⊿ was Perfume’s 3d album. It was released on July 8, 2009 and reached no. 1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts with  210,576 copies sold. In all this album has sold over 306,645+ copies.

Tracks:
1. Take off
2. love the world
3. Dream Fighter
4. edge (⊿-mix)
5. NIGHT FLIGHT
6. Kiss and Music
7. Zero Gravity
8. I still love U
9. The best thing
10. Speed of Sound
11. One Room Disco
12. Negai (Album-mix)

Review:
So kicking off their flight theme is the odd yet dreamy Take off. The beginning is pretty nice, space music and far out beats, but then after that it starts to go all roboty with some strange beats. There’s also a countdown too, meh.

Ok now to the already released songs: love the world, Dream Fighter and a new version of edge. love the world is pretty much their “I’m a cute idol, but I’m still doing electro-pop!” Dream Fighter is their “We can use vocoders and we’re electro/techno again!” as for edge (⊿-mix)…. “this is for all you hardcore techno fans that love really long songs!”

Ooh spacey music! NIGHT FLIGHT I believe was used in some chocolate candy CM. It fits in with their theme of flight/spacey feelings. It’s very techno with all the various beats and beep sounds, oh and electronic music too. Again the vocoder is present, but since when isn’t it? In it’s own fast paced way it’s rather catchy.

….Just skip to the next song now. Kiss and Music isn’t worth your time in any way or form. They’ve gotten rid of their pop elements in this song, and in doing so they’ve made this song dull and horrific. It’s not catchy because it’s too slow, and all the beats and music is too choppy to enjoy, yeah just skip.

In space there’s Zero Gravity!!! Haven taken physics I can tell you that that’s not entirely true, but who I am to argue with them xD. Again this song is quite spacey and characterized by spacey/electronic music with some interesting beats. The music isn’t as choppy as the previous song and they do sound pretty cute. There’s not much of a climax unfortunately, that being said this song is still nice.

Without a doubt the BEST song on the album is I still love U. The music sounds a bit edgier with the beats, distortions, and all the electronic elements. Yeah but it’s an amazing song. There’s some variety when it comes to the music, it’s not one constant sound that sounds the same. There’s a nice climax which leads to an amazing chorus. And while it’s not all that fast it sounds adorable and it’s catchy! And yeah their vocals were amazing as well.

Continuing the trend of electronic songs is The best thing. It’s something that Perfume would do that’s for sure. Besides that it’s pretty generic, not too many things change and the hook isn’t the best, or the memorability. It’s mediocre at best. Speaking of mediocre we now come to Speed of Sound. With a title like that I was hoping that the song would be fast, energetic, and infectious. I was wrong on everything. It’s mid-tempo but does contain some electronic/techno sounds, and oddly enough some Caribbean drum beats. But it’s just boring to say the least.

Ending the album on a strong note are two great songs. Their last single prior to this album One Room Disco is officially one of my favorite songs by Perfume. The hook gets me every time, they sound so cute and adorable and I want to hug them all! Yeah but it sounds great, the melody was infectious and naturally the music was orgasmic, well if you love electro pop / techno, which I do. And then we have an album version of Negai. Originally I couldn’t stand it, it was too  depressing with the sad music, that was still electronic believe it or not. This version sounds a bit more refined with the music being more piano driven. It still sounds a bit depressing but it’s also more tolerable.

Final Thoughts: What to say about this album….(0.o) It certainly is an interesting album. For the most part this album was single/released song driven. I mean the best songs are still by far those released prior to the album as singles. And honestly only maybe two or three new songs stood out. I guess NIGHT FLIGHT was pretty memorable, obviously I still love U was by far the greatest song, and then Zero Gravity. As far as the sounds goes it was nice to have some fast paced, mid-tempo, and then some slow songs, but I think some happier, faster, and just plain catchier songs would have made the album better. And maybe if there was a little more variety in the music it would have been better. Overall the album was enjoyable, and Perfume is still the greatest electro-pop group!

Rating

One Room Disco was Perfume’s 10th major single. It was released on March 25, 2009 and reached no. 1 on the Oricon Charts with 77,325 copies sold. In all this single has sold over 88,075+ copies. This is Perfume’s second no. 1 single to date as well as the third single in Perfumes new Era.

