Chara's fifth album earned her a million seller in its initial week of release, and put her high in the ranks of Japan's alternative female vocalists.
This is a charming album, brimming with sunshine and confidence, going from grunge-style guitars to lullaby glockenspeil with ease, sometimes in the same song.
Chara's delivery on such hits as "Yasashii Kimochi" and "Milk" nestles somewhere between wide-eyed wonder and irritability, and takes just a bit getting used to.
The former of these two features a stompin' guitar out of "Give Peace a Chance," but hooks up a merry-go-round to the instrumentation.
The title track is a dish of sweet R&B, with slinky keyboards and tasty horn arrangements, while the Towa Tei-produced track "Striped Bambi" moves along as sweet as a fairy tale until a last-minute interruption by Chisato Moritaka on drums and YMO's Harry Hosono on bass.
"Come Freely" rocks like a Traveling Wilburys song, aided by harpsichord and some Clapton-esque guitar, and "Where Did You Go? Stupid!" features a funky drum track and some strings strangely reminiscent of a James Bond theme song.
There's hardly a bad track here, just some sameness in the ballads, but it's the best starting point for anyone interested in the singer.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MilkChara | Chara | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 2 | Time MachineChara | Chara | Play | 06:08 | 14 MB | 36 MB |
| 3 | Doko Ni Ittandarou? Anobaka Wa | Chara | Play | 04:17 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 4 | Junior SweetChara | Chara | Play | 06:28 | 14 MB | 38 MB |
| 5 | Hana No YumeChara | Chara | Play | 05:46 | 13 MB | 30 MB |
| 6 | SetsunaimonoChara | Chara | Play | 01:44 | 3 MB | 7 MB |
| 7 | やさしい気持ち (Yasashii Kimochi - Shiawase Version) | Chara | Play | 04:03 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 8 | しましまのバンビ (Shimashima no Bami) | Chara | Play | 03:31 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 9 | 私の名前はおバカさん (Watashi no Namae wa Obaka-san) | Chara | Play | 04:25 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 10 | 勝手にきた (Katte ni Kita) | Chara | Play | 03:02 | 6 MB | 20 MB |
| 11 | 私はかわいい人といわれたい (Watashi wa Kawaii Hito to Iwaretai - Original Version) | Chara | Play | 05:46 | 13 MB | 35 MB |
| 12 | 愛の絆 (Ai no Kizuna) | Chara | Play | 04:51 | 11 MB | 27 MB |
| 53 mins | 123 MB | |||||
| 53 mins | 325 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chara | Composer, Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |