How to use SEXY was Maki Goto’s 4th album. It was released in September 19, 2007 an reached number 18 on the charts with 11,727 copies sold. In all this album has sold over 14,996+ copies, making it her lowest selling studio album to date. It was released in a CD only edition, and a limited edition CD+DVD edition that featured new PVs. The album included the singles Glass no Pumps, SOME BOYS! TOUCH, and Secret.

Tracks:
1. How to use Loneliness
2. GIVE ME LOVE
3. SOME BOYS! TOUCH
4. City Wind
5. Nee Samishikute
6. Glass no Pumps
7. DAYBREAK
8. WOW Suteki!
9. Secret
10. LIFE

Review:
The album definitely gets off to a strong start with How to use Loneliness! Now the music does remind me a little of Namie Amuro’s WANT ME WANT ME, but it’s so much better and has so much originality. Now it does remind me a bit of SOME BOYS! TOUCH, but only to a certain degree, otherwise this song is such a powerhouse of synth and infectious beats. The opening is a fusion of that seemingly Indian-like music, along with some infectious synth. The vocals are quite different from her previous songs, a lot lower, yet more sultry. And all the echoing didn’t hurt. Anyway, the beats keep you interested and with that the verses even sound good. What’s better though is the chorus. I loved the ad-libbing in between and the music, so aggressive; and for once it was so addictive. The bridge was fantastic too, a mixture of Indian-like music and some of that awesome piano chords, a lethal combination. If this wasn’t the best album opener I don’t know what is. One thing I know is that she might be able to use loneliness, but looks like she won’t need to.

Well if you love synth, there’s a good change you’ll love GIVE ME LOVE. And to be honest with you, when I first heard the piano opening for a second I though it’d be almost like Dancing Queen, but afterwards it transformed into a thumping synth tune. The beats had an ethnic vibe to it, African I want to say. Anyway I started to get tired of the song within the first minute, but I listened a little longer and it began to grow on me, especially when the piano and other instrumentals entered. And after a while the infectious synth beats begin to sound really good. Not a bad follow up.

And just when things can’t get any better, or naughtier in this case, SOME BOYS! TOUCH appears. It was by far the naughtiest sounding song from any of her singles, and trickiest too. It’s not half as bad as it sounds, that being said, it’s still amazing. Maki’s vocals are sexy and they seem to complement the heavy synth beats. The song features some great heavy snyth beats along with an fantastic strings section, namely the chorus. And initially the song sounds sinful with the heavy dark dance-like music, the chorus is actually more pop than anything, very nice arrangements. Undeniably the best song from her singles. Just listening to this song makes me feel guilty.

Time for the laid-back City Wind. Honestly from the thumping beats I almost though I was listening to Say It Right. But thankfully I wasn’t in this case. Afterwards the beats were joined by a piano, giving it a little more distinction. And truthfully it gave it a little club feel, like back in the old days, like 30’s or so. And for some reason I can’t help but imagine a lounge singer when I hear this. The occasional synth before and during the chorus was great, and despite it being mid-tempo, the song was rather catchy. I think the instrumentals were the real treat though rather than Maki’s vocals. But all and all, this song was really good.

From the start of Nee Samishikute with the acoustic guitar, later followed by some odd synth features, I knew that it’ be somewhat of a pop song. The one thing I liked about it was the fact that it moved rather quickly, didn’t mope around. Vocals were not a big issue either, very good at a few points. The pianos playing didn’t hurt either, and the background instrumentals really made the song pop out at you. The climax was rather relaxing, and had somewhat of a classical feel to it. But the chorus was so excellent. Towards the end of it it was good, well the vocals really stuck out at me, but it was really good.

One of the most pop oriented tracks on the album is up now, Glass no Pumps. Originally released as the first single and beginning the How to Use SEXY Era. It’s very cutesy, bubblegum like pop, that being said it’s not all that terrible. Turns out that the song is rather enjoyable. The synth beats in between the chorus are surprisingly catchy. Overall the song is pretty fun to listen to in general, very hard to resist it’s cute sound.

Another experiment of Maki’s is the song DAYBREAK. It’s very jazz inspired, nice percussion and brass instrumentals, and the snaps are nice. Despite the jazz music, her vocals were amazing, not weak at all. I was actually shocked to hear just how good she sounded in this song. That and the fact that the song wasn’t so slow paced. It made for an interesting yet wonderful combination.

While Glass no Pumps was very happy pop, WOW Suteki! is mostly pop with a lot of synth riffs. And although the music does get annoying from time to time, the vocals are good at least. Even though it sounded like that stereotypical flying saucer sometimes. Either way the song was just odd. That being said it did feature a rather catchy and wonderful chorus. I guess the instrumentals aren’t all that bad.

