Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi Soundtrack
I am a completist at heart when filling out my music library so I picked up the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi soundtrack...it was a good price at the Sony Music Store, plus the free autographed poster was a nice addition.
Music wise it is pretty much a boiled down version of An Illustrated History, which autogrpahed poster aside is probably the better primer to get to know this wonderful Japanese duo. A couple new English tracks are in there plus Sunrise from their Japanese EP 59.
The web enhanced stuff is okay...not a whole lot new, but maybe Sony Music will tack on some more stuff soon. There is nothing there that you can;t get from Cartoon Network's website. It would have been netter to have stuff on the CD for fans, like the videos of the songs...
There is just enough new stuff (especially for the fans bereft of Puffy's Japanese relase of 59) to make it worth while...for those of you looking to learn more about Puffy this is a fair place to start (but An Illustrated History is a better one). For fans of the new Cartoon Network show it will give a much broader view of their work than the well placed snippets in the show.
On a song by song note:
Hi Hi - An infectious and fun theme song from the show. Though I suspect only Ami is singing as Yumi's English is still a little shaky.
Friends Forever - A nice English version of the song from Nice
Planet Tokyo - A great song off of Nice, though maybe not as good as Your Love is A Drug.
Joining A Fan Club - I prefer the Japanese version from Nice, but it is good song in this version too.
Forever - Both seem to be singing in English, it is a throwback 60's girl band song and very pleasant.
VACATION - Not a song I like much, but your mileage may vary. Probably good for the snippets on the show.
Love So Pure - Yumi seems to be singing lead on this English version and makes it a compellingly great song.
True Asia: The Japanese version and anothe rgreat song...and their first hit.
Boogie Woogie #5: A song I do not like, but again good for sampling snippets into the show.
That's The Way It Is: A very catchy song and more throwback than j-poppy.
Sunrise: A GREAT song as are most of the songs Andy Sturmer has done with Puffy over the past several years. Very well sung and played. One of the few songs where lots of synthesizers are a great thing.
Into The Beach: An okay song, very heartfelt vocals.
December: A nice sounding more serious sounding song.
Teen Titans Theme: A fun song from the Cartoon Network series...another great Sturmer song.
--GenFX