old events in tokyo

Chapter 235 Release
Udagawa Town in Shibuya, Tokyo, which is now the area around Shibuya Center Street.

Now it has gradually become a holy place where young people gather and chase trends.

There are also all kinds of shops here, and the record store is naturally a place where everyone is keen to hang out.

From a second-hand record store built from scratch to a large overseas chain flagship store.

Today, around Shibuya Station, there are all kinds of record stores, and it has become a holy place in the minds of music fans.

Standing on the streets of Shibuya, Douda's "Tower Records" signboard with yellow background and red letters is very conspicuous among the various billboards, and it seems to be one of Shibuya's landmarks.

As soon as the store opened today, a swarm of young people rushed into the store and went straight to the third floor.

"I found it, I found it!" Naoko pulled Yuna straight to the tall poster.

"Si Guoyi~!" Touching the exquisite cover on the CD case, Naoko was both excited and satisfied.

Flipping over the back of the CD, I carefully read the track list in the album.

"Wow, there are so many new songs that I haven't heard before."

“Absolutely worth it”

Holding a long CD, the two happily discussed the songs in Kazuki Akiyama's latest album.

The current CDs are all 8cm small discs, and the outer packaging is a rectangular box.

The square CD cases we see in later generations are basically 12cm discs. In fact, 12cm CDs came out earlier than 8cm CDs, or the first batch of CDs were all 12cm discs.

It’s just that because it needed to compete with vinyl records for the market, and the 12cm disc can contain 80 minutes of songs, it was too wasteful to only record singles.

Therefore, the 12cm disc has been reduced to an 8cm disc, which is more than enough to carry a single, and also reduces the cost.So since the 88cm CD came out in February 2, it quickly occupied the market.

It is convenient, cheap, easy to store and has a long life, so it gradually became popular and became the first choice for people to buy music products in large quantities.

It can be said that the advent of the 8cm CD has laid the most solid media foundation for Japanese records to enter the golden age in the 90s.

Apart from them, Kazuki Akiyama's first album booth was full of fans who came to support him.

Everyone looked forward to the stars and the moon, and finally waited for the launch of his debut album, so naturally they couldn't wait to taste the feast first.

And the shop assistants here seem to have been prepared for a long time, and they are all ready to fight.

Although there was a long queue at the cash register, they all completed the radio work in an orderly and fast manner.

"Tower Records" is a well-known record chain store in Japan. In addition to providing a separate display booth for CDs of popular singers, there is also a trial booth.

The so-called audition booth is where a CD player and matching headphones are placed beside the booth, and Kazuki Akiyama's latest album is played in the CD player.

Some people who are not familiar with him, or who have concerns about the songs on the album.

You can audition here, it can be said that the consideration is quite thoughtful.

No, seeing so many people around his booth, many other guests came over curiously.

After putting on the earphones for a trial listening, it was even more impressive. The melody catches the ear and the voice is even better. It's a pretty good album.

Some impatient fans opened the CD and found that there was a message and signature written by Kazuki Akiyama himself, and they screamed in surprise.

Of course, this is all random, not every one has it.There is no publicity in advance, which is a small benefit for the long-awaited fans.

On this day, the major record shops in Tokyo were full of people queuing up to buy Kazuki Akiyama's album, and even TV stations came to interview him on the spot.

Some fans even spontaneously held up his posters and paraded in the streets, shouting slogans to support him.

In addition to the fans paying attention to Kazuki Akiyama's album, the music critics in the industry will naturally not miss this event.

Music critic Tomizawa Issei has always been famous for his sharp comments, and he has written reviews for many music magazines.

In the latest issue of "CD DATA", he also expressed his views on Kazuki Akiyama's first album.

"In this year's pop music world, if anyone's performance is the most difficult to ignore.

Or to make an advance summary of the music world in 93, Kazuki Akiyama is a name that cannot be bypassed.

From his impressive performance when he debuted last year, to the release of his third single "Powder Snow" at the end of the year, the public has gradually become familiar with this newcomer in the music scene.

However, since 93, this Akiyama-san has been making great strides all the way.

The fourth and fifth singles broke one million in succession, and the song "Cherry" has become an indispensable song for people to enjoy cherry blossoms during the flower viewing season.

In addition to the hot sales of his own singles, the songs he wrote and composed for other artists also performed well.

ZARD's double-A side song "Tomorrow", which was also popular this year, idol group SMAP's "Like the Starlight in the Sky~", and "Only for you~summer heartbreak" in collaboration with Yoshisuke Kuwata and Masaji Fukuyama, etc., all performed well. Not bad.

It can be said that his name has never left people's sight from the beginning of the year to today.

As his personal first album, it naturally attracted a lot of attention from inside and outside the industry.

So on the first day of release, the author couldn't avoid listening to all the songs in Kazuki Akiyama's album.

It can be said to be unexpected, or it can be said to be expected.

As we all know, Kazuki Akiyama also made his debut at Being, the record company that dominates the music scene this year.

As for the company Being, everyone must have heard of it and have their own opinions.

As far as the author is concerned, the way Being makes artists is exactly the same as the way of packaging idol artists in the 80s.

The musical performance is as boring as an assembly line product, and the artist is deliberately made mysterious, with very little exposure, which undoubtedly hides the artist's own charm.

For example, Being packs a strong rhythm into a popular melody, and intensively adds Orchestral hit sound effects in the arrangement, deliberately giving people an impactful hearing.

This "clang clang clang" brainwashing melody is "Being's exclusive tone", which can be said to have no musicality at all.

I thought that Kazuki Akiyama's first album would be full of such brainwashing melodies, but what surprised me is that not all of them are as I thought at first.

Although there are also "Being exclusive timbres" among them, fortunately, the proportion is not high.

Needless to say, the singles that have been released before, the new singles also gave me some surprises.

Especially "Bridge of Glory" is definitely a good song not to be missed, the lyrics are very touching.

In the author's opinion, this song can be said to be the most in-depth and literary song among all Akiyama Kazuki's singles.

Compared with the so-called "Being Flavor" lead single, I think this song is the most worth listening song on this album.

In addition, what makes the author feel that this album is a little lacking is that the style of the whole album is a little messy.

Pop rock, lyrical rock, J-POP, almost all of these current popular genres are covered.

However, I can't chew too much, I hope Akiyama-san can sort out his music path as soon as possible.

Of course, other songs in the album also have the feeling that the author's eyes shine, so I won't repeat them here.

Let's leave it to you to find out and find your favorite songs.

All in all, this is an excellent album different from "Being Flavor", and it is worth recommending. "

With the release of this issue of "CD DATA" magazine, more and more people joined in the discussion about Kazuki Akiyama's first album.

　Long time no see Kazuki-kun~

　　
　
(End of this chapter)