Albums (Page 2)

Please choose an album below. I've numbered all the official albums like this: (#1). Mini-albums are marked like this: (ma-#1) The remaining albums are compilations/remixes of previously released songs. New albums are always displayed on the first page.

There are two ways you can sample the songs:

1) HTML: This is the original way I had it set up, where you'll have to manually download and listen to each file. Also, if you hover over the links, you'll see the kanji title of each song.

2) Flash Player: This flash player will let you listen to each sample in REAL TIME. (^^) Occasionally you can choose between different playlists (especially if the CD is a remake/tribute to another artist's work).

Here's a quick summary of how the flash player works (image opens in a new window)

Click on the 'Lyrics' icon to access the lyrics. ALL lyrics will open in ONE popup (i.e.: all of the lyrics share the same popup). This way, you won't have a TON of popups open. Besides, you can't read two lyrics at the same time, right? (^^) But if you want to open the lyrics in more than one window, feel free to right-click the links and choose "Open in New Window".

Lastly, to make the pages load faster, the albums will be split into several pages (hence why I alternated/color-coded the links).


8 ALBUMS
regular text (no link) = song not available yet

  1. (ma-#1) Flowers
  2. (ma-#2) love me?
  3. FULL MOON selection EP [iTunes Exclusive Album]
  4. (#1) moumoon (self-titled album)
  5. (ma-#3) REFUREIN (Refrain)
  6. Summer Selection [iTunes Exclusive Album]
  7. (ma-#4) SPARK
  8. (#2) 15 Doors


REFUREIN (Refrain)
(Mini-Album #3)

CD+DVD CD Only
+Produced by: avex trax
+Catalogue #: AVCD-38029 [CD + DVD], AVCD-38030 [CD Only]
+Release Date: March 24, 2010


+More Info:
This is moumoon's 3rd mini-album, and their 5th album overall. 80% of the tracks are brand new!! In honor of its release, moumoon created another "special website". The first site (created for "Aoi Tsuki to Ambivalence na Ai") is still up, in case you're interested. :)

And this time around, the DVD is a real bargain: you're basically treated to a mini-concert! It has several clips from their live concert, "FULL MOON LIVE SPECIAL IN YAON ~Harvest Moon~". (Click the link to preview these clips!) The songs included are "get real", "more than love", "EVERGREEN", "On the right", and "AOi Tsuki to Ambivalence na Ai".

The DVD also has the "Version 1" ("Music Video moumoon ver.") music video/PV for "Aoi Tsuki to Ambivalence na Ai". You might remember this song has TWO PVs: "Version 1" is basically just a studio take (or "jam session"), where you see YUKA and all the main musicians perform. "Version 2" is the "Drama Mix Ver.", which was created to look like a drama series. (^^) As far as I know, the song wasn't used in an actual drama series (although it was used in an anime). In fact, I have a feeling "Version 2" is for a special short story, which was created by Erika Sakurazawa (and posted on moumoon's "Special" website for the single). Erika's name is even mentioned on the PV's description area. Unfortunately, I'm not sure who Ms. Sakurazawa is, or even what the story is about. ^^;

Anyway, the "Version 2" PV (and the behind-the-scenes footage of "Version 1") were released on "Aoi Tsuki..." CD single (which came out 3 months earlier).

Like I said earlier, 80% of the album is brand new!! I managed to find some radio rips of the songs. They're low quality, and not full length, but they're good enough for now. I managed to create MP3 samples, and revise the lyrics as best as I could.

I LOVE the new songs. (^_^) "Refrain" has a mellow, country/pop/rock vibe to it. It's similar in style to "Che.R.Ry", a song by YUI. It's a wonderful song. "Brilliant Days" is really pretty and magical-feeling. The chorus is a bit too repetitive, though: I wish they added another verse to it.

