D&D – LOVE IS A MELODY ~D&D memorial 1st~ (a J!-ENT World Groove Album Review)

1. IN YOUR EYES
2. ARE YOU READY?
3. BE MY LOVER
4. SHAPE UP LOVE
5. LOVER’S SOUL
6. Together Forever
7. BRAND NEW LOVE
8. MAYBE TOMORROW
9. LOVE IS A MELODY
10. SUNSHINE HERO
11. Remembering Yesterday (Album Version)

D&D (Dance & Dream) was a Japanese all female trio dance group featuring OLIVIA, Aya and Chikano. Like Namie Amuro, MAX and SPEED, the trio are from the Okinawan Actors School and were managed by Rising Production.

Similar to the group MAX which began as a group that sung Japanese versions of Eurobeat cover songs of European and American groups/artists, D&D followed in 1996 with their debut single “IN YOUR EYES” and would release five singles together and those five singles plus a few of their coupling tracks are found in the group’s first album “LOVE IS A MELODY ~D&D memorial 1st~”.

The album is fantastic, that is if you are a big fan of D&D. You can tell that OLIVIA is hapa and is fluent in English (pronunciation of the English tracks are well done) while the other two are Japanese.

The single kicks off with the group’s first single “IN YOUR EYES” (theme song to Yuri Beauty Clinic) and is an all English track. At the beginning, OLIVIA hums at the beginning of the song for the album version.

The second track “ARE YOU READY?” is a Eurobeat driven track and it’s a pretty awesome J-Pop song and while “IN YOUR EYES” showcases OLIVIA’s English vocals, this track showcases OLIVIA’s Japanese vocals. Catchy track…love it!

The third track “BE MY LOVER” is a synth-driven all English pop track and was the coupling song for the “IN YOUR EYES” single and another catchy track!

The fourth track “SHAPE UP LOVE” is the group’s fourth single and the CM theme song for Pharmaceutical Campus. One of my favorite tracks from the group and an excellent J-Pop dance track!

The fifth track “LOVER’S SOUL” is an upbeat, J-Pop track and another track that showcases OLIVIA’s Japanese vocals. Love it!

The sixth track “Together Forever” is an up-tempo Japanese pop/Eurobeat track. Another cool track on the album!

The seventh track “BRAND NEW LOVE” is the group’s latest single just released in Japan two weeks ago and so happy it was included on this album! Love this song and love hearing Aya and Chikano harmonizing with the background vocals. Love the bass beat in the beginning of the track and also on the bridge!

The eighth track “MAYBE TOMORROW” is another fast, upbeat Japanese pop track ala Eurobeat and is another awesome track on this album!

The ninth track “LOVE IS A MELODY” is the group’s second single and theme song for Yuri Beauty Clinic and probably a song that the group is know for, as it was promoted a lot by Avex.

The tenth track “SUNSHINE HERO” is the group’s third single and was used as a CM theme song for Morinaga’s Piknik and I love the harmonizing in this track. It’s not Eurobeat like the other tracks but I definitely love the beats and musical arrangement of the track and love the vocals on this track as well!

The final track is “Remembering YESTERDAY (ALBUM VERSION)” is coupling song for “SHAPE UP LOVE” and is an upbeat, happy dance track.

The CD insert is a booklet which features photos of the trio, lyrics to the songs and production credits.

Overall, “LOVE IS A MELODY ~D&D memorial 1st~” is a pretty cool album. I have been listening to this album over and over in my car, in my CD player while walking to my college Japanese class and I have not taken it out since. I love the musical arrangement (as I do dig the Eurobeat sound) and I have to say that D&D has become one of my favorite pop groups of late. If there was only three things that I wish were on this album, it’s the three cover tracks “Grab My Love”, “GIRL FRIENDS” and “YOU’RE NO. 1″ but I suppose you can find this easily if you purchase their previous singles.

This is a hot album! Definitely give D&D’s first album a chance. Highly recommended!

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