Today I will be doing an album review of Morning Musume’s 6th best-of compilation album titled “The Best! ~Updated Morning Musume~ ” by request from a friend and fellow Morning Musume fan. With that I will be doing maybe small review of this album right here right now. For some songs I don’t know if I’ll be able to talk as much since these songs are just updated versions of older songs. Anyway, let’s get to it~!
01. Love Machine (updated) – Of course we see Love Machine on this album, since doesn’t surprise me at all. What’s Morning Musume without Love Machine after all? It’s the song that got them more famous and recognized (along with Goto Maki helping with that). For the updated version of this song, I like it quite a bit. It sounds more robotic and definitely like current style of Morning Musume’s music with just a hint of the Golden Era’s style. I must say that it sounds a little like S/mileage’s “Tachiagirl” in the very beginning though, I haven’t really realized until now. Also, it seems that they changed the iconic dance into something almost entirely different. I watched it a few times and it just weirds me out a bit.
02. I WISH (updated) – Personally, I’m not the hugest fan of the single “I WISH” but while watching it being sung by the 9th gen, 10th gen, and 11th gen during the CHANCE concert it made me love this song a bit more than I did before. It’s unbelievable on how great they did for this song, and I can’t help but to think that these girls are the girls that are going to be left when the last remaining Platinum Era member leaves. Tears come to eyes whenever I watched their performance of this song. These girls are terrific and they did an amazing job on updated version of this song. This song also seems to be my mom’s favourite when she agreed to watch the CHANCE concert with me a couple weeks ago.
03. Renai Revolution 21 (updated) – I haven’t listened to the updated version of Renai Revolution 21 before so listening to it now my first thoughts that it definitely sounds cooler and more fresh than the original. It has a bit of a dance club vibe to it that I’m really liking.
04. The Peace! (updated) – The Peace has always been on of my favourite Morning Musume singles and the updated version may be a teeny tiny more better than the original in my little opinion. The intro sounds so much cooler and it definitely turns out to be an extremely fun song just as the original is. And even in the CHANCE concert, The Peace is one of my most favourite performances in that concert. I just really love The Peace~!
05. Souda! We’re ALIVE (updated) – I would have to say that Souda! We’re ALIVE turned out more fun and not so seriously sounding when they updated it. Even watching this performance in the CHANCE concert, it’s really extremely fun to watch with the new dance moves and the extremely energetic girls. Comparing to the last time we seen Morning Musume during Rival Survival which was intense and amazing to watch and was definitely one of the best concert openings Morning Muusme has ever had (too bad I only like the beginning of that concert). I definitely like this updated single, it’s definitely more fun and I enjoy it a lot more than I did before.
06. THE Manpower!!! (updated) – THE Manpower updated is still just as awesome and fun as the original. This time we have Sakura and Riho singing the deep and high notes that were given to Yossie and Ai-chan. In the CHANCE concert Riho sounds really great but I don’t think she sounds as great in the recording, Sakura sounds amazing in both though. THE Manpower also now has an awesome dance break in the song, and I really love the new dance for this song.
07. Aruiteru (updated) – I was never really a bit fan of Aruiteru either but with it’s new updated sound and Sayumi’s baby voice, it’s a pretty alright combination and sounds pretty good if you ask me. Does anybody else notice on how babyish Sayumi’s voice sounds in this song? I like Sayumi’s singing and vocals but I never really heard her like this before. It’s a bit of a surprise.
08. Renai Hunter (updated) – To me it just seems that only the intro of the song is what changed the most and some of the instrumental within the song, and of course the current girls get the past girl solo lines but that’s quite normal for Morning Musume. It seems that Mizuki gets Niigaki Risa’s lines which surprised me a bit, though I kinda think that Mizuki sounds like she has a stuffed up nose or something. Though I must say that the other girls sounded just fine.
09. One Two Three (updated) – One Two Three always been one of my favourite songs from Morning Musume. The major differences you hear in this song is Riho’s wows (which use to be Reina’s but changed to Riho’s as soon as Reina graduated), that Ayumi gets most of Reina’s lines, and Sayumi’s lines “Chobitto… Paritto.. Mou chotto” sounds a bit more sexy. It just sounds pretty much like the original One Two Three.
10. Wakuteka Take a Chance (updated) – Wakuteka Take a Chance is seriously my jam. Again like One Two Three is just mostly the current girls getting the graduated girls lines. It just pretty much sounds the same to me, which isn’t a problem since I just generally really love this song.
11. Help me! (updated) – The thing I’ve noticed with this song is that there’s more whispering involved in the beginning verses. Has that always been a thing or haven’t noticed them before in the original non-updated version? Sayumi’s “ah’s” are also a bit quieter and maybe also a bit more sexy too. The little changes in this song throw me off a bit.
12. Brainstorming (updated) – It seems nothing really changed at all with Brainstorming besides Maachan getting Reina’s line “Jidai wo yomitore” besides that though this song is generally the same as the original.
13. Kimi Sae Ireba Nani mo Irenai (updated) – Nothing really is updated in this song either. To me it just sounds the same as the original.
14. Wagamama Ki no Mama Ai no Joke – Now we finally get to original songs without any updates to it (which to some songs just means line re-arrangements). Wagamama Ki no Mama Ai no Joke is seriously one of my favourite Morning Musume (it kinda seems like I keep saying that but it’s true, most of these are on my most favourite list). Wagamama Ki no Mama Ai no Joke has an amazing beat, especially when it drops after Mizuki’s “Aisaretai” and it has very true enough lyrics that I can relate to. Plus the vocals of the girls are seriously great. What’s not to love about this song? It’s pretty close on being perfection.
15. Wolf Boy – It wasn’t until I watched the CHANCE concert when I began to really like Wolf Boy. I heard a radio rip somewhere a long time ago but from a first impression I wasn’t really that fond of it and never really listened to it until recently. It’s actually a pretty good and catchy song.
Overall Thoughts: I think this album is pretty good. I really the updated versions of some older songs even though the more recent singles seemed like nothing really changed about them. Renai Hunter is the only one that changed the most out of the singles that were released in 2012-2013. I really like this album and I must thank the CHANCE concert for making me wanting to buy this CD a lot more than I did before. These updated songs are really great, and for this album I would give it a 9 / 10.
If you guys could I would definitely recommend checking out this album, and if you’re seeing them in NYC this fall this album would help with the excitement of it all.
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