First 5 Plus 1

In which we chat about Hello! Project. And TNX. And Nice Girl Project. Yup.

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JPope
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First 5 Plus 1

Post by JPope »

<div>I've been listening to Tsubaki Factory's first bloom album a lot recently, and all of their singles have grown on me to the point where I don't think there is a bad one in the bunch. Even though the album is a glorified singles collection, we do get six new songs, of which, only "Happy Cracker" is below average to my ears. The song spacing is really good, highlighting how good these songs are, and it works as an album despite being mostly singles.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Anyway, it got me to consider a lava-hot take: What other H!P group has been as consistently good as TF through their first five singles and first album? For me, the pickings are slim. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Buono! is obvious, but after that it gets dicey, and honestly it's a lot closer than I would have imagined before last week's first bloom binge. After a bit of listening, every other group has at least one fatal flaw the leaves them out of the conversation for me. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>So who ya got? Major releases only -- no indies. Which H!P group had the best start to their career through five singles and one album?</div>
<div> </div>
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AquaChan
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Re: First 5 Plus 1

Post by AquaChan »

I remember enjoying all of 5 first Juice=Juice singles (hell, even bought one when in Japan at the time), and really like some of their album songs (come on, Choice & chance is a banger), but not all of it. After, it felt flat for me with Wonderful World/Ça va Ça va, but I'm starting to like their new songs as much as I did the first 5 at the time.
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yuzuriha
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Re: First 5 Plus 1

Post by yuzuriha »

Melon Kinenbi
Kaori • Risako 
 Sakura • Kananan •  Sayuki 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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DonJuan
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Re: First 5 Plus 1

Post by DonJuan »

S/mileage was half half on this one. They had some good bangers, but then some snorefests like the second indie. I don't remember their first album, though.
Juice=Juice nearly lost me with Ten Made Nobore. Other than that they'd probably be my 5 plus 1 pick because I loved their album. While being utterly frustrated with their other releases that year (only Wonderful World), First Squeeze was one of my favourite releases that year.
 
And with all respect due to Tsubaki's post major debut releases, their indies were - excuse my choice of word - shit. (This is of course my personal taste and sorry if anyone here feels attacked.)
Seishun Manmannaka was pretty much the epitome of what was wrong with this group for me - mindlessly thrown together just to have them out of the KSS programme with 4/6 not ready for a debut (I still think Ami, Riko and even Kisora are far behind expectations). Kedakaku Sakihokore was better, but Hitorijime pulled them back into what they came from. The addition of Mizuho, Saori and Mao saved the group for me.
Talking about their major singles I think all of them have good songs, and even the not-so-great ones are even decent.
 
May I throw in Taiyou to Ciscomoon though? Tsuki to Taiyo, Gatamekira, Uchuu de La Ta Ta, Everyday Everywhere, Magic of Love... once again though I don't think I've listened to their album.
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JPope
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Re: First 5 Plus 1

Post by JPope »

[quote="yuzu"]
Melon Kinenbi
[/quote]
 
I considered MKB, but their fifth single, “Saa! Koibito ni Narou”, is kind of ordinary, and 1st Anniversary only features three proper songs that weren't on singles. Those first four singles are strong af, though.
 
[quote="DonJuan"]
S/mileage was half half on this one. They had some good bangers, but then some snorefests like the second indie. I don't remember their first album, though.
Juice=Juice nearly lost me with Ten Made Nobore. Other than that they'd probably be my 5 plus 1 pick because I loved their album. While being utterly frustrated with their other releases that year (only Wonderful World), First Squeeze was one of my favourite releases that year.
 
And with all respect due to Tsubaki's post major debut releases, their indies were - excuse my choice of word - shit. (This is of course my personal taste and sorry if anyone here feels attacked.)
Seishun Manmannaka was pretty much the epitome of what was wrong with this group for me - mindlessly thrown together just to have them out of the KSS programme with 4/6 not ready for a debut (I still think Ami, Riko and even Kisora are far behind expectations). Kedakaku Sakihokore was better, but Hitorijime pulled them back into what they came from. The addition of Mizuho, Saori and Mao saved the group for me.
Talking about their major singles I think all of them have good songs, and even the not-so-great ones are even decent.
 
May I throw in Taiyou to Ciscomoon though? Tsuki to Taiyo, Gatamekira, Uchuu de La Ta Ta, Everyday Everywhere, Magic of Love... once again though I don't think I've listened to their album.
[/quote]
 
J=J's debut single is one of the best H!P debuts, IMO, but it's all downhill from there until "fiesta!" for me.
 
Taiyou to Ciscomoon was an intriguing thought when I first decided to do this, but their first single pales compared to their best stuff, and their B-sides are really spotty. All of the earlier groups suffer from the fact that Tsunku was kind of learning to write idol songs OTJ, and had not yet hit his songwriting stride. 
 
Totally agreed wrt TF's indies stuff, which made this realization all the more shocking to me. They were terrible, and while they showed some improvement after the additions, it wasn't so much as to make anyone believe they were ready for a major debut when it was announced. Three years ago next week, TF released their final indie single. If you had told me then that three years hence I'd be proclaiming their five-single, one-album starting run to be among the best in H!P history, I'd have enjoyed a good, smug belly laugh. I'm always happy to have my dire predictions be proven wrong, though. Stuff like this is what makes following H!P fun.
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TicTacAnyone
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Re: First 5 Plus 1

Post by TicTacAnyone »

I'm a bit of a sucker for Berryz's first 5 singles and like most of the songs their first album. 
 
Juice=Juice's first album was just... wow... still one of my all-time favorite albums in H!P... But their singles were a little spotty in the first 5 for me. Looking back I can listen to them, but I wouldn't call all of them "great." Same story for Kobushi.
Last edited by TicTacAnyone on Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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WonderBuono
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Re: First 5 Plus 1

Post by WonderBuono »

Morning Musume.

Ok Manatsu no Kousen is a liiittle boring but it ain’t bad. But their first album still remains my favorite.
<p style="text-align:right;">MORNING MUSUMESUZUKI AIRIJUICE=JUICE ◆ TWICEBLACKPINK ITZYNIZIU
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Purin-chama
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Re: First 5 Plus 1

Post by Purin-chama »

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="WonderBuono" data-cid="218238" data-time="1564510748">
Morning Musume.

... their first album still remains my favorite.</blockquote>
100% agree. Wagamama is one of my all time favorite MM songs
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yuzuriha
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Re: First 5 Plus 1

Post by yuzuriha »

Saa! Koibito ni Narou is one of my favorite H!P songs ever haha
 
My second choice would be Berryz but I am biased as fuck.
Kaori • Risako 
 Sakura • Kananan •  Sayuki 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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