Fukuyama Masaharu has been a defining force in the Japanese music industry for decades. His career started in the eighties to a failed singing career as none of his releases charted on the Oricon Charts despite his boyish good looks. He would soon finally break through thanks to one of his songs being used for a popular drama. This slingshot his career for many years all the way to the present. Fuku is one of the kings of number one albums and now. he's celebrating his 30th anniversary with his new album titled Akira: the singer's first since 2015. I forgot to mention his acting career but I believe more people abroad know him for his films than as a mega popular singer. It's Only Love is still one of my chill out songs when I listen to Japanese music. I wasn't even alive when the song was on the airwaves.....
Akira actually sort of surprised me a tiny bit. I might be saying that I wasn't expecting Fuku to return shouting that he still had something to prove to the masses however, he sure did in his new effort. Fuku seems that he knows what time is his as an ever aging artists in a country who's music industry is ever so changing. Younger listeners as born every year and if you can't prove that you're worth the attention, your sales will start to fall quicker than Godzilla fell into the Tokyo bay. Mika Nakashima's recent two album sales were awful...... Fuku, being the very well seasoned producer that he is, seemed to have put his whole foot into smashing down Akira's setlist. The album is a pop rock party most of the way through it's seventeen tracks(Yeah.... you read that right.) till you really focus in on all the production that composes these songs. Fuku loves switching into three or four core sounds which are Jazz, Rock, and pop. There's also a country undertone to some of his music. This being said, Akira doesn't offer much new growth into what Fuku has become over the years he was only acting. He instead gives listeners track after track of big choruses that fly into your speakers slickly. Horns make appearances off and on in the instrumentals while he strums his guitar. Bold sounds then come in as he adds a whole drum section that sounds like the marching band was marching in the studio. Cow bells are in his music too for those people who like a country twang. I sure like it when Fuku slides it in his music. My problems while enjoying Akira came from the length. Seventeen tracks is enough to tire out any album after a time. Fuku is talanted enough to give you an interesting listening experience but even he can't create a long album without sounding the same on one or two tracks. I still really loved the album even if around the middle things get tiresome. Tracks like Popstar keep Fuku sounding youthful in a ever-changing younger generational Japanese listener's eyes.
Akira has Fuku giving the best vocal performances he has in years. He came here to remind everyone why people call him Japan's answer to Bon Jovi. I was kinda of disappointed that not shredding guitar were in this album like his last album Human. FIGHTING POSE's guitar solo alone knocked all us the hell out with his technicality brought to the forefront in a playful edge. The technicality is still apparent in his new album but he seems to have tamed the wild child quite a bit. I was waiting for a song where he unleashed his wild child only for it to never come.
Fukuyama Masaharu came back to his fans full force. There's no doubt in my mind that the masses will love his new album. He's so wildly loved in Japan as a legend. I'll still watch the sales to see how it all turns out though.
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