Best of 2017

[Kacku]

2017 is almost over, and now it's a perfect time to look back on the year and discuss the best things to come out of it. Share and discuss your favourite albums, singles, songs, music videos, or whatever!

I enjoyed this year in Japanese music, especially when it comes to albums. Last year, I was having a hard time pulling together a top 5 albums list, but this year, I had enough albums I liked that making a top 10 was easy. However, I had less stand-out songs that I really loved and learned by heart, but I still loved lots of songs. As always, many artists I've loved for a long time really disappointed me (Thelma Aoyama, Perfume, Do As Infinity), but several more positively surprised me (Taichi Mukai, Negoto), and I discovered new ones to like (MONDO GROSSO, HARUHI).

My own personal top lists for Japanese music (since I only really follow the Japanese scene):

Top 20 songs

Spoiler:

20. ame_no_parade - free
This is a lovely mellow alt-rock tune which ame_no_parade excels at. The simple synth hook somehow gets me every time.

19. Chihiro Onitsuka - Hi no Tori
This gentle acoustic-guitar-driven little ballad is the highlight of Chihiro's newest album for me. The instrumentation is rich and warm, and Chihiro herself sounds very warm and comforting. The song sounds almost happy by Chihiro's standards, but I'm certain that if I read the lyrics, I'd find that it's actually terribly sad.

18. Aimer - ONE
A triumphant, uplifting pop-rock anthem - a surprising style from Aimer, but it works well! I love the climactic high notes at the end of the chorus, and the bridge is amazing. However, this song runs a little long - having heard the radio edit first, I feel like the song works better when cut shorter.

17. GLAY - Xyz
A great upbeat feel-good rock song. Nothing too original, but awesome!

16. Negoto - Kimi no Yume
In the beginning, a lovely dreamscape of twinkling synths and sparse vocals; in the middle, intense and frantic but still fantastical and thrilling; in the end, calming down again. This song's shifts in dynamic are great, and I love every part.

15. FLOWER FLOWER - Mannequin
I love it when FLOWER FLOWER gets their dark rock on, and this song is no exception. The driving beat of the song and shout-along 'whoa's in the chorus are awesome.

14. HARUHI - Nightmare
The standout track from HARUHI's debut album. The sound is great, the build-up in the song is perfect, and the whole song is just wonderfully creepy.

13. Suiyoubi no Campanella - Picasso
While I liked SUPERMAN, no song on the album hit me as hard as this one did. Somehow Suiyoubi no Campanella's slower songs always get me even though they are kinda better at making the weird rap-dance songs. But I love this track with its chill vibe and KOM_I's restrained rap-singing, it's catchy, mellow and lovely.

12. Miliyah Kato - Shoujo Jidai
Miliyah's slow, gloomy rapping is amazing, and the pretty chorus goes with the verses so well. This style really suits Miliyah, I'd love to hear more songs like this.

11. INSHOW-HA - Lemon
This song is just amazingly energetic and electrifying, and the main guitar riff is addictive and never leaving my head.

10. Every Little Thing - RIDE IT OUT
A quiet, stealthily addictive little soft rock tune where Kaori Mochida sounds better than ever.

9. Ai Otsuka - HONEY
This song is so dreamy and mysterious, and Ai's whisper-like vocals are gorgeous.

8. Namie Amuro - Finally
A magnificent epic ballad, a worthy swan song for an iconic artist.

7. Nana Kitade - Saddest Song
I could pick a number of other songs from VIOLET BLAZE for this spot, but I'm going with Saddest Song, the first song from the album to stick with me. It's a wonderful electronic ballad where the arrangement really seems to be going for as mournful as possible while Nana sounds wistful and gorgeous.

6. NakamuraEmi - Rebirth
Again, I could pick a number of songs from the album, but this one is extra special. It's a great album opener, a fun, energetic NakamuraEmi-acoustic-guitar-hip-hop song that goes to unexpected places and hooks you in tightly.

5. Taichi Mukai - BLUE
I love Taichi Mukai's ballads, and the title track of his first full album is one of his best. It's smooth, sweet, fresh, emotional, and the chorus hits hard.

4. iri - Watashi
iri's hip hop-dance jam is probably her catchiest song yet, and so good.

