[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