Albums

Please choose an album below. I've numbered all the official albums like this: (#1). Mini-albums are marked like this: (ma-#1) The remaining albums are compilations/remixes of previously released songs. New albums are always displayed on the first page.

There are two ways you can sample the songs:

1) HTML: This is the original way I had it set up, where you'll have to manually download and listen to each file. Also, if you hover over the links, you'll see the kanji title of each song.

2) Flash Player: This flash player will let you listen to each sample in REAL TIME. (^^) Occasionally you can choose between different playlists (especially if the CD is a remake/tribute to another artist's work).

Here's a quick summary of how the flash player works (image opens in a new window)

Click on the 'Lyrics' icon to access the lyrics. ALL lyrics will open in ONE popup (i.e.: all of the lyrics share the same popup). This way, you won't have a TON of popups open. Besides, you can't read two lyrics at the same time, right? (^^) But if you want to open the lyrics in more than one window, feel free to right-click the links and choose "Open in New Window".

Lastly, to make the pages load faster, the albums will be split into several pages (hence why I alternated/color-coded the links).


6 ALBUMS
regular text (no link) = song not available yet

  1. (ma-#1) Flowers
  2. (ma-#2) love me?
  3. FULL MOON selection EP [iTunes Exclusive Album]
  4. (#1) moumoon (self-titled album)
  5. (ma-#3) REFUREIN (Refrain)
  6. Summer Selection [iTunes Exclusive Album]


NEWEST RELEASE
Summer Selection
(iTunes Exclusive Album)

CD Cover
+Produced by: avex trax
+Catalogue #: n/a - digital download only [iTunes Japan]
+Release Date: May 19, 2010


+More Info:
This is yet another pretty much pointless iTunes exclusive album. I have no clue why it was released, but I guess they thought these songs have a nice "summery" feeling to them? I dunno. At least the album is pretty cheap. It costs ¥900...which means each song is about ¥110. Their songs normally cost ¥150 each, so that's a nice savings. Hopefully their future songs will be just as cheap. :D

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Flowers
(Mini-Album #1)

CD cover
+Produced by: voicellar records/GATE RECORDS INC.
+Catalogue #: GTCR-5026
+Release Date: September 6, 2006


+More Info:
This is moumoon's first (mini-)album, and it was released on an Independent (Indie) label. All of the songs are very well done, but three of the tracks really stand out, for unique reasons:

  1. Flowers: This was their first song/CD single. (^^) Later on (on their "Do you remember?" CD single), it was remade into English. (You'll find the English lyrics by clicking on the above Lyrics tab. You can also hear the song by clicking on the Flash Player.)

  2. bleu sky: The title of the song says "bleu", but the official lyrics wrote "blue". (o_O) I'm not sure if something was misspelled, or if YUKA used both spellings on purpose.

  3. PINKY RING: This song is actually special for two reasons!
    1. There's a pun in the lyrics. "Yawarakai tsuki" means "tender moon"...and that's also what "moumoon" means in French. ^^

    2. The melody of this song is VERY similar to "SWEET HEART", a song on their second mini-album. You can listen to this MP3 clip and compare for yourself. (There's also a link in the Flash Player.)

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love me?
(Mini-Album #2)

CD cover
+Produced by: avex trax
+Catalogue #: AVCD-23321
+Release Date: September 22, 2007


+More Info:
This is moumoon's second (mini-)album. It's also their first major release (mini-)album, AND their first major release EVER. Plus, it was released almost exactly one year after their first mini-album (which came out on September 6). These are all good things. ^_^

That said, this album somewhat annoyed me, in two ways:
  1. WHY does their first major release have less tracks?! Their first mini-album had 9 tracks, and this CD only has 6. T_T

  2. "SWEET HEART" sounds like a cheap rip-off (or remake?) of "PINKY RING". (T__T) I'm not the only person who noticed this, but here are the similarities I spotted:

    • The 1st verse (in both songs) begins with a single guitar chord.
    • The bridge (in both songs) begins with a strong, electric guitar chord.
    • The melodies in both bridges are similar (especially in the first half of each bridge).
    • Both songs are made of two words (which can be compounded [ie: "pinkyring" and "sweetheart"]).
    • Both song titles are written in uppercase.
    • Both songs are almost the exact same length. "PINKY RING" is 4:21, and "SWEET HEART" is 4:22.

