An Illustrated History

As Puffy AmiYumi
U.S. Best Album / Stereo

Bar None BRN-CD-128

Released February 20, 2002

Tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 16 produced by Tamio Okuda
Tracks 1, 8, 10, 13 produced by Andy Sturmer
Track 6 originally produced by Tamio Okuda, remix and additional production by Captain Funk (OE Tatsuya)
Tracks 7, 9, 14 produced by Sasaji Masanori-P
Track 15 produced by C-taka Furuta

This is Puffy's second CD release in America, and a best-of collection. While it shares much of its tracklisting with The Very Best of Puffy/amiyumi jet fever, there are differences. Most notably, this disc was released nearly two years after The Very Best of Puffy, and thus had more tracks in Puffy's catalogue available for its tracklisting. Second, there are only 16 songs on this collection, compared to the 20 that graced the Japan best of CD.

Interestingly, of the additional tracks available to those who chose the make-up of the album, only one track from Spike ("Puffy no Rule") made the cut, while all three tracks from the Atarashii Hibi single are present. The only other tracks from this disc that aren't on The Very Best of Puffy are "Asia no Junshin (English Version)" (though the original version of said song was on the Japan hits disc), and the PRMX version of "Ai no Shirushi" (ditto).

This is probably the most readily available Puffy CD in the U.S., one that you'll might not even have to go online to purchase. Having said that, Amazon has it listed for sale - and you'll probably even get it if you order through them, as it's not an import CD. Neither CD Japan nor YesAsia have the disc listed, for obvious reasons. And as always, eBay is an option as well.

On a personal note, this was my first-ever Puffy CD - the one that started it all for me. Though nowadays I find the tracklisting a little lazy and perhaps "by default" (but honestly, that's a criticism of hits CDs in general, not just this one), the music is still excellent and the CD is a very good (and easily available) introduction to the band for those who don't have the luxury of being able to hunt down and import dozens of CDs from Japan.

Track Listing

1. Love So Pure (words & music: Andy Sturmer) (3:56)
2. True Asia/Asia no Junshin (English version) (words: Yosui Inoue/music: Tamio Okuda/English translation: Cara Jones) (4:39)
3. That's The Way It Is/Kore ga Watashi no Ikirumichi (words & music: Tamio Okuda) (3:19)
4. Electric Beach Fever/Nagisa ni Matsuwaru Et Cetera (words: Yosui Inoue/music: Tamio Okuda) (3:53)
5. Wild Girls on Circuit/Circuit no Musume (words & music: Tamio Okuda) (3:21)
6. Sign of Love/Ai no Shirushi - Captain Funk's Puffy de Samba Mix (words & music: Masamune Kusano) (5:38)
7. Puffy de Rumba (words: Puffy/music: Yoriko Tamura) (3:30)
8. Talalan (words: Puffy & Tamio Okuda/music: Andy Sturmer) (4:19)
9. Sunday Girls/Nichiyohbi no Musume (words & music: Tamio Okuda) (3:35)
10. Friends/Tomodachi (words: Puffy/music: Andy Sturmer) (4:35)
11. Mother (words & music: Tamio Okuda) (3:39)
12. Neholina (words & music: Tortoise Matsumoto) (4:21)
13. Brand New Days/Atarashii Hibi (words: Puffy/music: Andy Sturmer) (3:31)
14. Stray Cats Fever (words: Masoto Inami & Puffy/music: Masato Inami & Katsumasa Mototani) (4:42)
15. Puffy's Rule/Puffy no Rule (words: Tamio Okuda/music: Takashi Furuta) (4:09)
16. Jet Police/Jet Keisatsu (words & music: Tamio Okuda) (3:48)

Track 2 previously unreleased; original version on amiyumi
Tracks 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 16 from Jet CD
Tracks 7, 8, 9, 14 from Fever*Fever
Track 6 from PRMX; original version on Jet CD
Track 15 from Spike
Tracks 1, 10, 13 from Atarashii Hibi maxi-single; Track 1 also available on Spike (U.S. Version)

Notes:

• The CD also comes with a bonus Quicktime video of the Boogie-Woogie No. 5 music video.
• The front cover photo is from the photo sessions that produced the insert photo for the Aoi Namida CD single, while the back of the tray liner uses a photo from the CD booklet of The Hit Parade.
• The musical backing of "Asia no Junshin" (especially the descending guitar line) is similar to the old ELO hit "Don't Bring Me Down."
• The release of "Asia no Junshin (English Version)" on this CD marked the first time a Puffy track had seen release in America before Japan; the song would eventually be released in Japan on the Akai Buranko single nine months after this album was released.
• The instrumental middle of "Asia no Junshin (English Version)" is different than that of the original Japanese version.
• Also, unlike most Puffy songs that have English and Japanese versions, the lyrics to “Asia no Junshin (English Version)” seem to be a fairly straightforward translation of the original Japanese lyrics.
• "Ai no Shirushi (Captain Funk's Puff de Samba Mix)" contains a sample of Fatboy Slim's "Everybody Needs A Carnival."
• For some reason, the title of “Nehorina Hahrorina” was shortened to just “Neholina” on the track listing of this album.
• “Tomodachi” is similar in spots to the old Supremes hit “You Can't Hurry Love.”
• Likewise, "Atarashii Hibi" bears some similarity to the old Elvis Costello hit "Radio, Radio."
• The opening to "Jet Ketsatsu" is similar to that of the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."

Other

• Larger Image of Album Cover
• Image of CD
• An Illustrated History at Amazon.com
• An Illustrated History at Amazon.co.jp