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It's time to post my thoughts
1. Photogenic: 10/10. I love how funky and fun it is. Namie is just so full of it but she doesn't come across as snobby or stuck up. It sounds like she doesn't even care that she's photogenic. Love her.
2. Time Has Come: 8.5/10. The 8-bit parts and the fast chorus are very cool! That's about it but the parts that are cool are done well.
3. Golden Touch: 10/10. Yaaas love this song!! You've got the touch you've got the touch you've got the touch it's golden! I love everything about this song. It sounds so retro but so new at the same time.
4. Birthday: 10/10. I thought this would be a rehash of Katy Perry's Birthday but Namie's Birthday takes a steaming shit over Katy's Birthday. It's a cute song without ever getting overly cute so it doesn't suck like Can You Feel This Love. The chorus is really nice and distinct from the rest of the song but it also flows. Also a double birthday has to mean that she's getting laid as well as getting presents on the same day.
5. It: 7.5/10. It's a cute little song with a funky chorus that is the best part of the song. The verses aren't as fun.
6. Scream: 10/10. People hate this song for being generic. I love it for it. It doesn't try to be anything it's not. Namie sounds bored and dead over hot beats, what is there not to like?
7. Fashionista: 10/10. An unexpected surprise to be honest. It's catchy and that part with the beep beep beep is just too much fun even though I have no idea what she's saying half the time.
8. Fly: 9.5/10. I warmed up to this song a lot. The music sounds very nice in the song and I kind of like how the song sets up an ALMOST ethereal atmosphere, with Namie's vocals not being strong or emotive (are they ever?) enough to convey the ethereal feeling. In the chorus it sounds like she wants to say 'go ahead and fry' but her vocal coach threatened her this one time. She fucked up her Ls and Rs so much on this album that it sets a world record but this one time she doesn't.
9. B Who I Want 2 B: 10/10. The surprise of the album. I'm not even bothered that Namie sounds like an auto tuned mess or that Hatsune is the prominent vocalist. The beat is fire and Namie sounds like a hot mess over hot beats. It's my thing.
10. Stranger: 10/10. Maybe the best song on the album. I love how Namie sings the first verse. She has you up on your feet but doesn't give a shit. The bridge is the best part of the song. The chorus is kinda catchy.
11. Every Woman: 6/10. Hot Girls is better than this because it's such a mess. This song is actually TRYING to be good and it fails. It's not a terrible song but it's not memorable in any way. She should have put sweet kisses right here. Or even neon light lipstick. Or even hot girls again. Anything but this song.
12. Space Invader: 9/10. A Namie slow jam that doesn't have piano or snapping fingers. It's nice and relaxing I find and it leads well into Anything. Also the title is really nice too. I was expecting a full on jam but this is a nice surprise.
13. Anything: 8.5/10. I like TLC and Unpretty and I kind of see why the two songs are compared. I see this more of as a sequel song to Unpretty. Too bad Namie's pronunciation really ruins the song, it would have been a lot better.
14. What I Did For Love: 8/10. It's a nice song that has a nice beat and melody. There's nothing else to say except that it sounds nice. Her pronunciation is also kinda bad in this song too.
Overall: 8.5/10
It's a great album brought back by some bad singing. Namie is not a great singer. She's an OK singer. The beats and production are what helps her to sound good on the album. Her pronunciation really doesn't do some songs justice. Some songs are so good that this isn't a problem but with some it really takes away from the whole experience. You'd think that her English would have gotten better or that she would have put effort. It shows that she doesn't give a shit. Now I'm not saying that it has to be perfect but it's obvious that's she's not trying. If she's gonna sing in English she should at least sound audible. You'd never catch me singing in Japanese rounding my letter Us or not making my Ts, Ds, and Ns dental. Someone has to tell her that L and R aren't in free variation in the onset of a syllable. She needs to take a phonology course and become more metalinguistically aware first though. Her pronunciation has just gotten worse. Next album her "oh just a fart" moment is coming. Also she can't really emote well. We all joke that Namie is dead but maybe she really is. Ayu and Kumi can emote better. Thankfully most songs she picks work in her favour because she sounds the best when she's sounding dead.
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