Radio Phone album review
Kingdom ~bought&solidGOLD (24karat)~
Track One. Introduction for Kingdom
This is a nice and slow, mellow and soothing R&B interlude. Nothing too fancy at all, just enough to make you feel nice and introduce you to the album called Kingdom. Foreshadowing perhaps? Well, considering that the song title describes this as an introduction to the album, one could take a guess that maybe Kingdom will be a groovy R&B album. With that prediction in mind, let's continue. 3/5
Track Two. LAST ANGEL
LAST ANGEL makes me think of a really cool action secret agent movie, haha. But it's a very, very cool song. Uptempo, but not insane. Tohoshinki, the male artist featured in the song, doesn't bring the song down at all; he does pretty well. I love the melody of the singing, and all of the vocals in the song are really cool and smooth, which meshes well with the vibe of the song. Nice song, and a nice follow up to Introduction to Kingdom. I like it. 3/5
Track Three. Amai Wana
Oh damn Namie don' hijacked the castle! Oh wait, no, sorry, Kumi is still queen here. It's just that at first the song totally reminded me of something from Queen of Hip-Pop! Lol! Anyway, this is a funky song here...mid-tempo song and it's got some middle eastern (that IS middle eastern, is it not?) flavor. It doesn't really do anything for me. As well, for the most part, the vocals in the song aren't doing anything for me either. I'm actually not quite fond of this song. Let's move along. 2/5
Track Four. Himitsu
Time for some R&B. This is a alright mid-tempo R&B song, but it's not doing it for me, and I think I know why. It's the singing, because I have no problem with the music. Some R&B songs you can do the breathy/whispery singing and the song sounds good, and some have to singing clearly in a solid voice to make a good song. Some you can mix-and-match the two types of singing appropriately and the song will sound good. In this song Kumi sings breathy/whispery for the whole song, and because of that the song doesn't sound good to me. I would rather she have sung in a clear, solid voice for the song, or at least for the verses and the bridge before the last two choruses. If the song was modified in that way, I know I would love it. 2/5
Track Five. Ai no Uta
I already like this song at less than 25 seconds in and only the tapping of a piano key. The vocals are great and I can hear and feel the passion in the singing. The music picks up, as does the singing during first chorus, and holds my interest for more. This song is really good. A ballad. Not an intense ballad, but it is a very good ballad. Kumi's singing is wonderful. 4/5
Track Six. anytime
anytime is a sweet, mellow, uptempo pop tune. That's pretty much it. Even the song itself feels rather blunt and to the point in some way that I can't quite describe right now. I think it's because the song feels really one-dimensional, really the best way I can describe it. 2/5
Track Seven. Under
Mmm. Mmm. Mhmm. Yeah, no...at least not for me. Just no. Oh, wait...no, I think I take that back. Yes, I take that back. Yep, I sure do. I like this song. Lol. Well that was certainly a funny string of emotions. To go from "wtf? no," to "ohh, this is good" in about just over a minute. I can't help but feel this song's title is rather fitting. I don't know, just, like something out of the sewer or something. I don't know! Lol! I like Under though. Kumi sounds very cool on this song. A cool mid-tempo R&B song with a different sound and vibe all together. It certainly sounds different to me but I can totally groove to this. Yeah I like this a lot. 5/5
Track Eight. BUT
This synth-pop uptempo here is pretty funky. It's catchy. I like this too. You dancy and def makes you wanna move. The sound is very interesting. Kinda like Kumi went in her parent's garage and threw everything in it in a pile and came out with BUT. But it's good, no doubt. What the heck is she saying in the chorus? You know you love you? Lol. I'll look it up later. Good song. 4/5
Track Nine. Koi no Mahou
Koi no Mahou sounds good. Right off the bat it's a happy and upbeat poppy R&B song. It's cute, and doesn't feel blunt and one-dimensional at all like anytime did. It's fun. 3/5
Track Ten. Aishou
Yes it's about time for a ballad! This is just the beginning, and right now it sounds like an light alternative rock ballad. Oh never mind, it's light alternative rock but not a ballad. Well, it's kind of ballad-y. Anyway! This song was very needed! A breath of fresh air in the album! Aishou is a very nice song and I like it very much. As said before, it's light alt. rock, and has a somewhat sad/upset vibe. Kumi sounds really good on this song. Whenever she can get to sing with some real passion, and get to really convey an emotion in a song, she nails it, and on this album I feel this song is the best example of that. Especially in the chorus where she's singing wonderfully, and then she suddenly breaks her tone to momentarily go into a higher, whispery, emotional tone. It sounds so.awesome.period. Aishou has to be the best song on the album. Full points! 5/5
Track Eleven. Anata ga Shite Kureta Koro
Here we have an upbeat song that sounds aiiight. Not bad at all. I feels like one of those, "I'm in a good place; I'm doing me," song, haha. Pretty chill, but it's real nice. 3/5
Track Twelve. Wonderland
Wonderland comes along with it's happiness and dreaminess. Kumi sounds all cutesy on this one. The isn't bad but it's doesn't have anything that sticks either. Not doing anything for me basically! Not bad, but certainly passable. 2/5
Track Thirteen. FREAKY
GET FREAKAAAAY! Haha Okay, we'll get freaky for you Kumi.
No, but really. This is another one of the party anthems on the album like BUT. It kind of feels like a song that's trying too hard to be cool, but still, it's pretty fun. 3/5
Track Fourteen. MORE
MORE is great! I love pretty much everything about this one. To start, Kumi's singing, again, is wonderful. She's great when she sings it out for us! Which she does plenty of in this song, including great belting. The song is a slower R&B/soul song. It's awesome. Kumi delivers! 4/5
Track Fifteen. Black Cherry
The last song on the album is Black Cherry and it follows in the footsteps of FREAKY and BUT, in that it's another one for the party. It's an upbeat dance hip hop song but it doesn't do too much for me. It also completely changes into another tune at the 2:27 mark. I was not expecting that , lol. 2/5
Kingdom was surprisingly average, as a whole. Of course, there are some songs that shine much brighter than the rest. I have to say the standout tracks imo are LAST ANGEL, Ai no Uta, Under, BUT, Aishou, and MORE. I love those songs!
In it's entirety though, this album didn't manage to give me everything I need, but that isn't to say it's bad. This concludes my listen and review of Kumi Koda's Kingdom!
Kingdom 3/5
I know we were always making fun of it and all but I actually thought it wouldn't flop like this.
