Higher tier songs: This album is pretty much flawless to me. The single tracks BYE BYE, Last Love, Destiny, and WHY are all excellent tracks. BYE BYE is probably one of my favorite songs ever, with Last Love being a song I was obsessed with for a long time. WHY was the first time Miliyah truly experimented with a rock sound and she pulled it off flawlessly. Destiny is an R&B tune that has some beautiful piano playing.

As for the album tracks, B.F.F. and I miss you are on the top. B.F.F. is a very emotional rock track, that features lyrics about friends who are backstabbers. I miss you was produced by DAISHI DANCE (who is one of my favorite producers ever) and it’s a beautiful track! Sora has one of the best choruses on the album. The build-up is just perfect. Silent Ocean is how ballads should be done in Japan. Just piano, acoustic guitar, and strings! Silent Ocean is a very lovely track. FREE features an exciting arrangement! I love the amount of English Miliyah uses.

HEAVEN was arranged by another producer I like, T.O.M. (who producers for MiChi). I really like the instrumentation in this track, it just sounds so different. Endless Love was produced by taku of m-flo, so that can explain why the intro sounds exactly like ‘Romantic’ by Rie fu. The chorus is so hard-hitting. I love it!

Middle tier songs: Baby I See You feat. VERBAL (m-flo) would have been a perfect track if it weren’t so lengthy. Although I like Miliyah and VERBAL together, they work well. Don’t wanna let go is way too short. When the song truly starts to pick up, it just suddenly ends. X.O.X.O. is a fun pop song, but I can’t find myself repeating it twice in a row. Sweet Angel was a bit too generic for me at first. But it grew onto me. It’s a really pretty R&B track.

Overall thoughts: As you can see, there are no lower tier songs. I’m obsessed with this album, and still am. I love the amount of genres that Miliyah tackles and does so well! Not to mention her voice is really nice to listen to. The tracks here are all of high quality, with some amazing lyrics as well (after all, I started to really fall in love with her due to her lyrics). This was my album of 2010, it’s just flawless, for lack of better words.

TRACKLIST
1.) BYE BYE
2.) Last Love
3.) I miss you
4.) X.O.X.O.
5.) HEAVEN
6.) Baby I See You feat. VERBAL (m-flo)
7.) 空 [translation: Sora, Sky]
8.) WHY
9.) FREE
10.) Endless Love
11.) Sweet Angel
12.) Destiny
13.) B.F.F.
14.) Don’t wanna let go
15.) Silent Ocean
16.) 終わりなき哀しみ [translation: Owari Naki Kanashimi, Never-ending Sadness]

Higher tier songs: Nicki Minaj is probably the most unique rapper to ever come onto the music scene. She can sing and rap, and her lyrics are killer. Roman’s Revenge is such an intense song! The lyrics seem to be directed to Lil’ Kim. Eminem is featured in the song, and he can be very scary sometimes. Save Me is a very beautiful song that I actually disliked the first time I heard it! There is a siren noise that is present throughout the entire song, so it does get annoying. But Nicki is only singing, and she has a beautiful voice!

Super Bass is one of the best songs ever. The verses are strong with Nicki’s slick rapping, while the chorus is addictive and catchy with her singing! One of my favorite songs ever. Right Thru Me and Your Love are both beautiful songs that infuse Nicki’s amazing rapping with a pop instrumentation. Did It on’em is an aggressive track with hilarious lyrics. The bass in the song is so hot!

Moment 4 Life is a meaningful song that doesn’t follow a regular song structure. My only complaint is that Drake has some bad notes here and there and that the outro is a bit too long for my likes. Fly features beautiful vocals from Rihanna. Muny has been called the “rap version of Material Girls”. I think the instrumentation is really weird, but I love the lyrics. And finally, Blow Ya Mind is aggressive and Nicki is on full-fierce mode with her vocal technique.

Middle tier songs: Check It Out and Blazin both feature pretty famous producers/rappers, but the songs were a bit underwhelming compared to the other songs. Last Chance, I’m the Best, and Catch Me are all good songs, they’re just lacking that ‘oomph’ to make them really amazing.

Lower tier songs: Wave Ya Hand sounds almost like Muny. And the fact that they’re right next to each other on the album doesn’t help. And finally, Here I Am and Dear Old Nicki are just really forgettable. They’re just not that memorable to me. Although the instrumentation in Here I Am is great.

Overall thoughts: I don’t know what it is about Nicki, but she makes amazing music. I would have liked to hear more of her singing voice, but her rapping is excellent too. I think it’s disappointing to know that people can only get Super Bass with the deluxe edition of the album, because that track is too amazing to pass up! Overall, one of the strongest rap albums I have listened to in a long time.

