miwa is playing the rhythm guitar in her 4th Thread

[Bigtop]

miwa's #5 on the first day for 360°. (Not surprising #1 was ARASHI, and why does AAA rank ahead of miwa's singles? I feel this isn't right...)

Anyways, earlier today I decided to pre-order the ONENESS album. A bit shocking considering the fact that I'm a TeamAyu member (and NOT a yaneura-no-neko member, which isn't open to overseas members) and Ayu's going to release A ONE on the same day (which I said earlier), but already my bets for #1 are being placed on miwa and NOT Ayu. Even though Oricon doesn't count foreign sales (like me), barring a Johnny's album release announcement (especially, please, no Kisumai), more Japanese are going to end up buying this than Ayu's physically, especially the younger (e.g. high school kids) audience - I'm predicting they're more likely to buy miwa than Ayu these days today.

[mellody]

LOL at this release, it will include luxurious / gorgeous booklet and a special case or something. The rest are just online stuff for Japanese residence.

I'm so over with this actually.

I think it will have another digest for the DVD concert as well.

[adantatu2]

^Well, including digests is very common for her, she is probably saving PV's for her next PV clip box

[Bigtop]

I read there's an application card for Japanese only. Hmm...

Anyways, yes, it is miwa's 5th anniversary today (March 3rd)! Time sure really goes fast... I still remember the first time I listened to miwa - that April morning after Ayu's Rock'n'Roll Circus release on Yahoo! Japan video livestream...

[Bigtop]

Sorry for double-posting, but the track listing for ONENESS has arrived: (I bolded the new songs)

4月8日(水)発売 4th album『ONENESS』(ワンネス)収録曲・初回生産限定盤DVD収録内容を公開
2015.03.12
http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/miwa/info/451484

【初回生産限定盤(CD+DVD)】SRCL-8803～8804　￥3,611+税
特典DVD付き（「miwa -39 live ARENA tour- “miwanissimo 2014”」より横浜アリーナライブダイジェスト映像＜１時間24分＞）
三方背ケース入り／全32ページブックレット
シングル「360°」初回生産限定盤とのW購入応募施策応募ハガキ封入

【通常盤】SRCL-8805 ￥2,913+税

■CD収録曲(全14曲)
01：ONENESS
02：Faith　(2014 ユーキャン CMソング)
03：fighting -Φ- girls　(TBS系 火曜ドラマ「まっしろ」主題歌)
04：フィロソフィー
05：月食 ～winter moon～　(TBS系　木曜ドラマ劇場「ママとパパが生きる理由。」主題歌)
06：キットカナウ　(キットカット受験生応援キャンペーンソング)
07：君に出会えたから　(2014 資生堂 SEA BREEZE CMソング)
08：ストレスフリー
09：Faraway　
10：恋の予感
11：It's you！　(ハウスウェルネスフーズ「C1000」テレビＣＭソング)
12：360°(『映画ドラえもんのび太の宇宙英雄記（スペースヒーローズ）』主題歌)
13：super heroine　(日本テレビ「ウーマン・オン・ザ・プラネット」テーマソング)
14：希望の環（WA）（OECD東北スクール 東北復幸祭〈環WA〉テーマソング）

■初回生産限定盤　DVD収録（1時間24分）
『「miwa -39 live ARENA tour- “miwanissimo 2014”」より横浜アリーナライブダイジェスト映像』
ありえない!!/－MC－/君に出会えたから/－MC－/Faith /Let me go/－MC－/クリスマスソング メドレー ダイジェスト/月食～winter moon～/Delight/DJ～HiKARiE/－MC－/ミラクル/－MC－/希望の環（WA）

In all, 14 songs...only five are new. And as what others said, they're concerned about where miwa is going. And I'm even disappointed at the tracklist a bit - only five new songs among the 14! But that's what happens when you release a new album for the first time in nearly two years. (Compare that to Ayu - she only has 11 songs, but eight of them (hopefully no interludes please!) are new! Now which would you prefer - Ayu or miwa?)

Aside from the miwanissimo tour digest, slipcase and 32-page booklet...I'm not sure if this tracklisting really impresses me. Eleven songs from singles that go as far back as 2013...I'm not sure - would this appeal to long-time miwa fans or new miwa fans? Probably the latter - long-time miwa fans most likely have heard them before.

