Ongaku Cafe (The 2000s): “I Love 30 – MY MELODY” (March 2008)

I tend to be critical of compilation albums of why this song was chosen and not that song but for this album, I have nothing to complain about. All these songs, I loved when they were released.

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ARTISTS: Various Artists

ALBUM: I Love 30 – MY MELODY

LABEL: Tearbridge Records

CATALOG #: NFC1-27088

DURATION: 1:12:29

Released on March 26, 2008

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1. globe – Feel Like dance
2. TRF – Overnight Sensation
3. Kahala Tomomi – I BELIEVE
4. Okamoto Mayo – TOMORROW
5. Furuuchi Toko – Dare yori suki nano ni
6. Aikawa Nanase – Koigokoro
7. MAX – Give me a Shake
8. SPEED – STEADY
9. Sentimental Bus – Sunny Day Sunday
10. PUFFY – Kore ga watashi no ikiru michi
11. Kawamoto Makoto – 1/2
12. Yaida Hitomi – My Sweet Darlin’
13. Shimatani Hitomi – papillon
14. Every Little Thing – For the Moment
15. hitomi – IS IT YOU?
16. Do As Infinity – Fukai Mori

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An album which Sanrio character MY MELODY graces the cover.

At first, I figured that it was a celebration for MY MELODY’s 30th Birthday but after seeing that the character was born in January 1975 and that this album was released on March 2008, I was not actually sure what the “I LOVE 30” was coming from.

According to Wikipedia, MY MELODY came out on top as the most popular Sanrio character in a poll by Ichigo Shimbun and thus the red riding hood version had a merchandise release in Feb. 1997.

I know, still doesn’t explain where the “I Love 30” comes from.

Nevertheless, the compilation album features a lot of the chart topping hits from bands such as globe, TRF, MAX, SPEED, PUFFY, Every Little Thing, hitomi, Do As Infinity, Aikawa Nanase and more.

Personally, I think this is one of the coolest compilations to be released, especially if you were a J-pop fan during the 90’s. And the only songs I think released in the new millennium on this compilation album would be Do As Infinity’s hit song “Fukai Mori” (2001) and Yaida Hitomi’s “My Sweet Darlin’” (2000).

All songs on this album were chart topping hit songs by each artist and you really can’t go wrong with it. Especially at the $25 price point for a Japanese album, the price for 16 hits is pretty good.

The CD insert features lyrics for each track and artwork of MY MELODY by groovisions.

I may not know where the “I Love 30” is coming from, in terms of the Sanrio MY MELODY character but I can speak on the compilation album.

This is not a compilation album focusing on one label, this is a compilation of chart topping hits from avex, Epic, Geneon, EMI, Toy’s Factory and Tokuma record labels.

And typically where those compilations from multi-labels tend to feature tracks from the artists, most of the time, not the popular hits, “I Love 30 – MY MELODY” is all about the hit songs released between the mid-90’s through 2001.

I tend to be critical of compilation albums of why this song was chosen and not that song but for this album, I have nothing to complain about. All these songs, I loved when they were released.

So, looking for a good priced J-Pop compilation album, this is definitely one worth getting.

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