The Gospellers – Love Notes II (a J!-ENT World Groove Album Music Review)

GROUP: The Gospellers

ALBUM: Love Notes II

LABEL: Ki/oon Records

CATALOG #: KSCL-1488-9

DURATION: 1:15:58

RELEASE DATE: November 12, 2008

1. ひとり
2. 永遠に
3. ラヴ・ノーツ
4. ミモザ
5. 狂詩曲
6. Slow Luv
7. 残照
8. 約束の季節
9. 輪舞
10. Moon glows (on you)
11. Sweet
12. Body Calling
13. 誓い
14. ふたつの祈り ～X’mas Love to you～
15. 新大阪
16. 宇宙へ ～Reach for the sky～

Since the early 90’s, the Japanese a cappella group The Gospellers has been entertaining listeners, especially during the Christmas time when the group known for their romantic ballads are tapped to perform live at various events through Tokyo. But now the group of five (Tetsuya Murakami, Kaoru Kurosawa, Yuji Sakai, Yoichi Kitayama and Yutaka Yasuoka) have a new best album out with “Love Notes II” which focuses on the romantic ballads from the group and also new tracks celebrating the group’s 15th year anniversary.

The album features ballads such as their 16th CD single “Hitori” (rel. back in March 2001) up to their latest single release “Love Notes” (their 36th CD single rel. in Nov. 2009). Singles included on “Love Notes II” are “Hitori” (2001), “Yakusoku no Kisetsu” (2001), “Chikai” (2001), “Shin Osaka” (2003), “Mimosa” (2004), “Sorae ~Reach for the sky~” (2009) and “Love Notes” (2009) and a number of love songs.

As for the DVD, the DVD features music videos for “宇宙へ ～Reach for the sky～”, “ラヴ・ノーツ” and “whiskey ga, osuki desu yo”.

For “Sora e ~Reach for the sky~”, we see a group of people outside as they are stargazing. We then see the members of the group singing with a projection of the planet Earth in front of them. For the music video of “Love Notes”, the music video takes place in 1942 and we seen an identical couple in the present time enjoying music. The final video is a half hour live radio program shot on Christmas Eve 2009 which leads to the music video for “ウイスキーが、お好きでしょ” featuring a couple spending time together and missing time with his girlfriend because he’s stuck at work and his girlfriend is having a hard time dealing with it. And showing clips of the Gospellers performing the song.

The insert booklet features photos of the guys and also lyrics to the songs on the album.

can easily remember when I first heard from the group back in 1998 and I purchased the single “Atarashii Sekai” and the way I felt about them over a decade ago still remains the same today, these guys are among the best vocalists in Japan. The group has pretty much stayed consistent with singing pop R&B tunes with many ballads and keeping the focus on their vocals.

For those who have been curious about their music, “Love Notes II” is a good place to start but its important to know that these are primarily slow or mid-tempo ballads. With only tracks such as “狂詩曲” and “Slow Luv” being the two tracks with an upbeat tempo. As for tracks solely all a cappella, you can find a few such as “ひとり” (hitori) and “Moon glows (on you)”.

Overall, The Gospellers “Love Notes II” is a satisfying album. A pretty solid 15th year anniversary album showcasing the band’s popular slow jams and of course, the group’s vocals. As for the CD+DVD release, although there are only three music videos, fans who understand Japanese will enjoy the half hour Christmas Eve interview.

A solid compilation of romantic ballads from the past and present from the Gospellers. Definitely worth checking out!

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