3. Lily on the FielD - Forever no End
Tomoyuki Nakazawa shows his signature and strengths in a great fashion on his swan song with I've, and Riho (under a weird pseudonym) gives an amazing vocal performance. The airy production with light synth flourishes gives room to Riho's gorgeous vocals and she's so good, especially in the chorus when she's hitting the higher notes and giving passion and joy; together, they make this song about endings positive and comforting.

2. Eiko Shimamiya - Chikyuu
This song was released by two artists this year. The song is all about the transience of life and the importance living now, and both artists give very different interpretations. Takeshi Saitou, the original composer, lyricist and producer of the song, sings it with all the angst and passion of someone who has only recently realised the transience of life; Eiko Shimamiya gives the song a gentler interpretation. Her voice carries wisdom and life experience: she sounds like someone who's well familiar with how unexpected life can be and come to terms with it and is here to offer comfort. And she brings a wide palette of emotions and impressions out of the song: melancholy, sweetness, warmth, passion, bitterness, longing... I love this song.

1. MONDO GROSSO - Labyrinth
Beautiful, hypnotizing, immersive, otherworldly, magical, soothing...



Hikari Mitsushima's alluring vocals, Shinichi Osawa's haunting arrangement, the little piano twinkles... This song is everything.

Top 10 albums

Spoiler:

10. Awesome City Club - Awesome City Tracks 4
Awesome City Club has a great, colorful and sparkly style of city pop-rock, and this mini-album is a solid showcase of it.

9. fox capture plan - FRAGILE
I usually have a hard time getting into instrumental-only music, but this album get me. I'm not sure what it is about it that I like so much, but this album is a really nice listen and it keeps me coming back.

8. INSHOW-HA - INSHOW-HA wa Kimi ni Toikakeru / ?
This album is weird and electrifying and packed with fun tracks. However, towards the end, the album slows down, and this duo impresses me even further by proving that they can also do well with slower songs and serve some nice Kaori Mochida impressions.

7. Haruka to Miyuki - Tameiki no Danmenzu
Haruka and Miyuki's third full album is their most consistent one yet. They serve drama, angst, fun, and energy, and they do it all excellently.

6. Negoto - ETERNALBEAT
Negoto's previous albums have always left me a little cold, but this time they brought in some more synths and some of their catchiest and most memorable songs ever, and I love it.

5. HARUHI - INSIDE OUT
HARUHI's debut album is really impressive. She has a distinct mellow, atmospheric style of rock, and the album is very cohesive and solid throughout and features some fantastic stand-out tracks.

4. Taichi Mukai - BLUE
This album is a smooth mix of pop, r'n'b, electronic and funky music and it's all consistently high quality. The second half of the album is a little weaker than the first, but the album is still a joy to listen to.

3. MONDO GROSSO - Nandodemo Atarashiku Umareru / Reborn Again And Always Starting New
A wonderfully varied album with amazing sounds and a bunch of fantastic tracks. Shinichi Osawa serves many different styles, and while not all of them do it for me, the ones that get me are mind-blowingly amazing and keep me coming back.

2. Nana Kitade - VIOLET BLAZE
Nana Kitade's new style works for her really well: it's very different from her past work but still sounds uniquely her. This album is full of beautiful electro-pop songs conveying a range of emotions; Nana said she wanted the listeners to feel both despair and hope, and I think she succeeded.

1. NakamuraEmi - NIPPONNO ONNAWO UTAU Vol. 4
This album is so much fun, and it really showcases NakamuraEmi's talents and broadens her scope in ways that fit seamlessly with her established style. She goes for pop, intensely emotional balladry, coffee lounge realness, something fun and weird, and finishes it all off with a love letter to hip hop in a style that is just the pure essence of NakamuraEmi. A great collection of songs and an amazingly fun album to listen to over and over again.

Honorable mentions

Spoiler:

BoA - Spring Rain
A beautiful, moody electro-pop ballad (which I far preferred over CAMO). BoA has such a gorgeous voice, and this song shows it off so well.

Chihiro Onitsuka - Tiny Screams
My self-imposed restrictions kept me from putting this on the best albums list, but this is certainly one of my favourite releases to come out this year. The tracklist is great, the acoustic live arrangements are chillingly beautiful, and Chihiro's voice is divine.

alan - Thought in a Decade
A gorgeous album that really shows off how alan has evolved as an artist. On par with her first Japanese album and home to many gems.