"Kiss me Baby" has a nice, mellow rock sound. I didn't like it too much at first, but it's really starting to grow on me. "Tengoku ni Ichiban Tooi Basho" is a BEAUTIFUL song: it's so sweet and romantic. I could definitely see it being used at a wedding. It was even used in a commercial for a bridal salon.

My absolute favorite track is "MUSIC". It reminds me of Pizzicato 5; it has that experimental Pop/Bossa Nova/Shibuya-kei vibe to it. I could hear it over and over again...

Overall, this is a fantastic album. Everyone should own a copy.

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Summer Selection
(iTunes Exclusive Album)

CD Cover
+Produced by: avex trax
+Catalogue #: n/a - digital download only [iTunes Japan]
+Release Date: May 19, 2010


+More Info:
This is yet another pretty much pointless iTunes exclusive album. I have no clue why it was released, but I guess they thought these songs have a nice "summery" feeling to them? I dunno. At least the album is pretty cheap. It costs ¥900...which means each song is about ¥110. Their songs normally cost ¥150 each, so that's a nice savings. Hopefully their future songs will be just as cheap. :D

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SPARK
(Mini-Album #4)

CD+DVD CD Only
+Produced by: avex trax
+Catalogue #: AVCD-38105 [CD + DVD], AVCD-38106 [CD Only]
+Release Date: July 7, 2010


+More Info:
This is moumoon's 4th mini-album, and their 7th album overall. The Limited Edition/CD-DVD version comes with two bonus tracks, and its DVD has the music video/PV for "Sunshine Girl".

"SPARK" was released about 2 months after their worst single, "Let's dance in the moonlight". I said that this single was boring and could've been MUCH better, and I was wondering (and hoping) that "SPARK" would let moumoon redeem themselves. They had so much success with their earlier single, "Sunshine Girl" -- it became their best-selling and most popular single EVER. It even had 500,000 ringtone downloads, which means it went double platinum. So I didn't want a second, crappy CD to possibly ruin it for them.

Well ladies and gentlemen...I'm happy to report that "SPARK" is not crappy. In fact, it's one of the best mini-albums they've ever released. It even debuted at #10 on the Oricon Charts, and eventually reached #4 on the charts.

The title track, "SPARK", is really catchy. I could actually see myself dancing to it. (^^) YUKA also gave a phenominal live performance (at 4:08) of the song that EVERYONE should watch, and it proves that she really can sing.

The next track, "Tomoshibi", feels a bit out of place because it's rather slow. I think it should have been placed near the end of the album, but whatever. It's a really good tune, and a standard, acoustic-filled moumoon ballad. Track 4, "Plastic Joy", has a 1990s rock vibe to it; it's pretty darn catchy...and the lyrics actually DO make sense. The song is based on a toy plastic ring she got as a child. (Before the lyrics were translated, I thought she was talking about a credit card. I know that's MY "plastic joy" these days. xD)

"Dreaming Driving" is really cutesy and addictive, and it'd be really good for a racing game (probably Mario Kart or something like that; it's not really "hardcore" enough to be featured in a "realistic" racing game).

The English version of "Sunshine Girl" is just as cute as the original song (and part of it rhymes this time!), but some of its lines are very long and a bit awkward. (^^;) "Swallowtail Butterfly", is actually a cover song, or perhaps I should call it a tribute song. The original was done by Yen Town Band, a fictitious band from the 1996 movie, "Swallowtail Butterfly". Its lead singer is Chara, a famous singer with a wispy voice. This song was Chara's breakout hit, and I'm proud to say that moumoon did the song well. YUKA did a beautiful job, and I'm sure Chara is pleased.

Last but not least, for reasons unknown to me, is the song "Let's dance in the moonlight". I've already reviewed this song (as a CD single), and you know I don't like it...but I guess they wanted to add their latest CD singles on here, so the mini-album would feel more "complete". Whatever. ~_~

Overall, this album is wonderful and will provide hours of entertainment. I play these songs everyday, and I'm still not sick of it. You'll probably be the same way.

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