Tracks:
1. One Room Disco
2. 23:30
3. One Room Disco (Instrumental)
4. 23:30 (Instrumental)

Review:
After nearly 4 months Perfume has come back with the release of yet another no. 1 single, this one entitled One Room Disco. Sadly I’d hardly call this song a no. 1 hit. Yea the synth & techno line in the beginning was great, a little heavy but good nonetheless. The vocals sound so adorable with the vocoder and all, it’s rather sweet and cute. I loved the pre-chorus because the rhythm was insane and the vocals sounded so high pitched, not to mention the incredible light techno beats. I was just too adorable!!! As to the chorus, well it wasn’t all that impressive. It’s what you’d expect really, repetitive adorable English “Disco disco WAN Room Disco.” I have to admit that it does sound a lot better than it did before but it’s not all that great.

Since when has Perfume ever had a really good B-Side, well I think that’s never. 23:30 is their attempt at a mid-tempo ballad to some extent. There’s still a hint of the vocoder but it’s not so great. The piano and percussion replace all the fun techno elements that made most people love Perfume. At times it sounds relaxing and magical but that’s the only good thing about it. It’s really mediocre at best.

Overall Review: One Room Disco was sweet techno cuteness! No matter what they release Perfume always seems to release music that sounds so techno yet still adorable and idolish with those cutesy vocals. Although this song isn’t nearly as infectious as love the world or Dream Fighter it does have it’s own charm. I do wish that the chorus wasn’t so repetitive but as an overall song it was amazing. The B-Side was just a waste of space to put it nicely. Maybe if they would’ve made it like their previous songs it would’ve been better. It’s somewhat of a step down from the fast paced overly, infectious Dream Fighter but it’s a step in the right direction.

Final Grade

Dream Fighter was Perfume’s 13th single. It was released on November 19, 2008 and reached no. 2 on the charts with 70,873 copies sold. This was the second single in Perfume’s new Era.

Tracks:
1. Dream Fighter
2. Negai
3. Dream Fighter (Instrumental)
4. Negai (Instrumental)

Review:
Initially I had my doubts about Dream Fighter, but upon further review, I began to fall in love with this song. This song is just as irresistible as their previous single, if not more. Anyway, it features some heavier techno/synth beats and distortions than its predecessor, yet it’s a little better and devoid of some of those pop idol sounds. The vocals sound as adorable and cute as ever though, and they’re even distorted less than before. The music is still pretty dance oriented. And the chorus is extremely catchy. It’s so addictive and so incredible. I must applaud them one having some of the best melodies, and the arrangement of the chorus. The ending was great, I mean the “woh…” towards the end was the perfect ending.

Laid-back and far more mid-tempo is Negai. And honestly I have to admit that this track really doesn’t do much for me. I liked the vocals, I mean they were deeper and slower. But overall the slow beats and music wasn’t all that sensational. It’s somewhat of an opposite to the previous track, it’s not really all that up-beat either. And sadly the song was just so monotone and repetitive. Not really their finest work.

Overall Review: Dream Fighter was synth supremeness! Everything about this single screams awesome, sweet synth. Not to mention that it’s extremely catchy and amazing for the most part. The title track was such a sweet song that’s a great follow-up to love the world. The music was great, and pretty catchy. The only problem I had with this single was the b-side Negai. I mean it’s very different from Perfume’s normal works, but besides that it’s just so repetitive. Maybe if it were more up-beat it’d be better, but I just don’t like it all that much. The single overall is such a wonderful follow-up as well as an awesome single in Perfume’s new Era.

Final Grade: 94A-

love the world was Perfume’s 12th single. It was released on July2, 2008 and reached number 1 on the charts with 80,742 copies sold. It did debut at no.1 on the first day but feel to no.2 for the last 6 days but still claimed the no.1 spot, making this Perfume’s highest charting single. In all this single has sold over 104,470+ copies. And to top it all off this single made perfume the only technopop group to have a no.1 single. This is also Perfume’s first single since their no.1 album GAME, and marks a new Era.

