TETSUYA KOMURO THE GREATEST HITS a

There is hardly anyone else who was so present in the music world as producer and songwriter Tetsuya Komuro. His songs helped artists like TRF and Amuro Namie get enormous recognition, and they helped him gain immortality. Now you can buy his biggest hits in two CD boxes: TETSUYA KOMURO THE GREATEST HITS a and TETSUYA KOMURO THE GREATEST HITS s. This review is of the a-edition.

H Jungle with t’s relaxed and simple surfer hymn GOING GOING HOME starts off the compilation, and it's followed by TRF’s happy dance song survival dAnce~no no cry more~ with its rousing refrain. globe's Feel Like dance seems pale beside the latter track. Certainly the song earns points through its good mood, but due to the chaotic and displaced rapping, the song becomes easily ignorable. The first song of Komuro’s old project TM NETWORK, which was pretty active in the 80's, is the eurobeat style Get Wild. It draws attention with its fast rhythm and groovy bass, and the lyrics are yearning and challenging. Too bad the following BE TOGETHER by Suzuki Ami is so inharmonious, despite the R&B elements. The male choir makes it so shrill and discordant that even the fascinating bridge can’t save the song.

However, Komuro’s song for Amuro Namie is an absolute hit. In Don’t wanna cry, leisurely melodies come up against dynamic vocals, creating a fine Caribbean-styled love song. Dynamic, but more mysterious and just as rousing, is I BELIEVE by Kahala Tomomi. Her deep nasal voice nestles beautifully with the synthesizer melody. Subsequently, globe and their song FACES PLACES seems to turn down the heat with its calm acoustic guitars and serious lyrics. But after two minutes the whole thing changes; electric guitars and the increasing pace of music smash the track wide open. A high-drama piece, vocalist KEIKO unfortunately has trouble with the high-pitched parts, which often sound shrill. Watanabe Misato and her dreamy, happy love song BELIEVE from 1986 give us a short breather.

With a song is born, Hamasaki Ayumi and KEIKO sing a short series of songs together; all of the songs used were newly arranged for the VARIOUS ARTISTS FEATURING songnation project. More collaborations include Koda Kumi’s the meaning of peace with BoA, and Amuro Namie’s lovin’it with VERBAL. The voices all harmonize with each other well and create a special atmosphere. The closer of the first disc really brings the house down as YOU ARE THE ONE features hitomi, m.c.A-T, DJ KOO, Namie and many other famous voices. Though KOO’s fast rapping don’t really fit the calm, Christmas-like music, overall it can be overlooked.

The second disc is opened with Namie’s yearning and orchestral love song CAN YOU CELEBRATE?. Then hitomi delivers a life-affirming, happy party tune with an Irish touch, and it is followed by the sad Sotsugyou by Watanabe Misato. Misato’s track comes to life through the mysterious harp and the wonderful acoustic elements. The third and last contribution of globe is a slowly developing, sensitive and fascinating love song that really deserves to be heard. Ami’s second song is a lively summer song that reminds a little bit on her song Alright!.

Shinhara Ryoko with t.komuro’s dynamic pop-rock dance track draws attention due to Ryoko’s dramatic voice. Next to it is the fast eurodance tune DIVE INTO YOUR BODY by TM NETWORK. It has some very catchy lyrics. Miyazawa Rie changes the pace and mood with her exciting and mysterious song NO TITLIST and confronts us with soft percussion, light synthesizers and sweet guitar chords. Kitschy but still dynamic, Nakayama Miho’s love song JINGI -aishite mo raimasu rounds out the section.

Though the next song belongs to the category “love song,” the calm and sensible main melody with traditional Japanese elements and a playful kitschy refrain of Koizumi Kyoko’s bright Good Morning-Call pushes the boundaries. The fast and dreamy happy wake-up! by Mitsuki Arisa follows, and what would a Tetsuya Komuro collection be without his song BOY MEETS GIRL? In short, incomplete! The hypnotic love song he wrote for TRF has character and fascinates over and over. The reason for this isn’t only YU-KI’s vocals but the almost Bollywood chorus as well. The last track of the sampler seems a bit strange at first: Backstreet Boys' Missing You. But a look into the booklet clarifies the situation; Komuro once wrote this song for the American boy band and their album Backstreet’s Back, and so the last tune is a calm ballad with a very nice polyphonic choir.

The result of TETSUYA KOMURO THE GREATEST HITS a is short despite its wealth of songs. The collection offers something to every pop fan. All ages are served and in just one box set, you receive a very interesting overview of the creations by a talented man.