So for the past week I've been hearing/reading lots of people complaining about the new Morning Musume single and how they want the techno sound to go away. I was reminded of during the Platinum era when people were complaining about "Emo-Musume" and how they wanted that style to go away.
Both times I got caught up in all of the negativity and became worried for Musume's future. There always seems to be this repeated message of "Morning Musume isn't as good as it used to be" in this fandom. It never fails to pop up during every single release...don't y'all ever get tired of complaining?
I mean, I understand that no matter how much a group works, someone out there isn't going to like a song. I get it. But these complaints are coming from the same people, over and over again. If y'all don't like the music, take a break from the group for a while. No one is forcing you to stay here.
Sometimes I just get so damn tired with this fandom I have to shut myself off from it for a few days...or a week. Or however long it takes for me to get all of the bad mojo away.
Even if I somehow start thinking those negative thoughts about Momusu, whenever I come back to them, my worries are always washed away instantly. I mean, it's Morning Musume we're talking about here. They've been around for 15 years. They've been charting for 15 years. They have 34 members on their roster.
For some reason, no matter if the girls change, no matter if the music style changes...I always am in awe of the group and how much heart they have. For me, it's always instalove with Momusu. There's not a Morning Musume song that I don't like. Seriously. I love every single one of their songs.
I'm not saying if you don't like some of their songs, you're not a fan or anything. That would be stupid. But for some reason I find myself loving everything that they (and therefore Tsunku) do. It's like magic. Some people may say I'm stupid for it, or I just sit here and take shit quality goods...but I really don't give a shit.
Y'all, I'm a die hard Momusu fan, and that's not gonna change for a long time. There may be times when I go and listen to other groups for a while, but I always come back to these ladies.
Maybe 'cause it's I'm a sucker for looking at process as well as product...'cause everything Morning Musume does is a process. So many changes happen all the time, and although it may get tiring at times, it's a great ride!
Keep going Momusu, 'cause there's plenty of people like me who are here for ya. ;)
Here are some lives (Momusu's natural habitat) to remind y'all how awesome these ladies are, in any era.
Happy March y'all! And BOY have I got a blog post for y'all! 8D
So you know how after the Mii-chan 'scandal' I promised to find Jpop musicians other than idols? Yeah? No?
Anyway, I've found a new group and oh man y'all, I am so obsessed it's crazy.
AAA, or Triple A, or "Attack All Around" is a group under Avex. I've heard of Avex artists before like Ayumi Hamasaki and Dream5, but none of them really stuck with me. The only artist under Avex I really cared about was Gocchin but that's 'cause she started out in H!P.
I've known about this group since late 2009, since a friend of mine showed me a few of their songs, but I was so far into H!Pland that I didn't really care much to get into the fandom. Later in 2011, I heard their single "Charge and Go/Lights" and I thought it was pretty good, so I put it onto my iPod and listened to it occasionally. For some reason last month I thought of them again and checked out the short MV to their upcoming single, PARTY IT UP, and that hooked me into watching more videos. Needless to say I'm definitely a fan now. XD
Before I go any further, I'm not quite sure if this group is an idol group or not. They don't really fit well into one category or another. For one, they're a co-ed group, which is something you don't see too often, two, they have a variety of ages. Their youngest is 24, and their oldest just turned 30 in November. I've watched a few interviews and variety shows with them, and I've never heard them called idols, but I have heard "dance performance group" multiple times. I'll just take that. XD
The interesting thing about this group is that each of the members started out as a back up dancer for another act, and they were all put together by avex. Isn't that cool? That explains why they're all crazy talented, especially at dancing!
Y'all can look up more history on the group on your own. Check out tumblr, wikipedia, etc. for more information.
Let's go on to the members! 8D
Urata Naoya
Naoya is the leader of AAA, and the oldest member. He's one of the main vocals in the group, and rightfully so! He sounds the best live in my opinion. He has great vocal control, stays relaxed while singing, and has amazing stage presence. Naoya has done some solo work, releasing a solo album in 2009 with the lead track "Baby Bang." He also released a collaboration single with Ayumi Hamasaki in 2010 called "Dream On," and is featured on a track on her Number 5 mini album. He just released a digital single called "It's Just Love" on the 13th of last month (which is currently on repeat as I write this. It's so dreamy <3). He likes to use his falsetto in his solo work, and it sounds GOOD. Like, melting in a puddle on the floor good. He could serenade me any day. He has a great range in performance, going from tender and sweet, to naughty and sexy. He definitely sets a good example to his members performance wise. I haven't been able to watch him much on variety shows, so I'll have to get to know his personality more, but as far as I know, he's totally awesome! (And he's real easy on the eyes too...x3) Fun Fact: One of his nicknames is Urapapa, as he's like the father figure of AAA. His image color is green.
Nishijima Takahiro
Nishi is another main vocal in the group, and is the most popular male member of the group. He has a very warm, full voice, and it's pleasant to listen to. He sounds great live as well, although sometimes he gets a little overexcited/pushes a bit too much, and overshoots some of the notes. XD But onstage he's very fun to watch! You can tell he puts 110% into his performances and he loves what he does. As well as being a main vocal, he's the actor of the group. He's been in multiple stageplays and dramas, and a few of my friends who are into Jdramas say his performances are very well done. I like Nishi a lot, although I don't find myself fangirling over him. He's the overly in your face cutie pie, which is fun to watch, but it doesn't do much for me. If you're into the cutie pies though, you should definitely get to know Nishi! Honestly, he looks like Kudou Haruka's older brother. XDDD Does anyone else see the resemblance? Watch some lives, and you might see what I'm saying. Fun fact: apparently he'll go around kissing the members. I've found quite a few pictures on tumblr proving this fact....looks like I've found the Sayu of this group. XD His image color is orange.
