Play (ALBUM+DVD)(Japan Version) DVD Region 2

With Amuro as the sole producer of the album, songwriting duties are split evenly between star producer Nao'Ymt and T. Kura, both of whom played important parts in creating her musical motif on Queen of Hip-Pop. Thanks to Nao'Ymt, Play gets off to an energetic start with Hide and Seek (Track 1), a loud bassy proclamation of Amuro's arrival that's as addictive as it is repetitive. With an emphasis on more genre-safe melodies and arrangements, Nao'Ymt takes a safer road than the T. Kura. Full Moon (Track 2), Top Secret (Track 9), and Violet Sauce (Track 10) (Can someone please tell me what a "violet sauce" is?) are songs that are created for live performances, sticking fairly close to the R&B genre the producer has shown he's best at. Once away from the serious dance genre, Baby Don't Cry (Track 11) is the closest song to a pop ballad in the album, and does little more than being reminiscent of her early J-pop years. Even the efforts of Pink Key (Track 12) to be a light "hip-pop" track are bogged down by the contrived overstuffed R&B melody.

On the other hand, T. Kura and Giant Swing's contributions to Play are, for the lack of a better word, more playful and even sometimes experimental without straying too far from the formula. The obvious standout of the entire album is It's All About You (Track 4) which blends a little of everything from electronic, rock, and country for a strange hybrid of a side track that doesn't work quite well on execution. However, the highlights of this section - Can't Sleep, Can't Eat, I'm Sick (Track 3), Funky Town (Track 5), and Step With It (Track 6) - are perfect epitomes of the "hip-pop" formula with their addictive choruses and dance-inducing beats that lend Play its relentless energy. Kura's sole ballad contribution, Should I Love Him? (Track 8) ends his section by veering into full R&B territory that thankfully doesn't confuse pop with slow R&B, delivering a rare legitimate Japanese R&B jam.

While the production and writing in Play all come together for an album that epitomizes the "hip-pop" concept more than any Amuro album, the inherent problem is that Amuro's vocals don't fit for the genre. Her voice, which stays safely in the mid-range, fails to expand in some of the high notes. As a result, her vocals in the more difficult songs sounds strained, despite showing a significant increase in maturity since her Can You Celebrate J-pop days. Meanwhile, I urge those that can't understand the English lyrics in the songs to see it as a blessing in disguise; like much of modern-day American-emulating J-pop, the English lyrics are often lacking in grammar and even coherency. Amuro's signature warped English pronunciations thankfully cover up these little imperfections, with the most incoherent mixing of English and Japanese since Love Psychedelico. However, this is all perfectly forgivable, as Play is about pacing and beats more than lyrics anyway.

With stellar production and the right attitude, Play warrants a purchase just for the fact that the music even made me want to join Amuro in all the dancing she's doing in the promotional videos (but unlike Amuro, my dancing is not something anyone should have to see). However, Play, like most Japanese pop albums today, is more about buying an image than just music. Even though Amuro is not a fitting vocalist for the genre, she has always been a trendsetter in Japanese pop culture, and her transition into an R&B/dance artist (which is what "hip-pop" essentially is) is no different - the music creates the atmosphere, and her album booklet picture (with Amuro in pseudo-dominatrix getup, whips and all.) provide the suitable model visuals. This might not seem like a compliment, but Play shows that Amuro has fully embraced her "hip-pop" phase with a mature ease, thus finally shaping a new trendy image worth buying into. Whips, however, will remain optional for now.

by Kevin Ma