At the beginning of the movie, Dorothy Gale (Garland) is told to find some place where she won’t get into mischief, after an incident involving her dog, Toto, and Miss Gulch (Margaret Hamilton), who is later seen as the Wicked Witch of the West. The actual movie version of the song begins with a flowing set of subdued strings and woodwinds, before Garland sings the opening stanza: “Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high…”

Throughout the song, Garland’s vocals convey the mood of the lyrics in a succinct and luxurious manner. The song focuses upon Dorothy’s desire to find a place where things are different from the real world. As the song progresses, the orchestra compliments her performance with ascending and descending string flourishes. This is best represented during the bridge, particularly after the line “…when the clouds are far behind me.” Finally, after the final refrain, we hear the orchestra reprising the bridge with birds tweeting in the background, and Garland concludes with: “If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why oh why can’t I?”

Not that this matters, but “Over the Rainbow” almost ended up becoming part of what some people call “the cutting room floor;” that is, certain scenes, musical numbers or other media pertaining to the creation of a film, album, video game, etc. don’t make the final cut of the project. After previewing The Wizard of Oz, Louis B. Mayer, one of the founders of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Mervyn LeRoy didn’t feel that having Garland sing in a barnyard was a good idea, especially considering she was an MGM star. Moreover, the song itself had a lower vocal range and slower tempo than most other songs for family-oriented pictures did. Thus, OTR was excised from the picture, but was eventually restored when Arthur Freed insisted on keeping the song in the film.

At the 1940 Academy Awards, “Over the Rainbow” was voted the Best Original Song of 1939 after having almost been subject to becoming an outtake. The score for The Wizard of Oz took home an Oscar for Best Original Score over scores such as that of Max Steiner for Gone with the Wind; the latter had gone on to win a total of 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture of 1939.

As Ms. Garland herself later stated, “Over the Rainbow” is a song that symbolizes dreams and wishes, and in essence, it seamlessly connects with them. No wonder the song won the Oscar for Best Original Song, and was eventually voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame!

Other renditions of the song I’ve heard include the ones by Il Divo and especially Israel Kamakawiwo’Ole.

June 2, 2011.

I was among the 2,600 graduating students of Herbert H. Lehman College’s Class of 2011. The ceremony took place on the outfield, in front of the Student Life Building, and was the first in the college’s history to be streamed on the Internet (on the Lehman website).

I felt overjoyed to have graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Music, and the seven other graduating music students at the ceremony were like: “That’s us!” when Dean Deborah Eldridge announced the candidates for degrees in Lehman’s Music Department. Prior to the presentation of the degrees, Latin music superstar Johnny Pacheco was awarded the degree of Doctor of Music.

After the ceremony, I teamed up with the Lehman College Latin Jazz Ensemble, with whom I played piano since 2008, for their Graduation Picnic – another entertaining part of my special day. Some of the songs I played were “Black Magic Woman” by Santana, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics, and “El Rey Tiburón” by Maná.

Overall, it was an unforgettable day – without question the most memorable day in my whole life.

This earthquake is one of the worst earthquakes to have occurred since 1900. Brand companies and other organizations and individuals responded to the disaster by donating or even tweeting on the popular social network, Twitter.

If you’d like to help, you can volunteer at a local organization or donate any amount (usually $5 or more) to organizations like these:

American Red Cross (minimum $10 donation)

The Salvation Army – Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief (minimum $5 donation)

UNICEF

My heart goes out to everyone affected by these horrible disasters. God bless.

One Grammy winner has stood out to some people who aren’t Justin Bieber fans, and that is the jazz performer and instrumentalist Esperanza Spalding – a native of Portland, Oregon. She unexpectedly won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist over more well-known artists like Justin Bieber and Drake. But Bieber’s fans didn’t take his loss seriously. Instead, they flooded Spalding’s Wikipedia entry – to say nothing of flooding Twitter – with obscene death threats to her. One has said on Wikipedia: “Justin Bieber deserved it. Go die in a hole. Who the heck are you, anyway?” (NOTE:  Spalding’s Wikipedia entry has none of those “death threats” now, but if you’d found such entries anywhere on the Internet within the first few hours after her Grammy win, your mouth would’ve dropped open in shock like mine did.)

