Rainbow 7


Rainbow 7 is the seventh album by the J-pop idol group Morning Musume. It is the first album to feature 7th generation member Koharu Kusumi and first album after graduation of Kaori Iida and Rika Ishikawa and departure of Mari Yaguchi. It was released on February 15, 2006.

Overview

The album features the last single A-sides to feature founding member Kaori Iida and long-time members Rika Ishikawa and Mari Yaguchi, all of whom departed the band in the months after their previous studio album, Ai no Dai 6 Kan, was released. Although their vocals are heard on these tracks, they are not credited anywhere in the liner notes. One of the singles represented, "Chokkan 2 ", appears in remixed form.
Three of the songs on the album are performed by smaller clusters of several group members, and are credited in the liner notes to the featured members involved, rather than to the entire band.
Two different versions of the album were released, different from the usual "first press" versions. The limited edition version contained a 32-page photobook and had special packaging. When the two versions were announced it was said that each version would have a different bonus track but, due to a problem on the manufacturer's end, the idea was abandoned.

Singles

The first single, "The Manpower!!!", became the last song recorded with the last founding member of the group Kaori Iida. It was released on January 19, 2005. Peaked at #4 on the Oricon Charts.There are two editions of the single. The limited edition was wrapped in a special package and had five photo cards with catalog number EPCE-5348. The regular edition has a catalog number EPCE-5349 and was contained with one photo card of the group on its first pressing. On the same date, the Single V DVD of the single was released. It is stated on the DVD that featured videos has an aspect image of 4:3, but are actually in widescreen. The song was the first official cheer song of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. It was written by producer Tsunku.
The single "Iroppoi Jirettai" was the debut of seventh generation member Koharu Kusumi. The limited edition of this single came with special packaging and also contained five photocards. The Single V was released on August 3, 2005, and sold a total of 22,606 copies. It reached number four on the Oricon Charts.

Track listing

  1. How Do You Like Japan?
  2. The Manpower!!!
  3. Aozora ga Itsumademo Tsuzuku You na Mirai de Are!
  4. Osaka Koi no Uta
  5. Indigo Blue Love
  6. *Performed by Risa Niigaki, Reina Tanaka and Eri Kamei.
  7. Rainbow Pink
  8. *Performed by Koharu Kusumi and Sayumi Michishige.
  9. Iroppoi Jirettai
  10. Mushoku Tōmei na Mama de
  11. *Performed by Hitomi Yoshizawa, Makoto Ogawa, Ai Takahashi, Asami Konno and Miki Fujimoto.
  12. Purple Wind
  13. Sayonara See You Again Adios Bye Bye Ta Ta!
  14. Chokkan 2
  15. Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari

    Personnel

  • Hitomi Yoshizawa – vocals
  • Ai Takahashi – vocals
  • Asami Konno – vocals
  • Makoto Ogawa – vocals
  • Risa Niigaki – vocals
  • Miki Fujimoto – vocals
  • Eri Kamei – vocals
  • Sayumi Michishige – vocals
  • Reina Tanaka – vocals
  • Koharu Kusumi – vocals
  • Kaori Iida – vocals
  • Mari Yaguchi – vocals
  • Rika Ishikawa – vocals
  • Tsunku – Composer, vocals
  • Akira – keyboards, MIDI programming, backing vocals
  • Hojin Egawa – bass
  • Funky Sueyoshi – drums
  • Ken Matsubara – all instruments
  • Hideyuki "Daichi" Suzuki – guitar, keyboards, MIDI programming
  • Yoshinari Takegami – brass arrangement, saxophone
  • Masanori Suzuki – trumpet
  • Masakki Ikeda – trombone
  • Eiji Taniguchi – clarinet
  • You Uchida – backing vocals
  • Hiroaki Takeuchi – backing vocals
  • Atsuko Inaba – backing vocals
  • Yuichi Takahashi – guitar, keyboards, MIDI programming, backing vocals
  • Hello! Project Wonderful Hearts Tour Staff – backing vocals
  • Koji – electric guitar
  • Masayoshi Furukawa – acoustic guitar
  • Yasushi Sasamoto – bass
  • Kaoru Ohkubo – keyboards, MIDI programming
  • Taro Irie – bass
  • Makoto Katayama – guitar
  • Shoichiro Hirata – keyboards, MIDI programming
  • Toru Kinoshita – guitar
  • Hiroshi Iida – percussion
  • Shunsuke Suzuki – keyboards, MIDI programming, guitar
  • Kotaro Egami – remixing
  • Hiroshi Imade – blues harp
  • Siroh Tsubuyaki – tsubuyaki

    Production

  • Kazami Matsui - recording and mixing engineer
  • Ryo Wakizaka - recording and mixing engineer
  • Takeshi Yanagisawa - recording engineer
  • Shinnosuke Kobayashi - recording engineer
  • Tsunku - mix engineer
  • Yuichi Ohtsubo - second engineer
  • Hirofumi Hiraki - second engineer
  • Youhei Horiuchi - second engineer
  • Yasuji Yasman Maeda - mastering engineer

    Charts

  • "The Manpower!!!" — #4 Japan Oricon Charts
  • "The Manpower!!!" — #4 Japan CDTV