Ongaku Cafe (The ’90s): Zoo – Can I Dance? (Novemer 1993)

This is a pretty solid album from Zoo. Aside from maybe 1-2 songs that were filler-like and a few short instrumental breaks, most of the songs on this album are well-done and well-produced. If you are a fan of Zoo, definitely give “Can I Dance?” a chance!

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GROUP: Zoo

ALBUM: Can I Dance?

LABEL: FOR LIFE

CATALOG #: FLCF-30225

DURATION: 47:17

RELEASE DATE: November 19, 1993

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1. OVERTURE
2. Every Time
3. Ding Dong Express (Album Version)
4. Seven Snow Flakes
5. Alternate
6. INVISIBLE
7. THE MOMENT YOU WERE MINE
8. Gravity
9. Play Back
10. Interlude
11. Merry Walking
12. Real Love
13. La La は愛の言葉(Album Version)

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Reviewed back in 1993

The pop group ZOO is back with their new album “Can I Dance?”. The group is known for having the best dancers in Japan and by keeping it fresh by their constantly changing membership in the band (which trf vocalist YU-KI was once a part of) and is known for their 1991 hit “Choo Choo TRAIN”.

Zoo’s sixth album “Can I Dance?”features the group’s 8th hit single “Ding Dong Express” and and album done in collaboration with JR’s ’94 JR ski ski campaign.

The group kicks off with a short musical intro titled OVERTURE” and transitions to their upbeat pop song “Every Time” which was used as the campaign song for the “1994 JR ski ski campaign” and is written by Alice Sato and music by Kiichi Yokoyama and arrangment by Atsushi Onozawa. An upbeat pop song that caters to the dancers of the group. A pretty awesome pop song.

The third track “Ding Dong Express (Album Version)” is the the hit 8th single from the group written by Alice Sato and music by Ichiro Hada and arrangement by Yasutaka Mizushima. A very cool upbeat track which I had the opportunity to see the group perform to. It may seem like a slow-paced pop song during the normal verse but once they get to the chorus, it was cool to see the dancers take advantage of the chorus and start jamming. Pretty catchy song!

The fourth track “Seven Snow Flakes” features lyrics and music by Masaya Ozeki. The song is a wonderful winter/Christmas ballad.

The fifth track is a five second transition to the sixth track “INVISIBLE” which is another cool, upbeat pop song written by Mayumi Ito and music by Ichiro Hada. A pretty cool pop track similar to “Every Time” and gives the dancers a chance to take advantage of the chorus for cool choreography.

The seventh track is another short instrumental (27 seconds long) which transitions to a reggae style, mid-tempo track titled “Gravity” written by Yumi Endo and music by Ichiro Nada.

The eighth track is the only track not by the female vocalist which features words by member Crazy A and is a rap track.

The ninth track is a short musical interlude which transitions to the pop song “Merry Walking” which is probably the only track that I found to be average compared to the other wonderful tracks on this album.

The tenth track “Real Love” is a mid-tempo track written by Tamaki Kawada and music by Masaya Ozeki.

The final track on the album is “La La は愛の言葉(Album Version)” (which translates to “La La is a word of love”) and is a pretty cool winter slow mid-tempo jam.

The CD insert features photos of each of the eight members of the group and the lyrics to each of the songs on the album plus the production credits.

Overall, this is a pretty solid album from Zoo. Aside from maybe 1-2 songs that were filler-like and a few short instrumental breaks, most of the songs on this album are well-done and well-produced. If you are a fan of Zoo, definitely give “Can I Dance?” a chance!

Definitely recommended!

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