PAST<FUTURE

Eye Candy + Random Thoughts

Sadness!  I liked the overly photo shopped BEST FICTION pictures!  Anyway, I really this cover.  There are only two three things that I deem extremely horrific: the font, Namie’s pale ass skin, and her curly hair.  I have nothing against curly hair, but I think she look better with straight hair or wispy curled hair like for BEST FICTION.  Straight hair makes Namie look fierce and bitchy, which is what I picture her as when she out there touring and dancing her skinny ass off.  As for her skin, I don’t know why it look so pale.  Maybe she became a vampire and she is ripping up her old self because she was made of plastic and she had no blood.  Maybe she is representing her new PAST self.  She does look like a flapper with her curly hair, pale skin and red lipstick combo, and the silver dress (I’m thinking the vampire idea…).  The font is just awful.  Why the Past in the stupid crossed font?  Why is a silver font put on a background that makes it hard to see?  Oh well, it’s just the font, and there are always those pictures that don’t have it.  Oh, and why is the title according to Oricon PAST<FUTURE when the cover say Past<Future?  Obviously no one cares.

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1. FAST CAR
2. COPY THAT
3. LOVE GAME
4. Bad Habit
5. Steal my Night
6. FIRST TIMER feat. DOBERMAN INC.
7. WILD
8. Dr.
9. Shut Up
10. MY LOVE
11. The Meaning Of Us
12. Defend Love

The PAST immediately gets in our faces with FAST CAR.  Even though I consider it a past song, I can’t really relate it to anything in her past discography.  This song, like many of Namie’s songs, deals with sex.  Jeez Namie!  Your a 32 year old mother!  You don’t want your son’s friends coming over to your house to “give it up,” do you?  Anyway, I like this song.  It’s funky and fresh, just what I need after a series of disappointments in the JPop industry this year.

I have been obsessed with COPY THAT ever since the song leaked.  I think the chorus is extremely catchy, and even though she repeats it like crazy, I still can’t get enough!  Also, is it a bad thing that the intro of the song reminds me of Australia?  Hmmm, satisfaction is definitely guaranteed, unless you don’t like Namie’s higher vocals or the amazingly heavy outro.  I’m a little sad they shortened it and made it fade out, especially after I got used to it.

LOVE GAME is the song that I have been playing constantly since the PV debuted.  I don’t know why I like it so much, especially when the chorus is a little monotonous.  Even with that fact, I have listened to this song  song almost 60 times.  This song also breaks the flow of past to future songs.  When I saw the tracklist before I heard any of the songs, I thought the first six were going to feature songs of a more jazzy nature like in PLAY.  Namie has instead decided to start using synths and electro beats.  … Anywho, this song reminds me of a a futuristic ALARM, and I love ALARM.

At first, I didn’t really know what to think of Bad Habit.  It features oriental chants in my opinion, which is extremely noticable in the chorus, electronic synths, spacy sounds, and Namie’s awkward english.  I really didn’t like the way she said habit at first, but I have gotten used to it.  Her english is amazing when she says, “Can’t stay away.”  It’s pretty great for being so short.

At first, I thought we were going to get an elctronic Spanish flavored song, and I wasn’t to far off, but this Steal my Night just features to many heavy beats and claps and snaps (even though the snaps do help, like in the chorus) to be classified as such.  I’m going to agree and say that Namie’s english pretty much mimics Meisia Kuroki’s english, namely when she says “baby you can do it” and “breakin’ my rules.”  She also sounds like Kuroki in the next verse in the same places.  This song is the first slip so far, but it’s not a very big one.  I think the bridge is the best part overall.  It’s not that boring, as Namie points out, but I can see why some people aren’t fond of it.

I first thought that we were coming into the “true” future of the album, but I was wrong.  Namie has instead fallen flat on her face in a sh!t.  FIRST TIMER feat. DOBERMAN INC. features electronic sounds, but Rn’B vocals, if that makes sense.  The way she harmonizes her voice with herself by singing the background reminds me of CAN’T SLEEP, CAN’T EAT, I’M SICK.  The dumb guy, who I’m guessing is DOBERMAN INC. (oh, let’s just pick the douchiest name that anyone can think of!), sucks at life.  He can’t sing to save his life.  He just makes this song sound even messier and his solo is atrocious.  I never want to hear the word touch again!  The only part of the song I enjoy is when everyone finally shuts up at the very end and I can actually hear the music.

