Hamasaki Ayumi - RAINBOW

Hamasaki Ayumi's fifth full-length album RAINBOW was released just before the end of the year in 2002. And though her fourth album I am... made a release in the beginning of the very same year, the two albums aren't alike and feature a distinctive style each. Whereas the previous album I am... boosted darker, rock, and grungy material, RAINBOW is likely to choose another path into the world of music.

The first track on the album is RAINBOW. It's actually a non existent track and it's purpose is to serve as a 'blanco' song yet to be produced. So the first real music track on the album is everlasting dream. It's an almost fully instrumental track with just few words sung by Ayumi. Even so, it's a very nice way of introducing an album and gives the listener a feeling of something being born or created.

The next three tracks WE WISH, Real me, and Free & Easy are powerful, aggressive, emotion-driven songs. These songs surely won't leave the listener unimpressed, he or she will be blown away.

The sixth track though, Heartplace, is a tad different from the preceding tracks. It's a slower-paced, quite dramatic rock song about freedom. Especially the violins at the end of the song stand out. It's a great song.

The following two tracks Over and HANABI are just as dramatic as Heartplace, though HANABI stands out more than Over. HANABI features a strong, slowly-paced beat, and is, in general, a very sad song.

taskinillusion is the next track and is an interlude. It's a quite strange, hallucinating piece of music, but fits it's place on the album quite well. The following song, everywhere nowhere, is odd in the beginning, though by the time the song reaches the chorus, it totally changes it's character and becomes a catchy, energetic song. The next track, July 1st, starts slow, but soon turns in a song just as catchy, upbeat, and energetic as it's predecessor.

Track number eleven, Dolls, however, is a bit slow compared to the previous songs, but manages to deliver the song's message quite well. Again, it's a dramatic and emotional song, but it's arrangement is quite traditional. If you listen closely, you can even hear a Japanese Koto in the bridge.

The following tracks neverending dream, Voyage, and Close to you are all slower-paced and dreamy. Although the first of the three is an instrumental, it bears a lot of similarities with the other two. While the song Voyage takes you away right from the start, Close to you is a bit slow, but once it reaches it's chorus it suddenly comes to open itself.

The last track on the album, independent+, consists of two songs mixed into one. The first being the independent part of the title, the second the + (although officially called more than). Both songs are happy, fast-paced, and extremely energetic; they'll definitely move the listener.

So here we have an extreme diverse album from Japan's leading female-performer. Yes, it's different from her previous work, but despite all the criticism RAINBOW received because of this, it's at the same time a breath of fresh air into her already gigantic music library. With an exception of the interludes (except for the first one), RAINBOW is a pleasant album to listen to, boasting all kinds of different genres in pop music. For those not yet familiar with Hamasaki Ayumi's music, RAINBOW may not be the most appropriate album to listen to considering it's not speaking for her works in general, but for those who are, it's definitely recommended. Follow the RAINBOW.