Review: Biyuden - Suite Room Number 1
Roughly 13 months after their debut, three-person H!P unit Biyuden caps off an impressively catchy string of singles with their first album release, titled "Suite Room Number 1" and dropping on 10/26. When the announcement of Rika's graduation and subsequent formation of her new unit came, seemingly ages ago in the warped timeline of the H!P world, not many would have guessed that one of the worst singers in Morning Musume history could lead a new group into building and sustaining a reputation for consistent, quality releases. Let's face it; Rika may have long been adored as a PB pin-up queen and pinnacle of burriko-enriched cuteness in Japan, but among the English-speaking fan community, her musical talents or lack thereof were typically a heavy strike against her. Many fans were simply thrilled at the prospect of no longer having to suffer her voice in Morning Musume, and seemingly few were voicing honest excitement about Biyuden's potential at the time of its announcement. So what happened?
Good music, that's what happened. Tsunku and his Up-Front cronies matched their fan-favorite up with two girls perfectly capable of picking up her vocal slack; Okada Yui, selected from the H!P Egg auditions, and Miyoshi Erika, winner of an earlier audition for an H!P soloist. Their debut single took a lot of fans by surprise by just simply being that good, and their subsequent releases have maintained, and in a couple cases surpassed, the standards set by "Koi no Nukegara". Does their first full-length album manage to do the same?
"Suite Room Number 1", as the title suggests, is a uniquely themed release with the concept that the three girls are enjoying a hotel stay, in apparently luxurious accommodations no less, the kind poor neglected Melon Kinenbi can only dream about. The album has short intro and closing dialogue tracks, "Check In" and "Check Out" that sustain the theme but offer little value other than brief amusement at the wooden English conversations in the opener. Fittingly, the intro segues into the group's second single, "Kacchoiize! Japan", a rousing, drum-heavy song used in a national tourism campaign to welcome visitors to Japan, and it perfectly sets the energy level for the first half of the album.
The first original song follows, "Ai~Suite Room", which may very well have you hooked within the first ten seconds. All eurotrance-lite with a head-bopping chorus and somewhat midi-esque synthesized instrumental diddies here and there, the only (easily forgiven!) flaw to the song lies in Tsunku's ever-present background vocals, which here just simply don't mesh entirely too well with the music and are, as is often the case, just a tad bit overdone. " Ajisai Ai AI Monogatari" their third and quite deservedly best-selling single, in which Erika's vocals prove her audition win was not based on looks alone. Though a shame she never got the solo career she originally was selected for, she certainly gets put to good use in Biyuden, shining as the indisputably best vocalist.
The second new track, "Tea Break", comes sandwiched between two more singles, "Koi no Nukegara" and "Hitorijime". "Tea Break" is a pleasant surprise, after early speculation had fans worrying it would be a third instrumental track, a little diddy of an interlude to compliment the intro and closer. Instead, it's a full, bouncy 80's tune that would have sounded right at home on W's own first album. Amusingly, when the girls sing "TEA BREAK!" during the chorus it comes out sounding more like "DEFECT!", which would hold humorous weight if the song had been granted another PV in which the only objective for Rika and Erika was to alienate Yui. "Koi no Nukegara" withstands the test of time and still manages to be one of the group's best efforts to date. What's not to love about a slightly aggressive pop tune with lyrics worthy of Melon Kinenbi and guitar riffs lifted directly from The Police? "Hitorijime" seems to be the group's most ridiculously underrated effort, perhaps thanks to the song's half-Schizoid, half-Flashdance choreography that few fans can shake out of their head, no pun intended. With a gorgeous instrumental and overall excellent vocal performances in which even Rika sounds lovely, "Hitorijime" has the heart of a ballad, but without all the...boredom.
