YAGAMI JUNKO – Full Moon
(1) Great subterranean intro. Nice subsequent song, too. I think, the idea of Junko is to be unthreateningly approachable. The Rhodes piano re-appears, as do the overpowering BV’s and the harmonised guitar. HNT 7/13 K 8/10 MV 0/5. Y’know, I can’t actually tell what year this might be from. (2) AM Radio AOR in a Good way. The production is REALLY pushed out on this one. MV 3/5 HNT 7/13 K 7/13. If there’s a problem with this album – and it’s my problem, not Junko’s – it’s that it doesn’t evoke any explicit period. (3) And then we get Bay City and I have to reverse myself completely. MV 4/5 HNT 12/13 K 9/10. How much can I say about this that hasn’t already been said? Not enough, I guess. (4) And then….payback. the slow one. It sounds like ‘I don’t know how to love him’. What a bringdown. MV 0/5 HNT 0/13 K 0/10. The final cadence would be great for a Christmas song. (5) ANOTHER slow one? Really?? Let’s be patient. MV 0/5 K 2/5 HNT 0/10. (6) Aaaand….another slow one. Here’s the thing. None of these evoke any sense of place or time, none of them have any atmosphere, and none of them would want me to stick around in the kissaten they’re playing in. Unbelievably, this one actually *is* a Christmas song, and such is quite effective at the halfway mark, but it’s too little. MV 0/5 HNT 0/13 K 0/10. Junko, I’m so sorry, (7) SOS in Morse. Submarine sounds. Redention for this album? It’s bits of Duran gene-spliced to bits of ‘Active no Kokoro’-era Nori-P. Much, much better. HNT 9/13 K 7/10 MV 2/5. Out of time out of space…..