Spalding was the first jazz artist ever to be awarded a Grammy for Best New Artist, which is an historic achievement in my opinion. She played for President Barack Obama (who cites her as one of his favorite artists) and has drawn on a whole variety of musical styles in her work. Bieber plays guitar and piano, but he’s a teen R&B singer with a much bigger following than Spalding.

However, I, non-Bieber fans, and true music fans know that telling an award-winning artist to go drop dead, or calling them names, just because they’re not Justin Bieber or Jennifer Lopez or any teenybopper-like music-maker is tantamount to calling the cast and the crew of a movie that wins an Oscar, instead of a movie you prefer, idiots or [expletives]. It’s insane.

The Grammys, for all their focus on X, Y, and Z popular artists, felt that someone like Spalding deserved the award for the simple fact that she was a better new artist than Bieber.

I’m not a fan of artists like J. Lo, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, the Backstreet Boys, N Sync, Lady Gaga, past Grammy winners like Christina Aguilera (whose Bionic album was snubbed, although she performed) and Shakira, or artists in their vein (no offense to their fans, though), but I wouldn’t go around wishing death threats on those musicians just because they won a Grammy – or, in J. Lo, BSB, and Bieber’s cases, at least received a nomination for one – over other artists.

Oh, and congratulations to all the winners.

From MSNBC: Bieber Fans Go on Grammy-Fueled Wikipedia Rampage

ARTIST: Charice Pempengco

TITLE: Charice (EP)

RELEASED: May 2008 in Philippines

CERTIFICATION(S): Earned Platinum certification in Philippines (sold over 30,000 copies)

TRACKLIST:

1. And I Am Telling You (I’m Not Going)

2. It Can Only Get Better)

3. I Will Always Love You

4. Born to Love You Forever

5. I Have Nothing

6. Mama

7. And I Am Telling You (I’m Not Going) (Minus One)

8. It Can Only Get Better) (Minus One)

9. I Will Always Love You (Minus One)

10. Born to Love You Forever (Minus One)

11. I Have Nothing (Minus One)

12. Mama (Minus One)

NOTE: Sorry for the long delay. This is my first time reviewing an album or EP in over a year, because I’ve been fairly busy with finishing up college and playing in two college bands.

Born in 1992, Charice Pempengco (her full name is Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco) has gained serious global fame since her discovery on YouTube. Her self-titled debut EP, which appeared in May 2008, features interpretations of hits by Jennifer Holliday, Whitney Houston, and others.

“And I Am Telling You (I’m Not Going),” which opens the disc, is a well-executed rendition of Jennifer Holliday’s smash hit from the musical Dreamgirls. Jennifer Hudson also did a great rendition of it when she appeared in the movie version of Dreamgirls, for which she won an Academy Award. Anyway, Charice maintains superb control of the high register throughout on this cut, just like on her other songs. “It Can Only Get Better,” originally covered by Amy Diamond, is another example of how Charice can take virtually any song and make it good, just like people like Bette Midler, Sarah Brightman, and Frank Sinatra did. (NOTE: I’m not comparing Charice to those three artists; just saying.)

“I Will Always Love You,” originally performed by Dolly Parton and best known as performed by Whitney Houston in her movie The Bodyguard, has Charice paying tribute to both artists at once with her rendition. However, this version leans closer to Whitney’s version, even though there’s no denying that Ms. Pempengco still belts her heart out. WARNING: The high notes toward the end are guaranteed to either send shivers down your spine or just move you to tears.

“Born to Love You Forever” is a bittersweet cover of the Preluders song, while “I Have Nothing” (by Whitney) shows Charice at her finest on this CD. She even employs background vocals to fine effect on “I Have Nothing.” Finally, “Mama,” originally by Smokey Mountain,” closes the first half of the disc in a fashionable manner with attention-grabbing vocals and a pretty arrangement.

The second half of the disc is comprised solely of instrumental versions of the first six tracks. I personally felt that these instrumental versions (listed as “Minus Ones”) could’ve been left for a second disc on this EP, but they’re fine enough if you want to hold a karaoke competition or just practice. And at least they’re not bland, like the karaoke CD I heard on Ultimate Disney Princess.

