Top 5 most interesting/ambitious/epic H!P compositions

I just heard the news of Ayaka graduating. This sucks, as I loved Ayaka and still do. She's great. Hopefully there will come a ranking like this soon where I can prove my love for Ayaka to you. Well, she wasn't really doing anything much the last few years so maybe it's better this way. Still, this does suck.

Well, even though I will severely miss Ayaka I'm sure, even that won't ruin my day. Today is an awesome day, or at least it will be. It's absolutely awesome weather out there and it just happens to be Vappu in Finland today, which is basically just a day invented for us Finns to get absolutely wasted with good friends for no good reason at all except for it being Vappu (even though Wikipedia might say there is something else to it, too... pfft, they're all lies!). And so, I shall do just that. Time for a shower soon, then I'll get out there and drink until I can drink no more and later go witness a fucking awesome band live that goes by the name of Stam1na, hopefully spending the entire length of the evening, probably shirtless, in a brutal but always friendly metal moshpit... all while drinking way too much Koskenkorva. I'm telling you, I'm pretty sure it just doesn't get much better than that.

Ultra Bra is pretty much the most Finnish sounding band in existence and therefore perfect for Vappu

Ultra Bra - Tyttöjen välisestä ystävyydestä

Before I do any of that though, I think it's finally time for my first proper post in ages. I've got a good one for you this time, I think.

Tsunku. The man who writes the majority of songs for H!P's line-up, with over 10 years of doing just that behind him, still scoring one hit after the other. Now, you can't by any means say he can never do any wrong... but he is a pretty damn solid songwriter, with years of experience and both personal highs as well as lows, still retaining that will of his to keep going, that unsatiable thirst to keep writing and crafting what he thinks will be his ultimate masterpieces of songs for people to remember him by.

This time, it's actually a little difficult for me to explain to you what exactly it is I'm ranking here. But it is a kind of top 5 songs of Tsunku's that are the most ambitious, epic or, well, simply interesting! As you can probably imagine, this ranking is incredibly subjective (not to mention very hard to do) so there's no need to take it all that seriously, because honestly, who really has the right to say any song is structured better or is overall just a better composition than something else? Well, alright, someone with musical training or so could easily judge them and say which songs are the most accomplished songwriting-wise, but even that is just judging the universal technical aspect of the songs... which is, of course, not all there is to a great song; it's also very much about your own opinion or "feel" of the song that decides which songs sound truly good to your ears. So hell, it's basically just a list of a bunch of great songs I like, though not quite. I mean, Minimoni Jankenpyon! is a great song and I love it to bits and all, but you won't find it on this list because it's just absolutely batshit-insane song-wise (though everyone decides for themselves if that is a good or a bad thing).

You could say I'm making a list of 5 songs that are great, but with somehow more "refined" songwriting/composition, even though I admit I have absolutely no training on this subject, nor any classical or otherwise real musical background. And so, keeping all that in mind, does it make any sense for me to be making a ranking like this? Fuck no. But here I go anyways.

Firstly, a honorary mention goes out to Minimoni - Haru-Natsu-Aki-Fuyu Daisukki! Yeah, I know what you're all thinking, you're thinking "pfft, just a honorary mention, that silly Henkka, I'll just move on and read the actual top 5..." but NO! That's wrong! Maybe other times it could be acceptable, but not this time! This is the b-side track to Minimoni Jankenpyon!, and god damn you, go listen to it now. Is that riff in the beginning awesome or what? It's not THAT special of a composition, but it's something a little different anyways, is it not? And very cheery too, while we're at it! Basically this is a song I just wanted to mention SOMEWHERE. I just want this track to get acknowledged! Hell, there isn't even a proper article for it on wiki.theppn, what the hell you guys?!

5th: Morning Musume - Namida ni wa Shitakunai: (I'm totally writing these explanations out of order and this is the last thing I'm writing now and I'm kinda in a hurry, I need to start getting drunk soon. You won't mind if I slack off a bit on this one, do you? :))
You might think this is a bit of an odd choice here... and it kinda is, you're right. Granted, it isn't very ambitious and it surely isn't epic at all. However, I do think it's very interesting and unique sounding. The melodies at times sound very unusual to my ears, at least in the context of H!P music. First it might sound like your basic throwaway Momusu b-side, but I really think it isn't, I'd say it's way underrated; I don't remember ever seeing any praise for it. Well, time to fix that right now. It's awesome! I just love the instrumentation here really!

Oh, fun little thing I just noticed now. A nice touch you might not notice right away is that at the start, all the lines sung go in order of when the girls joined.
(...Oooh man, now I really gotta go and get drunken! Thinking about it now, though, this song isn't really all that "refined" either... Oh hell, I don't have the time now to look for a better one. Gotta go. See you! Read the rest of the post please, it gets better, I promise! :D)

4th: Natsumi Abe - Yuuyakezora: This oft forgotten b-side of Natsumi's first solo single 22sai no Watashi is basically here for the sole reason that it's one of the rare cases in H!P where I can truly say I've never heard another song quite like this in all of H!P's discography. Really. That must mean it's special somehow, right?

