Selfish
The 5 Years of Maeda Atsuko

Date：15, Sep, 2017
Investigated and Written by Kishimoto Kazuya
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Have you ever heard the name Maeda Atsuko? She is an ex-AKB48 woman who retired from the idol group in 2012. While Maeda Atsuko belonged to AKB48, she was one of the greatest draws at the group lining up with Oshima Yuko and Sashihara Rino.

In 2016 early summer, she released her first studio album "Selfish." In fact, she made her debut as a solo female singer in 2011, and had kept on singing constantly. The debut single is, by the way, "Flower" lying at the 11th of the album.

To tell the truth, I hadn't listened to any of her solo songs until I happened to meet this album. Now, I feel "Selfish" correctly includes her 5 years, 2011-2016, without any extra elements.

In other words, you can hear Maeda Atsuko's growth in the 5 years with the songs. The more she grew up, the better her vocal became.

In "Flower," a tiny ballad song which cut the tape of her career, she sings weakly. On the other hand, she sings with some gimmicks in "Selfish," her brand-new song.

Totally, there are a lot of ballad songs, which might make you feel kind of sleepy. It's said the producer Akimoto Yasushi prepared a lot intentionally because Maeda was fond of ballad ones.

I believe Maeda Atsuko sounds better in uptempo songs like "タイムマシンなんていらない." Next time, I'd truly like to hear her sing upper songs with a band.

・Atsuko Maeda Official Website (Japanese)