MISIA - Kimi no Soba ni Iru yo
This single is just so nice to listen to, the title track is so good and cute and I love listening to even the instrumental tracks.

Ai Otsuka - Watashi
Two amazing tracks and a quirky b-side - singles like this really make me miss J-pop maxi singles, which I feel are getting rarer.

[KarenPang]

My turn & for all categories , they're in no particular order

Top 20 songs

Spoiler:

1) GRANRODEO - Volcano

Found as track #4 in their 2014 album Karma to Labyrinth this's the song that left me a really big impact when I went to watch GRANRODEO performed alongside with BREAKERZ at the 1st BREAKERZ 10 Shunen 10ban Shoubu -VS-

Volcano is such a fun ridiculous catchy song . The other album track which they performed & also left an considerable impact on me was Zetchou Poison but between both songs , Volcano has a bigger impression on me

2) Fukuyama Masaharu - Seiiki

I was blown away how awesome Fukuyama-san's comeback single is & all the while he hasn't been that musically active so when he came back this year with Seiiki , it was well worth the wait

Not that his 2015 single I am a HERO was terrible but Seiiki is very addictive & in your face

3) BREAKERZ - Yume Monogatari

This's more so on the PV aspect as they combined elements of Hikari , Overwrite & Arigatou ~Beautiful day~ in which when I watched it , it summarises their 10 years journey and even up to now I'm still amazed I'm still supporting them after so long

BREAKERZ do know who I'm cos my friend personally knows DAIGO (she's not that close with the other 2) so whenever she has a chance to see him or the guys during events or in their private time , she always tell the guys about me without fail which I don't know if that's a good or bad thing haha but guys please come here in the near future , pretty please ?

4) Hey ! Say ! JUMP - H.our Time

Just like BREAKERZ , this year is also HSJ's 10th anniversary . I like all the singles they released this year but special mention must go to H.our Time as this's the 2nd song all members wrote together , the 1st was Thank You ~Bokutachi Kara Kimi e~ from their debut album JUMP NO.1

Johnnys don't tend to perform on TV shows to promote their albums let alone a best album so for HSJ to perform both H.our Time & I/O , I appreciate that and it's crazy to know this's their 10th anniversary as I 1st saw them way back in Shounen Club (way before they officially debut , same with Kisumai , A.B.C-Z) and they were still so small & haven't hit puberty yet haha

5) ARASHI - Tsunagu

The singles ARASHI released this year were good but I like Tsunagu the most out of the 3 , 2nd would be I'll be there

It's a real shame that Tsunagu wasn't included in their Japonism album as it could have been in it but at the same time it's about time for them to release a Japanese theme enka driven song

Likewise it took them 18 years to finally make a PV for a B-side of theirs ie. for NOW or NEVER but better late than never

6) KinKi Kids - Topaz Love

This year is KinKi Kids's 20th anniversary and it's also 1 of the rare years they're the most musically active to date

Even though I like the new material in Ballad Selection & The BEST , I like Topaz Love from their upcoming new single Topaz Love / DESTINY cos this's their 1st song in 7 years that each of them wrote & composed separately

Topaz Love is musically upbeat but lyrically it's sad which reminds me of both Mada Namida ni Naranai Kanashimi ga + Koi wa Nioeto Chirinuruwo

I like DESTINY as well & to say this year has been a fruitful year for them despite Tsuyoshi's sudden health problems , it's an understatement

7) V6 - never

The ONES opening album track , the whole entire album is great but never stands out to me & similarly , V6 performed considerably a lot this year to promote their new album and never alongside with Setsuna Teki Night were the 2 main tracks they sang/promoted which's easy to see (hear ?) why

It's a real shame that even though V6 made PVs for all songs in The ONES , they did nothing to elevate the tracks & I'm still annoyed never PV didn't do justice to the song itself :x

8) Kame to Yama-P - Senakagoshi no Chance

12 years on , Shuuji to Akira lives on as Kame to Yama-P and the PV for Senakagoshi no Chance is so nostalgic

And it's quite amazing the legacy of Shuuji to Akira is still very popular and even up to now they're still performing Seishun Amigo which fans still go crazy over , myself included

9) Kame to Yama-P - Gyakuten Revolution

Who would have thought 12 years on Shuuji to Akira's Seishun Amigo would have an answer call song ?

