[12/23] ℃-ute 9th original album : ℃maj9

[Zunu]

^ Seems like a somewhat Up Up-ized version of C-ute.

[otaku_blue]

but that's what people have been saying for the whole year that C-ute might announce hiatus? its such a nuisance constantly being on edge like this, the girls have said they have no plans for stopping now and want to perform at bigger venues. as a group all the girls (except Mai) have had a great year as a group, even in individual projects. idol/girl groups in the past were expected to stay young, but that's obviously changed with Kpop, Dream (oldest member is 28), and 48 idols (Kojima Haruna is 27) who are still finding success after 25. C-ute's oldest member is Maimi and she's only 23. Berryz went on hiatus because there was 8 of them who all agreed to go their separate ways. As a fan its way too much stress to constantly thinking about their inevitable hiatus, so I'll take the news as it comes. But if people want to continue to speculate I guess that says more about what they really want to happen then what the actual reality of the situation is....

[Celedam]

Berryz went on hiatus because there was 8 of them who all agreed to go their separate ways.

I still think that was because Risako wanted to quit and the rest of them knew they couldn't continue without their ace. Everything else is just making the best of a bad situation. They could have done side projects while they stayed together as a group, if all of them wanted to. The fact that Risako didn't even attend Chinami's going-away party…

viewtopic.php?p=202007#p202007

…says a lot.

My point is that I wouldn't worry about ℃-ute, because all of them look like they still enjoy what they're doing. Up-Front might graduate them from Hello! Project in order to make them a fully adult group, but even that won't happen for a few more years.

[Zunu]

Yeah, I think it's only natural that as they become more proficient as individual performers, they would want to showcase their individual talents with their own songs. Unlike a huge group like MM or even own previous incarnations, the fact that there are only five of them now means that they can have room for projects like this on their albums. Thinking back (again) to SHOCK!, it was not only their first single in their current 5-member lineup, but also their lowest point in that lineup. It looked as though, post-Umeda, that management was seriously considering making C-ute to be just Airi and backup singers. And while something so calculatedly disrespectful would've bred resentment and even broken up lesser groups, somehow C-ute managed to step back from that and remain intact as a team and (seemingly) as friends as well. Since then they've been steadily more inclusive, distributing lines more evenly, and working hard on powering up their talents as performers in multiple areas. Getting their own individualized songs is the culmination of the process toward equalization that started after SHOCK! Sure, they could break up after this, but what this album means is that they no longer have to.

I remember reading once about the history of the Beatles. As a group they consisted of four members -- two lead singers who also did the majority of the songwriting, a backup singer who was also a gifted guitarist/songwriter, and a drummer who was kind of the Nakky of the group. They started off with a unified characteristic sound, but as they got more mature, their tastes as singers and performers expanded and diverged. The backup singer demanded more input on the albums, and even the drummer wanted to sing, and this caused friction with the two leads, who were also fighting with each other over the group's future direction. Toward the end of their career as a group, they were all in the process of contractually negotiating an equality arrangement with each other where each member would get three songs each, because having their own songs was the only way they could continue to feel engaged in the creative process. However they wound up breaking up before they could execute that plan.

So I like to think that this album represents C-ute as reaching an understanding that even eluded the legendary Beatles, that they are all equal and all deserve the same chance to perform and display their growing skills. Obviously the situation's not really the same, since the Beatles owned their own trademark whereas C-ute are technically just salaried performers. But in spite of that, they certainly have some input on the continued direction of the group, and this album shows they can work together to move it in a direction they all agree with. So for that reason, they don't need to break up. Because, like C major 9, they're a chord which has a distinctive uplifting sound and needs all five fingers to play.

[coconuts]

The album shows up on iTunes, but the link won't work for me. I get a message telling me the store could not complete my request.

https://itunes.apple.com/album/cmaj9/id1065736837

[Nayoko-Kihara]

I was hoping we would have previews for at least one more song by now, considering the release is just a few days off.

[Celedam]

The album shows up on iTunes, but the link won't work for me. I get a message telling me the store could not complete my request.

https://itunes.apple.com/album/cmaj9/id1065736837

It works now…

https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1065736837

Of course, being iTunes, it has samples of all of the tracks.

[otaku_blue]

the acapella parts are so cool see the title wasn't pointless at all lolol
kinda disappointed with Urayanjyau I was really hyped for some R&B like Kirai De but it sounds more like E-girls' Anniversary. Otoko no Onna no Forever sounds really good.
wish there was more songs. I really like Yokaze no Message and Iron Heart of course.

Iron Heart live cut at The Girls Live

[otaku_blue]

C-ute x JOYSOUND
https://www.joysound.com/web/s/campaign/775/

If you sing C-ute new album songs and get "....910points" or over "91.000pts" in Joysound Karaoke, you may get their posters or photos with their autograph.
- 910% on fb

[Amped]

DAY 1 : #6 on Oricon
http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/2015-12-22/