Tracks:
1. love the world
2. edge
3. love the world -Original Instrumental-
4. edge -extended mix-

Review:
Perfume has definitely become a new sensation and has quickly gained the limelight status, and with love the world they’re sure to enjoy it. Some very cute synth beats and dance music begins this song. Then the cute and lovely Perfume begin to sing. In those cutesy vocals of theirs they manage to make the verses sound so adorable and catchy. And when they began to sing the chorus you couldn’t help but fall under the spell of their adorable voices. The chorus was very entertaining, cute, fantastic, and addictive. And I loved the little English line at the end, “love love the world” and the way they said it was so cute!

Where as love the world was cute and adorable, edge is definitely one of those darker more typical techno songs. It begins almost on a creepy tone, with breathing sounds, but then it changes into a heavy techno tone. With about a forty second intro the girls then to sing, or just say a few things. Either way it’s very repetitive for the most part. The chorus was distinctive but it took forever to get to it. It did sound good though, even though at the beginning it was hard to hear the vocals. The lasts two minutes of the song was probably one of the more enjoyable parts of the song. They were singing and so well too, and the loud music didn’t ruin it either. This song was just way too long for me, but others might appreciate it more.

If you’re a real hardcore dance or techno fan, or just wanted to hear a longer version of edge you’ll love edge -extended mix-. This version is long lasting over eight minutes. It’s perfect if you like long dance music, but it’s not for me. The only major differences between this and the original version is the long intro and just long music altogether.

Overall Review: love the world was such a cutesy single, with a slightly darker side. I have fell in love with Perfume again as I listened to this song. I just found their vocals so attractive again! I loved how the sang it and how catchy they made it sound! As for edge, it was tolerable, I’ve heard better but it wasn’t that bad. I was just really infatuated by Perfume and this amazing single. And I loved the cover, reminded me of speak no evil, see no evil, and hear no evil! What an extremely addictive way to begin the new Era.

Final Grade: 97A

GAME was Perfume’s 1st studio album, even though it’s really their second album as the first was released as a compilation, or best of, album. It was released on April 16, 2008 and reached number 1 on the charts with 154,304 copies sold. This album is their very first number 1 on the charts, including albums and singles. In all this album has sold over 349,052+ copies. There are a grand total of seven new tracks on the album, five of which were released as singles.

Tracks:
1. Polyrhythm
2. plastic smile
3. GAME
4. Baby cruising Love
5. Chocolate Disco
6. Macaroni
7. Ceramic Girl
8. Take me Take me
9. Secret Secret
10. Butterfly
11. Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow
12. Puppy love

Review:
Polyrhythm, did someone say many rhythms? This song was released as the second single of the GAME Era. Like many of the songs during this period of their music, there’s a great deal of techno music. And it’s quite pleasant. I especially love the voice distortions in this song, it makes it memorable in a way or two. The fast music beats even sound good, gotta love those instrumentals and those fantastic vocals. The chorus is a bit repetitive but it sounds so good, and it’s so catchy. A great and surprising way to begin the album. Here is the full review of Polyrhythm.

plastic smile, the first new track. Immediately after you press play you can hear the distorted vocals sing in some of the cutest voices ever. The little electronic beats sound so cute, and almost baby like because of the simplicity. The music is somewhat fast, and the vocals are actually great. The one problem is that sometimes during the song you can’t hear the vocals as well, because of the loud techno music. It’s hard to tell where the chorus is in the song, but you can find it. Again it’s very repetitive but it’s so addictive and that’s what makes it so good. A great new track for the album.

GAME, the title that gives its name to the album. Heavy, and I mean heavy techno/electronic beats open up this song. The beats seem almost aggressive, which isn’t bad necessarily. Perfume doesn’t begin to sing until the 42 sec mark, and when they do it’s almost unheard. With the music playing and thumping it’s somewhat hard to hear them, and that’s a bit issue for me. But the parts I can hear are fantastic for the most part. And I like the chorus where they sing “Play the GAME” it’s very repetitive and yet it’s so catchy and addicting. I do like this song, but it’s not what I was expecting, still great though.

Baby cruising Love, winter happiness. This song was released as the last single of the GAME Era, along with Macaroni. Instead of a long instrumental to open up the song, the vocals begin immediately. Afterwards that great up-beat winter electronic music begins to play. The chorus here was pretty catchy, especially the distorted English vocals. The verses were a little bland, but it’s almost expected, what’s really important is the chorus. Still I almost wish this song was just a little better, oh well, still not bad.