Pros: Wonderful interpretations of old cuts and recent ballads.

Cons: Padding the rest of the disc with instrumentals might sound weird to some people, but to be fair to Charice, it’s not like they’re MIDI-remade instrumental versions.

Bottom Line: Good start to Ms. Pempengco’s singing career.

Final Grade: B+

However, the “Grand Prize” (my attribution for the ceremony’s “Album of the Year”) went to Taylor Swift, who became the youngest artist ever to win the award; she won for Fearless. Taylor also notched three other Grammys, but her unexpected win for Album of the Year has drawn debate…especially considering the infamous bit at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards where Kanye West didn’t let her finish speaking.

Lady GaGa won two Grammys (for Electronic Dance Album and Recording), and the Zac Brown Band was voted the Best New Artist of the Year. The Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody” won for Record of the Year.

One of the highlights of the 3½-hour ceremony, which aired on CBS, was a stunning, “Avatar-like” 3D tribute to the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Five music superstars – Céline Dion, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Smokey Robinson, and Jennifer Hudson – covered the song “Earth Song.” After the performance, two of Michael’s children – Paris and Prince Jackson – accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award on MJ’s behalf.

Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli covered Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” for the Haiti Relief Fund.

Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones have also recruited musicians like Jason Mraz, Ms. Dion, Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett, Josh Groban, Akon, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and others for a 25th Anniversary remake of “We Are the World,” which broke sales records in 1985 (it was a charity single for famine victims in Africa); the new version is specifically remade for the Haiti Relief Fund. Also in the works is an all-star remake of R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts,” organized by Simon Cowell, and performed by Leona Lewis, Susan Boyle, Mariah Carey, and others.

For the complete list of this year’s nominees and winners, click on the link below.

2010 Grammy Nominees and Winners

Genres: J-Pop, International, Adult Contemporary, Easy Listening, Jazz, Rock, New Age

Tracklist

1. Amazing Grace (’05)

2. Stars (New Vocal ’05)

3. Crescent Moon

4. Will (Original Version)

5. Resistance (Original Version)

6. Aishiteru (Original Version)

7. Love Addict

8. Find the Way

9. Yuki no Hana

10. Seven

11. Oborozukiyo~Inori (with Taro Hakase)

12. Legend (Main Version)

13. Sakurairo Maukoro

14. Glamorous Sky (with Hyde)

Best is Mika Nakashima’s 6^th album and her very first Greatest Hits album. Released on December 7, 2005, it topped the Oricon 200 and has since sold 1,204,996 copies – thus making it Mika’s second most popular album after Love being the first.

Best most definitely proves that Mika is one of the best artists ever to step into the music industry, distinguishing herself from other J-music artists thanks to her classy, elegant brand of pop music which would eventually incorporate softer commercial J-music elements. Its 14 songs include 13 singles, which registered the highest chart positions on the Oricon Singles Chart and at the same time sold the most copies, and a re-recording of “Amazing Grace.”

“Amazing Grace (’05)” is a rearrangement of the first song from Mika’s True album; this new version focuses solely on a jazzy piano arrangement. Mika’s English pronunciation doesn’t show too many signs of improvement on this version, but her performance is rather touching on this version. While still not up to par with other renditions I’ve heard of this hymn, Mika’s efforts deserve some merit nevertheless. (NOTE: This song was never commercially released as a single, but this version was made as a radio-only promo single for Suntory’s Freixnet Champagne brand. Suntory is a Japanese alcoholic beverage company, and opera singer Andrea Bocelli did one ad for Suntory Beer with his single, “Canto della Terra,” in the background.)

“Stars (New Vocal ’05)” has completely different lead and background vocals from the original 2001 version and the 2002 Album Version on True. The arrangement is exactly the same but Mika’s vocals sound so much better this time around. Possibly the best version of the song she did to date. Well done, Mika!

“Crescent Moon” is still a fantastic song. Some people may think that it might have seemed useless to place it after “Stars,” but since the whole intention of the album was to showcase Mika’s highest-charting and at the same time best-selling singles, it was a smart move on Sony Music Associated Records’ behalf to do so. After all, the single did sell all of its 100,000 copies when it came out, and as I mentioned in my review of Mika’s True album, the Latin percussion and violins show why it has a greater hint of sophistication than almost any disco tune ever made.

