I'm currently robbing columbia of their assets
man, I'm overjoyed, the materials are awesome. (I'm talking about pictures, I just realized this could mean I'm robbing them of the songs)
EDIT:
Just cruising through 01-03, conclusion?
Master Artist 2 01 Haruka Amami:
Tip Taps Tip: I love Haruka's version of Tip Taps Tips, but the problem is that Hibiki and Miki's voice obscures Haruka's voice
completely when it comes to singing together (probably because their voice sounds similar, especially Miki, her voice obscures the others), which means this is 80% Haruka and 20% Hibiki/Miki, while for Hibiki and Miki's version you can still hear it as a true single (if you don't pay attention enough). Her theme however, fits her perfectly, a casual theme. It's just that the singing together part ruins the experience.
I can say this is very close to Tip Taps Tips HMH version, you can even regard it as one
MEGARE! : Haruka sings this one very well. The fast-paced and lots of SFX music usually found on Futami Twins / Yayoi like Do-Dai! and Kiramekirari
START : Fits very well as an opening theme for an action/comedy anime. I like it, it's not usual Haruka got a pop band approach like this
Taiyou no Jealousy: I thought this is a copy of Taiyou no Jealousy (M@STER) from Masterwork 01/Master Artist 01, but I'm wrong, Haruka's voice is unlike anything before (also, this one doesn't have that opera-like background vocals).
I can safely say they re-record this classic, probably using a down-toned version from the aforementioned CD to recreate the BGM (removing the vocals and keeping the music), Haruka's voice seems clearer than the BGM, but then again it could be my copy...
Also, Taiyou no Jealousy seems to be attached to number "01"
Sekai de Ichiban Ganbatteru Kimi ni : is this romanization here right? Anyway I like this, far better than Daisuki! Pretty slow and casual, good for relaxing a bit.
Master Artist 2 02 Hibiki Ganaha:
TRIAL DANCE: So iM@S team decided to go Middle Eastern style music? I thought it would be a bit more... energetic... I mean, it got "DANCE" in its name, but still a bit void in terms of lyrics, especially Hibiki seem to be repeating the same lyric over and over (partly because I don't understand Japanese, partly because they seem to sound exactly the same), reminds me a lot of THE Ai, only with Middle Eastern music. When Hibiki is not repeating that same verse over and over this one is good (especially compared to the null-and-void Next Life, this is HUGE improvement).
Also, the first 8 seconds makes me think I'm listening to Dynasty Warrior's Lu Bu theme
DREAM: This is like Hitomi Shimatani's Shinku, the way Hibiki put an accent in the end of every single sentence. She sounds a bit forced (in between reluctant to sing it but have to), losing every piece of natural flow in the process, and the BGM is very not right.
Avoid it if you can, and adapt to it if you want to. If you need to know why, listen to the original, you'll spot the problem within the first 5 seconds.
In short, a failed imitation. This might be (extremely) biased because I hear the original DREAM every day, but still even without comparing it to something else, you have other songs that are much more worth it to listen to.
Lesson learned: don't try to remake an awesome song from scratch. I mean, they can use the same BGM from the original, it's not even 6 months ago, have they discarded it already?
Nada sousou : It's pretty good, At last they got to use Hibiki's slow version voice. Also, from Middle East to Far East? Still in the East I guess
Tip Taps Tip : A good lyric helps keeping up the quality. This one is good, I like the way they use rock band style, fits Hibiki's voice perfectly. Sadly, Hibiki and Miki's are the reason I can't enjoy Haruka's version. Good news is in this version you won't hear that much of difference when they do sing together, helps a lot, really, although Miki still obscure her a bit.
MEGARE! : eh, I don't know. It's alright I guess... Haruka's is better, I guess Hibiki is not made for this kind of song
Master Artist 2 03 Miki Hoshii:
Day of the future: pretty much on par around arcadia, this is a song with good beat and feels "Just Miki", I like it.
Furu-furu future : eh, the title rhymes with the new song, but this old one is not my liking, too much trying to be cute here, also, it's completely not new down to the recording date (they simply took it from Master Artist 03. Master Artist 03 made it directly into Master Artist 2 03, that's Pokemonic evolution)
Squall : doesn't capture the original Squall by Matsumoto Eiko (I've heard the original), although I have to say it might be because of the BGM (the original doesn't have anything but piano melody), but still very nice. I didn't know Akiko Hasegawa has that kind of soft voice. This one can be compared to Makoto's Swallowtail Butterfly, but with a lot of surprise (Miki's voice, that is)
MEGARE! : same as Hibiki's counterpart comment, although a bit better than Hibiki, perhaps because Miki's voice is okay for these kind of music
Tip Taps Tip : This is awesome. I like the cosmic theme of this, reminds me of the great ol' Kosmos, Cosmos but with unique lyrics and cheerful environment. This theme certainly won't fit with others. This one competes with Hibiki version, once again because her voice pretty much obscures the other, also because the cosmic melody fits completely with the lyrics and Miki's voice.
After a lot of pondering I can say this version is the one to recommend
One last note is that each one got a different start for Tip Taps Tip. Haruka starts fairly quickly, right from the first second with "Tip Taps Tip Taps" (the actual song, however starts at 16 seconds). Miki's starts after a few "la la la" after 4 seconds (she actually starts singing at 13 seconds). Hibiki starts fairly long (around 14 seconds until somebody's mouth starts moving!) but starts straight to the lyric.
