[2023.08.30] Morning Musume '23 - Morning Musume. Best Selection ~The 25 Shuunen~

[Solarblade]

Announced today at their Budokan performance, Morning Musume performed a new song, HEAVY GATE and then followed it up with an announcement of a best album in August. That;s pretty much all the info we have on it right now.

Also the newest members won't be taking part in this release.

[JPope]

I hadn't considered a Best album -- probably because H!P all but stopped doing them outside of post-mortem releases -- but it makes sense, and it sort of gives me a rare W on a prediction, so I'll allow it.

I wonder how far back they're gonna go with the song selection?

[Solarblade]

Performance of HEAVY GATE - https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1pF411d7ve/

[DonJuan]

Also the newest members won't be taking part in this release.

That's a bit of a bummer, considering how long they've been working on the auditions. Ah, well. Let's hope for another single somewhat close to it, at least this year.
HEAVY GATE sounds exactly the way I expect a Tsunku-Ookubo-collab to sound like. There's a bit of funk to it though, maybe a bit of Sayumi-era EDM even. However, it has the same problem that I have with a lot of current (not only MM!) songs - it's too chaotic, too nervous. Whatever, it'll probably be forgotten soon, like Wolf Boy (which is a shame btw).

I wonder how far back they're gonna go with the song selection?

Well, the last anniversary Best Of 2019 went back to Furari Ginza/Jiyuu na Kuni Dakara. Which would leave us with everything since Jinsei Blues:

- Jinsei Blues
- A Gonna
- KOKORO&KARADA
- LOVEpedia
- Ningen Kankei No way way
- Junjou Evidence
- Gyuusaretai Dake na no ni
- Teenage Solution
- Yoshi Yoshi Shite Hoshii no
- Beat no Wakusei
- Chu Chu Chu Bokura no Mirai
- Dai Jinsei Never Been Better!
- Swing Swing Paradise
- Happy birthday to Me!

14 songs, 15 with HEAVY GATE. Might add the new I WISH to bring it up to 16, if they want to.
The Best! Updated also had 15 songs.

[Shoujo Q]

Can I get a cover CD of songs too? (Not Updated) Is that too
Much to ask for?

[JPope]

Also, I'm not really feeling this song yet.

[Solarblade]

I feel like they'll probably still be a single since Fukuchan is graduating, pull another Takechan xD

[JPope]

I think that's a decent bet. I originally floated the possibility of an August single / November album, and the timeline still works for that to be flip-flopped.

[DonJuan]

Honestly I can't imagine them letting go of Mizuki without a single, in their anniversary celebration year on top of that. She will most definitely get a solo song, too.

[Shoujo Q]

We’ll see what Take got? Mizuki will definitely get that too. So no worries. They probably just want to prep the newbs a little more before dumping them into general population. Get them primed and ready.

Though I do hate graduation singles that have new members joining. It feels too much.

[JPope]

Though I do hate graduation singles that have new members joining. It feels too much.

100%. It's unfair to the n00bs to have their coming-out party overshadowed by a graduation, and especially the graduation of a member as important to the group's history as Fuku.

[Zoe]

I'm still bitter HanaSaku didn't make it onto the last one. Here's their one chance to fix that.

[Solarblade]

Title is "Morning Musume. Best Selection ~The 25 Shuunen~ - http://helloproject.com/release/detail/EPCE-7769/

2 Disc Release, Blu-ray is of their COUNTDOWN JAPAN performance

Also Tracklist and Covers were found here - https://twitter.com/InfosMusume

Official tracklist - http://www.helloproject.com/news/16230/

1. HEAVY GATE
2. Nanzansho Souzansho (なんざんしょ そうざんしょ) / Including Inoue and Yumigeta
3. Swing Swing Paradise
4. Happy birthday to Me!
5. Chu Chu Chu Bokura no Mirai
6. Dai Jinsei Never Been Better!
7. Teenage Solution
8. Yoshi Yoshi Shite Hoshii no
9. Beat no Wakusei
10. One Two Three ('23 Ver.)
11. Wagamama Ki no Mama Ai no Joke (23' Ver.)
12. What is LOVE? ('23 Ver.)
13. Kanashiku Naru You na Rainy day (悲しくなるようなRainy day) / Ikuta, Ishida, Oda, Nonaka, Haga

CD 2

1. LOVE Machine (updated '23 Ver.)
2. Renai Revolution 21 (updated '23 Ver.)
3. Souda! We're ALIVE (updated '23 Ver.)
4. Happy Summer Wedding ('23 Ver)
5. The Peace! ('23 Ver.)
6. Last Kiss ('23 Ver.) / Makino, Yokoyama, Kitagawa
7. Chokotto LOVE ('23 Ver.) / Okamura, Yamazaki, Sakurai
8. Seishun Night ('23 Ver.)
9. Jealousy Jealousy ('23 Ver.)
10. Kimagure Princess ('23 Ver.)
11. Mikan ('23 Ver.)
12. Roman ~MY DEAR BOY~ ('23 Ver.)
13. Koko ni Iruzee! ('23 Ver.)

