S-mode#1
KICS-873 & 874 ¤ 2001.03.21 ¤ 3,400 yen

Review written by Aijinn.

Overall : This album contains of 2 Discs. The first one is a single collection of Masami's early releases. There is very much 'Gyuu' stuff, but other great songs, as well. The second disc is something else again. Songs Masami wrote for different shows, but which she had never performed herself before, were gathered, remastered and covered by Masami, so, they're more like self covers, aren't they? Additionally, there are 2 booklets, one for every disc. The first one shows the covers of all the singles and the lyrics, just as it should be. The second one completes this very special impression the music on the second disc already had created. You can find really cute (but tasteful) fotos of Masami. She's shown in the studio, shopping around or making herself up; very nice done! Of course, the booklet provides the lyrics of the songs, as well!

- Disc 1 -
01. Dare Yori mo Zutto
lyr: ARIMORI Satomi, mus & arr: WATANABE Toshiyuki
Except for this one! I could never get lazy enough to ignore the terrible change this song has been through. On the album ('Gyuu') this was a soft ballad with nothing more than a piano and Masami singing. But this remix just sounds cheap. There's nothing special left about it and even Masami's voice sounds strange. I guess it's just the opening remix for the 'Fantasia' anime, but in my opinion, they better should have used the other version! (The English version of this song is 'Nobody Could Be')

02. Yume ni Konnichiwa
lyr: MATSUBA Miho, mus & arr: TEDZUKA OSAMU
03. Liverpool ni Oide
lyr: SHIRAMINE Mitsuko, mus & arr: TEDZUKA OSAMU
Yay, circus is coming to town!^^ I wondered if this might have been the intention of this songs... This Willowtown anime must have been a show for children and as the single cover shows it was about some animals, or whatever, but these songs just sound too cute for me. But on the other side, can it really ever get too cute?^^

04. I WAS BORN TO FALL IN LOVE
lyr: ARIMORI Satomi, mus & arr: NAKAZAKI Hideya
05. FULL UP MIND
lyr: ARIMORI Satomi, mus & arr: NAKAZAKI Hideya
The first song comes alomg with a much more offensive melody and although it has many English lines it sounds much more Asian than the other ones. It starts quite mysterious, and creates this distant atmosphere, for example by using a little echoe for Makkun's voice. But soon it gets an enthusiastic pop song with its very own dynamic. In general the pitch of this song is quite high, which makes Masamis voice sound a little more frail than in other songs, but therefor the melody is quite monotone, not in the boring way, as you may think now, it rather has an alarming character, or it sounds like an urgent pledge. Unfortunately I have practically no skills in Japanese, so I don't understand what she's singing. FULL UP MIND was released on the same single as I WAS BORN TO FALL IN LOVE and it was used in 'NGE'. You can hear seconds of it when Shinji drives around in the monorail in episode 04. FULL UP MIND is definitely 'nicer' than Ryoute ippai no yume, but after all I have to admit that it's not more than just 'nicer', too. It's quite swift and it has this jingle all over it, that makes it sound more cute or even childlike.

06. REINCARNATION
lyr: ARIMORI Satomi, mus: KUDOU Takashi & arr: YABUKI Toshirou
07. Ryoute Ippai no Yume
lyr: ARIMORI Satomi, mus: KUDOU Takashi & arr: OKUI Masami
REINCARNATION is an energetic opening for an anime and, yeah, it sounds like the 80's!!! (you so can hear that in the chorus, it's like instant nostalgia^^). It's a little bit ... uhm, I would call it 'convenient', because despite its enjoyable melody it's just standard stuff. There's no real climax. It follows the scheme of a typical pop song: stanza, chorus, stanza chorus, bridge, instrumental, last chorus. That's not bad at all, but it doesn't seem very original as well. It's just easy listening, you're not overwhelmed, but you can listen to it again and again... without getting tired of it. The second song is just standard stuff again. I just even don't know much to say about it and, honestly I needed quite long to get acquainted with it. But once you like it, it's really nice, not more, but even not less^^. After all I really like the chorus, but, sorry, it's not more than just 'nice' to me. This song was played in 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' as one of the songs Shinji used to listen to on his little DATA recorder (episode 23).