“Will,” Mika’s 5^th single, is shown here in its original 5:23-long version, not the 5:30-long Album Version from True. The piano, strings, and other acoustic features of the song bring a whole new concept to the genre of “easy listening.” It’s everything you can expect from what we call a “power ballad,” but with a much greater arrangement and a touching aftermath that’s guaranteed to leave plenty of sentiment with listeners after it’s ended.

“Resistance” follows, but in its original Album Version from the EP of the same name. The Mary J. Blige/Brandy influence is still there, but then so is the stylish sophistication brought on by the horns. Meanwhile, Mika brings the song’s subject of angels in love to life amidst the prominent heavy electric bass and the hip-hop beat.

“Aishiteru” (I Love You) begins with a lighter piano solo than the Album Version on Love (the version here is the Original Version), and the strings come into play, showcasing the romantic, elegant mood of the song throughout. Billed as a “St. Valentine EP for the Lovers” (the single was released in January 2003), Mika’s soft, sentimental singing is the highlight of this ballad, whose bass beats sound almost exactly like that from the late Notorious B.I.G.’s “Can’t You See,” with Total! My favorite part of the song is the end chorus, which goes “Do it. Joy to love. Love me. Let it snow…”

The next three tracks appear here in their unaltered versions just as they did on the Love album. “Love Addict” goes by faster than its 7 minutes and 15 seconds may imply, largely due to its sophisticated club jazz arrangement and the overall mood of its syncopated rhythm. “Find the Way” continues to hit me deep thanks to its elegant and poignant string-and-piano arrangement; and “Yuki no Hana” does the same thing…only deeper.

“Seven,” taken from Music, is a real energy drink all in one. The way the song begins with blaring horns and a funky piano-drum sound with a George Benson appeal and stays that way until the end of the song, blows everything by Ricky Martin, J. Lo, Shakira, etc. out of the water!

“Oborozukiyo~Inori,” performed with Taro Hakase on violin, follows on from the previous song with its luxurious techno-based arrangement, drawing on traditional Japanese folk music. The koto, the guitars, and Taro’s violin solos – when paired with Mika’s simple yet delicate singing – create an atmosphere of beauty and elegance that very few other artists emerging since the mid-1990s have done.

“Legend” appears next as the Main Version, not the Original Version. Its techno sound might not be the best way to follow on from “Oborozukiyo~Inori,” but it’s a wonderfully performed enigmatic track with bittersweet vocals from Mika.

“Sakurairo Maukoro” didn’t make this album for no reason. Despite being the second most popular single from Music only to “Seven” chart-wise, it became the best-selling single from that album, and the proof is in the pudding. The piano gracefully opens the song, and Mika sings in her trademark serene manner while the piano and strings gracefully provide romance and style to the theme of the cherry blossom, one of Japan’s symbolic flowers.

Then, finally, we have “Glamorous Sky,” which was the theme for Ms. Nakashima’s second motion picture appearance, Nana, in which she played her first lead role: that of the title character. Her film debut came with Worst by Chance in 2003, but she played the co-star. Nana brought her even more fans than she already had, but it was this song that transformed her personality as an Ingénue into a versatile diva in much the same vein that Sarah Brightman is. “Glamorous Sky” was Mika’s only #1 hit to date, but it soars brilliantly with thoughtful lyrics from Hyde (of L’arc~en~Ciel – he would later sing the song in full English), a simplistic uptempo punk sound, and ambient electric guitars. All the while, Mika flows into the song immediately, and the background arrangement doesn’t seem to swamp her voice.

This album’s follow-up, The End (her soundtrack album for the Nana franchise), would include songs that sometimes sounded terrific, sometimes put too much demand on Mika’s voice, and everything in between, but except for some minor flaws, this compilation is a highly demonstrative showcase of talent coming from an artist whose taste in musical style, fashion, and attitude make her better than most of the pop stars, who instead of making catchy dance tunes that leave a lasting impression do nothing but sell out, so to speak. Mika Nakashima is one of those artists who stand on their own.

Pros: Wonderful compilation!