    ...Just listen to this MP3 clip and compare for yourself. >.>

I'd LOVE to know why avex/moumoon made a song like this. Maybe they thought hardly anyone knew about their Indie releases? Or maybe they thought their Indies stuff was too hard to find, and they could "remix" the song to get more sales?

If that's their thinking, then it's got some serious flaws, because neither of those "thoughts" is true. Most moumoon fans already know about their Indie releases. Plus, their Indie releases aren't too hard to find. You actually CAN still order "Flowers" (the CD single AND the album) on CDJapan, YesAsia, Amazon Japan, and several other stores.

...But hey, whatever. I just skip over "SWEET HEART" whenever it plays. ("PINKY RING" FOREVER!!! xD)

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FULL MOON selection EP
(iTunes Exclusive Album)

CD cover
+Produced by: avex trax
+Catalogue #: n/a - digital download only [iTunes Japan]
+Release Date: July 23, 2008


+More Info:
This album is ONLY available on iTunes, but it's a mixture two previous albums -- "Flowers" (3 tracks) and "love me?" (4 tracks) -- and one of their CD singles ("Do You Remember"; 2 tracks). The last song is a rare bonus track that was previously released on the "Tiny Star [iTunes Version]" CD single. I'm guessing this last/bonus track is what makes this album an Extended Play, or "EP" for short.

I think this album was made as a way to attract new fans. Basically, moumoon is still pretty new...whereas iTunes is a well-known and trusted music source. iTunes has millions of customers, and it could give moumoon a greater chance at success.

So in essence, this is a "sampler album". That's why the album is a nice mixture of moumoon's Indie and avex releases: it shows their musical range (and their continuous growth as artists) by using some of their best songs. (^^) And since iTunes is known for its "exclusives", one of moumoon's rare bonus tracks was included with the album.

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moumoon
(Full-Length Album #1; Self-titled)

CD+DVD CD Only
+Produced by: avex trax
+Catalogue #: AVCD-23681 [CD + DVD], AVCD-23682 [CD Only]
+Release Date: November 12, 2008


+More Info:
This is technically moumoon's 3rd album, but it's also their first full-length album. The DVD has a special documentary film called "Tiny Star: beside FULLMOON (Part 2)". Part 1 was originally released with the "more than love" CD single (which came out one month earlier). The DVD also has the music videos/PVs for "SWEET HEART", "Do you remember?", "Tiny Star", and "more than love".

The album has 14 tracks, including 8 new songs! But unfortunately, some of the songs weren't really memorable. Don't get me wrong; the album was good overall, and I do love several of the songs, but this album just wasn't as memorable or powerful as "Flowers (the album)". In fact, I feel like their Indie releases were better than their avex trax releases.

With their Indie releases, you practically fell in love with each song as soon as they started playing...but with their avex songs, you kinda have to "get used to them" and listen to them several times before they grow on you. But the good thing is, moumoon is starting to get a better grasp of their "true identity" with avex, and overall, their avex music is getting better.

That said, a few of the tracks really stood out (for various reasons) --

  • My favorite new songs are "Don't wanna be", "Ai no Oto", "3 days magic", and "FOREVER".

  • PINKY RING, and Cinderella : I have no clue why these "old songs" on this album. (o_O) It's not like you can't find/buy their "Flowers" & "love me?" albums; there's still a lot of copies available. Maybe avex wants to promote their older music, so moumoon can get more sales?

  • 3 days magic : While we're on the subject of "Flowers (the album)"...remember the song "bleu sky"? Remember how that CD called the song "bleu sky", but the lyrics clearly said "blue sky"? It's the same thing with this song. YUKA is clearly saying "3 day magic" (which, by the way, is grammatically correct).

  • Stars are bright : For some reason, part of the chorus reminds me of "When the Saints Go Marching In"... >.>

  • Sunrise : FINALLY, THEY RELEASED THE OFFICIAL LYRICS! (^___^) Which of course means the translated lyrics have been updated/corrected.

  • SWEET HEART ~acoustic ver.~ : I have a theory about this song. I think, since they released "PINKY RING" on this album, they made "SWEET HEART" an "acoustic version"...so less people will say, "HEY! This song sounds exactly like 'PINKY RING'!!!"...

    ...I know your tricks, avex. T__T

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