Erina Mano – MORE FRIENDS (review)
I may as well start off with some thoughts on this album, since it’s the most recent I’ve listened to.
(Normal/Limited edition covers)
Erina Mano
Artist: Erina Mano (真野恵里菜)
Title: MORE FRIENDS
Release date: November 24, 2010
Editions: Normal, CD + DVD (Limited)
Track list:
1. 元気者で行こう！-Giga Power Mix-
Genkimono de Ikou! -Giga Power Mix- (Let’s Go Cheerfully! -Giga Power Mix-)
2. ごめん、話したかっただけ
Gomen, Hanashitakatta Dake (Sorry, I Just Talked)
3. ダレニモイワナイデ
Dare ni mo Iwanai de (Don’t Tell Anyone)
4. ドレミファどうして?
Do Re Mi Fa Doushite? (Why is it “Do Re Mi Fa”?)
5. Love & Peace = パラダイス
Love & Peace = Paradise
6. Tomorrow
7. Ambitious Girls
8. 堕天使 エリー
Datenshi Ellie (Fallen Angel Ellie)
9. 嵐の前のキャンドル
Arashi no Mae no Candle (Candle Before the Storm)
10. 春の嵐
Haru no Arashi (Spring Storm)
11. 家へ帰ろう (sad ver.)
Uchi e Kaerou (sad ver.) (Going Home (sad ver.))
12. お願いだから…
Onegai Dakara… (So, Please…)
It’s been almost a year now since Erina’s debut album, which isn’t really that long, but the improvement in that small amount of time is pretty massive. Surprisingly so, actually. For a long time the only image I had in my head of Erina was her performing Mano Piano at the 2008 Elder Club graduation concert – cute, but undeniably boring. I think she’s starting to change all that. Her more recent singles seem to be beginning to stray from that image – as far as I can tell she hasn’t played the piano on the title track of either of the last two singles, which used to be her “gimmick”. It seems to be helping somewhat.
*
In total there are four single tracks on the album, including a “remix”, and a coupling track (which rather surprised me, I admit). The album opens with Genkimono de Ikou! -Giga Power Mix-. There’s actually relatively little “mixing” going on – the song has a slightly different introduction, and some of the chants are changed a little, but other than this it’s pretty much the same as the single track (other than a few added cheers from Erina in the middle). It’s rather hard to judge this song on CD, because in my opinion it was definitely intended for concerts (and, as demonstrated at the summer concert, works pretty well in these circumstances). It is good for a bit of a boost of energy, or just in a crazy moment, though. It also provides a rather needed energy boost to Erina’s songs, which have been very slow up until this point. It’s a nice change. Track 2, Gomen, Hanashitakatta Dake is pretty cute and poppy. It’s nothing massively special, but it’s pleasant to listen to. Dare ni mo Iwanai de is a little different than we’re used to hearing from Erina. It’s rather slow, soft and easy on the ears. Erina’s voice is also fairly soft throughout, which fits the song nicely. There’s a little whispering to close the song with around thirty seconds to go, which actually sounds sort of creepy in a way, but it’s a decent song. Do Re Mi Fa Doushite? lays on a bit more of the cute. The most noticeable thing is the guitar, which really jumps out from the start. The backing instruments seem to almost overpower Erina’s voice – it seems like she’s fading away at points. It sounds to me more like something that would be given to one of the anime units within H!P than an Erina song. Love & Peace = Paradise finally finds its way onto an album! This is definitely “classic” Mano-pop. Even if it is almost a year old it still manages to fit in. It still manages to be rather infectious, though, and will likely be stuck in my head for quite a while… Tomorrow makes up the halfway point. It’s probably the closest Erina’s got to an all-out ballad on the album so far, and it’s a good one. At times Erina does again sound slightly like she’s drowning in the instruments, but she does hold on pretty well.
*
Into the second half of the album now, with track 7, Ambitious Girls. It’s kind of a strange song. There is quite a mess of instruments all over the place, which sound completely random and unrelated. Even with all this going on, though, it somehow works in some ways. Then… Datenshi Ellie. It gets stranger. The opening is promising, and then… Erina beings to speak. It goes downhill from here. A helium-like voice joins in, and the conversation becomes… bizarre. Suddenly Erina cuts in singing… only for Helium Voice to come back. This is followed by more singing. Is this Yoshiko Miura (lyricist for this album)’s doing in a moment of sheer lunacy, or were they having technical difficulties where recordings were getting mixed up? I can’t think of any other reason for this… thing. This… track. I don’t really know what to call it. Thankfully, it’s on to Arashi no Mae no Candle now. Another ballad-type. Of course it’s very slow and soft – I think it could have done without the random strong drums, but that’s just me – that makes for a really enjoyable song. Next up is another single track, Haru no Arashi (lots of storms going on around Erina at the moment?). This is one of my favourite Mano singles. It fits nicely into the album – there are quite a few different things going on, but it suits the song, as does Erina’s singing. There is a little drowning again, though. It might be beneficial if they were to turn Erina’s voice up a little in volume. Then we have Uchi e Kaerou (sad ver.), which is the coupling track (B-side) from Genkimono de Ikou!. I very much enjoyed this song on the single and was pretty surprised to see it included, like I said… but I’m really glad it was. As much as I liked the original, this is a really lovely version. Erina’s English is actually sounding pretty good, which also surprised me – it sounds like she was practising while she was busy with her film première. I don’t often think this, but I’d actually enjoy hearing more English from her every so often. This is a contender for my favourite song of the album. I’d really like to hear more songs like this from her. And, to close the album, we have Onegai Dakara…, which serves as almost a “break out” track for Erina in some ways. It’s rather different from most of her previous singles, and I like it. This was the first single of hers I actually bought and it was definitely worth it, as was hearing it again.
*
This was, in summary, a very good album. It may only have charted a single position higher than her debut album on the Oricon charts, but it was worthy of a lot higher. Erina’s getting stronger and stronger, both in singing and songs, as time passes, and she’s improving quickly. If she keeps going like this I can’t wait to see what 2011 has in store for her.
★★★★☆
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