I need info about Akina Nakamori

[Surreal17]

I know some biographical stuff about her and I searched her generasia page but I want to know more about her from a fan's perspective. Kinda things like the ones we discuss about ayu (lyrics, genres, image). What is her best album in your opinion, her most controversial one (her "Party Queen") etc. I read in a lot of places that she was like the ayu of the 80's/90's and that she has a very interesting discography so I took a look, downloaded and listened to "Fushigi" today and I'm really impressed with it so I want to know more about her.
thanks

What other stuff do you recommend from her?

[mizuki-7]

I'm here to discuss with you about her !! I'm a very big fan of her since few years now ^^

A lot of people say that Ayumi is more like Seiko Matsuda but it's wrong she is way more close to Akina artistically !
I'm especially fan of her career between 1985 to 1991 when her voice was insanely powerful with her distinctive vibrato ^^
Despite this I think her best album was SHAKER, released in 1997 it was so different compared to the J-Pop of this time !!

Her discography is really wide from 1982 to 1984 she was doing mainly kayōkyoku songs, from 1985 to 1990 it was much more influenced by the westen pop of the 80's ! In the 90's she tried quite everything TK dance, Jazz to, Traditional etc... In the 2000 it's less interesting and adventurous, she lost quite a bit her voice and she does mainly ballads over ballads ...

(I must go to work now but when I come back I can share other informations ^^)

[Gustavopc]

I came through Akina cause of Kuu's cover of TATTOO, and when I went to check the original song, I fell for her I love all her latin-ish songs, so album-wise I'd recommend Resonancia. Her last album, DIVA, is also great, it's pop-stuff but her voice is SO SEXY every song stands out. Femme Fatale is also a good album imo, and I like to listen to her BEST's also (BEST, BEST II and BEST III)

However I discovered her recently, so I do not know much about her milestones, controversies (if there are any) and such :/

[Surreal17]

@mizuki7 : glad I found a fan here. Hmm, I also think so. I mean, seiko is a bit annoying with her cutesy stuff, I tried her a few times and I simply didn't like it.
Exactly, she has that vibrato that really got me. I also remembered ayu's vibrato when I was watching one of akina's live performances, maybe she (ayu) got inspired from her.
Ohhh, she seems very varied with musical genres. Fushigi is really interesting. I was amuzed by the fact that fans thought that she unintentionally made a mistake with her voice on that record.
Hmm..I think I'll download SHAKER next. Thanks for the recommendation.

@gustavopc
Ohh, TATTOO is her song? I love that song, but never knew it was her's. Resonancia seems like an interesting record, I searched a little bit about it. It seems that she was trying to project the "Japanese Jennifer Lopez" image in that era from what I read so its definitely worth giving a listen. Thanks for clarifying me these things
So I'll probably download SHAKER and Resonancia first.

[mizuki-7]

Yes I think so too about the vibrato of Ayu ! it's funny when they respectively began Akina & Ayu didn't have any vibrato or a very little one and a few years after BIG VIBRATO lol

In fact it depend what are your tastes ? I disliked Resonancia ... too influenced Latin music

[Ashen Twilight]

Sorry, but SHAKER is one of my least favorite Akina albums. I only really liked Moonlight Shadow, Biyaku, and Mangetsu. I would definitely start with her first and second BEST albums. My favorite original albums are STOCK and Femme Fatale. STOCK has more of an 80s rock flair while Femme Fatale is more like 80s pop music. DIVA is also a really good album, like Gustavo said.

She is really a chameleon when it comes to musical styles. I love her latin works, which her most recent song, Rojo -Tierra-, is a latin/EDM combo. I would honestly compare her pop works to be more like Hitomi Shimatani. Akina isn't a singer/songwriter like Ayu, but some of her lyrics are really personal. A favorite of mine is Nanpasen, which she released after some issues with her then boyfriend (but before the big incident with Seiko).

