Album rating/review thread

[relmy]

I went into Bon Voyage much the same, I hadn't really liked any of the singles. IS THIS TRAP? was the only song I'd enjoyed really and it didn't make the cut. I think JAPONESQUE is one of her best albums too (it was very formulaic, but I think it was very cohesive overall and Kuu has always been more of a singles/individual songs artist for me anyway) so it was going to be tough. I'd kind of ignored her during her hiatus, and all I took from Color the Cover was Jounetsu (and then started playing the original loads, ooops).

I think overall, I was more disappointed than you. I go to Kuu for her upbeat stuff (ok, my fave by her is Love goes like but I like that style from her too) and nothing on this album stuck with me really. I think I like LOL the most?! With U KNOW and SHOW ME YOUR HOLLA a close second, but I can't see any of these songs sticking with me - even if I dislike her album there's always that ONE single and ONE album track that I love, Bon Voyage doesn't really have that.

It's weird though, because nothing on the album is bad either, it's just kinda eh. The bad kind of solid. It's also a shame that quite a lot of stuff is coming out right now, so it's easily overshadowed. Miliyah's LOVELAND was good because it made me enjoy singles I'd overlooked and has given us Reisei to jounetsu no aida which is amazing, so Kuu has been overshadowed by that.

Oh well, we'll probably have another single in a few months so it's no disaster haha

[Sai]

LOVELAND was fantastic. My faves off of that are UNIQUE, Reisei to Jounetso no Aida, EMOTION and Love/Affection, which, yeah, I didn't really appreciate at the time of its release

I think the main thing I was looking for in Bon Voyage was for Kuu to prove that she could still make a song that I actively want to listen to, not just listen to out of a weird sense of obligation because she's my big #2, haha. Imo she accomplished that, though we'll obviously have to see how the tracks stand the test of time. I've definitely been more into the BV tracks than any of the singles since her come back, so I think this is a good sign for now.

I still feel like the album kind of lacks... warmth? Idk, it tends to happen with albums that are a bit too dance-centric, but I'm not used to it from Kuu, haha. Even "On Your Side", which was meant to be the feel-good song of the album, was sort of lacking. Again, the addition of some more J-poppy songs and a couple of less generic/more emotional ballads would have probably given the album a bit more heart.

[relmy]

Yeah, I agree that it lacks warmth. I'm not sure why I feel that way though, because while the straight up Jpop stuff is hit or miss, her ballads are generally a miss with me. I think she might just need a revamp sound wise (Kuu always sounds amazing with a jazzy influence, she needs to do something with that), I feel the same way I do about Ayu's releases, why would I listen to this when the last album was the same thing done better?

Anyway, I said that it didn't make me like the singles more, but I have discovered that Dreaming Now is a great running song.

[Sai]

Hnng, her jazz-influenced stuff is amazing. It's been a while, but I'd love a single that was in the style of Butterfly or Chase or Cutie Honey. There's been some good jazzy stuff on her cover albums, at least, but it's not quite the same.

After listening to quite a lot of Bon Voyage, I still find the lack of diversity to be a weak point, but the album has a lot of character. Which is true for most Kuu albums, but you really have to appreciate how much personality she puts into her songs. Like, I can't imagine many other artists pulling off songs like LOL or LOADED and still having that same swagger. Namie tried with FEEL and it came off as rather flat, because... well, personality isn't her strong point.