author: Kay

DRAMA -11 STORIES- is MUNEHIRO's first album, released in April 2005, about a year after she made her debut under the name KANAKO on the hip-hop artist BRIER's album. The album has a total of fourteen tracks, but seeing as three of them are short introductions or interludes, it comes down to eleven songs, hence the '11 stories' addition to the album title. The album is almost entirely produced by MUNEHIRO herself and she has also composed the majority of the tracks.

The album starts with an intro, called Kaisen which translates to 'curtain rising', an appropriate title to open the album with. It's a short song, with synthesized instruments humming into the background and MUNEHIRO talking in English, ending with "enjoy the show".

The show really starts with the first song, Utage, which is one of the more outstanding songs of the album. The title means 'party', and that's exactly what it's like. The sound marches from one's speakers, resolute to have fun and create a party. The dancehall rhythm is strong and stomping, fuelled by MUNEHIRO's confident vocals, and is therefore excellent to dance to; it's hard to sit still while listening to it.

The next song ONE SOUL, is much calmer and moderately paced which is why, after the upbeat Utage, it may sound less interesting than it really is. Still, it's a very groovy track, with a catchy rhythm though the long stretched phrase 'One Soul' in the chorus gets a little bit repetitive.

HAN-KUN, one of the MC's from Shounannokaze collaborates with her on the next track, Survivor (which has nothing to do with the Destiny's Child song of the same name). The song has a groovy soca rhythm and the vocal parts are alternated between HAN-KUN rapping and MUNEHIRO singing, working together quite nicely. Hana starts rather unexpectedly with the sound of a koto, and at first it seems a strange combination to have a traditional Japanese instrumental mix with this kind of sound, but MUNEHIRO manages to make it work quite nicely. The koto continues to play throughout the song, following the melody lines and the staccato sounds of the instrument give the beat an extra flavour.

An interlude follows then: Jouen Naka, 'during the performance' which leads to Mi Pasion which is another collaboration, this time with EL NANDO from Los Kalibres. Though EL NANDO is not from Spain but from Peru, it seems he's responsible of the Mediterranean rhythm and feeling of the song, created by an acoustic guitar and percussion. Some more Spanish influences are added with his raps, which are naturally in Spanish.

Taste Me is a sleek R&B song, lazy and sultry, and something that MUNEHIRO's voice is perfect for. Ballad has the same feeling, and is just like the title predicts, a slow R&B ballad. ROCK ME is also somewhat alike those, though more upbeat. Though there are no flaws to spot in the songs and they're quite suitable to feature on a soundtrack for making love on a hot summer night, they just don't seem to grab one's attention so much as the other tracks. Perhaps it's mostly a matter of taste, so those that have an affinity for R&B will likely appreciate these tracks.

I wanna B loved by U is a cover of the song by the same name (but spelt properly), which is best known for its performance by Marilyn Monroe. Barely reaching two minutes in length, and not much different than the original, it seems a little out of place. The next track is another highlight of the album, the song DAY DREAMER, featuring the female singer/songwriter and producer MINMI. Taking a look at the popularity of MINMI, it was definitely been a good idea to ask her for a collaboration. The song itself is a merry sounding reggae song and listening to MINMI cover most of the higher pitched parts and MUNEHIRO the lower ones, the vocal work is divided nicely.

The last actual song is Ocean, also an outstanding song, to say the least. It's in a totally different style of any other song of the album, and has a wonderful dreamy atmosphere to it. It's easy to imagine the feeling of floating on water while listening to this track. The instruments are quick, small sounds together with acoustic percussion such as bongos, and occasionally an acoustic guitar and a piano join in. Without MUNEHIRO's vocals, the music might sound a bit chaotic, but her voice keeps everything together, leading the song onwards.

Appropriately, the album ends with the tune Shuuen, which simply means 'end of a performance'.

No one had been really sure what to expect from the album when it first came out and MUNEHIRO managed to surprise and amaze a lot of people. The album doesn’t only showcase her characteristic voice, but also shows her talent for song writing. The only downside of the album is the R&B songs that don't really seem to suit her, but looking at her later releases, we find that she must've shared the same thoughts seeing as she hasn't ventured much into the R&B genre since.