Artist: Sakai Noriko Title: Lovely Times/Noriko Part III Production Co: Victor Cat#: VDR-1544 Release: 1988/??/?? Price: 3200 yen Length: <43'16"> (11 tracks) Track Data: 1. Beat Parade 2. Try Again..! 3. Wink ni Somete 4. Pop ni Ikouyo 5. Listen to Me 6. Madogiwano Koihikou 7. Fight! 8. Active Heart 9. Stardust Wave 10. Ichi Page no August 11. Ichiokuno Smile Goodies: Comments: (Hitoshi Doi: doi@jrd.dec.com, doi@dec-j.co.jp) Goodies: Some "cute" pictures of her back then, of which the cover & back have been scanned and ftp'd to ferkel by me. Comments: This album is typical of Noriko's earlier style. Most of the songs are fairly quick in terms of tempo, but at the same time are soft and bubbly, making it enjoyable to listen to. IMHO, tracks 4,7,8 and 10 are the best. Not as impressive as her more recent albums, but still one that will be enjoyed by Sakai fans. (Pak-Cheung (Stanley) Chu: stanley@io.org) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: Sakai Noriko Title: Blue Wind/Noriko Part IV Production Co: Victor Cat#: VDR-1615 Release: 1989/??/?? Price: 3008 yen Length: (11 tracks) Track Data: 1. Kazeno Andante 2. Love Letter 3. Koino Sanaka 4. Nagisano Nemurihime 5. Omoideni Kaeritai 6. Himitsuno Garden 7. Mousuguno Yokan 8. Sanctuary 9. Natural 10. Dream Call 11. Tenshiga Kureta Rainbow Goodies: Comments: (Hitoshi Doi: doi@jrd.dec.com, doi@dec-j.co.jp) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: Sakai Noriko Title: My Dear/Noriko Part V Production Co: Victor Cat#: VDR-1658 Release: 1989/??/?? Price: 3008 yen Length: (11 tracks) Track Data: 1. Telepathy 2. Anatani Home Sick 3. Christmas Cinderella 4. Silence For Love 5. Air Mail 6. All Right 7. 100% no Koibito 8. Koino Recipe 9. Koito Aino Nuance 10. Blink 11. Arigatou Heart Beat Goodies: Comments: (Hitoshi Doi: doi@jrd.dec.com, doi@dec-j.co.jp) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: Sakai Noriko Title: White Girl/Noriko Part VI Production Co: Victor Cat#: VICL-42 Release: 1990/07/04 Price: 3000 yen Length: (11 tracks) Track Data: 1. Lonely Heart ni Yoroshiku 3:52 2. Katachikara Hairou 4:22 3. Soukamo! Iikamo! 3:52 4. White Girl 4:14 5. Minna Iijanai 4:40 6. Yuujou Kiss 4:46 7. 100% no Amega Furu 4:02 8. Diamond Blue (July Mix) 3:56 9. Anokoroni Aitai 5:33 10. Sweet Home 4:21 11. Shiawasenante Hoshikunaiwa 4:25 Goodies: picture CD Comments: (Hitoshi Doi: doi@jrd.dec.com, doi@dec-j.co.jp) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: Sakai Noriko Title: Sweet'n Bitter/Noriko Part VII Production Co: Victor Cat#: VICL-111 Release: 1991/01/21 Price: 3000 yen Length: (11 tracks) Track Data: 1. Shower Room ni Denwa 4:10 2. Shiawaseni Ichiban Chikai Seki 4:10 3. Dear Boy 4:12 4. Ameno Kimochi 3:47 5. Hohoemiwo Mitsuketa 4:30 6. Sugosugiru 3:36 7. Hatachino Valentine 5:00 8. Kimino Sonzai 5:15 9. Sukoshi Honki 4:12 10. Eve no Tamago 4:32 11. Ashitahe Tsuduku Last Scene 3:54 (Hitoshi Doi: doi@jrd.dec.com, doi@dec-j.co.jp) Goodies: Comments: Generally agreed to be Noriko's best album to date. Track 10 & 5 are from her singles. Mostly soft and mellow ballads with occasional dose of Noriko characteristic cuteness/youth. Also, IMHO, Noriko in 20 (with her short hair) looks the best (as seen in the pictures inside the jewel box booklet). Track 10 is my favorite, 3 is the worst (has the quickest tempo), and 1 is a cute song with heavier beat. (Patrick Yip: pckyip@Athena.MIT.EDU) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: Sakai Noriko Title: Sentimental Best Production Co: Cat#: VICL-218 Release: Price: 3000yen Length: 76 minutes (16 tracks) Track Data: 1 White Girl White Girl -part VI- 2 Ano Koro-ni Aitai White Girl -part VI- 3 Sayonara-no Kawari-ni Fantasia -part I- 4 Amatsubu-wa Yasashikute Guanbare -part II- 5 STARDUST WAVE Lovely Times -Part III- 6* Love Letter Blue Wind -part IV- 7 Sanctuary Blue Wind -part IV- 8* Sayonara-o Sugite Singles Noriko Best 9 Air mail Mr Dear -part V- 10* Hohoemi-o Mitsuketa Sweet'n Bitter -part VII- 11 Ame-no Kimochi Sweet'n Bitter -part VII- 12 Rain Rain 13 Yaane II Magical Montage Company 14 ????? Magical Montage Company 15* Anata-ni Tenshi-ga Mieru toki Magical Montage Company 16 Kimi-no Sonzai Sweet'n Bitter -part VII- * also a