Cons: None, but “Amazing Grace (’05)” should have been replaced with a bonus track or a B-side or even a new song, of which none appear here. This is the factor for which No More Rules would make up four years later.

Bottom Line: Worth the buy for Mika fans and those newcomers who want a taste of what Mika has to offer. At least Sony Music didn’t do the stupid task of putting Radio Edits or remixes of Mika’s songs on here.

Final Grade: A.

YesAsia link

Tracklist:

1. Sakurairo Maukoro

2. Oborozukiyo~Inori

3. Hi no Tori

4. Kumo no Ito

5. Rocking Horse

6. Carrot & Whip

7. Shadows of You

8. Legend (Main Version)

9. Hemurokku

10. Seven

11. Fake

12. Fed Up

13. Hitori

Music is Mika Nakashima’s 5^th album. It peaked at #1 on the Oricon 200 Album Chart in Japan and has sold 547,138 copies since its release on March 9, 2005.

After the commercial success of Love and the crossover acclaim of Oborozukiyo~Inori, Mika Nakashima followed on from the popularity of those two albums and its predecessors (True and Resistance) to release her third main album, Music. This time around, Mika expands her horizons and explores a much wider range of genres than any of her previous four albums, but continues to maintain her grown-up attitude.

“Sakurairo Maukoro” (When the Cherry Blossom Colors Dance), which leads off the album, is a gorgeous spring ballad about separation and reunion underneath cherry blossom trees. Mika plays the piano in the video, but not in the song. Nevertheless, her vocals are pristine and angelic, and the background music is unique, with glossy violins, ascending harp glissandos, and the piano itself setting an elegant mood.

“Oborozukiyo~Inori” (A Misty, Moonlit Night~Prayer), the same song that appeared on Mika’s previous mini-album of the same name, is one of Mika’s first attempts at a techno-influenced song (dubbed “electro” in Japan). The Japanese koto and Taro Hakase’s beautifully done violin solos pay homage to traditional Japanese folk songs, but with a modern touch (“Oborozukiyo” itself was a Japanese folk song; “Inori” is a fresh composition from Mika and Taro).

The next track, “Hi no Tori” (Phoenix), is a techno-easy listening ballad with a luxurious arrangement that has “adult contemporary” written all over it. Also the theme from the Japanese animated series of the same name, the song has one of the best melodies out of all the songs chosen for the album…it sounds heavily Latin-flavored, and the video for the song fits the theme of the song very well. Mika sings the song in such an elegant way that I don’t blame Mika fans for saying this was one of their favorite songs from her. It was terribly unsuccessful sales-wise compared to four other singles from the album, though.

“Kumo no Ito” (Spider Web), whose lyrics are based on an early-1910s poem of the same name, begins with an atmospheric pattern of descending chromatic chords that smoothly lead into the first verse. This song has great vocals from Mika and a flowing electronica arrangement that would’ve made it suitable for airplay on one of XM Satellite Radio’s “Lifestyle” channels!

“Rocking Horse” changes the tempo of the album with a sophisticated 70s-soft rock sound a la Blood, Sweat, and Tears. This song is about life struggles (“No job, no education – oh my God I’ve fed up myself”), but the jazzy mood is so cheerful that it actually forgets about its own storyline! The track that follows, “Carrot & Whip,” is an even more charming jazz song with a cute horn solo in between verses and at the end of the song.

“Shadows of You” is a midtempo ballad with some potential, but the melody doesn’t stand out among the more hit-potential numbers here, so forget this song. “Legend” is fantastic. Its electro-based arrangement (complete with a harp) is stylish, even though I think the Latin-flavored Original Version of the song is much better.

“Hemurokku (Hemlock)” continues the upbeat trend of the album with an arrangement comprised of strings, guitars, and glamorous harmonic vocals from Mika and her background singers. The song is so very much like the Spinners’ “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” but the feel of the music is much funkier. “Seven,” the first single released for the album, makes listeners want to get up off their feet and dance in two seconds. Its jazzy influence brings to mind “Love Addict,” from Mika’s Love album, but with a heavier Latin flavor and gorgeous trumpet stabs at the very end. “I shout for you…”

“Fake” slows down the tempo with a simple, yet sensual, late-night jazz arrangement. The piano is one of the most prominent instruments here, along with the sax solo. Mika delivers her lines like a true torch singer, and the lyrics also kept me interested. Billie Holiday would be proud.

