Kingdom
[2008.01.30]
After the huge success of the previous album Black Cherry in 2006, 2007 saw our Kuuchan releasing many singles from the upcoming album Kingdom, including the smash hit Ai no Uta: definitely Kumi's most iconic and popular ballad.
Despite taking more time than usual to be released, Kingdom didn't move too much from the r&b sound of Kumi's most recent albums but it's still regarded as the pinnacle of her career.
Read my track-by-track review too see if it's true:
01. Introduction for Kingdom:
This is the finest and most beautiful intro of any Koda Kumi album, it's r&b but classy and warm. Truly worthy of the album's title 10/10
02. Last Angel feat. Tohoshinki:
The album is opened by the only collaboration and it's a massive J-Pop track with an impressive musical and vocal production. Of course you can year it's from a total different era, it sounds so 2000s but I think that the featuring is what ruins the song and has made it age horribly. Yeah Tohoshinki was the hottest K-Pop band back then but I feel as a solo version would have been much more organic. So if anyone tells you Kuuchan is rippin' off some K-Pop shit just blast this out and say Queen Of Live invented K-Pop in 2007. Anyway Last Angel is huge and it doesn't score a 10 just for the cringy boyband screwing things up 9/10
03. 甘い罠 (Amai Wana):
This sultry r&b song screams SEX all over but it actually talks about a push-pull relationship which is well showcased by the dynamics of the song's structure and the vocal line, giving the track a more mature feel. Sonically, it's nothing new for Kumi but definitely a step up from the gross SHAKE IT and JUICY, excellent 8.5/10
04. 秘密 (Himitsu):
Koda Kumi has proved to excel at r&b/J-Pop midtempos with gems such as Your only one, Gentle Words, magic, Hands, Kiseki, feel and Tsuki to Taiyou (月と太陽) and Himitsu doesn't disappoint. Maybe it's not the best of the bunch and the production might get too "cute and sweet" but thanks to the bittersweet lyrics the song is perfectly balanced 7.5/10
05. 愛のうた (Ai no Uta):
Do I really need to review this masterpiece? Just listen to this, close your eyes and feel the love <3 10/10
06. Anytime:
The perfect sweet love song, so sweet it can get a bit sticky but the tenderness of Kumi's voice here is mature and refined making this song a little gem on Kumi's crown 8/10
07. Under:
Koda Kumi became popular thanks to her ero-kakkoii style so it makes sense having a super sexy song here. Under is a western type of r&b song so it's all about the beat and as a result it lacks a memorable melody to give the song enough strength and replay value resulting more in filler material. Anyway, Under works well as an album track and it flows nicely with the rest of the songs 7/10
08. But:
Pop music at its finest! This is a perfectly written song with an extremely powerful structure and a music production so bold it perfectly serves the lyrics, a message of sexual freedom, no surprise But has become a gay anthem (gawd yass mama work it slay bitch and stuff) 10/10
09. 恋の魔法 (Koi no Mahou):
WTF is this?? Gurl nooo! The album was slaying me so hard and now this?! Terrible cute song that doesn't make any sense whatsoever right after a song like But. No, sorry, next 1/10
10. 愛証 (Aishou):
Now this, this is what makes Kumi such a skillfull performer: she can be sweet and nice, she can be sexy, she can be intense, she can be silly and she can also sing her ass off on a beautiful and mature rock ballad. Aishou is the best rock song she has ever recorded (probably the BEST SONG), her vocals are strong and perfectly captures the rawness of the lyrics, Kuuchan, Avex, Rhythm Zone...if anyone is reading, please, more of this 10/10
11. あなたがしてくれたこと (Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto):
Finally an r&b song not filled with overly sweet sounds, lyrics and vocals. This is actually one of the highlights of the album, with its laid back production and understated melody is definitely an "album track" but no less valuable 8/10
12. Wonderland:
How can you produce something even worse than Koi no Mahou?! Well Wonderland (also known as Koda Kumi's worst song) is unbearable, stupid and just plain UGLY 0/10
13. Freaky:
The tracklist of this album is making no sense at all but alas, Freaky is here and it's HOT! It's maybe not as catchy and immediate as other rock songs like Ningyo-Hime but it's much more detailed thanks to the multi-layered production. Having said that, the guitar riff is less than basic and if it wasn't for Kumi's personality we probably wouldn't give a crap about this 9/10
14. More:
Intense soul/retro song which nicely closes the album, the chorus is a bit basic and repetitive and Kumi oversings it but overall it's a sexy soulful ballad than flows smoothly with the rest of the album 7/10
15. Black Cherry:
Ok this is a bonus track but it's still here and all I can do is thinking: WHY? The Black Cherry Intro was so beautiful and it did not need an unnecessary long cut which doesn't make any sense here on the album, should have been a b-side or whatever 6/10
Kingdom was released at the beginning of 2008 on January 30th, the day after, Koda Kumi made a statement about amniotic fluid going rotten after women turn 35 causing a HUGE backlash and controversy that pushed her to cancel much of the Kingdom promotion.
Even after publicly humiliating herself and apologizing on national tv, in tears, her popularity and sales started to drop considerably as she lost many important sponsorships and support from the entertainment industry.
She later stated that she regrets this moment when she was unprofessional and naive and is always overwhelmed by how much love and support she still receives from her fans and work team.
But all of this did not stop Kingdom from reaching the top of the Oricon chart (she broke this trek herself by releasing the double album W FACE in 2017 debuting at #1 and #2 simultaneously) as it opened with 421,302 copies in the first week and went on selling a total of 612,693 copies, getting a 3X Platinum certification by the RIAAJ.
Black Cherry sold 1,031,408 copies though so even after taking the digital revolution and natural decrease of CD sales into account, the drop was pretty painful unfortunately.
She's still had a child before 35 and this is her post baby belly in recent years:
So haters can suck it up big time!
So is Kingdom Koda Kumi's best album? Well it surley could have been so, even if it did not reinvent her signature sound, it is indeed the pinnacle of her r&b and midtempo production with gems such as Amai Wana, Hmitsu, Anytime and Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto.
It features at least three of Kuuchan's best songs: Ai No Uta, But and Aishou, then the album is opened by her best introduction and even the two fillers Under and More are still good enough to keep the record playing.
But Kingdom also contains Kuuchan's worst songs (Koi no Mahou and Wonderland) that, to makes things even worse, do not blend with the overall sound of the album at all, making their presence an absolute and annoying flaw that cannot be overlooked. Then we have an useless bonus track that stretches the already incredible length of the album weakening the whole package even more.
So yes, Kingdom might have been Kumi's best album but it's not because of awful executive decisions and tracklist management and this unfortunately reflects on the overall grade which is....
Kingdom: 7.5/10
Trust me, I hate doing this but I can't give Kingdom a 9 even though it's worthy of an almost perfect score.
If you want to experience Kingdom in all of its might, try this revisited tracklist:
Download Kingdom >>>