single release Comments: Today I just picked up "Sentimental Best" from Sakai Noriko. And wow, is this an album to get! 16 tracks, nearly 76 minutes of that sweet voice some of us have fallen in love with. All this, at the standard 3000yen. While it appears all the tracks have been taken from her past albums (I've been able to locate all but 2 tracks on the other albums I have,) just by looking at the titles, I think this is going to be one excellent album (I haven't listened to it yet.) One that will especially appeal to those who liked "Sweet'n Bitter" (perhaps because there's 3 S'nB songs on it..) Anyways, I went through the titles of the earlier albums I have, and have been able to locate the origin of most of them, Does someone have "My Dear -Noriko part V-" or "YumeBoken Special"? (or any obscure titles I haven't heard of?) Perhaps some of the "unidentified" titles are on those albums. Also does "Sayonara-o Sugite" appear on "My Dear" or is it only on the Singles album. (Galen Komatsu: gkomatsu@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu, ar592@cleveland.freenet.edu) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: Sakai Noriko Title: CDV Special Production Co: Victor Cat#: VDX-6 Release: 1988/4/30(?) Price: 2400yen Length: audio 16'58", video 4'36" (5 audio, 1 video track) Track Data: 5" Mini Album + Video Track 1 Otoko-no-ko-ni Naritai 3'08" 2 Nagisa-no Fantasy 3'40" 3 No-re-na-i Teen age 3'51" 4 Yumeboken 3'05" 5 Ganbaranakutchya! 3'54" 6 GUANBARE 4'36" Video Track Goodies: Gold disc Comments: This CDV includes Nori-P's first 4 singles, an album cut from "GUANBARE -Noriko part II-" and her hit (and 5th) single "Guanbare". The first 5 tracks are audio tracks, and the sixth is a video track accessable via a laser disc player. "GUANBARE" features video clips of Noriko romping about Hawaii (Waikiki, Kahala, and parts unknown...) (Galen Komatsu: gkomatsu@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu, ar592@cleveland.freenet.edu) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: Sakai Noriko Title: Magical Montage Company Production Co: Victor Cat#: VICL-173 Release: 1991/07/21 Price: 3000 yen Length: (11 tracks) Track Data: 1. Otogi-banashi no Shinderera (Cinderella Fairytale) 2. <_><_> bi Kuni kara Konnichiwa (hidden/magic coat ket's ???) 3. Kakushi Koto (coat) a shou 4. <_><_> 5. Montaaju 6. Konna karuma demo itte miyouka na 7. Kinou no Kyou na no ni 8. <_><_><_><_> 9. Yaane II 10. Anate na tenshi ga mieru toki 11. air - Salad Days <_> = unknown Goodies: Many glossy pics of norip that I've scanned and ftp'd to ferkel. Comments: This is definitely not your average Noriko album. The first few times that I listened to it, I thought I'd purchased the wrong CD. However, after a few more listenings, I began to enjoy this new musical approach of Noriko's. In general, an alternative to norip's past CD's. If you liked the cute and bubbly sound of her in the past, you might not enjoy this as much. IMHO, tracks 2,4,6,7,10 and 11 are the best. The titles were romanized by a friend. Additional comments and/or corrections welcomed. (Pak-Cheung (Stanley) Chu: stanley@io.org) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: Sakai Noriko Title: Mammoth Production Co: Victor Cat#: VICL-322 Release: 1992/07/22 Price: 3000 yen Length: (10 tracks) Track Data: 1. <_> no pitekantoropusu (mammosu vaajun) 2. TUESDAY TIKI 3. Binbo, nanbo, manbo 4. Ojichan is watching TV 5. Suki Dayo 6. Yasashiku shite agetai 7. Heiki! Heiki! 8. Konya mo nyuusu-horic 9. Kami no mizoshiru haato no yukue 10. REAL <_> = unknown Goodies: none Comments: This album leaves behind the cuteness and youthfulness that Noriko has been known for. The first few songs seem to be hawaiian/tropical based tunes. Track 8 contains a 'beep' towards the end, which would seem to indicate that it was censored for some reason [hmmm.. 8^)] In general, the album is indicative of the maturing of Noriko and her music, while leaving her youthfulness behind. IMHO, tracks 5,8 and 10 are the best from the lot. The titles were romanized by a friend. Additional comments/corrections welcomed. (Pak-Cheung (Stanley) Chu: stanley@io.org) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------