“Fed Up” is the first time Mika ever attempted a rock sound in her music before all the “NANA” stuff. The piano and violins are heard throughout the song, and some radical electric guitar bursts allow Mika to tell her audience: “I’m fed up with being trapped in my cocoon, so I’m gonna spread my wings like a butterfly!” I hear ya, girl! And your singing brought serious depth into this long, but endearing, symphonic rock ballad!

“Hitori” (Alone) closes the album in the same manner in which it began: exquisite. It places plenty of emphasis on the piano and the string ensemble, and the melody is probably the most poignant melody I ever heard by any artist anywhere. Not to say there are no other contenders, but the song’s lyrics are extremely painful (“Even now, I can’t forget you”), and Mika brings out the extreme sadness of the song in the most intense way. This song gets my two thumbs up (like Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert would).

Music might drag on sometimes, but its arrangements are amazing, and the choice of genres sure beats the monotony of teenybopper music. With all the teen trash I continue to have to deal with (a neighbor was playing very hard pop music as I wrote this review), albums like this give me the assurance that artists like Mika are a breath of fresh air.

Pros: Smooth production; great vocal performances; solid arrangements; and great range of genres make this album a winner.

Cons: Only “Shadows of You” weighs things down.

Bottom Line: If you love easy listening, you’ll very much enjoy this album. It and its follow-up, Best, were in my opinion the best albums released in 2005.

Final Grade: A.

YesAsia link

To be honest, my feelings are fairly in-between.

Don’t get me wrong…I don’t have anything against people getting nominated for and winning Grammys. However, I truly feel that the Grammys do everything in their power to reward numerical or commercial achievements and not as much, with some exceptions, to bring artistic achievements to the public’s attention. Awards ceremonies like the American Music Awards and even the World Music Awards act the same way, but at least the World Music Awards honor some artists that are better than a lot of mainstream America’s artists (at least since the teen pop resurgence of 1996-97). There’s nothing wrong with having a #1 album or single, but I’ve read about several musical artists that made wonderfully experimental and popular albums that didn’t even earn one Grammy nomination for the respective band or artist, let alone win one.

One of the most obvious examples of an album and artist that won critical and public success and yet didn’t win a Grammy is the British rock group Pink Floyd, with their 1973 masterwork, Dark Side of the Moon. Ranked as the second best album of all time on the Definitive 200 Albums List after Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the incomparable Beatles (which deserved the four wins out of the seven Grammy nominations it had in 1968), Dark Side of the Moon has a string of complex rhythms and mystical ambient sounds that might have not sit well with most listeners, but amazed me after the first listen (and that coming from a woman who listens to genres like Latin jazz, easy listening, regular jazz, some popular music, a good deal of New Age and world music, and Motown R&B, but not teenybopper music)! It topped the Billboard 200 Album Chart and has since sold 15 million copies in the United States alone, but Pink Floyd didn’t win a Grammy until 1995, for the song ‘Marooned’ from the Division Bell album.

Santana won only one Grammy before he signed to Arista Records from Sony/Columbia in the late 1990s. That was a Grammy Hall of Fame entry for the Abraxas album. After signing with Arista, Santana won 8 out of a then record-breaking total of Grammys for the album Supernatural, the same amount that Michael Jackson’s Thriller won in 1984. (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by U2 tied Santana’s Grammy record several years later.) And Supernatural was the most popular album released in 1999. There’s nothing wrong with changing styles, and this does not mean that Supernatural was necessarily a bad album per se, but Santana’s funkier 1960s-70s music, which explored Afro-Cuban and other global cultures, didn’t win him even one Grammy!