[DonJuan]

Alright, NOW I'm in. Can't wait.

[JPope]

Not in love with some of the selections here. It's an album celebrating MM's 25th anniversary, so I get why a lot of the Golden oldies are present, but including the last three singles in their entirety doesn't make sense to me in this context. It chokes out a lot of other songs that are more deserving of representation on an album honoring the entire history of Morning Musume. The Platinum Era, in particular, gets short-shrift here.

Finally -- and I admit that this is pure 200-proof bias -- Chokotto LOVE being here pisses me off. Homatan, Mei and Riley all deserve better than a sub-unit throw-away for their feature, but especially Mei. Honestly, if Yokoyan and Mei were swapped, I'd be cool with it because it would make more sense from a performance perspective.

Anyway, I hope the new songs are good!

EDIT: How is Fuku not in any of the units? What's going on here?

[JPope]

The cover art is not great.

[DonJuan]

As a fan of everything Kaorin-era, I'm also missing some songs NAMELY Osaka Koi no Uta and Shabondama. Then again this way I can't complain about the updated versions. I just really hope it's not an "The Best Updated" situation where most songs just sound worse.
I guess what I'd criticize is the fact that we get Love Machine, RR21, Happy Summer Wedding, Souda and The Peace again. We don't really need a million versions of these.

About the cover art, well, it's Morning. For the most Up Front doesn't really care about promoting them, so they only book good artists for OCHA right now (and occasionally other groups). I guess the best we can hope for is that they don't butcher the photoshop and that the outfits don't look horrible. The try-hard coolness/matureness is a given by now.

[Zoe]

EDIT: How is Fuku not in any of the units? What's going on here?

My first guess was that they were forward thinking in how the songs will be used going forward. Which makes it interesting that Makino and Yokoyama didn't make it onto the new song written for the senpai.

Mizuki will probably dominate the updated versions though.

[JPope]

I did about 10 minutes of work in Photoshop and improved the Regular edition cover about 10-fold.

[JPope]

So that ridiculous cyan-drenched cover that I got from the wiki appears to be off. The actual one looks closer to my retouch.

[DonJuan]

Up "graphic design is my passion" "we certainly know how to embed pictures on our own website" Front

[Shoujo Q]

So I mentioned this on Twitter.

But the sub-units were totally done for the fall concert. Mizuki will get a solo. But we wont hear that till the release of their next single, which, shocking, will be this fall before her graduation. So, that's why she's not in a sub-unit. (I KNOW HOW YOU OPPERATE UF!)

Anyway, aside from another cover the trifecta of LOVE Machine, Renai Revolution 21 and Souda! We're ALIVE.

I'm here for the new self-cover album. I just hope they don't mess with the instrumentals that much. More specifically, Koko ni Iruzee! Because that's my song. Maybe it's a good end cap for my years as a fan of Morning Musume and I should just peace out all together and move on with my life?

Chances are I wont. I'll always be around but not as much as I once was.

Oh, and I'm totally going to poll the covers and updated songs in the Anniversary polls later once they've been released.

[JPope]

"Kanashiku Naru You na Rainy day" preview.

[DonJuan]

Oh, that sounds retro.

[JPope]

The chorus is classic Tsunku, but the verse is modern Tsunku. I dig it.

[DonJuan]

Heavy Gate is getting a concert MV.


Also, here's a preview for Last Kiss '23.



I'm actually digging this... but Yokoyan sounds quite off. Sigh. Definitely not the best pick for the song.

[JPope]

I'm actually digging this... but Yokoyan sounds quite off. Sigh. Definitely not the best pick for the song.

Yeah, this is what I was fearing. They wasted Mei and Riley on Chokotto LOVE, because either would be way better than Yokoyan on this. Meanwhile, she'd be perfect for Chokotto LOVE, but I guess they're doing this by age, because Morning Musume.

[Solarblade]

PV for HEAVY GATE


After hearing it, it really reminds me of songs like Makeru Kishinai, Bouya, and A B C D E-cha E-cha...at least in that timeframe of releases :0

[JPope]

After hearing it, it really reminds me of songs like Makeru Kishinai, Bouya, and A B C D E-cha E-cha...at least in that timeframe of releases :0

It's the vocal production, and what's wild is how easily this song would fit into MM's early 20-teens catalog with only slightly different production overall. In fact, it's amazing how MM's sound has never completely moved on from 2013.

[DonJuan]

Yeah this is just in line with basically any leading album track they've done the last few years. The MV effects are decent though.