Oh WILD, you sure are amazing.  Even after listening to this song for almost twelve months, I still don’t get tired of it.  The beats are just plain catchy and Namie’s english isn’t completely unbearable, well except when she does the finger/belly/toes thing.  Does she say short sleeves during that part?  If she doesn’t, I feel like an idiot.  The distorted chipmunk-ish voice is a nice touch too, if it’s even a voice…

Dr. may have received a lot of bashing from a lot of people, but I don’t know why.  I like how chaotic it sounds, mainly during the marching beat with the slow part following.  The beat to this song is actually pretty fast overall though.  Namie’s english is good, too and I find the chorus catchy, pretty much like almost every song on the album.  This probably is the most futuristic song in a literal sense on the album, but I think the majority of the songs so far represent a new chapter for Namie.  This song is much fun to sing along with and it doesn’t hurt that it sounds a little heart-felt.  GOOD JOB!

What the hell is this song about?  Did the writer of Kuu’s Black Cherry take over the intro of Shut Up?  Few, at least it doesn’t last that long.  Shut Up sounds amazing, to put it plainly.  By just looking at the title I imagined something like TOP SECRET or THE SPEED STAR, but I’m happy I was wrong.  Namie doesn’t do a lot of rock sounding songs.  In fact, I don’t really consider this a rock song, but an AMAZING song.  Does she say, “I understand the bad side of life” in this song?  It sure sounds like it.  Anyway, I can’t stress enough how much I love this song.  Namie sounds emotional, which is a feat in its own.  Best song on the album hands down.

Bleh.  I never liked MY LOVE and I still don’t.  First of all, she repeats my love way to much, even though she repeats every chorus on this album to a certain extreme.  She just gets carried away.  I don’t like Namie’s cute vocals as much as her angry/sexy/deep vocals, and this song is pretty much created on the idea of stuffed animals and fuzzy kittens.  The bridge is ok, but is ruined by the obnoxious sounding gay guy saying ok.  NO! IT’S NOT OK!  Namie was on somewhat of a flow with the past songs, but with MY LOVE, things just turn discombobulated upside down.

Oh, Namie actually puts a somewhat good ballad on an album.  I don’t and won’t consider The Meaning of Us an amazing ballad, but Namie does have the ability to sing ballads, no matter how much she likes to deny it.  I think it’s leagues better than Should I Love Him?, but maybe I just got sick of that song.  In fact, I’m pretty much sick of everything on PLAY.  I think Namie needs to recreate another I WILL or HimAWArI (the on on LOVE ENHANCED♥single collection, not the one on break the rules).  Oh well, I don’t go to Namie for ballads anyway.

Keeping up with the literal futuristic scene is Defend Love.  Why would this song be put as the last song, especially since it comes right after a ballad.  Meh.  Anyway, this song is pretty much the darkest sounding song on the album.  It can be pretty intense at times, but that all melts away when we come to the calm bridge, but that to soon fades.  I don’t know why, but I just can’t get into this song.  It isn’t very Namie, but maybe that’s what she was trying to accomplish.  Not a great song, and not a great conclusion in my opinion.

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Oh Namie!  I’m so glad you finally released something!  It doesn’t hurt that you put out something almost on the edge of amazing either.  I believe Namie did achieve the futuristic sound she was looking for, but I think if you want to compare this album to another album in her discography, look at  Queen of Hip-Pop.  I think this entire concept is just a reaction to the success of BEST FICTION.  Maybe she is just trying to say that she doesn’t need amazing sales to be happy or motivated to do work.  It’s pretty obvious she loves her work since she tours like a mad woman (73 F***KING CONCERTS!?!).  She also likes to dance her like a maniac (…) or else she wouldn’t do as many beat orientated songs.  -Back to the album-  Even though Namie had a few slip ups and the flow got a little freaky towards the end, I enjoyed the entirety of the album.  There are parts (and when I say parts, I mean parts) of each song that I find enjoyable, but the majority of songs I think are very dance inducing and fantastic.  All I have left to say is… LONG LIVE THE QUEEN! (but if she screws up in anyway or if Ayumi somehow manages to pull another I am… out of her ass, I will be the first to usurp a bitch)

4.5 booty shakin’ Amuros bent on world domination out of 5

1. Shut Up
2. Dr.
3. Bad Habit
4. LOVE GAME
5. WILD