So, any thoughts? The tracklisting...it's really going to make me whether I should continue with the pre-order of this new album or not, and whether the album is worth the $30 price tag.

[adantatu2]

She didn't include Kiss you, no, I really like that song a lot!
5 new songs are fine for me, alan released her debut album with 8 singles and 5 new songs, and that was amazing for me.

[Chiharo]

I'm really surprised and happy that It's you! is on there. Mainly because the only songs I actually like by her always somehow get overlooked and usually only the b-sides I don't like make it to albums (I'm talking in general). So yeah, I'm surprised to see that there. Although it is pretty bad that even with so many singles she decided to put a b-side on there, too. Why not make the album longer and add more new stuff? Anyway, I hope it will sound good as a whole.

[thinkingoutloud89]

I started not to listen to singles (only when I'm impatiant) to hold my hopes up for the album...so evrything will be new to me. maybe you should change your listening habits

[Kacku]

Whyyy did she have to put 360° on the album? Any artist doing a Doraemon theme should have the common sense to let them just be ~special singles~ (looking at you, Perfume). I'm glad she included all the tracks from the Faith and Kibou no Wa singles, those were my favourites from this era. I'm surprised Kiss you isn't there though!

Most of the new song titles don't sound too exciting, but I hope they turn out better than I'm expecting -- at least Koi no Yokan sounds intriguing!

Also, I know having only 5 new tracks on a studio album is by no means uncommon in Japan, but it still doesn't feel right to me when almost 2/3 of an album consists of pre-released stuff. :| Well, at least now she will have all the singles out of her system.

[adantatu2]

New songs don't mean great music. Singles are to promote an album too.
^^@thinkingoutloud89 But we don't know how much we have to wait to get an album. I mean if we were AKB48 fans, we know there are going to be a single in Spring, Summer, Senbatsu and Fall, and an album in the next year. But with miwa is a bit different.

[thinkingoutloud89]

^well i dont care...in the west we get an album every two years. and its not like I haven't enough music each week to keep me going. I'm just not into singles anymore...especially after debacles like Uncontrolled which kept me lacking because I overplayed most songs at the moment of the release...same goes for LOVE again

edit: I feel like most of us are spoiled and we always demand more song...we listen to an album for like amonth or two and forget about it. i have songs which hit the 1000 playmark soon because I don't forget about old album and music and - it maybe due to the fact that I turn 26 - I have the feeling i grew older and realized I have to appriciate the things I already take for free most of the time a lot more. I rarely post on forums anymore because they are full of hate and disrespect for artists which reads extremly frustrating. i came to enjoy music the way I want to. With Kumis new album comming up, I started to listen to her full back catalouge again (I often do that with certain artists) and it is a really statisfing feeling. But saying something like that often leads to an backlash from certain useres who feel attacked.

[mellody]

5 new tracks! ONENESS, Philosophy, Stress Free, Koi no Yokan, and super heroine.
At least 2 from 5 titles are really interesting, knowing it's miwa.
super heroine also has a tie-in, which could promote the album better.

Needless to say, I prefer Ayu release over this.
Why 360° is there but Kiss you isn't? Both are anime tie-ins though, I don't get it.
This is somewhat like Mika Nakashima STAR album, but this one is better.

Actually for me, it's not that I demanding, I mean for new songs and such...
It's just, for these 2 years, the quality of the songs, compared to previous release are totally different. Kind of 'meh' somehow.
The last album we had, Delight, is full of surprise, at least for me.
I prefer Hikari e, Whistle, and Miracle combined than all the singles for this ONENESS album.

The genre of this upcoming album is just all over the place I think, which makes me less interested, plus the singles aren't that good compared to previous one. Even though I think this album will do well in the chart.

Hopefully the album tracks will be as awesome as Delight, Sparrow, or LOUD.

Originally Posted by thinkingoutloud89

I rarely post on forums anymore because they are full of hate and disrespect for artists which reads extremly frustrating. i came to enjoy music the way I want to. With Kumis new album comming up, I started to listen to her full back catalouge again (I often do that with certain artists) and it is a really statisfing feeling. But saying something like that often leads to an backlash from certain useres who feel attacked.

