Perfume – Dream Fighter

Perfume promoting Dream Fighter

Artist: Perfume Product Code: TKCA-73390/5 Release Date: 2008.11.19 Genre: Technopop Highest Ranking: #2 Label: Tokuma Japan Communications Format: CD, CD+DVD Limited Edition: CD+DVD version

Dream Fighter concludes their successful 2008 run. It was a single that generated a lot of hype, from forums to blogs. When the 15 second preview came out, everyone became somewhat confused. “This doesn’t sound like Perfume” a fan says. Until the full radio preview came out, people expressed their opinions. Some say that it carried too much pop than techno, some say it sounds different from their previous works, but most people still like it anyways.

Despite the success that they had on Love the World and GAME, their ORICON single sales rank fell short to UVERworld’s new single: Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi, which is UVERworld’s first #1 single based on the highly popular mecha series Gundam 00 S2.

1. Dream Fighter

It’s probably the most special song for Perfume if it’s carrying the title Dream Fighter. The song’s first broadcast was on TOKYO FM while the first live performance was performed on their biggest concert to-date, BUDOUKaaaaaaaaaan, as an encore.

Dream Fighter is an interesting song when compared to their previous works. The vocals sound more natural because the vocoder isn’t adjusted to the levels that are similar to the previous works (you know what I mean), the instrumental flows smoothly using mid-high tones that provide the “dreamy” feel and once it’s all combined with the dance, “BIN-BON!” (From A-chan), you get a song with a super addictive chorus.

So, yes, the song is definitely different from the others. Change is good…for a while though. What I didn’t enjoy about the song is when they went solo for a good portion of the song while Love the World and Secret Secret were mostly composed of all 3 of them singing together. It just didn’t feel like Perfume for a while.

Rating:

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2. Negai

I like this B-side a lot. It has a very similar feel to Macaroni, but the beat is much slower and is much more enjoyable. The keyboard in the background gives it a gloomy feel. If you listen to the instrumentals carefully, there are strings being played for a 2-3 seconds, but it’s barely noticeable in the song itself. The piano is then used for the ending, which adds a good ballad feel (I think this is considered a ballad). Perfume doesn’t usually do this type of music often, but it was a great effort by both Nakata and Perfume.

Rating:

Conclusion:

It was a successful year for Perfume. They have done what no normal artist could’ve done in a 1 year time span. Getting a #1 single and album, a live tour plus a 2 day performance at Budoukan, 2 TV shows hosted by Perfume themselves, a photobook and of course, a lot of dancing. Dream Fighter is what Perfume was doing in 2008, successfully “fighting” to make their dream come true. Although it was not the perfect single, it was the best single to sum up Perfume’s year 2008. In their New Years message, A-chan said “We’ll fight head on with any future obstacles that may come…like a Dream Fighter” (Thanks to HaroRangers for translation). We will look forward to the next single in 2009.

Overall Rating:

CD+DVD (First Press)

CD only

CD Tracklist

1. Dream Fighter
2. Negai
3. Dream Fighter -original instrumental-
4. Negai -original instrumental-

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About the author

1337rice is a moderator for Channel-Ai and Nigihana. He spends most of his time listening to music while working on various of things such as photography, writing articles, homework and even during his sleep! His favourite artists include Perfume, Monkey Majik, and of course, Otsuka Ai.