I know this album is way overdue because it was released in April and it's already mid-September. Originally, this album was scheduled to be released on March 23 but due to the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, it was delayed - just like how ayumi's remix albums were also delayed.
But what delayed this post is because I never took notice of this album until recently. Okay - I did take notice of the awesome cover art because Namie looked stunning but considering that this is just a compilation album with other artistes, it didn't really struck me as something that I would listen to...
Until I saw that this album was second to Adele's "21" album on some chart that I thought that maybe I didn't give this album enough of a second chance so, to get that free toy from YesAsia, I purchased this album along with the CD+DVD version of ayumi hamasaki's "FIVE" - which will be featured in another post.
Introducing Amuro Namie's compilation album which came in a digipak format - Checkmate! Ain't that wind in the air and pose fierce for this really tall singer? Like I always said, I would love to see her in a runway show because of her long legs and how she strut her stuff during her tours - damn cool! I'm loving the whole concept of the album art - the chess pieces with her standing out like the Queen - the Queen of R&B in J-Pop~
What's special about this album is that it features songs that Namie collaborated with other artistes - therefore, I believe the term they use for this album is an collaboration compilation album. What a mouthful! Unfortunately though, there are lots of artistes that I've never seen before and the only few that I can recognize are like Anna Tsuchiya - the one who tries too hard to top Koda Kumi but still hasn't capture my attention. As for the rest, I think my knowledge of the J-pop industry isn't vast enough to recognize their names. Maybe I've seen them somewhere before but they don't really ring a siren in my mind.
I believe this is like the third digipak album that I have of Namie and I guess that's like her trademark packaging though since BEST FICTION. Did you know that this packaging style is actually patented? Which means I think they have to like seek permission if they want to use this packaging but that's the label's business. What I'm concern about is how they make it work. For instance in Checkmate!, they greet you with a fierce photo of Namie alongside the CD.
And to do her justice, I shall zoom in for you! Loving her outfit and how flawless her skin is it almost looks airbrushed~
And when you lift up the other side, you see the DVD inside and I wonder when I will actually have the time to watch the DVD. Well, that shall go onto my endless list of things to do. I'm surprised that ever since I started reviewing packagings, I have been taking photos again and again and again and I don't even get bored of it even though I may repeat a lot of the same things again and again and again. In the middle there, you see the lyric booklet. Let's zoom in!
Onto the small easel that I got from Daiso for 2 bucks~ The lyric booklet replaces Namie with a huge chess piece and I thought that was clever because otherwise, Namie's photos will be kinda reused over and over again considering that the photos inside the lyric booklet seems reused anyway. Why waste the outfit right? They should have taken more shots of her playing around with the set for a variety of poses as opposed to the same old standing-there-looking-fierce ones.
Well this photo looks familiar, no? The first page of the lyric booklet reused the photo of the digipak and it makes me wonder why they refuse to take more photos of this gorgeous lady! Even close ups of her face or something else to give this album more variety in terms of the aesthetics wouldn't do much harm right? On the left of the front page is the track list. Yeap.
How the lyrics look like. They used the concept of black and white marbles are the back of the lyric booklet and other than that, there was nothing really special about the lyrics section. Like the norm of all compilation albums in Japan, the pictures inside the lyric booklet is kept to a bare minimum for some weird reason. Maybe because the budget allocated for compilation albums is smaller? That's my bet.
And the last page of the lyric booklet finally features Namie with a slightly different pose and different facial expression but the camera angle did not change at all.
Musically wise, I think the album is a good album to listen to when you want to feel hyped up or you want to practice your runway walk because it's very upbeat and electronic. Some of the songs sound a little familiar but they somehow manage to differentiate themselves pretty well. The album also features a bonus song which is unlisted in the track list - Want Me, Want Me featuring another artiste with Namie in her classic. Really interesting reinterpretation~ I like!
Once again, Amuro Namie released a really aesthetically pleasing album in the form of yet another digipak with some repeated photos which are nevertheless stunning and gorgeous. Hopefully her next album will feature slightly more angles of this beautiful R&B queen as opposed to taking her in the same static shot over and over again. Come on photographer~ Do her some justice!
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