I kind of understand that, but in this thread I think we have less than 7 active members so I think you shouldn't worry about that

[Bigtop]

I did realize "Kiss you" wasn't on the album. That song was catchy. I'm still really thinking whether or not I'm going to go ahead with the album, I've got until the end of the month to cancel my commitment (I need at least a week to cancel so they can process it smoothly; I cannot cancel items because I have a Rina Katahira single already released that is part of the same delivery schedule as miwa and Yanawaraba, who are releasing a 60s/70s Japanese folk cover album the same day of this Ayu vs. miwa album skirmish).

[Bigtop]

Sorry for the double post, but the covers for ONENESS has just come out! (And almost the same day as Ayu's A ONE!)

Limited Edition (CD/DVD)


Regular Edition (CD only; iTunes cover?)


Cover's dress in detail


Source: BARKS (http://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000113657)

In my opinion, the cover is...well...not so epic. There is an obvious negative - so obvious that I am really changing my mind to actually not buying it - the text just doesn't seem to fit pretty well. Not a fan of them, main concern is the light on light text. Most obvious on the CD-only cover - YELLOW on WHITE! WHAT!? Yeah, not liking it. miwa herself is epic success...but the text - that's an epic fail for me.

I just don't understand why the graphic designers put the text in such a way that doesn't impress us. Even the CD+DVD cover looks like wordart to me (remember wordart in Microsoft Word?). It's too 'cheap' to say for such a major album release.

[mellody]

LOL.

I have to say this: ONENESS is her worst cover so far.
Knowing it's miwa, who usually never disappoints when we talk about covers, now... no more. At least for this release.

Seriously, that pic is overly retouched, her face looks like a plastic skin, dandelions looks fake (if they want to make it fake, make it like a guitar in guitarissimo) plus that horrible fonts and colours , I can't. This era is seriously... ugh.

[Utena]

The concept is interesting and original but I don't like the way it was done. Not to mention the horrible yellow text on the CD only. Could have been nice but really bad execution overall

[Chiharo]

When I first saw the covers I thought they were really nice. And I think they are nice, but as people above me said, it could have been executed way better than it was. I actually don't like the grey font because it looks really out of place. The yellow one honestly looks better because it makes the cover look even more bright. Although I can see why it bothers some people. But I actually like it when covers look more like this than what Ayumi's covers look like.

[thinkingoutloud89]

could you please stop makinga miwa vs. ayu battle out of it and even post ayus cover here? they are nothing alike: not in terms of music, style nor age. The only competizion is that they are going to release an album on the same day.

heck, miwa isn't even a JPop diva and she is closer to what YUI was once then to what ayu ever was - so stop making up a rival-battle.

[Bigtop]

Originally Posted by thinkingoutloud89

could you please stop makinga miwa vs. ayu battle out of it and even post ayus cover here? they are nothing alike: not in terms of music, style nor age. The only competizion is that they are going to release an album on the same day.

heck, miwa isn't even a JPop diva and she is closer to what YUI was once then to what ayu ever was - so stop making up a rival-battle.

Okay, I removed the Ayu references.

But I've decided not to buy this album - I'm just not sure what direction miwa is going...

I did edit out that cover post. I changed my opinion, based on above comments...and I have to agree, the cover was poorly executed. I just don't like the covers very much, especially with the text - and even the CD+DVD version, what were they using? Wordart? That's cheap to me, and maybe to some of you.

Originally Posted by mellody

LOL.

I have to say this: ONENESS is her worst cover so far.
Knowing it's miwa, who usually never disappoints when we talk about covers, now... no more. At least for this release.

Seriously, that pic is overly retouched, her face looks like a plastic skin, dandelions looks fake (if they want to make it fake, make it like a guitar in guitarissimo) plus that horrible fonts and colours , I can't. This era is seriously... ugh.

Originally Posted by Utena

The concept is interesting and original but I don't like the way it was done. Not to mention the horrible yellow text on the CD only. Could have been nice but really bad execution overall

Have to agree with those. I have to wonder - where is miwa going to these days...? Is she becoming more of a girl that is a "tried this, done that" kind of musician...?

[adantatu2]

The covers aren't horrible, but they are weird. She looks a bit like Bjork.
I hope the content is amazing !