10) KAT-TUN's Kamenashi Kazuya - ~Follow me~

Fanastic solo track by Kame , easily 1 of my favourites from him . Nothing still beats 1582 or EMERALD (which DAISHI DANCE composed) but ~Follow me~ is up there

11) Mao from SID - Chigau Kajitsu & Furachina Taion

Available in the accompanied CD of Maison de M vol.1 in Billboard Live TOKYO DVD , Mao's solo material is very surprisingly different from what he does in SID

Mao's last Sept mini album release Maison de M was an interesting release that's very Jazz Bossa Nova driven . For Chigau Kajitsu & Furachina Taion , I can understand why they're not in Maison de M cos they will sound out of place in it but still 2 good songs nonetheless

12) Hilcrhyme - Koi no Honou

This's a real bittersweet feeling as I've supported Hilcrhyme for almost 7 years . I really like Koi no Honou a lot as it reminds me of Little Samba ~Jounetsu no Kinyoubi~ (B-side in their debut single Jun'ya to Manami) which to me it's still 1 of their best B-side songs

I never expected things to have come to a terrible end for them especially since they celebrated their 10th anniversary just last year , so awful & saddening :x

13) Amuro Namie - Showtime & In Two

Out of the new material in Namie's final album Finally , I like Showtime and In Two the most

Showtime because the PV is 1 of the funniest carefree PVs Namie has made while In Two is just bad ass

The JPop scene is going to lose an influential irreplaceable artiste when Namie retires next year =(

14) GLAY - Anata to Ikite Yuku

I respect GLAY a lot , similarly with B'z as they're still 2 very influential JRock groups that have been around for a very long time

Anata to Ikite Yuku is a very touching ballad & reminds me of their past ballads which were all equally good

15) Koda Kumi - HUSH

Kuu released 3 limited singles after W FACE ~inside~ & W FACE ~outside~

I like all 3 singles but out of them , HUSH stands out to me . A pity the PV didn't do justice to the song

16) Shimizu Shota - speechless

Found as track #11 in Shota's 7th album FLY , this's something I wished Shota can go back to do as the last few years he went overboard with utilising so much autotune in his music which's bizarre as it's not as though he doesn't have a good singing voice to begin with

speechless is short but yet it shows the vulnerable side of him . I really hope Shota can cut back if not cut out using so much autotune in 2018 which's a shame because his older works that I like have little if not none of it :x

17) B'z - Seimei & Still Alive

B'z didn't disappoint with Seimei / Still Alive even though I'm surprised they have pushed Still Alive a lot more than Seimei which's a pity cos Seimei is a great opening track for their current ongoing B'z LIVE-GYM 2017-2018 “LIVE DINOSAUR”

I guess B'z wanted to promote Still Alive a lot more cos it was used to promote TBS's drama A LIFE ~Itoshiki Hito~ that starred ex SMAP's Kimura Takuya

Also it's a bit annoying that Seimei only had a short PV made unlike Still Alive :x

18) SPYAIR - MIDNIGHT + THE WORLD IS MINE

MIDNIGHT is my favourite SPYAIR single of 2017 and I never thought they sounds so great in doing a Jazz driven song which's very catchy

Also , THE WORLD IS MINE is epic & fitting to be used as the theme song for their outdoor JUST LIKE THIS 2017 concert and subsequently slotted in as the 1st song in their KINGDOM album

I'm still hoping someday they can finally come here to perform x_x

19) FLOWER FLOWER - Mannequin

Honestly I'm more of a fan of FLOWER FLOWER's harder sounding stuff like Subarashii Sekai , not that their mellow songs are bad

I like what they had to offer with regards to Mannequin & hopefully they can release something new + promising in 2018

20) UVERworld - DECIDED

UVERworld is funny as their songs are either a hit or miss for me and in the past I tried to listen to their albums but it was SO HARD D:

The last single I genuinely liked from UVERworld was 2015's I LOVE THE WORLD . In this case , this year's DECIDED is quite good

Top 10 albums

Spoiler:

1) BREAKERZ - X

My most favourite artiste celebrates their 10th anniversary this year & X is not a typical 10th anniversary release as they came up with 10 different songs which they performed in each 10 two man live concerts from beginning of 2017 until late April

If they didn't release BREAKERZ BEST ~SINGLE COLLECTION~ 5 years ago , I guess X wouldn't materialise but I like it that it's something unique & not the norm

