Ayumi Hamasaki - Fairyland

By Mackey Hiromu

Fairyland

Release Date: 08/03/2005
Price: 1000 yen

My Rating

Sound Quality - 10/10
Length - 10/10 (31:17 minutes)
Transitions - 10/10
Songs - 8/10
Overall Score - 8/10!

Overview

Ayumi Hamasaki's first single in nearly four months since "STEP you / is this LOVE?"

Review

After hearing about this single and its success on the Oricon charts I decided to check it out. I have never been an avid Ayumi Hamasaki fan but decided to listen to this single seeing as I hadn't heard anything of hers since Rainbow was released (2002) and thought I was long overdue. Fairyland's a very interesting song in that, the more you listen to it, the more it seperates itself from being a seemingly generic Hamasaki song. The melody, lyrics and overall tone of the song is very bittersweet, sounding like somebody remembering long gone, care free summer days. Alterna on the other hand is much more agressive with heavy use of guitar and drums to set the pace. Normally this would make for a bad transition from one song to the next but, as many Hamasaki songs, it starts off soft and slowly builds up to the actual meat of the song. The great thing about this single is that the title track doesn't exactly overshadow Alterna, both are good in their own ways and are far from forgettable. Hamasaki never ceases to please, although she might not have the range and finesse of Mika Nakashima or other such J-pop singers, she always delivers an enjoyable product.

Track Listing

1. Fairyland - 5:18 minutes
9/10

2. Alterna - 5:28 minutes
9/10

3. STEP you "DJ TAKI-@#@ More Step Up Remix" - 4:16
7/10

4. Fairyland " Bright Field mix" - 5:30
7/10 [This song really didn't need a remix, especially such a mediocre one.]

5. Fairyland [Instrumental] 5:18
8/10 [Almost as good, but one grows attached to the vocals]

6. Alterna [Instrumental] 5:27 minutes
7/10 [This song really isn't much without the vocals]

Where Can You Buy the CD?

YesAsia

CD Japan

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