MAX, one of Japan's finest female quartets.

One day a few years ago while walking through a shopping mall I was struck by a very familiar intro to a song that I thought I knew very well....as it turned out there was a talent contest being held by a local school in the mall's center stage area and I remember thinking Wow! they're going to dance to a song by MAX!! However when the vocals began I must have had the most puzzled look on my face because while the music was definitely MAX's single "Bara iro no hibi" ("Rose colored days"), the vocals were by a male group that I didn't recognize at the time. A few weeks had passed with this thought stuck in the back of my mind before I had a chance to ask a friend if they knew if MAX's single "Bara iro no hibi" was a cover song by a male group and luckily they knew the answer as it had been really bugging me! It turns out that this song is indeed a cover of an N'sync song (edit: thank you Tiggerkun for correcting me! :) It's a Backstreet Boys song! I actually like them better than N'sync. Sorry that I got them mixed up :P )....ah I can't remember their title at the moment (edit: Again thank you Tiggerkun. The song title is "Larger Than Life." :) ) but in my sad defense I've never been a fan of their music. :P "Bara iro no hibi" is available to listen to a bit later in this post and I'm sure someone will know the name of that N'sync song! (edit: Backstreet Boys song! :P)

A bit more on the origin of MAX can be found in a post from about 3 weeks ago which covered Amuro Namie as they were originally known as the Super Monkeys. While their role had become that of back-up dancers to Amuro Namie and with their popularity growing, the departure from Amurochan was a very natural transition as they seemed to have outgrown their role and needed an outlet to showcase their vocal talents as well. Amuro Namie's single "Stop the music" which was released on July 24th, 1995 would be the last which included the Super Monkeys and as if testing the waters, 2 months prior the Super Monkeys now known as MAX had released their debut single "Koi suru Velfarre Dance~saturday night~." Widespread success wouldn't arrive until their 3rd single titled "Tora Tora Tora" was released and from here the group really came into their own with blossoming personalities and a distinct vocal sound that would remain through the years to come despite the changes in musical styles which were a reflection of the changing times. "Tora Tora Tora" was released amidst the techno craze which was sweeping Japan at the time and it really held a similarity to Amurochan's parallel releases but it wouldn't take long for MAX to find their own sound musically and despite their genre being described as dance/pop/R&B there is a definite distinctness to their style and even more so in their highly recognizable vocals. While MAX's quartet of members all sing, it must be pointed out that Mina & Reina are regarded as their lead vocalists as they hold the dominate solo and key vocal lines in all of their early works. However this would all change in 2002 when Mina departed the group and even with the addition of a new member their release activity has remained scarce since. I'm a fan of MAX's earlier works and my collection includes their first 20 singles and first 5 albums. As a symbol of their close ties to Amuro Namie, all of the members in MAX are also from Okinawa including the newest member who joined after Mina's departure.

The original members of MAX are: Making a good first impression is important and I hope that choosing to list my favorite MAX song of all time, "mum", first is a good idea! Whether or not you choose to listen to any of the other MAX songs that I've linked below please listen to this one as it's such a beautiful song. "mum" was released as an album only track on MAX's "Emotional History" compilation Cd.

Click here to listen to "mum."

"Isshou ni..." is a great Christmas song which is subtle in its approach as it may not sound like a Christmas song right away. Another beautiful song and I hope you listen to this one too!

Click here to listen to "Isshou ni..."

And here's the N'sync song (edit: Backstreet Boys' song; haha I'm so goooooofy!!) that I mentioned earlier. Hmmm...anyone know its original title? Even though I'm not an N'sync fan (edit: Backstreet Boys; but I actually like some of their music! Still not a fan of N'sync though) by any means this song is soooooo catchy!! But I'd rather listen to MAX singing it!! :P

Click here to listen to "Bara iro no hibi"

And lastly here's a taste of Japanese techno! MAX's 3rd single, the one that started their success! :) Besides it being a techno song you'll really notice a large difference in other aspects regarding their approach and production as this one goes back a lot further than the previous 3 songs that I've listed here. Enjoy! :)

Click here to listen to "Tora Tora Tora"

All uploads courtesy of 808Monkey.