or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
Sell Us Your Item
For up to a $1.60 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu

Matthew SweetAudio CD
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)

Price: $39.99 & FREE Shipping. Details
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 2 left in stock.
Sold by cdgiveaways and Fulfilled by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.
Want it Tuesday, May 28? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
MP3 Music, 13 Songs, 2004 --  
Audio CD, 2004 --  
Audio CD, 2004 $39.99  

Amazon's Matthew Sweet Store

Visit Amazon's Matthew Sweet Store
for all the music, discussions, and more.

Special Offers and Product Promotions


Frequently Bought Together

Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu + In Reverse
Price for both: $50.63

Buy the selected items together
  • In Reverse $10.64


Product Details

  • Audio CD (October 5, 2004)
  • Original Release Date: 2004
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Racm Records
  • ASIN: B0002MPQQE
  • Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,317 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

1. Dead Smile
2. Morning Song
3. The Ocean In-Between
4. I Love You
5. I Don't Want To Know
6. Warning
7. Spiral
8. Love Is Gone
9. Hear This
10. Wait
11. Tonight We Ride
12. Through Your Eyes
13. Silent Track 1

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
(52)
4.6 out of 5 stars
This album is a must have for Sweet fans. Andrew Saari  |  6 reviewers made a similar statement
Great CD, worth the cash to import it! "m3djack"  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
It's a fresh, exciting listen from start to finish. yanakasanpo  |  4 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Matthew Sweet's ROCK & ROLL masterpiece June 18, 2005
Format:Audio CD
Kimi Ga Suki Raifu is really a fascinating item in the Matthew Sweet canon. Originally recorded solely for the Japanese fan base, and initially released only in that country, this album was simply too good to keep from the rest of the world! This may well be Sweet's most consistently powerful and EXCITING album, with special emphasis on the word "excitement." It's even more energetic than Girlfriend or 100% Fun, both of which have at least a couple of low spots, but there is nothing but brilliance here. This is what happens when a great musician places himself into a "pressure cooker" situation, writing and recording an entire album of material in one week. No demos, no excessive overdubs, no second guessing. Matthew brought together his old rock & roll cohorts: Richard Lloyd, Ric Menck, Greg Leisz, for a reunion of the original Girlfriend lineup. Without giving himself the luxury of making demos and reworking these songs, Sweet set himself the challenge of writing and recording 12 songs in one fell swoop, and he came up aces!

All of Matthew's natural gifts are on full display here: passionate hard driving rock and roll, stripped to its raw essence (but still with gorgeous vocal harmonies), with Sweet's acerbic wit in high gear. This is probably his most consistent set of lyrics on one record. His sharp irony and twisted sense of humor in matters of love and heartache is in full effect. No other songwriter can take a love song and make it so sad or angry, and yet so...outrageously funny at the same time, from the title track of "Girlfriend" to "I Almost Forgot" to every song on this record. Picture the romantically jaded Neil Young mixed with the dark humor of Peter Gabriel, and Matthew sits somewhere in that realm. He can make me cry or roar with laughter in the same song, and believe me, that is a RARE gift for a lyricist.

The band is rock solid and as tight as can be. Matthew plays typically great bass on the album, and Menck punctuates with power and intelligence on the drums. Of course, Lloyd's guitar solos are completely demented! Some reviewers have said that this album is under-produced, but I feel the opposite. It was meant to be a stripped down, bare bones rock album, and it was produced exactly as it should be. Concise and cohesive. Sometimes a rock and roll song doesn't need a guitar solo or a synthesizer. Sometimes all it needs is a driving groove, and the quality of the writing takes care of the rest. If there are good lyrics and catchy hooks, the song plays itself. No frills needed. And besides, Sweet's vocal harmonies are overdubbed to perfection here as with his other albums, so the production is spot on as far as I'm concerned. Anything more would have detracted from the visceral power and wit of these songs. Highlights are hard to specify, but Morning Song, I Love You (a scorcher!), and Wait are three of my personal favorites. But again, there is not one single piece of filler on this album, a stunning achievement for a set of tunes written and hammered out in one week.

On a sadder note, I must say that his recent album, Living Things, is such a terrible disappointment compared to this album. It's a sloppy, overproduced, poorly written record that is actually quite depressing and possibly qualifies as Matthew Sweet's worst album (in my opinion). Fortunately, the immediacy and sheer brilliance of Kimi Ga Suki Raifu proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that when Matthew Sweet makes up his mind to rock, he can produce an album of stunning power and personality like this one. This CD should be in every rock collection, and certainly no one who appreciates Matthew Sweet should be without it.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Return to Form December 2, 2004
By WrtnWrd
Format:