01. ENDLESS
Excellent. This is the type of jazzy track that worked so well on BITTER & SWEET...and it works great here as well...so far. The only noticeable difference here is that Nakamori seems to be going a little deeper with her voice. Some of the mannerisms she continues to use such as bending the end of words seem to originate here. It's pretty noticeable right off the bat...
02. Nocturn
The name says it all, this is something of a dark song. It's definitely a little more on the serious side, but is excellent all the same. It does have a slight flavor of some of her older work at the same time. Heh... Older work. Hard to believe her eighth album is only three years into her career.
03. Allegro Vivace
Another darker track. This one is a little more basic sounding, but is still pretty damn catchy. Maybe not catchy enough to be a single or anything, but this one pops in my head with some regularity. The sweeping breeze sound coupled with the droning guitars make for a surprisingly good combination.
04. Kanashii Romance
After a brief and somewhat disjointed start, this song takes off and serves very well as a mid-range song. It isn't my favorite song on the album...but it has that really catchy chorus and is packed with some great bass and horns.
05. Peace
I can kind leave this song. It's alright, but it's a little bit of a snorer. The melody is very pretty, at least.
06. BLUE OCEAN
This is where the album takes a really weird and sudden left turn with the next few songs...
I honestly don't know how I can accurately sum this song up. Well, it's certainly from 1985 for one. It's a little busy at times, and a little bit slow at others. That said, I like it alright. Maybe not as much as...
07. Magnetic Love
Truly weird. This song is this album's Babylon. Heh. It's even structured kinda similarly. That said...this isn't as good as...
08. STAR PILOT
Yesssss. This song is so awesome. It sounds like the theme song to an anime that was never made. I mean, even the name is there. Can we retroactively make an anime series for this song?
Upbeat and excellent. As much as Nakamori has accomplished, she really should have taken a page out of TM Network's book and delivered a beloved and unforgettable theme song at some point in the 80s.
09. Mona Lisa
As this is technically the last track of the album, this song bookends ENDLESS perfectly. Upbeat, but kinda dark. The weird thing is, I think her next album may have kinda copied this song just a little bit...
10. (Including Special Version) Meu amor é...
This is something of a bonus track. ENDLESS and Mona Lisa start and end with the sounds of a thunderstorm respectively. This song kinda exists outside of the D404ME storm.
What exactly can I say? It's an extended version of the super-smash single Meu amor é... The extending is all done at the beginning, however. It sounds more like a street performance that slowly fades into a slightly tweaked version of the song we all know and love. Excellent way to end the album. I'm not going to say that this is the definitive version of Meu amor é..., but it's definitely worthy of existing at all.
OVERALL: It may not be a better album than BITTER & SWEET, it is the perfect follow-up. It's full of great songs, and still manages to display progress. The R&B aspect was completely dropped and replaced with some skittish weirdness. Plus... STAR PILOT.
Maybe this isn't the best place to dive into, but it's smack in the middle of just a solid sting of fantastic albums from Nakamori.
PREVIOUS: BITTER AND SWEET
NEXT: Fushigi (Part 1)
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