I've been in love with Nishida Hikaru and her music ever since I first heard her single "Melody" way back in 1996, and since then I've cherished just about every single thing she's ever done, her music ranking up there in my Top Five Favorite J-Pop artists of All-Time!!
Besides featuring some of the catchiest, poppiest and at time sad and lovely songs, every one of Hikaru's albums and singles also have an incredible amount of sentimental significance for me, so when I was asked recently which songs of hers were in my Top Ten, I knew it wouldn't be a query I could answer without some difficulty!
In fact, when I came right down to it, I couldn't do a fave list without any less than fifty positions, because there were just too darn many songs I loved that were of equal appreciation, and in the end, the best I could do was give a sort of "general" placement of the songs in the list.
By that I mean that a song ranked at, say, #11 isn't necessarily more loved than a song at #13, but probably more beloved than a song at #33 or so. But let's face it, I love everything Hikaru's done, and the list is merely a fun thing to look at to "spotlight" the songs of hers that have meant more to me and have gone even beyond beloved in my book!!
Z's 西田 ひかる TOP FIFTY SONG LIST! :)
01- Kokoro Dake Soba ni Iru ~Here In My Heart /Esprit
02- Namida Tomaranai /Sundance
03- Kimi No Yukini Kampai /Esprit
04- Oh My God!!~Dane /Tokimeki No Prologue
05- Dear My Soul /2-4
06- Ikiterutte Subarashii /19 Dreams
07- Miracle / Love Always
08- Don’t Worry Yourself /Esprit
09- Melody (single)
10- Meguriai /19 Dreams
11- Hohoemi ni Yakusoku /19 Dreams
12- Once Upon A Time /A File Of Life
13- Tokimeite /Esprit
14- Racuen Densetsu /A File Of Life
15- Jibun Rashiku Nareru /A File Of Life
16- Dear My Friends /Sundance
17- Sore ga Hajimari /A File Of Life
18- C’mon C’mon C’mon /A File Of Life
19- Tenshi Kara No Telepathy /Esprit
20- Aru Asa, Koi ni Tsuite Kangaetakoto /A File Of Life
21- A Song For You /Sundance
22- Yes /Esprit
23- Happy Ever After /Love Always
24- I'm Alright ~Yasashiku Naritai~ /2-4
25- Watashi Dake Hero /Esprit
26- Watashi No No.1 /2-4
27- Juliet No Kuchibue /Clear
28- Kitto Aiga Aru /Love Always
29- Happy Dream /19 Dreams
30- Koi Wa Shiroi T-Shirt (single)
31- Til The End Of Time /19 Dreams
32- Tomodachi ni Naritai /19 Dreams
33- Nakushita Kunai no Anata o (single)
34- Mamoritai no... /Love Always
35- BIBIDEBU/ Love Always
36- Tsukiyo Ni Kiganjuu /Tokimeki No Prologue
37- Sukida to Iwareta /19 Dreams
38- Kagayaki! Kudasai /Sundance
39- Suki de... Suki de... Suki na no /2-4
40- Dolphin Christmas /Love Always
41- Pun Pun Pun /Tokimeki No Prologue
42- Totsuzen no Natsu 2-4
43- Truth (single)
44- Madobe No Secret (single)
45- Nice Catch /Clear
46- Iin Jyanai (single)
47- Go Beep! (single)
48- Natural Summer Days /Silhouette
49- Little Chance /Clear
50- Fifteen /Clear
Notes:
Looking over this list, it is pretty apparent which Hikaru Albums are my favorites! The list leans quite favorably towards her middle albums, the ones that I consider her “peak” releases: Esprit, 19 Dreams, Sundance and Love Always, with a handful of faves from later releases like A File Of Life, and the album that came out just as I was getting into her, Two-Four.
The releases that seem to appear less on my list are Hikaru’s early albums, Clear, Silhouette and Tokimeki No Prologue, where I always felt like she was still developing her own style and still sounding like the electronic j-pop of the early 80’s. It wasn’t until Esprit came along that I feel she came into herself, and from there, there was no stopping her!
A couple of albums that don’t appear at all here are Hikaru’s two latest releases, Shiawase No Katachi and Love For All Seasons, and it’s not for lack of great songs. Though all the tracks on these albums are terrific tunes, because they came so much later than the previous albums, I simply haven’t got a chance to get as sentimentally attached to them as the others. Yet!
No comments:
Post a Comment