Chocolate Disco, electronica paradise. This song, along with another, began the GAME Era. At this time there music was getting more accepted and their popularity was rising. It didn’t do that great on the charts but don’t let that stop you from listening to this little piece of heaven. The words “Chocolate Disco” open up the song and from there that infamous techno music plays. The chorus was fairly catchy, but the vocals were the best, and they sounded to CUTE! Almost stereotypical of Japanese girls, that speak only Japanese, singing English, no offense to anyone. Cute, pop, and sugary! For the full review of Chocolate Disco, click here.

Macaroni, the other winter track. Now despite this being released with Baby cruising Love, I really didn’t like it that much. It seemed so laid back, which isn’t a problem in most cases, but here is just didn’t fit. I did like the vocals, but with the music they just didn’t go together, at all. This is one of my least favorite tracks on the album, I’ll leave it at that.

Ceramic Girl, a pop & techno fusion. The song begins with “Celamic Girl” and it sounds pretty good. Their vocals are quite fast, I guess it’s so that they can keep up with the music, which is also pretty fast. The verses seem a little bland and dull but it’s to be expected. The chorus is the best part in the song. It moves fast, and distorted vocals sound fantastic, and most importantly it’s so catchy, especially with that “Celamic Girl” and remember that r’s can be pronounced like l’s so that’s what they’re singing. I found the song overall to be very catchy and so addictive.

Take me Take me, slow techno. Music that’s very similar to Baby cruising Love opens up this song. Then some beeps start and from there it takes a different turn. The first vocals don’t actually begin to till about the minute point, and from there it’s English and Japanese. Here the distorted vocals don’t sound as cute as some of the songs, and therefore it’s almost generic. Now don’t get me wrong it’s very different but at some points it’s just so ordinary. I do like how they drag out “Tonight” it’s very good on their parts. The verses were so-so, a bit mediocre. But sadly the chorus wasn’t that much better either. It sounded all right but that was about it, it wasn’t breathtaking or WOW, just ok. You’re better off listening to the next track.

Secret Secret, sweet and sugary with techno pop. La la opens up this song, followed by some maracas and then some, then a quite second then it repeats. At about the 28 sec point the music changes into more techno pop, very similar to Ceramic Girl. The verses seem to go by so quickly, and they’re even catchy to an extent. The chorus is the best part of the song as many might have expected. Again those lovely distorted vocals sound so cherry and so happy, you can’t help but love them. This has to be the best new song on the album, it’s about as good as some of the singles that they’ve released.

Butterfly, mystical dance electronica. Besides being the longest song on the album it’s very mystical in a way, in a modernistic way. The sounds of a forest, birds chirping and all, open up the song, followed by some techno beats and that mystical modern music. You can also hear “Butterfly” during all of this music until 50 sec of so and then the real vocals get started, which is a little over a minute long. Again the vocals are distorted a bit, but that’s not so bad. The one major problem is when you can’t hear them that well as the music is a little too loud. And the fact that it was hard to tell the chorus from the verses. But they sounded pretty good, and as a result I actually liked this song.

Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow, cute up-beatness! This song was released along with Chocolate Disco as the first single in the Era. Some very up-beat, thumping techno/dance music opens up the song, followed by those ever so cute distorted vocals. The verses are all right but it’s the chorus yet again that’s so memorable. It uses a good amount of English, mostly the title words, and then the rest are Japanese. It’s pretty catchy in a way, but it’s just so up-beat and it sounds pretty happy. Click here for the full review of Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow.

Puppy love, slow techno with acoustic flare. This final track features some acoustics, almost unheard of from a techno/electronica group. The full vocals don’t begin until after the 28 sec point, and from there it gets a little boring. Well, it was initially boring but it kept getting better as the song progressed. The vocals started to sound better and the music kept playing faster and faster. The chorus was surprisingly good and the verses weren’t that terrible either. A nice way to end their first studio album.

Overall Review:GAME was a techno utopia with some impressive and spectacular songs. I loved how there was a general overall theme to the music, something rare in most pop groups these days. I was blown away by a lot of the new tracks and I loved the tracks from the singles. The album was just really enjoyable, a treat for the ears. A memorable and superb first studio album.

