“AAA returns with a new mini album but this time featuring only the male members of the group. Overall, a solid mini-album with six upbeat tracks and a cool ballad.  Definitely worth checking out if you are fans of AAA.”
BUY THIS ALBUM:
GROUP: AAA
ALBUM: CHOICE IS YOURS
LABEL: avex trax
CATALOG #: AVCD-23595/B
DURATION: 24:17
RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2008
- Crash
- Hasta la vista ～アスタ・ラ・ビスタ～
- ZAPPER
- Crying Freeman
- BET
- ã‚ãれるãらã„ã‚ãŒã¾ã¾ãªè‡ªç”±
DVD: Region 2, 4:3 for the music video, Duration: 11 minutes
- Crash -Music Clip-
- Crash -Off Shot Video-
With a lot of the male idol groups dominating the charts, AAA’s hybrid idol group which features five guys and two women has a new mini-album that came out in June 2008 spotlighting the male members Takahiro Nishijima, Naoya Urata, Shuta Sueyoshi, Shinjiro Atae and Mitsuhiro Hidaka.
In the past, Avex has done quite a few tests with AAA with multiple CD single releases with songs by the male members, songs by the female members and songs with all members together.
But AAA has been quite an interesting experiment as it managed to successfully take a group of guys and girls together with singing and dancing talent and see how it would catch on with fans.
Of course, AAA was not a midnight success as it took several years before the group would break the #1 spot on the Oricon Charts and have CD singles that would constantly debut in the Oricon top 10.
With the release of “CHOICE IS YOURS”, I would image Avex marketing trying to do another test to see how a mini-album would fare if the women were not in the group. As mentioned before, it’s one thing to see Johnny’s Jimusho boy bands constantly dominate the #1 ranking in Japan and then avex’s Rhythm Zone’s most successful boy band at the moment, Tohoshinki, also having similar success.
So, how good is this mini-album? Or is it any good at all, especially without female members Misaki Uno and Chiaki Ito?
The album starts of with a very energetic and catchy track titled “Crash”. The song is used for the Nintendo DS video game “World Destruction ~Sekai Bokumetsu no Rokunin” (note: AAA’s “Zero” is used for the anime theme song for “World Destruction). I actually thought this song was pretty awesome! Vocals were well-done and just found the overall song pretty enjoyable.
The second track titled “Hasta la vista” features a song entirely written and musically produced by MONK. Another catchy track that I can envision showcasing the group’s choreography. What I like about this song is that it has a style different from typical AAA tracks. Overall, another awesome track on the mini-abum.
The third track “ZAPPER” is an interesting song because it has some old school “Zing’s” but probably a track that is comparable to the AAA style of sound that fans expect from the group. A fun, upbeat track.
The fourth track “Crying Freeman” features the group working with Kenn Kato and h-wonder in a mid-tempo track. Not sure if there is a tie-in to an anime series due to it’s title but for the actual song, another track I enjoyed.
The fifth track “BET” features a rap driven track with vocals. All in all, it’s another track that is different from a typical AAA track but I appreciate its differences because it’s a pretty fresh upbeat track.
The sixth and final track is “ã‚ãれるãらã„ã‚ãŒã¾ã¾ãªè‡ªç”±” which is the main slow jam on the mini-album. The song is well sung, Nishijima on top of his game in this track. An awesome ballad!
As for the DVD, the DVD features two videos. The music video for “Crash” and the making of.
The music video features the guys dancing and a CG machinery and looks to take place in the cave. The guys appear to be miners, thus have grime on their faces. Not sure if this look has a strong relationship with the video game or anime series or not. Unfortunately, the background CG doesn’t look to natural but fortunately, the videos are focusing on the guys (or a single member) dancing.
I have to admit that I was expecting a bit more energetic choreography but if anything, the choreography is more arm movements than anything. All in all, the video was ok.
As for the making of, the video features the guys performing in front of a green screen and with rocks in the front. The guys joking around with each other and gives you an idea of how the music video was shot and the timing involved with the camera shots.
Instead of a camera fixed on the group dancing, you get one side (75%) doing a lot of the dancing and then 25% (2 guys) just waiting and messing around until they merge with the frame and start dancing and a switch from 75/25 from left to right and then right to left. So, in a way, I can see how this style of filming affects overall choreography.
But the making of video does provide some footage outside of the choreography, as mentioned, the guys joking around with each other, then outdoors and playing with a dog.
The CD insert features lyrics to the songs on the album and the center section unfolds to showcase photos of each male member of the group. Also, included is a mini-flyer for “Crash” featured as an opening theme for the Nintendo DS game “World Destruction ~Sekai Bokumetsu no Rokunin” and also a promote for AAA Party. Also, a promotion for upcoming performances of AAA’s 3rd Anniversary.
I suppose that so many things could have gone wrong with this album but I have to admit, this is a solid mini-album from the guys of AAA.
I found all tracks to be awesome and have had the CD on rotation for days now. But that does not mean I want to see AAA get away from it’s female members, because part of the enjoyablity to AAA’s music and also watching them perform is the hybrid interaction of the guys and girs. There is really good chemistry with the group and I dig that!
But if you are a fan of AAA, you can’t go wrong with this mini-album. A solid release from the guys and would be interesting to see how these songs are carried out into the live performances. Definitely recommended!
BUY THIS ALBUM: