First Time is the debut album by Japan’s Morning Musume and this group has been a lifesaver for me though not in the literal sense. There’s only so much heavy music a person can tolerate before they have to switch genres for a while. The album begins with the jazz influenced song “Good Morning.” If you are in a part of the world where it is morning and you are able to listen to this song, rejoice in the new day! A morning shower for some people is very refreshing as they get their outfits picked out for the day and they get started. It is rather refreshing and exciting at the same time to start the day in the energy of good feelings and we will do what we can to keep ourselves in this vibration. I do have one suggestion for the group and it is that they should try to have more songs with English titles.
Musical Style for the Album First Time
First Time in a way sets a tradition for the album titles either having a number in them or starting with something that describes a noun. Stylistically, First Time is one of those albums that has a sort of simple feel to it. That is to say that the album has songs that start out with a simpler note structure than the group’s later albums would embody. For instance, the pop and jazz influenced song called “Yume No Naka” or Inside a Dream has piano accompanying the vocals to create a rather pleasant atmosphere.
“Summer Night Town” is as usual, another song about love as sometimes we have a hard time hiding our true feelings for a person and we love them very much. “I Make It Through Saturday” is a song about a girl that hates the idea of spending Saturdays all alone and watching TV. She is waiting until that lover of hers contacts her. Sometimes it feels good to just change the genre of the music that we are listening to not just to hear something different but there is only so much heavy metal or of one genre of music that we can listen to constantly. Morning Musume provides refreshing and in some cases relaxing J POP but rarely are their songs sad.
About the Songs “Morning Coffee” and “Ai No Tane”
“Morning Coffee” may be the most famous song on First Time which I have previously reviewed. As of this update, rather than doing a separate post about the song, I will analyze it here in this album review as well. The song lyrically is so much more than about two lovers that want to drink morning coffee. The woman at first is very nervous about taking the risk and going all the way (marriage). But she also feels that as long as her lover has the courage to take her with him into his future plans, she will be more than happy to go along with him. Ai No Tane (Seeds of Love) was the group’s first digital single and this one is rather encouraging as the message of the song is that you should check out the city you live in because there are always opportunities so get that haircut, that manicure or pedicure and just head out into the city. Even if we feel lost, sometimes we just have to find our way. It was always a passion, a dream of mine to become a published writer and here we are, here I am writing on here. There are always opportunities in this world if we are properly connected to this universal force. First Time was one of those albums that had 10 of the group’s top selling songs from their early days.
When Was It Released and How Well Did the Album Sell?
The album was released on July 8, 1998 and it sold 310, 290 copies so it did not reach a platinum status but given the fact that this is the first album from this super group, I’d say this is a pretty solid set of songs.
SEE ALSO: Welcome to Morning Musume Japan
“Mirai no Tobira” or The Door to the Future sounds like a mixture of pop & R & B mixed in and this one is one of the weaker songs in this album. Next comes the song called You Liar and this one is about a relationship that is about a man that lies so pathologically that he makes the girl pretend to cry. She vows to dump him and find him a new girlfriend. The album ends with the song called Lonely Days. This is a soothing, soft song about a person that reveals that they threw something away to try and catch their dream. She cries, and cries herself to sleep even if that makes her feel better. She wonders when she started to feel lonely and she thinks that she has as much courage as she does loneliness. This song is a direct contrast to the upbeat first song of this album But First Time represents a very good start for Morning Musume. The strongest songs in this album other than Morning Coffee and Ai No Tane are Good Morning, Lonely Days and You Liar.
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