The more I listen to it, I'm liking Black Cherry more and more. The ballads are really good, no epics, but still very easy to listen and enjoy. The vocals are weird in the ballads, a lot of feeling yet poorly executed. But it comes across as cute instead of ear-damaging. Tracks like "Candle Light", "Milk Tea" and "Tsuki to taiyou" are really awesome!
And I agree, "Koi no Tsubomi" is enough to warrant the CD full marks. Still I can't stand the ridiculously crappy version of "WON'T BE LONG". It's like someone only used Acid, Fruityloops or Nero Soundtrax to remix the song.
Ballad-wise, I have to say that Black Cherry and Secret both lose to BESTYO. Hitoto's ballads are so beautiful, such as "Kazaguruma" and "Hanamizuki".
But I still choose Secret, though I might buy Black Cherry and BESTYO too.
Three of the best J-POP albums this year from female artistes. Not to mention Utada's effort. I don't get the hype about Ayaka's songs though, they're so normal. Ok, this is getting out of topic.