TRACKLIST
1.) I’m the Best
2.) Roman’s Revenge (feat. Eminem)
3.) Did It on’em
4.) Right Thru Me
5.) Fly (feat. Rihanna)
6.) Save Me
7.) Moment 4 Life (feat. Drake)
8.) Check It Out (feat. will.i.am)
9.) Blazin (feat. Kanye West)
10.) Here I Am
11.) Dear Old Nicki
12.) Your Love
13.) Last Chance (feat. Natasha Bedingfield)
14.) Super Bass
15.) Blow Ya Mand
16.) Muny
17.) Wave Ya Hand
18.) Catch Me

Higher tier songs: There are over 23 songs to go through, so this is gonna take a while! Anyway, I prefer her hyper-sexual tracks over the ballads. Desnudate incorporates Spanish into the lyrics, and damn Christina makes it sexy as hell! Not Myself Tonight has an amazing dance beat, that combined with her powerful vocals makes this song great. Vanity is the perfect anthem for anyone who wants to say “Yeah! I’m the shit!”. It’s just an amazing song! Elastic Love has an amazing beat with some cool vocal effects put on Christina’s voice. Stronger Than Ever is the strongest (no pun intended) ballad on the album!

Bobblehead is such a funny song. Christina’s vocal delivery is so damn slick. It’s a good song to dedicate to some girls. You Lost Me is a tender and soft ballad, but it’s nice to listen to. Glam is a song that I can imagine being played during a runway show or something. I love the bridge to the song. Woohoo is about cunnilingus (not a topic you usually hear in music!) and damn Christina makes that song sexy. Nicki’s rapping was killer on this track!

Middle tier songs: Bionic has some great vocal delivery from Christina, but the instrumentation can get annoying. I Am is a nice ballad, but it’s a bit too boring for me (same goes for the (Stripped) version that’s included as a bonus track). I Hate Boys and My Girls are hot songs, but they’re just not as good as the ones in my higher tier list. Monday Morning has such a cool beat, but I wish Christina would enunciate her words. Birds of Prey is the weirdest song on the album. The instrumentation is weird and the lyrics are full of metaphors.

Lower tier songs: I’ll just get it out of the way now and say that all the interludes on the album are useless. They were obviously only included to make the tracklist seem bigger. Sex for Breakfast is really boring…I don’t like slow songs about sex. I like aggressive tracks about sex more! Lift Me Up and All I Need are boring, and are the worst ballads on the album. Prima Donna is trying to be aggressive, but it’s just boring.

Overall thoughts: Damn this was a big album! It’s obvious that Christina excels at the hyper-sexual tracks, because the ballads on this album were lacking (minus Stronger Than Ever). The interludes could have been discarded and a new song would have been better or something. The deluxe edition comes with five bonus tracks, and I think that it’s worth the buy!

TRACKLIST
1.) Bionic
2.) Not Myself Tonight
3.) Woohoo (feat. Nicki Minaj)
4.) Elastic Love
5.) Desnudate
6.) Love & Glamour (intro)
7.) Glam
8.) Prima Donna
9.) Morning Dessert (intro)
10.) Sex for Breakfast
11.) Lift Me Up
12.) My Heart (intro)
13.) All I Need
14.) I Am
15.) You Lost Me
16.) I Hate Boys
17.) My Girls (feat. Peaches)
18.) Vanity
19.) Monday Morning
20.) Bobblehead
21.) Birds of Prey
22.) Stronger Than Ever
23.) I Am (Stripped)

Higher tier songs: Even though I thought the album was her worst for a while, it grew onto me. The highlights for me were the single tracks MOON, Virgin Road, and Sweet Season. Those three were my favorite A-side singles of this era and they are some of the strongest tracks on the album.

As for album tracks,  Like a doll is my favorite album track because it’s a piano-dance song with some beautiful lyrics. Thank U was so annoying to me when I first listened to it, but then I listened to it over and over again and now it’s stuck in my head! The instrumentation is also top-notch! The arranger of this track did well.

In the interlude department, overture and Aria were strong. So strong in fact, I thought they were better than some of the other album tracks.

Middle tier songs: Now we enter the songs that I’ll listen to, but they were not my favorites. blossom was weak compared to MOON. It just felt underwhelming on the single and on the album. crossroad still hasn’t grown onto me. I don’t know why either. The chorus melody is nice though.

Love song I also disliked a lot, because Ayu’s “raw vocals” were a bit too whiny. But then her voice grew onto me. The instrumentation is amazing too! sending mail still has to fully grow onto me, but I’m starting to slowly fall in love with it. The part before the chorus is beautiful because an echo layering effect is placed on Ayu’s voice. The chorus does remind me of ‘Mirrorcle World’, but I like it. Last but not least, is November. The instrumentation is really weird and the melody doesn’t work at times, but it’s a grower.

