murdered for this, but I don’t think Maimi or Airi have enough power in their voices at current to be successful solo artists, nor do they have a great ability of emotional singing.
Despite this, the album is a cracking effort. Although it may not have been received so great by the mainstream (if we’re talking about sales), it was really great to hear ballads from C-ute. I think the girls have a lot of potential, and I’d love to hear more from MaiMai and the other two, but obviously the album after a year of instability was not the place to start taking chances.
So my overall impression? I thought this album was a little premature for the group before listening to it. I was expecting a number of flakey tracks, which hadn’t been properly thought out, much like SHOCK was. Instead, I was nicely surprised by the album. It showed a side of C-ute that a minor fan, such as myself, who only listens to singles and albums, gets to see. Is this an album a statement of where C-ute want to go? This year Hello! Project will have more competition within itself with S/mileage most likely making their debut – there will be 5 major acts now. C-ute needed to make a statement of who they are, and just as Berryz are taking the fun, energetic route, C-ute are trying to do something mellow and relaxed, but with a push of maturity which maybe ManoEri lacks in her music. With a little refinment, I think they’ll make it there. In the mean time, let’s hope they stop releasing awful singles, as we know what they’re capable of!






