Best Asian Albums of 2012 Thus Far
 

Since we are practically half way through the year now, I thought I would ask which albums released in this half of the year have been your favorites and which ones are you most looking forward to for the rest of the year?

For me, my favorites of 2012 have been JAPONESQUE by Koda Kumi, Party Queen, and Pamyu Pamyu Revolution by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. I'm also starting to really get into Hello Venus so their mini album might make my list, too.

I'm most looking forward to Uncontrolled by Namie Amuro and Kana Nishino's new album that should come out later this year. :heart

Ikimonogakari's NEWTRAL. The album is amazing and made me fall for the band right away. It's undoubtedly the best album of the year and I'm not sure if it can be surpassed at all. Beside that, there's Do As Infinity's TIME MACHINE, which was also amazing, but I wasn't expecting any less from them, so I wasn't caught by surprise like with NEWTRAL.

Less amazing but still nice albums would include two cover albums from artists I was previously unfamiliar with: Angela Aki's SONGBOOK and BENI's COVERS. Both albums were very nice but nothing mindblowing. Party Queen, to me, was also OK, but not on the level of any of the albums previously mentioned.

There's also the beautiful, almost flawless Eiko Shimamiya produced mini album 5TEARS, but I'm not sure if I should count it since it was released almost last year... Whatever, I'm counting it, it was amazing and while I was expecting it to be good, I wasn't prepared for so much goodness.

As for expectations... There's Mami Kawada's SQUARE THE CIRCLE coming out in August, but I don't think I'm expecting any other albums at the moment. I'm ready to be pleasantly surprised, though!

SDN48's Yuuwaku no Garter. That's it. Japonesque was nice too...

Party Queen was nice, and Return Road is the best song of the year so far
Japonesque was Koda Kumi's best album to date and the PVs, covers etc were fantastic
Galileo Galilei's PORTAL was really enjoyable
Ikimonogakari's NEWTRAL was just amazing and fantastic
And BIGBANG's mini album ALIVE was epic

Only ones I can think of are AI's Independent, which was flawless, and ayaka's The beginning.

ayaka's The Beginning continues to blow me away. This chick has THE VOICE.
Party Queen is now 'alright' to me.
Angela Aki's Songbook is just lovely. (I CAN'T WAIT for her new album! It's gonna be EPIC)

Party Queen & JAPONESQUE :P

I'm more in favor of Ayaka's "The beginning" and ikimono-gakari's "NEWTRAL"...

Glen Check - Haute Couture
METEO - EA


I heard NEWTRAL was a good album, but I haven't listened yet.

I think JAPONESQUE is worthy because it IS her best album, and it's one of the best things to actually spend your money on, with how gorgeous everything is, all the PVs, etc.

Maybe mini's album.

Albums that I really adore :

Acid Black Cherry - 2012 [my most fave ABC album outta the lot & it didn't kicked Party Queen's butt for nothing & let alone is yasu's very 1st #1 that he has gotten after being in the business for close to 13 years . 2012 deserves all the praises that it has received . If not , why avex Taiwan made an OS press of 2012 & not his previous 2 albums eh ?]

ayumi hamasaki - Party Queen [I'm quite an ayumi stan so generally I like most if not all that she has released xD]

ayaka - The beginning [welcome back ayaka ;_;]

Koda Kumi - JAPONESQUE [her best album since Black Cherry imo & I have not enjoyed a Kumi album at such a level until now]

Matsushita Yuya - 2U [in all levels so much better than his debut album I AM ME]

Other worthy mentions :

Hey ! Say ! JUMP - JUMP WORLD
KAT-TUN - CHAIN
Kis-My-Ft2 - Kis-My-1st
Kuroki Meisa - UNLOCKED
Kuriyama Chiaki - CIRCUS Deluxe Edition
L'Arc~en~Ciel - BUTTERFLY
Shota Shimizu - Naturally

Still waiting for Namie Amuro's Uncontrolled , SID's M&W to be out later in the following weeks/months x) & hopefully a BREAKERZ best album too [come on guys make me poor now xD]

JAPONESQUE
Party Queen

And still waiting for Uncontrolled.

SDN's Yuuwaku no Garter
May'n's HEAT
After School's Playgirlz
Miss A's Touch
4minute's Volume Up

EXO's MAMA
So far probably the best debut album ever for a boygroup and the promotional strategy was amazing (espcially out of of an economical view), great variety of songs and the lyrics and amazing and refreshing for kpop, since basically every second song deals with love.

Kumi's Japoneseque
There should be no doubt about it (and I keep staring at the album art and can't believe that she was already pregnant when those pics were taken)

BIG BANG's ALIVE was epic and the re-released version is even more epic (if that's even possible)
BLUE is such a nice and nostalgic song and I keep repeating TOP's boom shakalaka part in Fantastic Baby in my head. MONSTER is the best song imo, sad lyrics and a contrasting powerful chorus.

mini's Electro Hako Banban Picasso (still loling @ the name)
Girl is on the way to be come the next Japanese House/Electronica/Dancefloor queen,
her songs are presh and fierce

Junsu's Tarantallegra
just. look. at. the mv. and then listen to his songs. (gawd his voice too perfect to descrive + he got the skills) super artistic and amazing and he pulls off the unisex concept greatly

Wonder Girl's Wonder Party
Haters keep hatin', R.E.A.L is such a diverse song and I love the cute aegyo talking and Yubin's rap, additonally Like This will be eaten up Korea this summer, now I could talk endlessly about the rest.