08. MY JOLLY DAYS
lyr: KIMOTO Keiko, mus: OOHIRA Tsutomu & arr: Vink
MY JOLLY DAYS: Honestly, I didn't really have had 'jolly days' with this song. It's not that I don't like it, but it took me years to get access to it ...^^ After all I really enjoy the chorus. It has a great catchy rhythm and a nice melody, but once again this is standard stuff to me. At least I came to ask myself How did the Ghost Sweeper Mikami opening sequence look like? This is just a good JPOP song, but I couldn't imagine it to be an opening song... don't know why.

09. BEATS THE BAND
lyr: Mamie D.Lee, mus: IKENAGA Shin & arr: Vink
BEATS the BAND rocks! It's completely in English, it's completely 80's style and it's just WOOOOOW!!!!!^^ Thinking about it, I just can't say why this song is so extraordinary, but it really sounds great! Masami's voice sounds so strong, especially in the chorus, she sings with such a 'pathos' (too much NGE Opening for me, but of course, Masami version^^) and, of course, at last I do understand what she's singing. The lyrics of this song are more than just stylish, you just feel your selfconfidence rising. It's really encouraging, enyoyable from the very first to the last second. And though it's so positive you won't find a funny, cheery pop song here, it's a song I could imagine to be sung after a period of negative experiences, when you feel like your fed up, and you just don't care anymore what other people may think...

10. It's DESTINY ~Yatto Meguriaeta~
lyr: ARIMORI Satomi, mus: KUDOU Takashi & arr: YABUKI Toshirou
It's DESTINY ~yatto meguriaeta~: this song is just great! It starts with some really Japanese sounds, but in the end you just feel like you are caught in an American 'superhero movie' ^^. This song is powerful and has this 'speed' (I had never known it would be sooooo hard to express this in English...), you just feel like flying! And for the melody: it's so enthusiastic, it's instant 'feel-good' ^^ and makes you just wanting to jump around in your room, or fly!

11. Live alone ~Sennen Tattemo~
lyr: ARIMORI Satomi, mus: KUDOU Takashi & arr: YABUKI Toshirou
Live alone ~sennen tattemo~ is a great song again. It's quite more Rock, and it's so intense with Masami singing about a love that didn't work out and about living alone. The electric guitar in the instrumental part just suffers with Masami and so you get a quite perfect impression of this broken heart. Quite perfect, needless to say more!

12. Get along
lyr: ARIMORI Satomi, mus: SATOU Hideki & arr: OOHIRA Tsutomu
This is so weird!!! I love this song, honestly, I have heard it countless times, I know its lyrics by heart but I don't have the least idea what to write about it. 'Get Along' is just outstanding; one of the best Anime Opening themes I have ever listened to. Describing this song is just like describing Slayers itself: it's fun, it's strong and very ambitious. This song, as well as 'KUJIKENAIKARA!', is a duet, performed by Masami and Megumi Hayashibara. (The English Version of this song is named 'Power of Infinity') And really, who doesn't know this song????

13. KUJIKENAIKARA!
lyr: ARIMORI Satomi, mus: OKUI Masami & arr: YABUKI Toshirou
This song is quite more slow than 'Get Along', although it's not a slow song, or somewhat^^... And though its chorus line says 'KUJIKENAIKARA my heart', what means 'Never Give Up my heart' you get this very relaxed feeling. In this way it fits the Ending animation with Lina and Gourry sitting under a tree, perfectly. Masamis voice sounds very dominant and strong, nearly raw and it's a great counterpart to MeguLinas fine and shy voice. (But who could ever think Lina to be shy?^^)

14. MASK
lyr & mus: OKUI Masami, mus: YABUKI Toshirou & OOHIRA Tsutomu
MASK is a duet again, but this time formed by Masami and Kasumi Matsumura. This song is upbeat with very electric sounds. Masami and Kasumi's voice match perfectly in the lines where they sing together. The chorus of this song is awesome with its high ending, that almost sounds a little too high (^^), but Masami helps to regulate this, because she sings the second voice to Kasumi.

15. LOVE IS FIRE
lyr & mus: OKUI Masami, mus: YABUKI Toshirou & OOHIRA Tsutomu
I don't know if this song still is a duet, because all I hear is Masami's voice. The stanzas of this song are quite calm but they guide you to a really catchy refrain. Once again this is a song with very much computer programming. At times even Masami's voice sounds a little bit 'programmed', but in my opinion that fits this song. Love is Fire is a typical b-side song for me. It was never supposed to be as intense as MASK, but in its own way, it's very special.

