Ballada [CD+Blu-ray]

Great ballad collection! I would add "I have never seen" and "Tempest" to the list. and also, I add to the playlist "Ningyo" Even though is a cover, it's a cute song that sounds really nice in Namie Amuro's voice.

Ballada takes the beauty of many of Namie's most beautiful tracks over the years from the beginning of her solo career til now and puts them altogether on one fantastic release complete with a few new goodies. The new recordings of "Sweet 19 Blues" & "Can You Celebrate?" are just perfect and really breathe some new life into these songs, which were already great classics. Then add in all the other songs which all flow so perfectly from one to the next til the end where we get the bonus track, a ballad version of Contrail. This track is just amazing. I won't say it's better or worse than the original. Both versions stand on their own ground. However, I will admit that I'm really hoping she'll perform this version of the song live in concert someday. Next comes the bonus bluray disk with the MVs(PVs). This was my first time seeing many of the MVs that originally released before her Style era, and I really wish I had seen them back then. They're quite unique to her stuff released from Style era onward, but they're just beautiful. The same can be said for the new MVs included in this release. However, I'll admit I prefer the original MV of "Can You Celebrate?" over the new one. I think my favorite of the new ones though is the MV for "Four Seasons". It really stuck out to me. Plus, I've adored this song since its original release & had always wished it had an MV made. Lastly, when I placed my order it read that the First Press was sold out. However, I was lucky & received it anyways. It's absolutely gorgeous. Inside the front of the packaging is 1 of those covers where it changes image as you turn it back & forth and is made of a thick plastic. This however is not attached to the main cover, which actually is identical to the image you see here. The back cover is the red plaid design of her dress with the track list. Flip it open and find the disks properly kept in 2 jewel case slabs and the booklet slipped inside the front cover. The booklet only has a few photos of the singer inside, all of which are beautiful I might add, but the design from page to page including the lyrics is absolutely gorgeous. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this release to any Namie Amuro and/or ballad fans.