Namie Amuro(安室奈美恵) - Finally Album Thoughts(J-pop)

CD Tracklist

• Disc 1

1. ミスターU.S.A.
2. 愛してマスカット
3. PARADISE TRAIN
4. TRY ME～私を信じて～
5. 太陽のSEASON
6. Body Feels EXIT
7. Chase the Chance
8. Don't wanna cry
9. You're my sunshine
10. SWEET 19 BLUES
11. a walk in the park
12. CAN YOU CELEBRATE?
13. How to be a Girl
14. I HAVE NEVER SEEN
15. RESPECT the POWER OF LOVE
16. NEVER END

• Disc 2

1. Say the word
2. I WILL
3. SO CRAZY
4. GIRL TALK
5. WANT ME, WANT ME
6. CAN'T SLEEP, CAN'T EAT, I'M SICK
7. Baby Don't Cry
8. FUNKY TOWN
9. NEW LOOK
10. ROCK STEADY
11. WHAT A FEELING
12. Dr.
13. Break It
14. Get Myself Back
15. Fight Together
16. Tempest
17. Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!
18. Love Story

• Disc 3

1. arigatou
2. Damage
3. Big Boys Cry
4. Contrail
5. TSUKI
6. Red Carpet
7. Mint
8. Hero
9. Dear Diary
10. Fighter
11. Christmas Wish
12. Just You and I
13. Hope
14. In Two
15. How do you feel now?
16. Showtime
17. Do It For Love
18. Finally

   I hadn't planned to listen to Finally at all. This would be Miss Amuro's sixth Best album that she has released. Its pretty much a cash cow for her and her record label after she announced her retirement from music early this year. As a long time fan of Namie, I was sadden by the new but strangely wasn't surprised to say the least. Japan is coming up on a new generation of music that's making Amuro's spot among all the new singers smaller and smaller. Her sales have been in a constant up and down slope of decline(Most of her releases still at least managed to get top ten spot on the charts.). Prime example would be that Finally is Amuro's first album to sell over a million copies in it's first week since her album SWEET NINETEEN BLUES back in 1996. Only reason the album sold that much was because she announced her plan to retire. Otherwise she probably could have released a new album that would have been met with good sales. Just not over a million copies worth of sales like this album made. Finally comes with re-recordings of most of her old hits and six new tracks.

   I'm not going to sit here acting like I listened to all three discs worth of Namie Amuro's classic hits. I honestly didn't. My main goal was to listen to the six new songs that she so gracefully added at the end of disc three. The bottomline here is that NAMIE AMURO DID NOT DECIDE TO LEAVE QUIETLY! Nope. She instead gathered all the energy she had left and put it into making some good ass tracks. These tracks will catch you off guard a bit. Especially if you stepped back from her music after hearing Just You & I like I did. All six tracks reminded me why I stuck around with Namie Amuro for so long. The women knows how to get the party started by riding that beat. Give her a dance pop song and she will work the stage, snatching people bald as she goes along. Her new material fits at home in her old album PAST < FUTURE like an extended repackaged version of the album. However, PAST< FUTURE to me was truly one of Amuro's best albums if not her best. Everything feels like it's in full spring with her music right now even though I wish that she had this flame before she decided to retire. Her music was starting to sound like she was getting tired to me. Just You & I as well as Red Carpet were some of her worse releases that made me distance myself from her music. Boy, did she do a 180 degree turn around on my ass.

   Respect will always be given from me to Amuro for taking the time to re-record her old hits for her compilation albums. Well, she's had a big enough career that her record label must not have minded spending money on all that extra studio time. I didn't listen to the new recordings on this album but I did listen to some on her past compilation albums. You can hear the growth she had as a vocalist and even her new songs find Amuro challenging herself to sing better. Amuro hasn't sang any vocally challenging songs in a while. She hits more impressive notes in tracks like Finally and Do it for love. Pretty much close to the same range she hit when she sang ballad Wishing on The Same Star. I also enjoyed listening to the fast paced vocalization presented in Hope. Namie Amuro still has talent in her folks.

  Finally isn't an album that I would tell anyone to go out and buy unless they REALLY wanted to. The hardcore fans didn't waste any time shelling out the money obviously based on the sales but I will say that the new material on Finally is worth the money. Problem is that it might not be enough music to convince everyone to buy the compilation. Let's wish Namie Amuro all the best in whatever she decides to do with that hill of money she made off this album.