I loved Yesterday

YUI's third album was released last Wednesday. Oh Yeah! I've pre-ordered my limited edition CD+DVD from Yee Hai in MP, but I foresee it's not gonna arrive for another couple of weeks or so. No worries. The songs are posted all over the net. It's amazing how popular she actually is internationally. It's even more amazing that local Malaysian dealers don't stock her products.

Tracklist:

01 Laugh away

02 My Generation

03 Find me

04 No way

05 Namidairo

06 Daydreamer

07 Love is all

08 I will love you

09 We will go

10 OH YEAH

11 My friend

12 LOVE & TRUTH

13 Am I wrong?

DVD Tracklist:

01 Good-bye days

02 I remember you

03 Rolling star

04 CHE.R.RY

05 Budokan live clips (2007.11.19)

Personal review:

Once again, YUI has managed to churn out fresh-sounds. Unlike many western artist, this girls' a workaholic.Since her debut 3 years ago, she's released 3 albums and 13 singles(that about 60 songs), done 2 tours, had a major concert at Nippon Budokan and had countless TV and magazine appearances. Not bad for a street singer who dropped out of school at 16. She's 21 now, and my only complaint about this album is that she has evolved so far, i sometimes miss the acoustic guitar-playing YUI that sang It's happy line. But her evolution is good in many ways and I support it. The songs on this album are much more technologically 'canggih' compared to when she first started. She's using a lot of effects, like distortion and layering. The fast songs on this album are encouraging and upbeat,with heavy punk rock influences. (Yes, she's definitely going in that direction)The lyrics are solid and uplifting. Tracks like laugh away, Oh Yeah, Daydreamer and my favourite We will go are a must when one is feeling down or sluggish or depressed. Just to give you a taste of her lyrics, here's a snippet of We will go , Translated(Courtesy of Uchihamel of Yui-Lover Forums):

Enough with the ‘there’s no other way out’ kind of expression

Who’s the victim? Who’s the perpetrator?

Even when we're soaking wet let's continue smiling!

Because I’ll always be right at your side

There’s no such thing as changing goals

I believe . Don’t forget, alright?

With you

Enough with the ‘there’s no other way out’ kind of expression

Who’s the victim? Who’s the perpetrator?

Even when we're soaking wet let's continue smiling!

Because I’ll always be right at your side

Isn’t this what you have been aiming for all this while?

Haven’t you been striving hard all this while?

Been watching such a you all along

Don’t escape/run away

We will go!!

The rock songs are even-ed out by string-infused ballads like Namidairo and Love and Truth ( both were singles released in 2007 and Feb 2008). Love and truth has to be the most dramatic thing she's released, the strings compliment her electric guitar smoothly.This song I feel really shows her versatility as a songwriter, switching effortlessly between punk and pop. Apart from that, the easy listening tunes "My friend" and "Am I wrong" makes the album less noisy and adds a contemplative character to it.One of YUI's gifts apart from being able to constantly come up with fresh sounds is her maturity in lyrics writing, her talent in capturing emotion into words. It's on par with some of my favourite english poets (e.g.Dickinson) Makes me want to listen over and over again. Worth all my money.(The limited edition costs 3 digits)

Last I checked, the album was number 1 on the Japan Oricon charts.

Kudos Yui. Gambatte Kudasai!