A bit Hangry but not that Angry

Well, my copy of the new Hangry & Angry CD - Sadistic Dance, arrived on the release date, from those lovely people at www.amazon.co.uk, and I was properly excited! To the best of my knowledge, this is the first proper UK release from anyone even remotely connected to the Hello!Project, and I just had to do my part to help them chart in the UK.

Well, out came my craft knife, to carefully crack the seal on the shrinkwrap - so I can put it back into the wrapper once I've ripped it, and perused the booklet, and this I dutifully did.
Soon it was ripped, and popped onto my iPhone for its first public performance (maybe first in the UK - as it was aired to my passengers on my bus, from 3.05 pm onwards on the day of release - three times in a row)

Well, down to business - I have listened to the album a few times now, and on the whole, I am impressed. They have got some good new songs - Top Secret is absolutely awesome, in every sense of the word, and I also like Mr Monkey alot, tho Lady Madonna is a bit wierd - with the repeated back-vocals overpowering the song sometimes, but my only real gripe with the album, is that of the "Crash Berlin Mix" versions of Kill me Kiss me, Giza Giza, Sadistic Dance and Angelia.

I mean, those 4 are absolute classics, perfect pop rock songs, but the remixes are all just that little bit weaker, and so I think just because of this, the album isn't quite as good as it could have been.

I come from a rock music background, before discovering J-pop, and so I know a good rock song when I hear one, and the originals of these 4 songs, are of a higher caliber than the remixes. This is normally the case with any remixes, in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a great album, and everyone in the UK should buy it, but it only gets a B+, rather than the A* it would have had, if it had the original versions of those 4 songs.

°C-ute's Alo-Hello - °C-ute - very very °C-ute.

So the long awaited DVD of °C-ute's Alo-Hello has finally been released.

I have been looking forward to seeing this, as I enjoyed the Berryz Kobo Alo-Hello DVD very much indeed!

As usual with these DVD's, the girls have a fun time, and are set a series of challenges, this time incorporating a swimming challenge, a sandwich making challenge, a shopping challenge and a quiz, along with having fun at a water-based Theme Park, on the HUGE waterchutes they have, and spending time on a ocean-cruiser & banana-rafting.

The girls set about their tasks with great enthusiasm, and seem to be really enjoying themselves throughout the whole show. I won't spoil the fun by saying who won what challenge - but Chisa's sandwich would have won my vote - and looked very tasty indeed!

During the swimming challenge, the girls took turns in singing acapella versions of their songs, Chisa sang Meguru Koi no Kisetsu - and did it brilliantly as always. Maimi of course sang her solo number, Natsu DOKI lipstick. Saki sang Massara Blue Jeans, Airi 'sang' Shochuu Omimai Moushiagemasu - and stunned me with how badly she did it, but I think she was just being silly, cos we all know that she's a fantastic singer! Finally, it was Maimai's turn to sing - and she did a brilliant rendition of Wasuretakunai Natsu.

One thing I did work out during the DVD - Airi is not a good swimmer - at all! She had just about every swimming aid available on the last race (25M race), and as this picture shows - she may have been last, but she won on comedy value alone!!

Near the end of the show, they play a trick on Chisato, and after seeing the Berryz Alo-Hello - it seems that tricks are a staple part of the event, and add alot of fun to the proceedings.

All in all, this is an awesome DVD. Hawaii is a stunningly beautiful country, and the girls really enjoyed being there, and participating in the show. The only downside, is that even though she was there, Erika Umeda played no part at all in the DVD, as she had announced that she was to Graduate at the end of October, and I suppose since this DVd was due to be released at the end of October, the powers that be in the Hello!Project decided to remove her from the programme completely.