--------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: WANDS Title: WANDS Production Co: Toshiba EMI Cat#: TOCT-6504 Release: 92/06/17 Price: 2,300 yen Length: 26'05" (6 tracks) Track Data: 1 Furimuite dakishimete 2 Cloudy Sky 3 Sabishisawa akinoiro 4 Mou jibunshika aisenai 5 Good Sensation 6 Konoyumedakewo... Comments: WANDS's 1st album. This was before they became popular, I think. Vocalist Wesugi wrote all the lyrics, and former keyboardist Oshima wrote and arranged most of the songs. (Helena Yan: hyan@cs.stanford.edu) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: WANDS Title: TOKI NO TOBIRA Production Co: Toshiba EMI Cat#: TOCT-7025 Release: 93/04/17 Price: 3,000 yen Length: 42'56" (10 tracks) Track Data: 1 Toki no tobira 2 Konomama kimidakewo ubaisaritai 3 Hoshinonai soranoshitade 4 Motto tsuyoku dakishimetanara 5 Garasuno kokorode 6 Sonomamano kimieto... 7 Kodokueno TARGET 8 Mr.JAIL 9 Keep My Rock'n Road 10 Sekaijuuno dareyori kitto -Album Version- Comments: WANDS's second album, and their "breakthrough" album I think. With the departure of Oshima, guitarist Shibasaki took on the role of writing most of the music on this album. Wesugi wrote all the lyrics, except for track 10 which is co-written with Nakayama Miho. He also wrote the music for track 9. This album contains two hit singles (1,4). Track 2 was first released by DEEN as a single. Track 10 was a drama theme originally released as a single with Nakayama Miho. In the album version, Utoku Keiko sings the chorus. This album remained the top selling album for weeks after release, and is one of my all-time favorite albums. (Helena Yan: hyan@cs.stanford.edu) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: WANDS Title: PIECE OF MY SOUL Production Co: B-Gram Cat#: JBCJ-1002 Release: 95/04/24 Price: 3,000 yen Length: 46'42" (10 tracks) Track Data: 1 FLOWER 2 Love & Hate 3 Sekaiga Owarumadewa... 4 DON'T TRY SO HARD 5 Crazy Cat 6 Secret Night -It's My Treat- 7 Foolish OK 8 PIECE OF MY SOUL 9 Jumpin' Jack Boy -Album Version- 10 Million Miles Away Comments: WANDS's 4th album, and a long-waited one as well. This includes their 3 singles released in the past 1 1/2 years (3,6,9). Track 3 is the opening theme for the anime "Slam Dunk". Wesugi wrote all the lyrics, Oda and Kuribayashi wrote the music for the 3 singles, and Shibasaki wrote the music for the rest of the songs except for track 10, which I believe is the first WANDS song written by the new keyboardist Kimura. In this album, WANDS has adopted the hard rock style. Their old pop rock style is still apparent in tracks 2, 3, and 9, but most other songs sound heavy-metalish. (Helena Yan: hyan@cs.stanford.edu) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: WANDS Title: Little Bit... Production Co.: Toshiba EMI Cat. #: TOCT-8190 Release: 93/10/06 Price: 2,300 YEN Length: 30'45" Track Data: 1. Tenshi ninante Narenakatta 5'13" 2. Koiseyo Otome 3"31" 3. DON'T CRY 4'54" 4. Kimi ni Modorenai 3'29" 5. Koe ninaranai Hodoniitoshii 4'18" 6. Little Bit...... 4'50" 7. Ai o Kataruyori Kuchizukeo karasou 4'28" Comments: WANDS 3rd album but perhaps the 2nd well-known album. This one has reached the 900,000 selling point and it is ranked the 9th in top 10 album last year by ORICON chart. Wesugi Show wrote all the lyrics as usual and this time, the album includes more song from guitarist Shibasaki Hiroshi (1,4,6). A mini album that still keep WANDS style but perhaps not as good as last one, Toki no Tobira. (Kevin Tsang : 93tsangk@wave.scar.utoronto.ca) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: Wink (Suzuki Sachiko , Aida Shoko) Title: Wink Hot Singles Production Co: PolyStar Cat#: PSCR-1014 Release: // Price: yen Length: (9 tracks) Track Data: <##> 1 Sugar Baby Love 2 AMaRiRiSu 3 ai ga tomaranai - Turn It Into Love 4 namida o misenaide - Boy's Don't Cry 5 "Heart on Wave" 6 mayonaka no enjelu - One Night in Heaven 7 Sexy Music 8 yoru ni hagurete - Where Were You Last Night 9 Non-Stop Mix [A mix of the above songs] Goodies: (standard jewel box) Comments: Cute voices, upbeat kind of music. Some songs have a techno pop feel to it, especially track 9. My personal favourites are 1,3,4 and 7. (Ray Tang: rtang@kingcong.uwaterloo.ca) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: Wink (Suzuki Sachiko, Aida Shoko) Title: Diamond Box (Wink Best Selection Disc) Production Co: PolyStar Cat#: PSCR-1041 Release: 91/12/21 Price: yen Length: 48'27" (10 tracks) Track Data: <#> <title> <translation> 1 Non Stop I (meddly) ano yoru e kaeritai Wish to return to that night Sexy Music warui yumei Bad dreams ginsei kurabu Silverstar club 2 New Moon ni Aimashou Let's Love at the New Moon (remix) 3 kitto atsui kuchibiru Hot Hot Lips! (remix) 4 haitoku no scenario Immoral scenario (remix) 5 omoide made sobani ite Thoughts of being with You 6 ame ni negai o Appeal to rain 7 Non Stop II (meddly) Special to Me Only Lonely Mighty Mighty Love Yoru toki hikoo Night Flight 8 manatsu no tremolo Mid-summer's tremolo (remix) 9 aishiteru - Never Stop Loving You 10 awa ni naru - Endless Summer Goodies: (standard jewel box) Comments: The 2 Non-Stop's are your standard techno pop euro beat dance tracks. The 4th track is a bit strange, sounds like a techno pop version of the Soviet National anthem. Best tracks in my opinion are 9 and 10. Which are slow balladic type stuff. Track 10 makes especially good use of the duel's singing, by layering the two vocals in a nice way. In general, good dance music. (Ray Tang: rtang@kingcong.uwaterloo.ca) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------