Tupac and the Who also never earned any Grammys (though the Who actually did earn only the Lifetime Achievement Award, just like Led Zeppelin did). Nor have Queen or Grateful Dead (and “Bohemian Rhapsody” is probably the best rock song I’ve ever heard). And there are plenty more artists who either don’t win Grammys until late in their career, if at all, or whose music and talent often went and continue to go overlooked and underrated by the National Recording Academy of Arts and Sciences (NARAS). (Don’t get me started on people like 50 Cent, NSYNC, Jennifer “J. Lo” Lopez, Miley Cyrus, the Backstreet Boys, or ESPECIALLY Justin Bieber, because they’re among the exceptions to the rule.) If lucky, some or even most of those artists that won either one or no Grammys will get the aforementioned Lifetime Achievement Award…a much higher honor than all the other nominated categories put together.

Some unique artists like Stevie Wonder and Simon & Garfunkel won Grammys for their work, but music like those artists put out exemplify the kind of artistry that far surpasses the commercial appeal that past Grammy winners such as Britney Spears, Shania Twain, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Milli Vanilli and the like have provided (no disrespect to them and their fans). Especially Stevie Wonder’s lyrics continue to inspire generations of music fans. Milli Vanilli were bereft of their Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1991 after their then producer, Frank Farian, revealed that they only appeared as posers for their Girl You Know It’s True album and didn’t actually sing the songs on it. Well, at least the Grammys did the right thing in taking back an award they gave to the wrong band.

At any rate, all the best to Beyoncé and the Black Eyed Peas and all the other Grammy nominees. Maybe someday the Grammys will devote some attention to artistic achievements and not just how many copies an artist has sold, or how long so-and-so spent on X, Y, and Z music charts in fill-in-the-blank territory, or anything like that. In short: If the Grammys were to reward artistic achievements in music instead of just commercial success, I bet few people would listen. After all, in the words of the legendary 11x-Grammy winner Frank Sinatra:

“Remember, ladies and gentlemen: It’s about excellence, not popularity.”

Oborozukiyo~Inori (A Hazy Moonlight Evening ~ Prayer) is Mika Nakashima’s 2^nd mini-album and 4^th album overall. Released in September 2004, it peaked at #3 on the Oricon 200 Album Chart and sold 110,000 copies (10,000 more than its limited press of 100,000 copies).

The success of Mika’s first two proper albums (True and Love) was a highly unusual achievement anywhere in the music industry in that the debut (True) sold over a million, and its proper sequel (Love) sold better than it. Oborozukiyo~Inori plays as more of the follow-up to Love than to Resistance, but it more properly belongs in the “mini-album” category. The mini-album is a 7-track limited release that leans toward traditional Asian and Middle Eastern styles, and focuses on a moon theme.

The title track leads off the album with a gorgeous koto solo, and glides into a techno-laced waltz with a lavish violin solo by Taro Hakase, who produced the album. The whole song takes on a New Age mood while Mika gives a pristine vocal performance, taking care not to strain her notes. Meanwhile, Taro’s violin solos are shown with greatest prominence during the instrumental section, just as it did when he recorded the mega-hit “To Love You More” with Canadian ultra-star Céline Dion in 1995.

The next two songs, “Sara” and “Tsuki no Sabaku” (Desert Moon), further reach into Middle Eastern/Asian influences. “Sara” is more of a Middle Eastern dance track with the string section and the drums capturing the style and sensuality of Middle Eastern music. “Tsuki no Sabaku” is very long, but places great emphasis on the arrangement and the vocals.

True to its title, “Yuki no Hana (Silent Version)” is a rehash of one of Mika’s career-defining singles, using only the piano and Taro’s violin solos as backup. The original version is the best, but Taro and Mika prove that they should have collaborated on the original version to begin with. Meanwhile, “Oborozukiyo~Inori (Acoustic Mix)” blends a wonderful guitar solo with Taro’s violin solos to create an atmospheric tribute to the original song, but doesn’t top the original.

“Sara (Jazztronik Remix)” is somewhat uncalled for; it has a great jazz-dance groove but doesn’t quite cut it as a remix. The original version is fine enough. Finally, “Oborozukiyo~Inori” (Instrumental Version) is just that: an Instrumental Version of Track 1. It works well as background music, but who wouldn’t love to have the vocals?

Pros: Great arrangement and style selection; wonderful vocals; gorgeous violin solos.

Cons: This album would’ve been better off without Track 6.

Bottom Line: Superb work on this album. Check eBay for it because all versions are out of print!

Final Grade: A-.