And I actually surprisingly like the songs in X a lot more than their last studio album 0-ZERO- which to me it's my least favourite studio album of the guys

Their 1st 2 albums & mini album had no singles but yet the songs still stood the test of time up to now to think I almost didn't want to listen to them when I 1st started supporting them xD

The tracks in X are a lot more musically diverse than what I thought and they're all musically inspired by each of the artiste they performed together in all 10 BREAKERZ 10 Shunen 10ban Shoubu -VS- dates

Even the artistes that I don't support , I end up liking the songs like BLACK SKY which featured AAA's SKY-HI , Koi no Super Express which featured Choutokkyuu and Hirari Mai Chiru Hana no Youni which featured Kuraki Mai

2) V6 - The ONES

This's my favourite Johnny's album of 2017 & I didn't quite liked V6's last album Oh ! My ! Goodness ! that much as V6 went erm overboard with the album

So when they released The ONES , I was really shocked in a good way cos it was so unexpectedly good (because Johnnys albums are notoriously difficult to listen) & all 6 members individually produced 6 songs in it and unlike what ARASHI did for their last year album's Are You Happy? where they also had personal input which backfired , in this case thank goodness it didn't happened for V6

It's honestly going to be quite hard for V6 to top things up with their future next studio album cos The ONES is just so good . Pity the accompanying PVs don't elevate the material D:

3) GRANRODEO - Pierrot Dancin'

This rarely happens but this year , I came onboard GRANRODEO's music after I went Osaka beginning of 2017 to see them perform alongside with BREAKERZ . I seldom get into an artiste's music prior to watching them perform but after being 3 rows centre away from them onstage , I was a convert of their stuff as both bands were fantastic live

I enjoy Pierrot Dancin' considerably but my sister who's a big GRANRODEO fan says she prefer their last album Karma to Labyrinth a lot more & that album is more dark and it has a great long album opening + closing tracks

I like both albums equally and in this case , Pierrot Dancin' is more old school & less moody

Also I'm surprised at the quality of their B-side songs in their singles which I started listening to from Glorious days onwards

4) SPYAIR - KINGDOM

I can always count on SPYAIR to deliver & KINGDOM didn't disappoint . Great album opening track and who knew they actually sound good doing jazz ?

I also like the 2nd disc of KINGDOM which has acoustic songs . Acoustic versions of RAGE OF DUST & Supersonic were surprisingly good

5) Hirai Ken - Utabaka Dake ni.

Utabaka Dake ni. is a special disc that's included in Ken Hirai Singles Best Collection Utabaka 2

Usually it's Ken that tends to be the 1 who writes & composes almost all his own material . This time round in Utabaka Dake ni. , all the new songs were all contributed by 10 different artistes that Ken personally admires .

Ken takes the "baka (foolish)" part of the album’s title & entrust the artists with the creation of the collaborative songs , while he just sings them .

Utabaka Dake ni. actually can be a standalone Ken album cos normally his studio albums don't have a lot of new songs & I was surprised how musically versatile it's and Ken pretty much nailed a lot of different music styles pretty flawlessly

6) NEWS - NEVERLAND

I didn't quite like NEWS's last 2 albums as even though they had interesting concepts , they felt 1/2 finished to me

NEVERLAND surprised me as it felt more put together and even though Rock is not their main genre , they actually sounds quite convincingly being angsty & downright angry haha

Also the album closing number U R not alone is very touching

7) B'z - DINOSAUR

I haven't write a review for this in my blog yet but wow 20th album from the legendary B'z

I started listening to B'z from their 17th album MAGIC onwards and from each album I listen I notice that when comes to old school Rock music , you can always count on B'z to deliver and DINOSAUR didn't disappoint despite the funny title

Also unlike their past albums , this year they've performed on TV a lot more to promote DINOSAUR which's a nice change . It took them almost 30 years to finally perform at FNS Kayousai & they nailed it with their duo performances of Ichibu to Zenbu + Still Alive which unlike other artistes that performed on the show , they performed both songs in full

8) ARASHI - 「untitled」

Last year's Are You Happy? album was 1 if not ARASHI's most dreadfully boring album to date & it's ironic as it's also the album that has the most personal input by the members too o_O

Luckily they redeemed themselves this time round with 「untitled」 & I feel this's their most solid album since their 13th album THE DIGITALIAN