- Disc 2 -
01. Ranbu
lyr & mus: OKUI Masami, mus: YABUKI Toshirou & OOHIRA Tsutomu
Now this is a great first track for the second disc! Ranbu is what I would call really 'cool', it sounds really superior to other songs and you almost can feel a little distance between yourself and the music. But it's this distance that even doesn't let you connect with this song. The only fact that disturbs me (a little bit^^) about 'RANBU' is its end with Masami singing 'lalalala' all over again. I think that's not really fitting. But after all, great sound indeed! (Ranbu was originally written for Saber Marionette J to X.)

02. Issho ni
lyr: OKUI Masami, mus & arr: OOHIRA Tsutomu
This song is nice, and we all know, what that means... No, kidding, I think the word that would probably fit this song best is 'frolic'! And it really is. It's a song to listen when you're in good mood and need to express it, or when you feel like raising your mood. The melody of 'Issho ni' is really lovely and it has this tiny jingle all the time.
The chorus sounds like the music of march or a parade and just when you think it's too much it gets a bit down, but just for ending in Masami's yell 'Come on'. And just like all songs on this disc 'Issho ni' shows this really great usage of instruments, that only by itself could make the music worthwhile.

03. BUT BUT BUT
lyr & mus: OKUI Masami, mus: OOHIRA Tsutomu
No 'BUT' necessary, this song just rulez! With its acoustic sounds and its great melody you just have to love it, even if you don't like Xelloss, whose image song this is. But (hey, this is supposed to become a positive but^^) even if I don't know Aikra-samas version, I just can't imagine, it could be as good as Masami's. And the chorus, with its 'Come on, let's go, zettai daijoubu'... it´s just so infective, so... excuse me, I need to sing along for a while^^...

04. 1 2 3
lyr: OKUI Masami, mus & arr: SATOU Hideki
This song is great rock and unusually I do like the stanzas much better than the chorus, which to me sounds a little bit superficial. But the stanzas just fit the fast music. This song is simply heading forward and it's just like the chorus would disturb this run, so 'don't bore us, get to the stanza'. (Does anybody understand this, or is it a rather European joke?) This song is an image song from the anime Houshin Engi (Soul Hunter).

05. Ame no FARAWAY
lyr: ARIMORI Satomi, mus: OKUI Masami, arr: system-B
I think we all love her, don't we? Martina Mel Navratilova from Slayers Next is just a great character (you should have heard her German voice actress, she was sooooo funny and for making it even more absurd, in Germany we got the same voice actress for Martina as the one who always acts for stars like Cameron Diaz and Gwyneth Paltrow, but she's just divine! ALL MY LOVE TO KATRIN FROEHLICH!^^) But back to topic, this is a cover of Martina's image song and it sounds much more adult than the original, though they are very familiar. The chorus of this song is just gorgeous with its triplet and the punctuation in the beginning and of course this song is about a girl that was betrayed by its boyfriend. Did you ever expect something else?

06. SECRET ~Dareka no Message~
lyr & mus: OKUI Masami, mus: OOHIRA Tsutomu
This is the Slayers Next image song for Xelloss and Masami has done a great job in writing this song, because it fits him perfectly. But she has done an even greater job in singing it. SECRET sounds so lazy, just the way Xelloss behaves most of the time during the second season. Everything seems easy with this song and its 'shalalalala' in the chorus. Why are all Slayers songs done by Masami so great? You just don't get them out of your head anymore, especially this one.

07. SOMEDAY
SOMEDAY -bonus track-
This is an amazing ballad from Soul Hunter. It starts with the sounds of a music box but it soon works out to be a beautiful song. The melody is so intense as well as the music and there's a very strong background choir accompanying Masami. And in the end of the chorus, when she sings 'Someday I'm Gonna Be a Hero' ... it's just wonderful. A Music box sound is the end of this song.

08. Sennichite
lyr & mus: OKUI Masami, mus: system-B
This song comes along very traditional, it sounds very Japanese and it has this weird sounds all over it, that can only be created by a human voice and sound a little bit like a hysterical laughing... But the song itself is very good, it's just fun, a gift to her fans. Indeed Masami has this timbre in her voice... very special.^^ (Originally, this song was played in Saber Marionette J)