After all that pop, it’s time for some beautiful ballads, the first one up is a fusion of ballad and pop entitled Secret. Now it’s mostly a ballad but it does exhibit some pop qualities. The instrumentals with the bells, piano, and strings were so awing, just what a ballad needs. But what I loved even more than that were the vocals, they sounded so personal, so intimate, and so sincere. I really hope that she’ll continue to release more songs like this, especially if it’s this good.

Ending this song on such a beautiful and serene tone is LIFE. The orchestra in the beginning really made the song sound so beautiful and so heavenly, which is a nice change from her previous songs. The vocals were also so lovely too, lots of emotion in theme rather than just singing. And the instrumentals were so magnificent, namely the orchestra. The verses weren’t boring at all, they were actually very beautiful, and they moved along so smoothly. Now despite the song not being all that catchy, it makes up for it in the sound department. Again it’s one of the best ballads from Maki that I’ve heard. But I wasn’t fond of the ending, I think it just needs to end a little earlier, or extend the track. Either way, it’s was the perfect ending to an impressive album.

Overall Review: How to Use SEXY was sultry perfection. You’d have to be crazy if you can’t see that Maki Goto knows How to Use SEXY! The arrangement of the album was perfect. From the infectious, addictive opening track to the solemn closing ballad, this album had it all. For the first album that I’ve heard from Maki I must say that I was impressed. The opening track was phenomenal and so so sexy! And from there the album got better, to where it ended on a very good note. And I was impressed that most of the songs featured so much synth, to give it a central, more unified theme. As for the ballads, well they were phenomenal as well. The scans were so SEXY too, man she looked hot too! Anyway after this album, I can’t wait to hear her new material. It’s pretty evident that Maki Goto can use SEXY! So what have you learned?

Final Grade: 100A+

Glass no Pumps was Maki Goto’s 15th single. It was released on June 7, 2006 and reached number 7 on the charts with 22,180 copies sold. In all this single has sold over 27,907+ copies. This was the first single in her new How to Use SEXY Era, as well as the one of the last singles under her previous label.

Tracks:
1. Glass no Pumps
2. LOVE Kan Coffee
3. Glass no Pumps (Instrumental)

Review:
I remember seeing a review by Lex of this song so i decided to give it a listen, but it wasn’t really until news of her becoming an AVEX artist that I really became interested. To my surprise I wasn’t disappointed by Glass no Pumps. The song has that distinct pop sound to it, and with the cute vocals with the up-beat music you really feel the pop. I loved how was singing in the beginning and how catchy it was. The verses really didn’t need any work, and the chorus was so fun! Besides the cool instrumentals the vocals were off the charts. Considering this is the first song I’ve heard from her I must admit that she’s a great singer.

For some reason when I see the title I think Starbucks, then again LOVE Kan Coffee mentions coffee. Anyway the song begins with some keyboard/synth music followed by some blaring R&B beats, either that or some percussion or brass. I wasn’t too thrilled with the verses but they sounded interesting, not too boring and bad. The chorus was very interesting. I was somewhat catchy, but I just couldn’t get into it. With all the instrumentals it became a little confusing. But the bridge was great, especially with all the synth! It might take some time before this song grows on me.

Overall Review: Glass no Pumps was a strikingly strong single. I’m usually skeptical to hear songs from singers that come from groups ex Morning Musume; but Maki can sing like there’s no tomorrow. I’m really glad to hear Maki, she’s really talented and with AVEX she’ll go places. I don’t think her B-Side was that great, but the title track was pure excellence. An impressive and fashionable way to begin the How to Use SEXY Era.

Final Grade: 97A

I’m sure this is now general information now but I just recently found out that 3rd generation Morning Musume Maki Goto has now been signed to rhythm zone, a sub-label of AVEX, the same as Koda Kumi. Could this possibly be the rebirth of her popularity, or another long line of faulty sales? Anyway this is pretty interesting because after her few singles, and latest album, it seems that she’s got that Kumi-esque vibe going with sexiness and all. And I must admit that with those photos on her site she definitely knows How to use SEXY.

It’ll be pretty interesting to see what happens as most AVEX artists usually release three to four singles a year, with veteran Ayumi Hamasaki being the exception. But what will happen with this former cutesy pop idol? From her new site at rhythm zone, it appears that she no longer has that cute pop idol image, but rather a more sexy , adult image, almost similar to Kumi. However, only time will tell, but for a little start, I’ll be reviewing Maki Goto’s singles from the How to use SEXY Era, so get ready.