Ayumi's Party Queen is love/hate for me, but I really really like the concept

Acid Black Cherry - 2012 :heart

Koda Kumi - JAPONESQUE
mini - Electro Hako Banban Picasso
Singer Sen - Ghost Street EP

Yeah... nothing's really caught my attention so far other than these.

BIG BANG Alive. Didn't expect to like every song.

Baek Ji Young Good Boy. Had never fully appreciated her beautiful voice until this mini album was released.

To be honest I didn't listen to many albums this year (and most of them were Korean), but most of my favourite artists either disappointed or haven't released anything so far. Well, maybe the second half of the year will be better :dead2.

JAPONESQUE from Koda Kumi, which is quite a surprise because I really haven't been interested in anything she's done since I bought her first album affection.

Wonder Party from the Wonder Girls. Unbelievable. It's a mini-album but it's just blowing my mind. I normally am not interested in this style of music, but I keep playing their tracks over and over. I even purchased it hardcopy so that I could obtain the best quality of music possible. I didn't expect them to match Wonder World so quickly or so well, and some songs even surpass those on their 2011 album.

Although I have only heard one or two songs, Big Bang's new releases sound pretty good too.

Kuu's JAPONESQUE for sure, Ayu's Party Queen too, and Namie's Uncontrolled will be great as well I assume ^^

I may just have to add Wonder Party by the Wonder Girls to my list. I woke up this morning knowing little to nothing about the Wonder Girls, but after seeing their album on iTunes and giving Like this a try, I had to purchase it. I could see myself becoming a fan. :P

Koda Kumi - JAPONESQUE
mini - Electro Hako Banban Picasso

easily

Koda Kumi's JAPONESQUE
mini's Electro Hako Banban Picasso

I've been spamming those two albums like crazy.

So far only Party Queen and BIGBANG's Alive+Still Alive come to my mind. But I might add something else later :D

So far, Party queen

Mayumi Morinaga's Glitter/神巫詞

BIG BANG's ALIVE + Still Alive ;D

Ayu -Party Queen
Baek Ji Young -Good Boy
Big Bang -Alive and Still Alive
T-ara Funky Town
Nine Muses -Sweet Rendevouz
B.A.P. Warrior + Power

SHINHWA's The Return
EXO's Mama
Gang Kiz's We become gangz (i don't care how many people hate them, the mini was flawless <3)

Guess I'm the only one but for me it's YFC's Yellow Fried Chickenz I, awesome album, I love each song and it flows so perfectly.

The only Asian album I've listened to this year is Party Queen, so I guess it wins by default.

Gonna be a long list ...

Koda Kumi - JAPONESQUE
Namie Amuro - Uncontrolled (yes - it's not out yet but so far it's amazing)
ikimono-gakari - NEWTRAL
MiChi - Therapy
ayaka - The Beginning
mini - エレクトハーコーバンバンピカソ
BIG BANG - ALIVE (inkl STILL ALIVE)
스피카 - Painkiller
NU'EST - FACE
miss A - Touch
4minute - VOLUME UP
BAP - WARRIOR
BAP - POWER
きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ - ぱみゅぱみゅレボリューション
씨스타 - ALONE
NS 윤지 - NEO SPIRIT
f(x) - Electric Shock

Ayumi Hamasaki - Party Queen
Koda Kumi - JAPONESQUE
BIG BANG - ALIVE + STILL ALIVE
mini - エレクトハーコーバンバンピカソ

MiChi - Therapy
mini - エレクトハーコーバンバンピカソ
Namie Amuro - Uncontrolled

I'm expecting more epic albums later on this year.

ayaka's The beginning and Namie's uncontrolled

Uncontrolled is by far the best release so far this year, it's the only album asian i've been really excited for since Five.

I'll definitely be adding f(x)'s mini Electric Shock to my list. I was reluctant to buy it but I'm so glad I did because it's fantastic! :luv2

01 Shoko Nakagawa - しょこたん☆べすと――(°∀°)――!!
02 きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ - ぱみゅぱみゅレボリューション (Pamyu Pamyu Revolution)
03 ayumi hamasaki - Party Queen
04 Namie Amuro - Uncontrolled

Hmm... not many Asian albums have stood out so far.

I liked ayaka's the beginning, MiChi's Therapy was good too, I think Koda Kumi's JAPONESQUE was a solid album, it wins so many points for packaging.

These are the only albums I can remember enjoying. x___x

mini - エレクトハーコーバンバンピカソ
Koda Kumi - JAPONESQUE
Crystal Kay - VIVID
ayaka - The beginning
Namie Amuro - Uncontrolled
Miho Fukuhara - The Best of Soul Extreme
lecca - Step One

01. mini - Electro Hako Banban Picasso
02. Koda Kumi - JAPONESQUE
03. Girls Generation-TaeTiSeo - Twinkle
04. Namie Amuro - Uncontrolled
05. f(x) - Electric Shock

Yeah, I didn't like Party Queen.

