Ongaku Cafe (The 2000s): AAA – Mirage (January 2008)

AAA’s “Mirage” is energetic, fun and actually a CD single that I have listened to repeatedly over and over again. So, another cool CD single from the group and great to see them finally reach #1 on the Daily and Weekly Oricon Charts.

GROUP: AAA

ALBUM: MIRAGE

LABEL: avex trax

CATALOG #: AVCD-31364/B

RELEASED ON January 9, 2008

MIRAGE
Love Candle
MIRAGE (Instrumental)
Love Candle (Instrumental)

DVD: Region 2, 4:3, Duration: 3 minutes

MIRAGE (music clip)

When AAA (Attack All Around) debuted at #1 with their 17th CD single “MIRAGE”, I was very happy for the group. I’ve been following them and just watching as they improve as a group musically and also improve on the Oricon Chart ratings.

“Mirage” was their first CD single to debut at #1 on both the daily and weekly charts for the group and overall since the release back in January and a DVD release in the beginning of the year, the group has done quite well in 2008.

For those not familiar with AAA, the group is a hybrid boy band and girl band. That is, the group features five men and two women and the core of their music is all out J-Pop. Dance music that you can groove to and enjoy listening or even watching them perform live.

They are amongst the most energetic acts from the avex trax label and with their CD single “MIRAGE”, the song has a Middle Eastern vibe in the intro but transitions immediately to an up-tempo dance track.

What I like about the track is that it has the same energetic vibe as their music in 2006. I actually enjoyed their musical releases from 2005-2006 because of that in-your-face music which is awesome to watch on their live concerts. So, it’s definitely great to hear Nishijima Takahiro and Uno Misako (who are typically the primary vocalists on many AAA songs) at their best and to hear the overall group vocals work well. The music is cool, energetic and lively and the vocals are pleasant and again, reminds me of why I enjoy AAA’s music.

The coupling track is “Love Candle”. The song is breezy and fun but I did find the vocals by a few of the guys as average on this track. I’ve heard the guys sing many songs (with just the guys only) and vocally, “Love Candle” was not their best. But nevertheless, I like the music, I like the women singing in the background but all in all, the vocals by a few of the guys were OK.

As for the DVD, the music video features the group in their Middle Eastern fused with Asian influence and focusing on the group’s choreography. All in all, the video is nothing spectacular but I actually enjoyed it for the overall choreography and for those who are Nishi and Misako fans, you’ll definitely enjoy this video.

The regular CD version features a third vocal track which is a live performance of “SUNSHINE” at Budokan which took place back in Sept. 2007.

The CD insert features a bi-fold, opened up you get the lyrics to both songs.

It’s actually interesting to see how 2008 has been so far because we are not getting back-to-back releases of AAA compared to last year. There is actually a three month gap until the group’s next CD single (April 2008), so no churning of CD singles for this group (Avex’s 2008 churning of CD singles goes to Tohoshinki with five CD singles in a six week period for Feb.-March 2008).

But all in all, the song is energetic, fun and actually a CD single that I have listened to repeatedly over and over again. So, another cool CD single from the group and great to see them finally reach #1 on the Daily and Weekly Oricon Charts.

More from my site