Ayumi Hamasaki Best 2 ~White~

My favourite Japanese singer is Utada Hikaru, and coming close in 2nd is Namie Amuro. So where does Ayumi fits in? Somewhere below the list of course. Although Ayumi Hamasaki is the "Empress of Pop" in Japan, she still didn't manage to capture my heart. Don't get me wrong, I like most of her songs but I love Utada and Namie's songs better.

So why did I bought this album? Two reasons; 1, my youngest sister is an Ayumi's avid fan, and 2, I want to give Ayumi Hamasaki a chance to prove that she's worth my money. Besides, some of the singles that I love are in this album, so I gave it a shot and bought it. It's quite cheap because you get 1 CD and 2 DVDs for only RM50. It's hard to find Japanese album with that value in Malaysia.

So is this album good? For hardcore Ayumi fans, this album would be great to add to the collection. For a not-so-hardcore fan like me, it was kinda good too. There are some of the songs that I like and some that I don't. Evolution, Real Me, Inspire and Step You are some of my fave while Greatful Days and Voyage are the songs that I didn't quite like. My top 2 favourite songs in this album are Ourselves and Moments, love them!

The 2 DVDs in this album are the promotional video for the singles and another one is the Countdown Live 2006-2007 concert. For the promotional videos DVD, not all of the songs are included. Songs that are left out are Independent, Unite! (only a short clip), July 1st and A Song Is Born. I think all of the songs that are not included in the DVD do not have their own promotional videos, that's why they are excluded.

The 2nd DVD, the Countdown concert, was AWESOME!!! I think this DVD alone is worth the money that I paid for the whole set. Although I did mention that I don't like some of her songs, but seeing her performed them, it made me suddenly fall in love with the songs! She's got a strong stage presence and her performances are great. I really love this DVD. I felt like I was there in her concert, I can almost taste the excitement from the crowd.

So even if you are not an Ayu fan but you do like Japanese songs, I think you should try this album. Afterall, there must be a reason why they call her the "Empress of Pop".