Ryohei – Ryohei BEST (a J!-ENT World Groove Album Music Review)

March 27, 2009 by Dennis Amith 

“Many fans heard Ryohei Yamamoto’s popular vocals through m-flo collaborations but for those who are familiar with his other solo and collaborative music works will definitely want to catch ‘Ryohei Best’ collecting a lot of his popular hits from his Warner Bros. and Rhythm Zone years plus songs from his musical collaborations and a DVD with many of his music videos!”

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ARTIST: Ryohei

ALBUM: Ryohei Best

LABEL: rhythm zone

DURATION: [Disc 1] 1:08:29, [Disc 2] 1:05:17

RELEASE DATE: September 3, 2008

Disc 1:

1. So Fly
2. Why Not? feat. Ryohei/Fantastic Plastic Machine
3. miss you / m-flo loves melody. & Ryohei
4. Taken Over
5. Love So Bright feat. Ryohei / MAKAI
6. ’bout LOVE (Japan Limoited) feat. Ryohei / BLACK JAXX
7. Losingeverything feat. Ryohei / MEXICO
8. World
9. Let It Flow
10. Valentine / RACCO & Ryohei
11. ReListen feat. LISA
12. you said…
13. onelove feat. VERBAL (m-flo)

DISC 2:

1. Set Free
2. I’m Not In Love feat. Ryohei / GTS
3. Slip Away feat. Ryohei / Sunaga t Experience
4. Believe Me
5. Like This
6. Summer Time Love / m-flo loves Hinouchi Emi & Ryohei
7. the LIGHT
8. Your Song feat. Ryohei / Kentaro Takizawa
9. a dancer in the room feat. Ryhohei / 宮川弾アンサンブル
10. 恋は傘の中で愛に feat. Ryohei / Tomita Lab
11. Almost There
12. Just Want
13. あなたの手

DVD: Region 2, 4:3, DURATION: 39 minutes

1. Almost There
2. Set Free
3. Believe Me
4. Take Over
5. onelove feat. VERBAL (m-flo)
6. the LIGHT
7. you said…
8. ReListen feat. Lisa
9. So Fly
   

Known for his smooth and cool collaborations with m-flo for hit songs such as “miss you” (m-flo loves melody. & Ryohei) and “Summer Time Love” (m-flo loves Hinouchi Emi & Ryohei), many people may have not known that Ryohei (aka Ryohei Yamamoto) has been around cranking CD singles since 2003 starting with his “Almost There”.

With many collaborations with a variety of artists under his belt, the Japanese R&B vocalist releases his first best album featuring every CD single released under Ryohei Yamamoto, Ryohei and also collaborative songs with Fantastic Plastic Machine, MAKAI, BLACK JAXX, MEXICO, LISA, GTS, Tomita Lab, Sunaga t Experience, VERBAL and of course his m-flo loves collaborative tracks.

The album contains 26 awesome hits  and over two hours of music which features a variety of music depending on his collaborations but for the most part, the tracks are upbeat Japanese R&B tracks.   Despite having only released seven CD singles (“Almost There”, “Believe Me”, “you said…” and “Take Over” for Yamamoto Ryohei from his Warner Bros. years (2003-2005) and “onelove”, “the LIGHT” and “you said” for Ryohei (sans the last name for his rhythm zone years), Ryohei has collaborated with many musical artists on his album and other artist’s albums and singles.

Songs included are from June 2003 from his first CD single “Almost There” through Dec. 2008 (’bout LOVE feat. Ryohei and BLACK JAXX).

Standout tracks include his hit song “So Fly” showcasing his R&B vocals, “Why Not?” with Fantastic Plastic Machine incorporates the musical style of FPM with Osawa’s well-known style of experimentation of cool music with digitized blips and sounds.

