As I announced earlier, I’m going to present you my feelings about two ‘best of’ compilations of two different singers. The first of them must be Ai Otsuka’s ‘LOVE is BEST’ (quite obvious) and the second will be Britney Spears’ ‘The Singles Collection’. What do you say? Well, let’s go.
Two years have passed since the first Ai Otsuka’s ‘best of’ compilation. It may be true that it was slightly too early for the second album like this, especially because until the ‘LOVE is BEST’ release, Ai had recorded only two albums – ‘Love PiECE’ and ‘Love Letter’ – not really much. Some would consider this move as a completely commercial decision to make more money on Ai’s music which is widely recognisable and popular in Japan. From my point of view, this conviction would be fully justified provided that Ai’s management gave us a simple bunch of her songs, copied from her previous releases and pasted on a new CD with a new name. Luckily for us, this didn’t happen. The new ‘best of Ai’ turned out to be a collection of her 15 the most beautiful love songs, from which one is brand new, five are new versions, and the rest are mainly the B-sides of the singles. There is also another version available: CD+DVD with several videoclips of the artist. Generally speaking, having heard all her albums, one might assume that ‘LOVE is BEST’ contains almost entirely a brand new material. The majority of us could have such an impression. Maybe the most devoted fans, who collect every single, might feel disappointed.
The album is promoted by the first single called ‘Aisu x Time’. It’s re-recorded ‘One x Time’ which appeared on ‘Love Letter’ a year ago. To make this song interesting and fresh, Ai co-worked with Su from the Japanese hip-hop group called Rip Slyme. They changed the music background, added Su’s rap vocals and this way made it a completely original song. As for a single, there was a videoclip needed. As Ai highlighted, the main stress was put on all the kinds of love – both conventional and forbidden. The effect was highly controversial, because Ai had never appeared in such an sensual context. Her looks and her music was associated rather with fun and cuteness, not sex. In the video we can see a lot of nudity, moreover, straight sexual suggestions and behaviour. Even though it wasn’t Ai’s body shown that way, people were shocked by her courage. Is it a new image of our sweet Love? We’ll see... She looked quite unusual in this blonde wig! :D
Probably by coincidence, the second half of November was the time, when another famous star of pop music released her ‘best of ‘ album. Britney Spears, after only 5 years from her first compilation ‘My Prerogative: Greatest Hits’, decides to re-summarise her career and creates the second ‘best of’ album called ‘The Singles Collection’. During this period between the two CDs she had her famous personal problems and because of that she recorded only two LPs. ‘The Singles Collection’ consists of about 10 quite well-known songs, three or four less popular ones and only one brand new bonus track – the controversial ‘3’. This album came out in four versions: basic CD, CD+DVD with all videoclips except of ‘3’, ‘eco pack’ CD and deluxe box containing all the 29 singles separately. All the track were to be digitally remastered, but frankly, I can’t hear any difference at all. For me, it’s just a compilation of the most liked songs of Britney; the compilation that could have been made by all the people who have her previous CDs. There were at least four bonus tracks promised, finally, we got only one. In addition, in spite of its popularity on the charts, probably the only strong point about it is that it’s catchy. The videoclip isn’t impressive, either. Nevertheless, it seems that this second, maybe unnecessary, ‘best of Britney’ might be regarded as a reasonable commercial success, but it isn’t particularly strange, because all the things signed with her name sell quickly. There is one question: is it deserved?
Maybe surprisingly for you, I can find some similarities between these two albums – ‘LOVE is BEST’ and ‘The Singles Collection’. Both albums are second compilations of these artists and they came out after only two studio albums from the first ‘best of’. Both singers have a strong position on the music market in their countries (for Britney: even worldwide). Their albums are available in two versions: CD + DVD. Both were released in about same time. Britney’s first single as well as Ai’s were widely discussed and shocking for the audience, because of the explicit sexual references. However... Which one would you choose?
This question is worth considering. Personally, I think that Ai did a better job, mainly because she really put some effort in creating this CD. Moreover, she’s promoting this new release by the new tour; most likely there will be a DVD. She wants to emphasise her new looks and new style, more mature and adult-oriented. Possibly she included her older songs on this new album to stress the fact that she has always been an artist for almost everyone, not only for teenagers. Even though her best-known hits such as for instance ‘CHU-LIP’ sounded like a perfect song for young people, on this single there was also a beautiful ballad ‘Kimi ni Kaeru’ which is included on ‘LOVE is BEST’. For me, the new Ai’s CD functions as a bridge between the old cute image and the new one. Ai works hard all the time and it’s something that we can admire. On the other hand, Britney doesn’t seem to do much about her career. I don’t say that she can’t sing, because I know that she can. The only thing that makes me worried is that she is far too much withdrawn. She allows others to do everything for her or worse – instead of her. Is she afraid of being initiative? Why does she do that? I really miss the old Britney, who did her best to be on top, to amaze the audience to the maximum. Even though she was tired after an hour of energetic and exhausting dancing, she singed live and she didn’t care if her voice trembles or sounds weak. Her fans loved it and that was the only thing that should be important. It’s pity, real pity.