Nevertheless, Yuuyakezora is an interesting song, very much unlike any other H!P song I can remember, like I just said. It's a slow/mid-tempo one, with pretty interesting sounding instrumentation to give it a unique feel. Without looking at a translation of the lyrics before writing this, it doesn't take much to figure out they probably aren't very happy. Indeed, the vocals during the verses are filled with what could almost be called angst similar to the vocals in Shabondama, however with a much more substantial amount of sadness. Nacchi's vocal performance doesn't leave much to be desired; numerous are the amount of eargasms I've experienced whilst hearing those chilling choruses.

It's simply a surprisingly sad song for not being a ballad. I would basically call it the complete opposite of Nacchi's newest single Iki wo Kasanemashou. Give this another chance for a change; I know it's spring and all and you'd only want to listen to happy fun stuff, but damn, that's all the more reason to listen to something nice and depressing! Hooray for being negative!

3rd: Morning Musume - Dekiru Onna: The b-side track to Ai Araba IT'S ALL RIGHT. Tsunku isn't afraid to sometimes really let his influences shine through in his songs, be it through Beatles-y Kids songs or what-have-you, and this is no different. Any j-pop song sung by a bunch of cute girls that sounds so much like Queen absolutely gets two thumbs up from me.

I feel Rika does an excellent job at both opening and closing this song. In fact, the opening line is pretty much my favorite line of the whole song. Though I use the word way too often on my blog, the very beginning just sounds incredibly eerie to my ears. I feel Rika really delivers on that line. Very nicely done.

Tasty guitar solo, too!

2nd: Morning Musume - Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~: This is definitely one for the epic category. This track just screams "epic!" at you, does it not? Yossie (along with Nacchi and Maki) takes on the role of the hot male center seducing the then-innocent Makoto, hot enough to even make me go gay for her... if she really was a male, that is.

You know, the problem with most of H!P's music (and j-pop in general too, I admit) is its inability to REALLY give me those kicks I get from some other forms of music. You might know what I'm talking about; hearing a part so good in a song, it just makes you feel ecstatic and it forces a smile on your face and you're thinking "ahh... this is what music is all about, man". Some people refer to this phenomenon as an "eargasm", or "music-induced erection".

I don't get that a lot with Hello! Project. It's not necessarily that I think other music is superior to H!P's offerings... the problem, I think, lies in the pop music format. You see, I think what really gives me those special moments with music are the build-ups. Yep, the build-ups, while not really rare in pop music, they could definitely be used more in H!P songs. Though while I do love them, there are exceptions to this rule: The Beatles are often times very pop, and they are able to give me that feeling of awesomeness no matter if there is a build-up in sight anywhere. I mean, "Because" from Abbey Road? Damn! ...But then again, The Beatles are, well, The fuckin' Beatles, man!

However, this is not a problem I have to experience with this song. As you know, this one features an awesome build-up and it's naturally my favorite part of the whole song. You know what I mean. First the whole call-and-answer thing Nacchi and Maki do, then Yossie's crazy solo and the "YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH!"... followed by a short silence, after which we kick into the lovely chorus once more... and it's all just awesome. Watching some of the older performances of this one, it almost never fails to give me the chills. Specifically, right after the yeah's and during the break. Ahh, that anticipation of the greatness approaching...

Long story short, I love the song. But then again, who doesn't?

1st: Morning Musume - Souda! We're ALIVE: Yep, this is one song I feel definitely fills all three requirements of this ranking. It's epic, ambitious and most definitely interesting. And what's more, it's rocking as hell! In fact, it's so rocking I often have to make the "angry metalhead face" when listening to it; if you are the least bit into metal and have seen any live videos of especially the guitarists and bassists, you can't have missed this facial expression. The one that looks like they're extremely constipated. Or, if you play guitar or something yourself and you have to do some real fast picking, then you should also know what I'm talking about, it sort of comes out naturally! You know what I'm talking about, right? Right? Huh, you don't?! I'll show you!

Chris from Cryptopsy playing "Souda! WE'RE ALIVE".. Well, either that or "Slit Your Guts", I forget.

Dallas from Nile here needs to use your toilet... quickly.

2 comments

Seriously, I often look just like that during those rocking, funky verses! Well, except for the whole going bald thing, thank god.

This song is all over the place but it's totally in a good way. I don't have to make a list of everything that goes on in the song, but what's important is that it doesn't feel forced or pretentious at all, not even while introducing that whole Russian polka section or whatever the hell that thing is. Even that is pure gold, and the transition is nearly unnoticeable. Like I've mentioned before, this song has what I think is pretty much the happiest part in any Hello! Project song ever, that wonderful chorus. I'll say no more about it. Just go listen to it to refresh your memory.

That sweet, sweet chorus...

Next is going to be something nearly essential of a ranking when it comes to H!P; it's the top 5 cutest songs.

P.S.: You bastards, don't even bother checking if these were all written by Tsunku; I double-checked and yes, yes they are! Hah! I escape ridicule once more!

...Phew, I'll never write another blog-post in a huge hurry like this again!