It would have been interesting if they made a PV for Song for you which's the longest track in their discography as it's almost 12 mins long but it would turn out to be a short movie instead , LOL

9) SID - NOMAD

For SID , they're straight to the point in that their albums have no instrumental opening , interludes & closing

On 1st look NOMAD doesn't look like it has a lot to offer as it only has 10 songs but the album tracks' quality suppressed that of quantity

The only thing about NOMAD is that I wished members Yuya & Shinji would have contributed more compositions as all the while it's Aki that tends to compose a lot , not that it's a bad thing but anyway haha

10) Kis-My-Ft2 - MUSIC COLOSSEUM

Honestly MUSIC COLOSSEUM is my least favourite album of Kisumai but I still decide to slot this in as the last spot as unlike other Johnnys albums where they tend to be rigid , Kisumai past albums have different structures and they have always come up with interesting themes + accompanying videos to mix things up and to prevent things from being stagnant

MUSIC COLOSSEUM is no exception & Bokura no Music Colosseum special movie was a very interesting clip they came up with that has several short PVs tie in together

My least favourite part of MUSIC COLOSSEUM is that the album tracks tend to be quite Johnny Junior sounding which make me cringe to some extent . I hope their next album wouldn't be like that

I know it's very Johnnys & Rock driven but that's because female solo acts who release albums this year that I support such as Kuu , Mika , Aoyama , I don't think they deserve to be on the list :x

Honourable mentions

Spoiler:

1) Koda Kumi - W FACE ~inside~ & W FACE ~outside~

I don't like all the songs in both W FACE albums but I appreciate that Kuu took a risk in releasing 2 albums on the same day with different music direction cos it's not an easy thing to do

I prefer W FACE ~outside~ a bit more than W FACE ~inside~ though

2) Kis-My-Ft2 - Ima wa Mada Touku Hateshinai Yume mo

It's a shame Kisumai didn't release another Winter theme single this year as Ima wa Mada Touku Hateshinai Yume mo could have been an A-side instead of a B-side

Not that Akai Kajitsu is bad but that's just me . Likewise , I also like Kimi no Iru Sekai from INTER and they actually sound good doing ballads , not just aggressive upbeat songs all the time

3) ARASHI - NOW or NEVER

I have no idea why it took ARASHI 18 years to finally make a PV for a B-side of theirs but better late than never

NOW or NEVER is so fun and I like it so much more than Doors ~Yuuki no Kiseki~

4) Aoyama Thelma - 10TH DIARY

This's 1 artiste I feel very sad for as this year's Aoyama's 10th anniversary but her music peak came & gone before you know it

And no , I think Soba ni Iru ne is extremely over rated :x My favourite Aoyama album is actually Emotions . 10TH DIARY is OK but in a way I couldn't help but feel sorry for her but I will still keep supporting Aoyama no matter what

5) Acid Black Cherry - Acid BLOOD Cherry

Just like Hirai Ken , yasu does all the writing & composing of his own solo music but for Acid BLOOD Cherry which's yet another interesting release to celebrate ABC's 10th anniversary , yasu's musician friends are the ones that stepped in to contribute , be it lyrics or melodies

I know a lot of ABC stans dislike Acid BLOOD Cherry cos lyrically the songs are quite bad & it's not very musically diverse unlike Ken's Utabaka Dake ni.

But some said the songs in Acid BLOOD Cherry reminds me of old school Visual Kei which I agree

It's unfortunate that yasu's health problems made this year's celebration quite muted and hopefully he can make a full recovery soon

6) Ayu - WORDS

I wasn't expecting Ayu to release any new stuff this year due to her ongoing tour but WORDS was a nice surprise . Not the best ballad I heard but I appreciate she sang/debuted it in the 1st chapter of Just the beginning

7) flumpool - Toutoi

flumpool's last year's album EGG was hands down 1 of my favourite albums of 2016 as it was unexpectedly great and so much more musically diverse than their previous album experience

Toutoi which was released this week is actually not bad , it kind of reminds me of EGG's Ubugoe cos both songs have quite a strong Folk sound

Here's hoping vocalist Ryuuta would recover soon :x

8) GRANRODEO - Shounen no Hate

Same thing with Karma to Labyrinth's Volcano , Shounen no Hate also left a big impression on me as at that time at the 1st BREAKERZ 10 Shunen 10ban Shoubu -VS- , I was psyched GRANRODEO sang this song cos it was 1 of the rare times where fans didn't go mental during their short showcase haha