Now it’s up to you – what do you think? Who do you choose? Ai or Britney? You can write it in the comment, I would be very glad to get to know your opinions. May the Love be with you. Always.
Two years have passed since the first Ai Otsuka’s ‘best of’ compilation. It may be true that it was slightly too early for the second album like this, especially because until the ‘LOVE is BEST’ release, Ai had recorded only two albums – ‘Love PiECE’ and ‘Love Letter’ – not really much. Some would consider this move as a completely commercial decision to make more money on Ai’s music which is widely recognisable and popular in Japan. From my point of view, this conviction would be fully justified provided that Ai’s management gave us a simple bunch of her songs, copied from her previous releases and pasted on a new CD with a new name. Luckily for us, this didn’t happen. The new ‘best of Ai’ turned out to be a collection of her 15 the most beautiful love songs, from which one is brand new, five are new versions, and the rest are mainly the B-sides of the singles. There is also another version available: CD+DVD with several videoclips of the artist. Generally speaking, having heard all her albums, one might assume that ‘LOVE is BEST’ contains almost entirely a brand new material. The majority of us could have such an impression. Maybe the most devoted fans, who collect every single, might feel disappointed.
The album is promoted by the first single called ‘Aisu x Time’. It’s re-recorded ‘One x Time’ which appeared on ‘Love Letter’ a year ago. To make this song interesting and fresh, Ai co-worked with Su from the Japanese hip-hop group called Rip Slyme. They changed the music background, added Su’s rap vocals and this way made it a completely original song. As for a single, there was a videoclip needed. As Ai highlighted, the main stress was put on all the kinds of love – both conventional and forbidden. The effect was highly controversial, because Ai had never appeared in such an sensual context. Her looks and her music was associated rather with fun and cuteness, not sex. In the video we can see a lot of nudity, moreover, straight sexual suggestions and behaviour. Even though it wasn’t Ai’s body shown that way, people were shocked by her courage. Is it a new image of our sweet Love? We’ll see... She looked quite unusual in this blonde wig! :D
Probably by coincidence, the second half of November was the time, when another famous star of pop music released her ‘best of ‘ album. Britney Spears, after only 5 years from her first compilation ‘My Prerogative: Greatest Hits’, decides to re-summarise her career and creates the second ‘best of’ album called ‘The Singles Collection’. During this period between the two CDs she had her famous personal problems and because of that she recorded only two LPs. ‘The Singles Collection’ consists of about 10 quite well-known songs, three or four less popular ones and only one brand new bonus track – the controversial ‘3’. This album came out in four versions: basic CD, CD+DVD with all videoclips except of ‘3’, ‘eco pack’ CD and deluxe box containing all the 29 singles separately. All the track were to be digitally remastered, but frankly, I can’t hear any difference at all. For me, it’s just a compilation of the most liked songs of Britney; the compilation that could have been made by all the people who have her previous CDs. There were at least four bonus tracks promised, finally, we got only one. In addition, in spite of its popularity on the charts, probably the only strong point about it is that it’s catchy. The videoclip isn’t impressive, either. Nevertheless, it seems that this second, maybe unnecessary, ‘best of Britney’ might be regarded as a reasonable commercial success, but it isn’t particularly strange, because all the things signed with her name sell quickly. There is one question: is it deserved?
Maybe surprisingly for you, I can find some similarities between these two albums – ‘LOVE is BEST’ and ‘The Singles Collection’. Both albums are second compilations of these artists and they came out after only two studio albums from the first ‘best of’. Both singers have a strong position on the music market in their countries (for Britney: even worldwide). Their albums are available in two versions: CD + DVD. Both were released in about same time. Britney’s first single as well as Ai’s were widely discussed and shocking for the audience, because of the explicit sexual references. However... Which one would you choose?
This question is worth considering. Personally, I think that Ai did a better job, mainly because she really put some effort in creating this CD. Moreover, she’s promoting this new release by the new tour; most likely there will be a DVD. She wants to emphasise her new looks and new style, more mature and adult-oriented. Possibly she included her older songs on this new album to stress the fact that she has always been an artist for almost everyone, not only for teenagers. Even though her best-known hits such as for instance ‘CHU-LIP’ sounded like a perfect song for young people, on this single there was also a beautiful ballad ‘Kimi ni Kaeru’ which is included on ‘LOVE is BEST’. For me, the new Ai’s CD functions as a bridge between the old cute image and the new one. Ai works hard all the time and it’s something that we can admire. On the other hand, Britney doesn’t seem to do much about her career. I don’t say that she can’t sing, because I know that she can. The only thing that makes me worried is that she is far too much withdrawn. She allows others to do everything for her or worse – instead of her. Is she afraid of being initiative? Why does she do that? I really miss the old Britney, who did her best to be on top, to amaze the audience to the maximum. Even though she was tired after an hour of energetic and exhausting dancing, she singed live and she didn’t care if her voice trembles or sounds weak. Her fans loved it and that was the only thing that should be important. It’s pity, real pity.
Now it’s up to you – what do you think? Who do you choose? Ai or Britney? You can write it in the comment, I would be very glad to get to know your opinions. May the Love be with you. Always.
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