If I were to rank my favorite songs from Akina, it would go like this:
01. I Missed "The Shock" (BEST II)
02. FOGGY RELATION (STOCK)
03. BLOWING FROM THE SUN (SPOON)
04. Ophelia (SPOON)
05. Aibu (Unbalance+Balance)
06. LIAR (CRUISE)
07. Nanpasen (BEST II)
08. Rakka Ryusui (DESTINATION)
09. DIVA -Single Version-
10. FAREWELL (STOCK)

[mizuki-7]

ahah yes it's it's a matter of taste that's the reason why I asked his tastes
But I agree with you STOCK is really really good very rockish FIRE STARTER & CRYSTAL HEAVEN are among my favorite songs of her !

I am the opposite of you when it comes to her Latin works ...when it comes to world musics I prefer by far songs influenced by Chinese, Japanese or Arabic traditional instruments ! In fact I don't like this style in general I think I only like Me Amore & one song on Resonancia but that's all lol

This is my top ten :

01- Gekka (true album akina 95 best-1995)
02- Mangetsu (SHAKER-1997)
03- BLONDE (Best II-1988)
04- LIAR (Best III-1992)
05- TATOO (Best II-1988)
06- Jukkai (1984) (BEST-1986)
07- I MISSED "THE SHOCK" (Best II-1988)
08- Tsuki wa Aoku (SHAKER-1997)
09- Dear Friend (Best III-1992)
10-CRYSTAL HEAVEN (STOCK-1988)

[Gustavopc]

I love discussing these things with people with different tastes I really like Akina and Latin-ish songs, Heat ~musica fiesta~ may be one of my favourite songs of hers like ever

[mizuki-7]

^
I like it too ! especially when people explain why they like or don't like something without judging the taste of each others !
In fact I love a lot of Akina songs from the early 80's but I prefer these songs with her more mature voice (1987/1988 and afterwards) ! I also have some difficulties to like her albums of the 2000 decade because she lost a lot of her vocal power ... even if I like some songs like Rakka Ryuusui (2005), the Album DIVA (2009) and recently Rojo -Tierra- !

[khan5]

OMG, I LOVE AKINA. i have all her albums, but my fav is fushigi everything about it is perfection especially the vocals. I wished that she would make a part 2 of the album, but unfortunately she didn't and still hasn't. Sometimes hope she will do it now, but i know that she probably wont be able to recreate the vocals she did fushigi as she has gotten older and her voice has changed. For now im looking for albums similar to fushigi does anyone know of any albums similar to its style it doesn't have to be in japanese

[Miichan]

Fushigi was very expertimental, I haven't heard anything quite like it.
Some of the tracks from Fushigi can be found on her mini-album 'Wonder' as cleaner more traditional recordings.

I absolutely adore her first 4 albums, and the first one is one of my all time favorites.
I'd recommend Best, Best II and Best III to any new fans, lots of great tunes on those.

[Gustavopc]

I had not heard Stock yet but after you guys talked about it here I went check it... And it's AMAZING!

You guys think we should make an Akina Nakamori thread? Now she's released a single and another Utahime, I feel like an album is on its way?

[Miichan]

Originally Posted by Gustavopc

You guys think we should make an Akina Nakamori thread? Now she's released a single and another Utahime, I feel like an album is on its way?

I think that would be a great idea

[rookies]

I like her music, it's so good! I remember downloading a couple of her Best albums, and BEST (1986) is really good, has a lot of her hits.

I also recommend Best Collection ~Love Songs & Pop Songs~ (2012).

In response to creating a thread for her: Yes, I agree, we need an artist thread for her.

[DA1SUK1DAY01691]

She's one of those artists everyone in Japan knows, but the vast majority probably only a couple of her representative songs (which I also happen to know): DESIRE -Jounetsu- and Shoujo A. Her songs are definitely karaoke material—most of the shows I've seen use a pretty wide discography when it comes to Nakamori Akina. Personally I do prefer those two songs, and I quite liked her Enka series where she covers enka songs in a pretty dramatic style.

She also has a very distinct way of talking: it's kind of like a whisper but at the same time it's quite sexy. I'm not sure who's *the best* at monomane or who makes it the best joke, but one example is Tomochika (who was super popular when they parodied Beverly Hills 90210).

[Uemarasan]

Thanks for this thread! I've been wanting to explore her discography in depth recently (I only know her most famous stuff), so this is a godsend! Wish I could spread good karma all around