Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

Hime Trance 4
Release Date: 1/27/10
Price: 1886 yen

Album of the year.

EMI have gone back to the classic Hime Trance formula by starting the album off with a Pachislot song. In the past they’ve licensed songs exclusively from Daito Giken, but this time the lead track will be “Yume no Tochuu” from Sammy’s Densetsu no Miko. The bonus track, “Elicion,” also happens to be from a Pachislot game, SNK’s Sky Love.

Judging by the poll results, Delaction are clearly popular with you guys, so you should be happy to know that they’ll be contributing at least four songs to the CD. They’ve collaborated once again with Chika for two new, original songs (“Cinderella” and “Without You”). Meanwhile, the queen of Hime Trance, Tsukasa, returns with two brand new songs remixed by Delaction. The early list already mentioned “Shuuketsu no Sono e,” but it looks like EMI have replaced “Eternal Blaze” with a new Anime cover, “Shin Ai.”

The other queen of Hime Trance, Misa, returns to the Hime Trance fold with “Boy” from her debut album. I’m quite curious as to why it’s simply listed as “Hime Mix,” however. I’m worried that they’ll just include the album version instead of properly remixing it.

Kei is back with a new song as well as an old one. “Somebody’s Voice” looks to be the first original Kei song in quite a while, which has me beyond excited. “Get Wild,” however, is an Anime cover that was originally made in 2007. It is a fantastic cover, though, and not at all overplayed, so I’m pleased with the choice.

Other Hime Trance mainstays will also be making appearances. Mint will be contributing a cover of Roll Days’ “Sukidayo Zutto Sukideshita” while Aya/ari gets an original song. I suspect ari will also show up on Gavin’s (!!!) song, “Koishi Chatte de A~ru!” which is being billed as the Hime Trance 4 theme. 4 Skips returns sans Floorbreaker for the awesomely titled “Hard Rock & Pinky Black (Like a Fire).”

Bubblegum fans should be satiated by an OHC remix of “Barbie Girl” and a Dank-One remix of “I Should Be So Lucky.” Smile.dk also represent with “Coconut,” which has been generically labeled as a “Hime Remix.” Unfortunately, Crispy won’t be appearing after all. 🙁

The rest of the album is composed of licenses from other labels. The Avex licenses are rather ho-hum — I hate that particular remix of “Santa Maria” — but the Sony licenses are looking good. The DJ Kaya remix of “Sweet Song” is phenomenal, and it looks like the Lil’B remix has never before been released. There’s also a license from Quake, a cover of the Hatsune Miku song “Miku Miku ni Shite Ageru.” The cover was released on a single in 2008, but here it’s listed as a “Hime Mix.” Finally, there’s “Stay” from Wendy Phillips. Yeah, I know.

Really, the only missteps are “Santa Maria” (which I don’t like at all) and “Stay” (which is awesome but overplayed). Other than those, this is already shaping up to be another excellent entry in the Hime Trance series.

01. Yume no Tochuu / Densetsu no Miko Soundtrack
02. Shuuketsu no Sono e (Delaction Remix) / Tsukasa
03. Barbie Girl (Overhead Champion Remix) / Savannah
04. Sweet Song (DJ Kaya Remix) / Lady Bird feat. Wei Son
05. Somebody’s Voice / Kei
06. Cinderella / Delaction feat. Chika
07. I Should Be So Lucky (Dank-One “Decade” Remix) / A.Kay-B.J.
08. Boy (Hime Remix) / Misa
09. Miku Miku ni Shite Ageru [Shiteyanyo] (Hime Mix) / Miu Hatsune
10. Coconut (Hime Remix) / Smile.dk
11. Get Wild / Kei
12. Koishi Chatta de A~ru! / Gavin Ouji to Hime Tra 4 no Theme
13. Sukidayo Zutto Sukideshita (Hime Version) / mint
14. Santa Maria (DJ Ten Remix) / Tatjana
15. Hard Rock & Pinky Black (Like a Fire) / 4 Skips
16. Shin Ai (Delaction Remix) / Tsukasa
17. Without You / Delaction feat. Chika
18. Stay (Airscape Mix) / Wendy Phillips
19. Eternity / Overhead Champion
20. Try Again ~My Graduation~ / ari-Aya
21. Kimi ni Utatta Love Song (Heavens Wire Rmx) / Lil’B
Bonus Track
22. Love Big “Elicion” / Sky Love II Soundtrack

Pre-order at CDJapan.