Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi

by

AmiYumi

Edit

First off, this is Puffy's official unveiling to a mass American audience, and either: they won't know what hit them, they will be utmost delighted, or both.

I would think both.

Puffy (Ami and Yumi) are now poised to become household names in the US, and THAT would be so groovy!! Puffy and Spongebob, what could be a better combination??

This CD, their first for Epic/Sony BMG proper in the US, serves as the soundtrack to Puffy's cartoon show "Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi" on the Cartoon Network, and I hear the show is fun and delightful with tons of music industry in-jokes. As cool for us adult kids, as impressionable youngsters. Coolness!!

To us Puffy fans, this CD is like "An Illustrated History" Part 2, always a cool thing!! It includes 2 new/recent songs with 4 from their 2003/2004 Japanese mini-album "59"!!! The newer songs have that trusty/mad genius Andy Sturmer touch. To those not in the know, Andy is the pop god from 90s powerpoppers Jellyfish, one of the greatest powerpop bands of all time...investigate if you're not familiar...pronto!!

The great thing about this disc (and all Puffy discs for that matter) is that it flows like a solid album, not a disjointed mess. Plus, Puffy's tunes and styles are timeless, bright, ultracatchy and clever, and they run all over the pop + rock + roll music map from the past 40 years, put em all in a blender, mix well, and VOILA!! It comes out distinctly Puffy!! Doesn't matter whether Ami + Yumi sing in Japanese or English, their charm wins you over...as someone recently said in his review of "Nice", Puffy creams me everytime I try and resist their charms...listen, with Puffy, resistance is futile, useless, just give in for chrissakes, your resistance will NEVER win!!

OK, the tracklisting and the details: all 10/10 grades

1- "Hi Hi" (The cartoon's theme...rocking + ultracatchy with cool riffs, audience sound effects and groovy farfisa)

2- "Friends Forever" (from the "Scooby Doo 2" soundtrack, rocking riff, catchy-as-hell chorus, more farfisa, neato breakdown in the bridge)

3- "Planet Tokyo" (from "Nice", an addictive, catchy-as-all-hell, rocking + funky little tune)

4- "Joining A Fan Club" (from "59", YEP, their Jellyfish cover!!!!!! Neat ska-ish arrangement, with a nice lyrical point of view twist)

5- "Forever" (from "59", a short little 60's-ish jangly gem that would make the Bangles blush, with their harmonies and Beatles overtones)

6- "V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N" (a Yumi solo tune from 1997's 2EP set "solosolo", similar in concept to OutKast's "Speakerboxx/The Love Below", but done 7 years prior. The song?? Japanese-sung, sounds like a 60s beach movie song, like "Beach Blanket Bingo")

7- "Love So Pure" (from "Spike", a song so Jellyfish, it's scary!! Catchy, tuneful and delightful.)

8- "True Asia" (their 1st hit in Japan from 1996, sounds like ELO, Jeff Lynne would be jealous)

9- "Boogie Woogie No.5" (from "Spike", a groovy little song, with George Of The Jungle drums, stinging guitar riffs, snappy horn section, dancey arrangement with ultrabright vocals front and center, and a catchy countdown in the chorus)

10- "That's The Way It Is" (from "Jet CD", their sunny Beatle-esque tune, with catchy guitar riffs, verses and choruses, constant handclaps, cool vocal tradeoffs on the chorus arrangements, and nifty little harmonica solos by the girls on the break)

11- "Sunrise" (from "59", OH..MY..GOD!!!! Could be the greatest Puffy song yet!!! Catchy and bright are raised to a whole 'nother level on this gem, wow!! Instant mood enhancer. The tempo is speedy, with globs of melody plopped on top, from the guitar riffs + keyboard lines which are brighter than, yep, the greatest sunrises. The chorus HAS to be the most melodic and catchy and uplifting I have heard, possibly EVER...doesn't matter that it's in Japanese...this tune will burrow deep in your pleasure crater and get stuck, enabling it unmovable!!!! Could be one of the greatest pop tunes ever written, bar none!!)

12-"Into The Beach" (from "Spike" and their Japanese hits collection from 2000, rocking, catchy, tuneful and in your face, with the sharp riffs front and center)

13- "December" (from "Spike", a nice, refreshing, ultramelodic and mellow, keyboard-driven Burt Bacharach/Brian Wilson hybrid)

14- "Teen Titans Theme" (from the US "Nice" and the Japanese "59", genius fun powerpop, like "Secret Agent Man" meets the Ramones and Bay City Rollers, with it's catchy-as-hell, addictive structure overall, fitting right in with many cartoon themes of the 60s and 70s, and neat surf-like guitar licks + punky vocal attack...love the end where they squeal out "TEEN TITANS" in their singular high-pitched voices together and Japanese accent...)

Irresistible...Puffy rules!!!! ;-)

I am a completist at heart when filling out my music library so I picked up the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi soundtrack...

Music wise it is pretty much a boiled down version of An Illustrated History, which is probably the better primer to get to know this wonderful Japanese duo. A couple new English tracks are in Hi Hi (Hi Hi, Friends Forever, Forever, Joining a Fan Club) plus Sunrise from their Japanese EP 59. it is also a theme song for one of the Gundam series in Japan.

The web enhanced stuff is okay...not a whole lot new, but maybe Sony Music will tack on some more stuff soon. There is nothing there that you can;t get from Cartoon Network's website. It would have been netter to have stuff on the CD for fans, like the videos of the songs...

There is just enough new stuff (especially for the fans bereft of Puffy's Japanese relase of 59) to make it worth while...for those of you looking to learn more about Puffy this is a fair place to start (but An Illustrated History is a better one). For fans of the new Cartoon Network show it will give a much broader view of their work than the well placed snippets in the show.

On a song by song note:

Hi Hi - An infectious and fun theme song from the show. Though I suspect only Ami is singing as Yumi's English is still a little shaky.

Friends Forever - A nice English version of the song from Nice

Planet Tokyo - A great song off of Nice, though maybe not as good as Your Love is A Drug.

Joining A Fan Club - I prefer the Japanese version from Nice, but it is good song in this version too.

Forever - Both seem to be singing in English, it is a throwback 60's girl band song and very pleasant.

VACATION - Not a song I like much, but your mileage may vary. Probably good for the snippets on the show.

Love So Pure - Yumi seems to be singing lead on this English version and makes it a compellingly great song.

True Asia: The Japanese version and anothe rgreat song...and their first hit.

Boogie Woogie #5: A song I do not like, but again good for sampling snippets into the show.

That's The Way It Is: A very catchy song and more throwback than j-poppy.

Sunrise: A GREAT song as are most of the songs Andy Sturmer has done with Puffy over the past several years. Very well sung and played. One of the few songs where lots of synthesizers are a great thing.

Into The Beach: An okay song, very heartfelt vocals.

December: A nice sounding more serious sounding song.

Teen Titans Theme: A fun song from the Cartoon Network series...another great Sturmer song.