Uno Misako
Misako is the most popular female member of the group. She's the third main vocal of the group as well. She's like...craaaaaaaaaaaaazy popular. XD I mean, she's cute and she has a nice voice...she's one of those plain Jane girls that's so popular in Japan. But she's sweet and sings well. She sounds nice live too....although while live, she has more...twang? I don't know, there's some element in her voice that's present in lives that isn't there in recordings. She's also really super thin. She's always been naturally thin, but nowadays she looks emaciated. Get some rest and eat a good meal, boo! Don't overwork yourself! Fun fact: Misako is a big fan of Peko-chan, and has been collecting her merchandise since grade school. She and Peko-chan went on a date together recently. Her image color is purple.
Ito Chiaki
Chiaki is the second female member of the group. She's very likable. ^--^ She has a cheerful personality, and her blog is fun to read. She's one of those people you find very endearing...you know? She also sings well. She and Misako blend really well together when they sing duets and such. Chiaki is the model of the group. She's released a few photobooks, and she's modeling for a certain brand at the moment. Before she auditioned for avex, her fashion snaps appeared in magazines. She's pretty fabulous y'all. And she's freakin' GORGEOUS. Go on tumblr and search the Chiaki Ito tag...it's wonderful. Fun Fact: She has a dog named Kiki so she has a companion while she lives alone in Tokyo. Her image color is red.
Atae Shinjiro
Shinjiro is the pretty boy of the group. XD He's obviously nice to look at. Unfortunately, he can't sing very well. He's the only one you can actually hear breathing on the recordings. And during lives it sounds like it's painful to sing. He's holding tension somewhere that's blocking airflow and it makes me worry for his voice. He has potential to be a good singer, but for some reason the vocal teachers over at avex (they do have vocal instructors, don't they?) have overlooked him. Which is dumb. Anyway, he's the quiet type, which makes him very interesting. He's also a smart cookie! He speaks English very well and loves to travel. He tweets in English sometimes (it's usually about how he skipped breakfast and is hungry...XD), and is very nice to all of his fans. Another thing that's interesting about him is that he's aware of his pretty boy image, and lets the fans know that he's aware of it. He's releasing another photobook soon, and apparently there was some kind of fan voting thing about what kind of pictures he would take. The cute pictures won, with some beachy pictures thrown in, and on his blog he told us all that those type of pictures made him uncomfortable and that he didn't like doing them, but he'd do them for the fans. He seems like a down to earth kind of guy, and it's refreshing to see this kind of genuine ...ness coming from someone in the entertainment industry. Keep it up, buddy! His image color is blue.
Sueyoshi Shuta
Shuta is the dance machine of the group, and also does really cool break dancing and gymnastics tricks. His voice is another voice in this group that will cause me to melt into a puddle. Lives with him depend on what kind of day he's having I guess. XD I've heard lives where he sounds fantastic, but I've also heard lives where it sounds like he's having trouble getting his voice out. But that's a common thing for those who were dancers before they were singers. They have a hard time untucking their gut to breathe properly so sometimes it's hard to sing. But watching concert videos, whenever he's in the shot, my eyes go directly to him. He has this crazy energy about him that's really cool to watch. That and the fact that he's SUPER ADORABLE.
Please excuse me while I go die. I mean who can resist that face!? Dude is PRETTY. And he has awesome fashion sense too. Oops my bias is showing. Anyway, I've watched some online streams with him on them, and he's really funny. He's funny in the sense that he can be kind of an airhead. XD He reminds me of Kamei Eri sometimes just by the sheer goofiness he has. And his smile and laugh are infectious. His image color is pink.
Hidaka Mitsuhiro aka SKY-HI
Hikada is the rapper of the group. He sings from time to time, and when he does it's very nice. But. Rapping is definitely where he feels most comfortable and you can tell. Dude is ELECTRIC. Onstage he just GOES. He has the biggest personality of the group and is so fun to watch. He's constantly on variety programs with various members, or by himself. He's HYSTERICAL. I watched like two hours of UNSUBBED material with this guy in it. He's that cool you guys. I can barely understand any Japanese and I watched him unsubbed! His rapper name SKY-HI is what he uses when he's doing solo work. He went on his first solo tour this year last month. He's also featured on a lot of different artists's work, like KLOOZY, KEN THE 390, Keita, etc. He's also a HUGE TEASE. Watch some lives (especially the live for I$M, and you'll see why). When I first saw a photo of him I wasn't attracted to him at all, but now that I've watched footage and heard him talk it's like DAYUM. *ahem* His image color is yellow.
Are y'all interested yet? XD I hope so! I've just fallen head over heels with this group!
I have their 777 Album and I'll talk about those songs in another post, but here are some of my favorites to start you off with:
Live!
LEADER Y U PUT YOUR FACE THERE!? *nosebleed* As titillating as that may be to us fans, that must've been HELLA AWKWARD to perform.
This song is perfection and their voices are sooooooooo sexy. Someone come mop me off the floor.
Hope y'all enjoyed this whirlwind intro to AAA! <3
EDIT: Ray mentioned I forgot Yukari Goto. She was the third female member of the group, but left in 2007 due to illness. She debuted in 2009 as a gravure model, and as far as I know that's what she's continuing in.