Also they actually also sound good doing ballads . Pierrot Dancin's UNDER THE SKY is great

9) KinKi Kids's Domoto Koichi with ARASHI's Aiba & MatsuJun - Aisareru Yori Aishitai

Ok this's more so a performance cos Aisareru Yori Aishitai is sung by KinKi Kids haha

KinKi Kids's Tsuyoshi had sudden health problems in the 2nd 1/2 of 2017 and during THE MUSIC DAY Negai ga Kanau Natsu , ARASHI's Aiba & MatsuJun sang Tsuyoshi's parts in Aisareru Yori Aishitai and danced together with Koichi onstage which was a real sight to behold cos something like this doesn't happen often

And no offence to Aiba & MatsuJun but I like seeing Koichi dance a lot more than both of you combined haha

10) KinKi Kids - Anniversary (KinKi Kids Party! ~Arigatou 20nen~)

Tsuyoshi wasn't physically present during both dates of KinKi Kids Party! ~Arigatou 20nen~ due to his health problems so fellow Johnnys stepped in to fill in Tsuyoshi's role during both dates

For Bara to Taiyou , it was very funny as Tsuyoshi was doing silly air trumpet moves in the room he was in but Anniversary was very touching as Yokohama Stadium turned into a massive big sing along session and some fans were crying when this was happening =(

No wonder my friend said she had no regrets spending so much $ in attending the 1st day of KinKi Kids Party! ~Arigatou 20nen~

11) NEWS & RADIO FISH - RADIO FISH's PERFECT HUMAN (Best Artist 2017)

Very funny hilarious performance , wish it was much longer instead of it being under 2 mins x.x

12) Shuuji to Akira & Hey ! Say ! JUMP - Shuuji to Akira's Seishun Amigo (Best Artist 2017)

What a dream collaboration and likewise this collaboration should have been much longer and not under 2 mins d'oh

13) V6 - never & SOUZO (Shounen Club Premium 18th Aug 2017)

Ironically both performances are way better than the actual PVs o_O

14) V6's Sakamoto & Inohara - Phil Collins's You’ll Be in My Heart (2017 FNS Kayousai Day 1)

My sister was so happy in watching this performance cos Sakamoto covered Phil Collins's You’ll Be in My Heart on his own which's included in V6's 1st best album Very best

So for Inohara to join in , it was awesome

Whew that's a LOT I've wrote

[Corvina]

I usually have a hard time doing a list for a year, cause I don't really pay attention much to when something is released.
But from the top of my head, it goes like this (order is random).

TOP 10 songs

Spoiler:

01. DAOKO x Kenshi Yonezu - Uchiage Hanabi
I'm probably biased, cause I experienced the success of this song myself this summer in Japan. It really creates such a warm nostalgic feeling when listening to it, even for the first time. It does remind me of a summer breeze while watching fireworks. And it does show that Daoko can actually sing if she wants to.

02. FAKY - Surrender
One of the songs I listened to the most this year. Creates this strong, but longing for more feeling.

03. Ai feat. Kanna - KIRA KIRA
I'm actually not a fan of Ai, but this song really surprised me. I love it!

04. Che'nelle - Outta Love feat. MINMI
"Just" an album song, but it took me completely over. I got hooked on it, meaning the replay value is really high for me. Doesn't happen that often anymore. Also like Destiny as a song really much.

05. BoA - Jazzclub
Ok, this will only be officially released next year, but the MV was made public this year. I wasn't a fan of her last Japanese singles, but this song is gold. Totally my thing!

06. Taichi Mukai - Sora feat. SALU
Ok, this was quite hard, cause I love quite a bunch of his songs he released this year. And I also never expected this, cause I didn't like it with first listen. But it grew on me so much and just clicked with the PV, I guess, and got me hooked. Plus the concept and the lyrics are amazing!

07. Ai Otsuka - FrogFlag
I do have more than one favourite song from her album (Tokyo Sanpo or make up e.g.), but her voice just sounds awesome in this one, so full.

08. Namie Amuro - Mint
Namie is very hit or miss with me with her fast songs (ballads I mostly don't care about). And with Mint she managed to get me hooked again! I know, the single is from last year, but as it is part of Finally, it counts for me.

