Colorful Character [w/ DVD, Limited Edition]

I like the new direction Morning Musume has taken with the eight members of 9th and 10th Gen. They give the group new energy and new blood. I like listening to them sing. We get a lot of them on this new album and they harmonize well. I like some of their voices, too. Riho, Kanon, Ayumi, and Haruka all have distinctive, pleasant voices. (Haruka's husky voice is quite a surprise for someone her age.) And the bonus is that, while we still have to tolerate Sayumi, Reina has become a much more powerful vocalist in her own right. She has a nice solo on this album. (Sayumi has a solo as well, but it's electronically altered to cover up her deficiency as a singer.) I can't wait to hear some of the new girls get solos. The twelve tracks include four of their singles from this year: "Pyocopyoco Ultra" (the first with 10th Gen), "Renai Hunter" (arguably the best song on the album), "One*Two*Three" (arguably the second best song on the album), and the song it was released with, "The Matenrou Show." I like a lot of the other songs as well, all written for this album, including "Be Alive," "What's Up? Ai wa Dou na no you~," Reina's solo "Namida Hitoshizuku," "Chikyuu ga Naiteiru," and "Zero Kara Hajimaru Seishun," which gives each of the girls solo lines. Another rousing highlight, "Waratte! YOU," is performed by 9th and 10th Gens only. Clearly, the new blood has inspired Tsunku to tailor new material for these girls. I'm eager to see these songs performed live in the Fall 2012 concert DVD. The accompanying DVD provides interviews with each of the girls (unsubtitled, of course), footage of the cover photography shoot, and two song performances from the Spring 2012 Tour that are not on the spring concert DVD: "Kaiketsu Positive A" and "My Way ~Joshikou Hanamichi~." Definitely worth getting.