We are Buono! [w/ DVD, Limited Edition]

I like all of the Buono albums, but this one has a harder, more mature sound with several driving rock numbers, a direction they hinted at in their Live Hybrid Punch 2009 concert by bringing out a quartet of female rockers to accompany them midway through the concert, even though most of the songs featured were standard J-pop songs from their first and second albums. None of the songs from that concert are included in this album. Here they just plunge into a rock vibe and take the listener on the kind of ride you don't often get from Hello! Project. Eight of the twelve tracks are fast-paced songs with heavy guitar backing. Many of these songs sound alike, but the girls' pleasant harmonizing sounds really good with rock backing. The other four tracks are a little softer and tend to be nicer songs: "Urahara," "Blue-Sky-Blue," "Koucha no Oishii Mise," and "Tabidachi no Uta." Airi Suzuki, the smoothest singer of the three, does the heavy lifting and most of the solos. Momoko Tsugunaga brings solid character to the trio and I love picking out her distinctive voice in the solo lines she gets. Miyabi Natsuyaki's voice works best when vocalizing with the others. They're all in fine voice here. The single, "My Boy," was the only song on this CD that I'd heard previously. (Its lively video was a highlight of the Petit Best 10 DVD, which I've reviewed on this site.) It's easily the most imaginatively arranged song on the album and tends to be my favorite of the twelve. Regardless, I enjoy listening to the whole album. I've followed these girls since they were Hello! Project Kids and I'm happy to have watched them grow up to become such accomplished and dynamic performers. In checking the music credits to see if live instruments were used, I see guitar and bass credits on some songs and "guitar, programming" and "bass, programming" on others. I'm not sure what that means, except that I can't always tell whether it's live music I'm hearing or "canned," i.e. synth-created instrumentation. I would have preferred ALL live. Th accompanying DVD features "Making of" footage for the "Our Songs" PV. It's fun watching the girls dance on location and have such a great time with each other. I just wish the completed PV had been included on the disc. Now I have to buy the Buono Clips DVD just to get it. Too bad this edition is out-of-print, but you can still get the CD itself.