"Kura kura Dinner Time" is the sort of perfectly pleasant yet still-not-memorable tune that would usually serve best as a b-side. It's cheerful enough, with vocals that tend to sound just a little bit cloying, but evokes so little emotion it's hard to sum up, be it negatively or positively, which leads for a very welcome segue into "Kurenai no Kisetsu", the last pre-album single released just this same month. Definitely Biyuden's most interesting effort to date, the track's music and breathy, slightly dramatic background vocals successfully lend the song the air of maturity they were desperately hoping for, if the PV is any indication. Utilizing the most harmonization the trio has taken on yet, the choruses lead to a unique vocal exchange between the girls as solo lines are passed around deftly to each as the remaining two provide support. Kurenai no Kisetsu's non-chorus verses are split a little too heavily in Rika's favor, but considering how relatively little favoritism has been shown to her previously despite being the undeniable star of the group, it's hardly a weighty complaint.
"Kuchibiru Kara Ai wo Choudai" (dirty!) has a funky synthesized sound and a whole lot of flair. The lyrics are chirped out in the sort of short, tight manner heard on their second b-side, "Bi~Hit Parade", but whereas that track had stronger (and better) vocals and a more contagious chorus, Kuchibiru's music, spiced up by the exotic flute bits, wins hands down. After this somewhat rousing song, it's time to wind down, and what better way to do so than with a song entitled "Pajama na Jikan" (A Pajama Time)?
True to its title, "Pajama na Jikan" begins with gentle strings of music that would be perfectly suited to a lullaby. Erika starts off the vocals with a slightly quieted, almost 'cuter' voice than usual, and it's all very soothing...and then Yui shatters the calm into a thousand pieces with the sudden banshee screech of her voice. Now, I normally consider Yui to be quite an asset to Biyuden, and not just for her famed chest, she truly does have a good voice, and isn't very far behind Erika in terms of talent. I'm not faulting her for the travesty occurring here, but rather, whatever insane producer thought it would be a great idea to have Yui wheeze her verses out of her nose in a key high enough to channel dogs from beyond the grave. Clearly there was an ambitious plan to have an angelic, choir-like chorus to match the sweet innocence of the music, and it never hurts to have a dream...but how and why Yui's vocals here got through production and onto the actual, finished product is something I'll never know. Her voice wavers and shakes in an embarrassingly noticeable way, and to say her high notes were a misguided choice is putting it very gently. Few could disagree that listening to "Pajama na Jikan" the first time is a jarring experience, to say the least.
The 'winding down' period of the album continues, but thankfully with more success. The final closing track before "Check Out" is a clear, slow ballad titled "Magokoro no Michi". Songs like this are rarely given a fair chance as many fans are too quick to write off any ballads as boring and repetitive, and that's a shame. Sure, this track won't get stuck in your head for hours on end, but it's just overwhelmingly pleasant to listen to, a soothing song accompanied by real! instruments! and devoid of any painfully flamboyant background vocals. No bells and whistles, just old fashioned, sweet-sounding notes, a perfect album closer that almost erases the emotional scars left by "Pajama na Jikan". Almost.
With five stellar singles, several great original tracks and only one (somewhat humorous) minor misstep, "Suite Room Number One" is a thoroughly satisfying release from a group that has come a long way in such short time. Biyuden started as a punchline, saw promise with "Koi no Nukegara", and by the third single firmly established itself as a fully capable group whose consistent, quality releases put them at the top of the H!P hierarchy. In a year more dominated by youth than ever, with the Berryz empire ever-expanding, the formation of C-ute, the average age of MM dropping faster than their sales, and the very grown-up W continuing to sell an image their ages belie, the mature, sexy sound and appeal of Biyuden is more than just a relief, it's nearly a necessity for some fans. With the truly unfortunate near-abandonment of the once glorious 'older' acts, Country Musume and Melon Kinenbi (to the repeated lament of many), Biyuden's releases offer welcome lapses in cuteness of the sugar-coated H!P world. Truly they're no Melons, but Biyuden is comparably excellent in its own right and worthy of more respect than they're given. Who could have guessed that "Charmy" Ishikawa would one day head the most 'mature' unit in Hello!Project?
Released: Oct 26, 2005 