Final Grade: 97A

Baby cruising Love / Macaroni was Perfume’s 11th single. It was released on January 16, 2008 and reached number 3 on the charts with 34,550 copies sold. In all this single has sold over 63,377+ copies, making it their best selling and highest chart-topping single to date. And it is their first double A-Side single. But, mostly, this is their last single in the GAME Era.

Tracks:
1. Baby cruising Love
2. Macaroni
3. Baby cruising Love (Instrumental)
4. Macaroni (Instrumental)

Review:
Baby cruising Love, the fast winter electronica. Those cute sounding distorted voices open up the song followed by the keyboard, and that so so good techno music. The beats here are yet again so catchy, and the vocals here sound great. And it seems like a first, but I can actually hear their voices without a distortion, I think, but anyway it sounds great. The chorus here is very catchy, especially with the distortions and how they say “Baby cruising Love.” It sounds even better when they drag it out a little after the half way point in the song. Again we have another wonderful song.

Macaroni, the slow easy tune. This song moves slowly compared to their previous song but it’s a refreshing change for once. Some drums along with some other instrumentals open up the song, and about 25 seconds later you can here some vocals. But, change only happens so often, and thus their voices are still distorted. The chorus here moves slowly, but it’s still catchy, I blame it on the vocals. It’s definitely the weaker of the A-Sides, but it’s still good.

Overall Review: Baby cruising Love / Macaroni was a winter wonderland, with some techno fun. The title tracks were great and I just loved how they were different, and yet they still made a great single. The first A-Side was better, and more Perfume, especially with all the fast paced music and distortions. The second track wasn’t as good but it’s still a worthy song from Perfume. An astonishing way to end the GAME Era.

Final Grade: 94A-

Polyrhythm was Perfume’s 10th single. It was released on Septermber 12, 2007 and reached number 7 on the charts with 17,492 copies sold. In all this single has sold over 61,501+ copies. This was also Perfume’s first top 10 charting single. The title track was used as the NHK Kankyou Recycle Campaign song. This single was released in CD and CD+DVD edition. This is also the second single in the GAME Era.

Tracks:
1. Polyrhythm
2. SEVENTH HEAVEN
3. Polyrhythm -extra short edit-
4. Polyrhythm ~Original Instrumental~
5. SEVENTH HEAVEN ~Original Instrumental~

Review:
Polyrhythm, many rhythms? Now just don’t think that the description means this song has many rhythms. I used those words because the that’s what the title would mean, assuming I know my Latin, it’s literally Many Rhythms. Anyway, with that being said, let’s get to the review. Again that heavy techno music opens up along with Perfume’s distorted vocals, followed by some addictive beats. At the 30 sec mark they begin the chorus and it sounds so magnificent. It’s so up-beat and so so infectious, I just loved the vocals and the overall mood. In this song they just sound so happy, and the music makes it even better. That up-beat techno music really makes the song. I loved the verses here, even though at some points it was hard to distinguish between it and the chorus. Another great song for Perfume

SEVENTH HEAVEN, the lonesome B-Side. This song, to date, is only featured on this single and not their newest album. A beautiful piano solo opens up the song, followed by those infamous distorted voices. Shortly the piano is joined by that familiar dance/techno music. Then the piano ceases to play and that techno music takes over, and Perfume can be heard singing just a little. The first verse then begins, it’s very cute sounding and with the beats it sounds so laid-back. And then the chorus comes again. And I really love the vocals, especially during the high notes, I guess it’s that distortion that makes it sound so good. The way they pronounce Seventh Heave sounds so great, the best part of the song. Too bad it wasn’t added to the album.

Polyrhythm -extra short edit-, it’s all in the name. This version is just a shortened version of Polyrhythm. Nothing has changed as far as the vocals go, it’s just the length of the music. I must say that I like this version a little bit better than the original, it’s shorted and more compact than the original. Not a bad mix, or edit I guess.

Overall Review: Polyrhythm was many things. Mostly dance and techno all rolled into one compact single. I loved the vocals and the distortions, although it does make it hard to judge them on vocal talent, but we can assume they’re great singers. The whole feel of the single was fantastic and so outstanding. It’s really an easy listen. Pure dance and club fun, rolled into one (I’m so good a rhyming)!

Final Grade: 95A