solosolo

as Ami Onuki & Yumi Yoshimura
Solo Album / Stereo

Epic ESCB 1827/8
ESYB 7141/2 (Mini-Disc)

Released August 6, 1997 (CD)
August 21, 1997 (Mini-Disc)

Highest Chart Ranking: #2
Weeks on Chart: 10

Instead of following up amiyumi with a full-length "Puffy" album, the decision was made instead to present Yumi and Ami's solo work (remember, when both of them auditioned for Sony it was as solo performers; the two of them had never met before being paired together by Sony execs) on a single release, credited to their individual names (instead of "Puffy" - though note that the album's cover is nearly identical to that of amiyumi, except in color).

Ami, working mostly with American rock band Velvet Crush (in addition to Puffy comrades Okuda Tamio and Andy Sturmer on one song apiece) mostly sticks close to an upbeat, slightly retro-sounding pop/rock style on her songs ("Onnanoko Otokonoko", "Love Depth", "That's Sweet Smile", "Be Someone Tonight", "Tadaima"). The exceptions to this are the slower, slightly exotic-sounding "Honey" (her single from the album), and the hard-rocking "Snacks".

Yumi's work, meanwhile, also generally sticks with a upbeat pop rock sound ("Tsuyoki no Hutari", "Sorenaire", "Ai no Aura", "Watashi no Nozomi"), but is slightly more diverse. In addition to the aforementioned songs, there's some driving hard rock ("Tennon no Bi"), a piano ballad ("Hanabi"), and ultra-happy, peppy pop (the single "V·A·C·A·T·I·O·N", written by Pizzicato Five founding member Yasuharu Konishi).

If you're looking for this disc, eBay may be your only hope - almost all of Puffy's early discs are now out of print.

Track Listing

Disc One - Ami Onuki
Produced by Tamio Okuda (M-1)
Velvet Crush & John Lupfer (M-2, 4, 5)
Andy Sturmer (M-3)
Frank Simes (M-6)
Yoshiharu Abe (M-7)

1. Onnanoko Otokonoko (words: Tamio Okuda/music: Andy Sturmer) (3:58)
2. Love Depth (Japanese translation: Ami Onuki/words & music: Paul Chastain, Ric Menck, Jeffrey Underhill & Peter Phillips) (4:10)
3. Honey (words: Ami Onuki/music: Andy Sturmer) (2:46)
4. That's Sweet Smile (words: Ami Onuki/music: Stephen Duffy) (4:27)
5. Be Someone Tonight (words & music: Paul Chastain, Ric Menck & Jeffrey Underhill) (3:20)
6. Snacks (words: Ami Onuki/music: Frank Simes) (3:35)
7. Tadaima (words: Yoshiharu Abe/music: Paul Bevoir) (3:16)

Disc Two - Yumi Yoshimura
All Tracks Produced by Tetsutaro Sakurai

1. Tennon no Bi (words: Kenzo Sakei/music: Tetsutaro Sakurai) (3:26)
2. Tsuyoki no Hutari (words: Kenzo Sakei/music: Tetsutaro Sakurai) (4:18)
3. Hanabi (words: Kenzo Sakei/music: Tetsutaro Sakurai) (4:29)
4. V·A·C·A·T·I·O·N (words, music & arrangement: Yasuharu Konishi) (3:30)
5. Sorenarie (words & music: Momoko Suzuki) (4:23)
6. Ai no Aura (words & music: Yohichi Kuramochi) (3:24)
7. Watashi no Nozomi (words & music: Shoko Suzuki) (3:13)

Notes:

• The album comes with two different booklets - one for Ami's disc, and one for Yumi's disc.
• The music videos for "Honey" and "V·A·C·A·T·I·O·N" are on Jet DVD.
• The only track (so far) to have been released from this album in the U.S. is "V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N.", which saw release on the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi soundtrack.

Other

• Larger Image of Album Cover
• Back of Ami's Booklet
• Back of Yumi's Booklet
• Image of Ami's CD / First Press Version
• Image of Yumi's CD / First Press Version