Then of course you get possibly Ryohei’s most recognized collaborative song “miss you” from m-flo loves Hinouchi Emi feat. Ryohei plus the other m-flo loves hit “Summer Time Love”  with Hinouchi Emi which are two hits and favorites for m-flo fans, his drumtrack driven dance track with house DJ MAKAI and a synth driven track with ’bout LOVE’ with his collaboration with Black Jaxx, “Losing You” with MEXICO and “I’m Not in Love” (a cover of the 1978 classic 10cc hit) with GTS showing more of his ability to incorporate different styles of music with a more upbeat dance tracks.  But then you have a track such as “Slip Away” which shows the classy, piano and jazz driven track with a collaboration with Sunaga t Experience.  Another cover includes Elton John’s “Your Song” with a cool collaboration with popular remixer Kentaro Takizawa with almost a Summer style of feel.

And as there are upbeat dance tracks, there are awesome ballads such as “Valentine” featuring collaborations with RACCO, “ReListen” with LISA and a cool jam titled “onelove” with m-flo’s VERBAL and much, much more included on this BEST album.

For those who purchase the 3-Disc version of the album, you get a total of nine music videos from his 2003 single release of “Almost There” to his latest video “So Fly”.   Most of you are wondering if it’ s just best to get the two-disc music version or the version with the DVD.  So, here are my feelings on the nine music videos.

“Almost There” is a music video directed by Tsuyoshi Inoue featuring Ryohei singing with water falling, on him, on flowers, etc.

“Set Free”  is a music video directed by Akihisa Takagi and features Ryohei walking and singing near a oil refinery or industrial area.

“Believe Me” is a ballad directed by Akihisa Takagi featuring Ryohei singing a ballad with the forest behind him.

“Take Over” is directed by Kitetsu Takamiya and Mikiyo Kato and features computerized graphics from 67531graphics.

“onelove” features Ryohei with VERBAL of m-flo.  The music video features a wet Ryohei and video shown movement played in reverse and forward.  A pretty cool music video directed by Akihisa Takagi and definitely a much better video than his previous two he did for Ryohei.

“the LIGHT” features a music video directed by Ryuichi Shirota of Fantasista Inc.  Features Ryohei singing with a sky backdrop and standing on water.  Actually, a pretty cool music video using CG.

“you said…” is a music video directed by Masaki Ohtaki.  A Music video featuring Ryohei going back to his apartment and the woman he loves no longer there anymore.  Video shows Ryohei alone and then shots of his ex-girlfriend leaving him a goodbye letter and realizing the two missed seeing each other by five minutes.

“ReListen” features Ryohei with LISA and the two performing live from her live concert.   This is not the live version from the concert (which is available on the DVD for LISA’s album “Ready to Disco”).  Directed by Hiroshi Saito.

“So Fly” is a fun, energetic music video featuring a girl wearing headphones and reacting to the CG art and letters that go around her while she walks through Tokyo.  A very cool music video directed by Yasuyuki Hoshi.

With the original music videos (the first four videos) from his Warner Bros. years featuring videos that appear with a much lower budget, the remaining five videos are much better production-wise and are pretty cool to watch.

Personally, I think people can just get the two-disc version and be content.  If the DVD contained “miss you” and “Summer Time Love”, then that would probably change my opinion.  But with half the music videos being OK, that leaves you with five cool videos but with probably only three music videos that you would most likely rewatch.

The CD insert booklet features photos of Ryohei, plus a handwritten double truck of the lyrics written by Ryohei.  Also, production credits and a flyer with rhythm zone releases for September 2008.

Overall, for a best album, you can’t really ask for more.  Ryohei is an artist that doesn’t have a long string of CD single releases but he does have a lot of songs he collaborated with many artists.  So, to get a lot of his CD singles and music videos from when he was with Warner Bros. plus his recent rhythm zone releases and all his collaborative tracks on two discs plus the nine of his music videos, you really can’t go wrong with that.

So, for those who have enjoyed his songs or collaborative songs, “Ryohei BEST” is a great way to start enjoying his music.  As for the two-disc vs. the three-disc version, it depends on you but personally, the two-disc version will probably do for this release.  Nevertheless, for Ryohei fans, this album is definitely worth checking out!

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