09. Chanmina - My Name
Another surprise for me from this year. The whole album is great. But love this song to death especially.

10. Uru - The last rain
The full album was, like I expected, a disappointment. Pretty much only ballads, but not so many good ones. Her first single ever, The last rain, is still damn amazing though.

So, with the list of my favourite songs you already get a hint of my favourite albums.
There's just one addition actually, Koda Kumi. There's not a single song from her that stood out this year from the rest, meaning one that would be so much better than any other for me. There are quite a bunch I like equally and I do think altogether the albums were strong.
But that's the reason, she's not in my top song list.

Top albums of 2017:
FAKY - Unwrapped
Ai Otsuka - LOVE HONEY
Koda Kumi - W FACE ~inside~/ ~outside~
Chanmina - CHOCOLATE
Taichi Mukai - BLUE

As I'm also a K-Pop and C-Pop listener, I mention my favourites there, too.

K-POP/C-Pop albums 2017
Lee Hyori - Black
Another surprise for me. Always ever liked certain songs from her, but this time the whole album is amazing (and pretty unusual in style overall). It has a bunch of songs I love.
Red Velvet - Red Summer
A mini-album for summer with a nice selection of catchy electronic based songs.
MAMAMOO - Purple
Don't like all songs on this mini-album, but the strong ones outshine the weak (love 3 , dislike 2). Just love them for their quirky mix.
aMEI - Story Thief
It is similar to Lee Hyori's Black in style, but not as consistent. Lots of cheesy ballads like happening often for Taiwan and China. But also more than one strong song and one of the ballads got me hooked as well (#7 Left Behind).

+ BoA's CAMO
Wasn't too fond of her last Korean releases as well, but CAMO is awesome.
BoA is definitely going in the right direction again for me both in Japan and Korea.


@Kacku
You're reminding me, that I still have to listen to Nana Kitade's new album!

[Kacku]

@Karen
I agree, I feel bad for Thelma too... But 10TH DIARY was such a disappointing album, I couldn't like it though I wanted to. I hope she gets some better material for her next album and goes back to singing with her lower register because I'm not a fan of the style she was using here.

@Corvina
And you reminded me that I hadn't listened to FAKY's album yet! I listened to it today and found it quite good (I liked the first track, Keep Out, the most). I look forward to hearing more from them, they've released a good number of nice tracks so far.

You also made me realise I hadn't heard the AI song you mentioned; I didn't like the album she released this year, so I didn't bother checking out anything she released afterwards. But I tried Kirakira and liked it! Not my favourite AI song, but nice.

I hope you try and like Nana Kitade's album! I liked it enough to buy it twice (on iTunes and later a physical copy ).

[KarenPang]

Originally Posted by Kacku

@Karen
I agree, I feel bad for Thelma too... But 10TH DIARY was such a disappointing album, I couldn't like it though I wanted to. I hope she gets some better material for her next album and goes back to singing with her lower register because I'm not a fan of the style she was using here.

Yeah 10TH DIARY was not an easy album to get into . That's why it took me so long to finally write my opinions about it on my blog

Cos for me , if I really like an album it's very easy to write down my thoughts about it relatively quickly as compared to an album which I'm not feeling it that much

It's also another reason why I wasn't willing to buy 10TH DIARY online & when my sister went back Tokyo in Sept , I told her to go TSUTAYA Shibuya to buy it for me so that I save a bit on shipping cost

[Corvina]

Still no proper time for Nana Kitade. But I skipped through it. Definitely sounds quite different to her stuff before.

@Kacku
Glad you like the revamped FAKY!
You're certainly happy to hear then, that they already announced that we're getting their first full album in 2018. I'm so looking forward to it. There's not one song from them I dislike since they came back.
And I also really enjoyed their first own live.

[Kacku]

^ Ooh, I am indeed happy to hear that! I'll be looking forward to the album.

[Marcelo]

Have to say, nothing else in J-pop moved me, nearly as much as Finally by Namie Amuro did. I feel it’s such a monumental album, that I hope I’ll be listening still after years and years. While it’s a bit bittersweet at times, cos I really liked her newer songs as well, and since this is the end, there’s no more coming. But with an album like this, I hope there’s songs worth listening years and years after. As Kachu said on the first post, a worthy swan song for an iconic artist, and even more iconic career with it’s ups and downs.