Lower tier songs: The only single track to appear on the lower tier is Last angel. The melody is really bad, Ayu’s whispering vocals in the verses are so annoying, and the song just wasn’t that interesting. But I do applaud the instrumentation.

do it again is the only album track to appear on this list. I just cannot stand this song. The instrumentation is pretty, but the repetition is annoying. Plus, the song is pretty forgettable (to me anyway). Finally, the SEVEN DAYS WAR live is just okay. It’s nothing special.

And insomnia is the worst interlude in Ayu’s discography. Talk about boring.

Overall thoughts: ‘Love songs’ is a very raw album. It’s more cohesive than the past three albums, but I thought the album was harder to get into. It took a few months before I fully started to appreciate the album. The singles were pretty strong, but the album tracks were really hard to appreciate (compared to ‘Rock’n'Roll Circus’). But overall, this is a nice, relaxing album.

TRACKLIST
1.) Love song
2.) crossroad
3.) MOON
4.) sending mail
5.) Last angel
6.) insomnia
7.) Like a doll
8.) Aria
9.) blossom
10.) Thank U
11.) Sweet Season
12.) overture
13.) do it again
14.) November
15.) Virgin Road
16.) SEVEN DAYS WAR (Live at Yoyogi on Oct.11.2010)

Higher tier songs: I’ll cut to the chase and say Fire Bomb is one of Rihanna’s greatest songs. There is so much emotion in her voice, the lyrics are deep, and the music is powerful. Te amo is an addictive track! With lyrics about another woman falling in love with Rihanna. Rude Boy is such a dirty song, but it’s so darn catchy. Stupid in Love is another emotional track that I found pretty catchy.

Hard has some of the best instrumentation on the album (the piano in the background makes it wonderful). I love Rihanna’s fierce attitude. Although I think Young Jeezy’s rapping is annoying. Another fierce track is G4L, with lyrics that speak about how she’ll always have her girls’ backs. The instrumentation has dubstep influences in it. The last two songs, Cold Case Love and The Last Song are some of the most emotional on the album. Cold Case Love is over six minutes long and it’s just one big epic song. The Last Song has some amazing music and lyrics. I just adore it so much.

Russian Roulette was the lead single off of the album, and it’s quite a powerful song. The chorus packs a punch.

Middle tier songs: Photographs, while having a nice melody and instrumentation, it doesn’t have that “oomph” to make me really like it. But Rihanna’s voice is beautiful. Wait Your Turn has some fierce lyrics and instrumentation, but there’s not much going on in the song itself so it can get boring after a while. Mad House, our album opener is so weird and creepy! But it’s still pretty cool. Rockstar 101 took the longest time to grow on me, and I still think it’s alright. The bridge is beautiful though.

Overall thoughts: I think the album is amazing (seeing as how I have no lower tier songs listed). It’s an emotional roller coaster and I like that Rihanna had a lot of artistic input. The darker themes are what bring me back. It’s just so different from the usual Rihanna styles from her past three albums.

TRACKLIST
1.) Mad House
2.) Wait Your Turn
3.) Hard (feat. Young Jeezy)
4.) Stupid in Love
5.) Rockstar 101 (feat. Slash)
6.) Russian Roulette
7.) Fire Bomb
8.) Rude Boy
9.) Photographs (feat. will.i.am)
10.) G4L
11.) Te amo
12.) Cold Case Love
13.) The Last Song

Higher tier songs: Right as the album starts, I’m already in love! Ballerina Brain System is such an infectious song. No matter what kind of music you listen to, this song is bound to get stuck in your head! The production value is nice and MAA has some nice vocals. The lyrics were written in a clever manner. Another great track is Hangover Payback. The instrumentation is cool (for lack of better words). I also love the melody, the composer did a great job on that. Beautiful Mistakes is another favorite of mine, as it’s catchy once again. And finally, Tomorrow @ Your Kingdom is the most emotional song on the album. As she sings about wanting to enter Heaven to meet with someone who has passed away (fans speculate that it’s about her brother). The song is somber and saddening.

Middle tier songs: Virgin Killer Santa is a really weird song. It’s a Christmas song, but it’s a dark Christmas song. Although I think the track is just alright. Ghost Enemy has a nice melody and instrumentation, but there is something that keeps me from truly “loving” it.

Lower tier songs: Demon’s Phone Call and Monkeybone City are both really unmemorable to me. The latter has some really nice instrumentation though.

Overall thoughts: I thought that ‘Monkey Kingdom’ was an excellent debut by MAA! She is truly an electro artist to look out for! I also applaud her for writing the lyrics to all the songs on the album.

TRACKLIST
1.) バレリーナ・ブレインシステム [translation: Ballerina Brain System]
2.) Ghost Enemy
3.) Tomorrow @ Your Kingdom
4.) モンキーボーン・シティ [translation: Monkeybone City]
5.) ハングオーバー・ペイバック [translation: Hangover Payback]
6.) Beautiful Mistakes
7.) バージンキラー・サンタ [translation: Virgin Santa Killer]
8.) Demon’s Phone Call