01 Namie Amuro - Uncontrolled
02 Mai Kuraki - OVER THE RAINBOW
03 ayaka - The beginning
04 Koda Kumi - JAPONESQUE

Yamashita Tomohisa - Ero

Had 0 expectations for this album (no thanks to the terrible album title if not crappy covers) but turns out it's a very solid & enjoyable album . Gazillion million times better than his debut

Blaise Plant (MONKEY MAJIK) - MOTION PICTURE.

Holy CRAP, this album is amazing. He knows how to make music.

Just listened to Ayaka's The Beginning.

Wow.

Just wow.

Wow, no one has mentioned alan's LOVE SONG That's definitely the best one.

Also miss A's Touch

And I am sure I will love the new Morning Musume album 13 Colorful Character

Absolute 2012 favorites would have to be Koda Kumi's JAPONESQUE and Beach Mix.

Other albums that I enjoyed:
L'Arc~en~Ciel: BUTTERFLY
Meisa Kuroki: UNLOCKED
capsule: STEREO WORXX
Koda Kumi: Driving Hit's 4 (but I like Beach Mix a whole lot better)
MiChiL: Therapy
Crystal Kay: VIVID
Namie Amuro: Uncontrolled
XIA: Tarantallegra (I downloaded this but I ended up wishing I had bought it by the time I finished listening to the whole album)

I have AAA's 777 ~Triple Seven~ preordered so I'm looking forward to that. I'm also half-excited on Kana Nishino's new album, Love Place.

Many more adds! I got TaeTiSeo's mini album Twinkle for my birthday and it was lovely and addictive. I recently discovered After School through their fifth maxi single Flashback, and I know it's not an album but it has more tracks than Hello Venus' first mini so I think it's eligible for the list.

I'm still really looking forward to Kana's new album, now entitled Love Place. Also, I'm excited for a possible 2NE1 album and Girls' Generation Japanese album.

I'm looking forward to the release of SPYAIR's 2nd album Just Do It . Hopefully it will sound equally as good as their debut album Rockin' the World which's a joy to listen

And also BREAKERZ's 1st best album . Ok it's not a studio album but it's their very 1st best album & I can't wait to find out the title of their 1st best album & also the tracklist & how many editions it will be sold in haha :P

OMG. Miss A's LIPS :mtongue
Probably one of my favourite tracks of the year so far.

Crystal Kay's VIVID is now on my favourite list, probably my favourite album so far this year.

It's just been perfect all summer.

I'm almost shocked to say this, but: none. I can't think of a single satisfactory work of any of the Asian artists I've ever listened to that was released this year and left a big impression on me. Shame.

I'd like to add in Angela Aki's Blue. That was good (for me, that is). I know a lot of people don't really like it and such, but meh.

Namie Amuro's Uncontrolled
EXO's Mama

These are the only works that stood out to me so far. Let's hope there will be more good albums soon...

I'd like to add SISTAR's summer special album, Loving U to the list because I loved the title track and it's one of the first albums that I liked the remixes on.

SPYAIR - Just Do It

Released only this week but such an enjoyable album <3 Much more experimental than their debut Rockin' the World & they're not my 2nd fave JRock artiste for nothing x)

The only one that comes to mind is Crystal Kay's VIVID.

Domoto Koichi - Gravity

Awesome album , SO much better than his previous BPM which was a major BORE D:

Although I still feel/say that his debut mirror is still the best , nothing can match that album as he composed all the songs in there , unlike in Gravity

Still compare between BPM & Gravity , Gravity is so much better like way & the PV for Danger Zone is just so very :thud :dead2

Nishino Kana's Love Place is probably my favourite from this year so far. But Nana's new album might top it have to see.

Okay, so GaIn's Talk about S. really impressed me, especially Bloom.

M Y T O P 3


Kumi's JAPONESQUE ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
like the whole concept, nearly every song, title, covers etc...
for be a long waited hq album... since Kingdom


ayu's Party Queen ♥ ♥ ♥
more love than hate... cool title, fresh covers, individual track(names)...
not so good quality as her previously albums (Love Songs, Rock 'n' Roll Circus, NEXT LEVEL)


Kumi's Beach Mix ♥ ♥ ♥
better than i've ever imagine...
really love Whatchu Waitin' On? and nearly every track on this CD!
great choice on the tracks which were used ^^
much better than every release of her Driving Hit's series!

ARASHI - Popcorn

It sounds better than what I initally expected , especially the 5 solos which're all pretty much solid

Nino's Sore wa Yappari Kimideshita is just plain amazing :thud

all around 2012 was weak

but VIVID by Crystal Kay was the best and then Japaonesque by Kumi Kuu

other ones that stood was MEG's WearIAm and AISHA's I, Shout

ayumi hamasaki - LOVE

Oh but of course 8D & I have to say the remixes in LOVE are much better than what I expected & I'm not even a remix person to begin with x)