Ongaku Cafe (The ’80s, The ’90s): Various Artists – Fuyu no Kibun

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Disc 1:

1. 雪のクリスマス / DREAMS COME TRUE (90)
2. クリスマスキャロルの頃には / 稲垣潤一 (92)
3. サイレント･イヴ / 辛島美登里 (90)
4. クリスマスキャロルの頃には / 稲垣潤一 (92)
5. CRAZY GONNA CRAZY / TRF (95)
6. Choo Choo Train / ZOO (91)
7. STRIPE! / 槇原敬之 (98)
8. もう涙はいらない / 鈴木雅之 (92)
9. 君だけをみていた / To Be Continued (94)
10. プライマル / オリジナル･ラヴ (96)
11. ハートのイアリング / 松田聖子（84)
12. Winter Kiss / Dual Dream (94)
13. スノーフレイクの街角 / 杏里 (88)
14. ジン ジン ジン ジングルベル / 森高千里 (95)
15. 雪が降る町 / UNICORN (92)

Disc 2:

1. 冬のうた / Kiroro (98)
2. 冬のファンタジー / Cousin (95)
3. 会いたい / 沢田知可子 (90)
4. サヨナラ / 岡本真夜 (97)
5. I Love you / 徳永英明 (92)
6. Zutto～Xmas version～ / 永井真理子 (90)
7. 縺ｵ縺溘ｊ / ASKA (88)
8. ありがとう / 井上陽水奥田民生 (97)
9. ヤングブラッズ –’99 mix version / 佐野元春 (85)
10. メッセージ・ソング / ピチカート・ファイヴ (96)
11. シャイニン・オン 君が哀しい / LOOK (85)
12. 悲しいね / 渡辺美里 (87)
13. Winter’s Tale / 高野寛＆田島貴男 (92)
14. 天使たちの時 / 岡村孝子 (89)
15. 永遠をあずけてくれ （’05 DEEN The Best キセキより）/ DEEN (93)
16. Present for you / チェッカーズ (92)

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The following review is from November 2010

When it comes to Christmas holiday compilations, they are typically hit or miss.

For one, sometimes a label are unable to get the permission from other labels to include major songs for a winter compilation.

And second, you are never going to get a perfect compilation, especially if you are expecting longtime holiday hits such as Yamashita Tatsuro’s “Christmas Eve” or Takeuchi Mariya’s “Suteki na Holiday” which are played every year in Japan.

But Sony Direct was able to work with other labels to release one of the best holiday compilation albums that I have listened to.

The compilation album is titled “Fuyu Kibun” and it includes many holiday hits that I find that if you are looking for a J-Pop Christmas compilation album, this is the one to buy!

The two-disc album features plenty of hits.  For example, DREAM COME TRUE’s “Yuki no Christmas” (Japanese version) is included.  Known as “Winter Song”, many have heard DCT’s English version which was used in the Japanese theatrical release of “Sleepless in Seattle” and included in the soundtrack.  Finding the Japanese version of this song is not easy, considering most best albums or DCT compilation albums only include the English version.  So, it’s a treat to have the Japanese version of the song included on this compilation album.

The second track features Inagaki Junichi’s hit 1990 Christmas song “Christmas Carol no kuro ni wa” which was used for the TBS drama “Homework” and what may surprise people is that this early ’90s Christmas hit was written by AKB48 producer, Akimoto Yasushi.

The first disc includes hits such as “Silent Eve” by Kawashima Midori and no winter compilation is complete without a song from the Winter Queen, Hiroe Kohmi and her hit song “Gerende ga Tokeru Hodo Koishitai” (I Want to Fall in Love with Skiing) used for the 1995 film of the same title.

But then you have songs which I believe should not have been included on this compilation album.

For one, TRF’s “CRAZY GONNA CRAZY” is a popular dance song but the more appropriate TRF song is “Samui Yoru no Dakara”, which actually revolves around the winter time.  To Be Continue’s “Kimi Dake wo Miteitai”, Matsuda Seiko’s “Hear no Earring” (written by B’z Matsumoto Tak) – I do wish they used “Pearl-White Eve” instead, and Original Love’s “Primal” are examples of good songs but not sure why they were included on this compilation.  And as for ZOO, they have so many winter songs and “Choo Choo TRAIN” (a popular dance song) is not one of them.  With that being said, “Choo Choo TRAIN” has more validity because it was used for a JR Ski Ski commercial.

As with Makihara Noriyuki’s “STRIPE!” which was used as a theme song for a winter sports good ski CM.

First disk also has Dual Dream’s “Winter Kiss”, Anri’s “Snowflake no Machikado” and UNICORN’s “Yuki ga Furumachi” but I was thrilled to see Moritaka Chisato’s popular Christmas song “Jin Jin Jingle Bell” included.

As for disc 2, it kicks off with Kiroro’s popular song “Fuyu no Uta”, followed by Cousin’s popular winter song “Fuyu no Fantasy”.

I was surprised to hear Sawada Chikako’s sad ballad “Aitai” included, but then you have another sad song with Okamoto Mayo’s “Sayonara”.  Not sure if these two songs are what I would listen to during the Christmas holidays but they are welcomed additions as they are popular ’90s songs but they did feel out of place.

The album features Tokunaga Hideaki’s popular Christmas ballad “I LOVE YOU”, Nagai Mariko’s “ZUTTO ~Xmas Version~”, ASKA’s “Futari”, Watanabe Misato’s “Kanashine”,  Takano Hiroshi and Tajima Takao’s “Winter’s Tale ~Fuyu Monogatari~”, Okamura Takako’s “Tenshi-tachi no Toki”, DEEN’s “Eien o azukete kure” and Checkers hit “Present for you”.

Another song that probably didn’t belong on this one but yet, I’m quite happy it was is Inoue Yosui and Okuda Tami’s “Arigatou”.  When the single came out, it was the coupling song “Parallel Love” that was used for a Christmas tie-in, not “Arigatou”, which was used for a Sapporo Beer commercial.

Other questionable inclusions but yet were popular songs were Sano Motohiro’s “Youngbloods”, Pizzicato Five’s “Message Song”, LOOK’s “Shining On Kimi ga Kanashii”.

But for the most part this is a solid winter compilation album.  There are many holiday hit songs from J-Pop past from the ’80s and ’90s and you also get other hit songs included as well.

Is “Fuyu no Kibun” a perfect winter compilation?  Not really.  It’s also subjective to the listener.  But considering you are getting over 2.5 hours of wonderful music from the past and many winter songs, you really can’t go wrong, because it’s no doubt one of the better winter compilation albums covering music from the ’80s and ’90s that has been released in Japan.

Definitely a winter compilation album worth checking out!

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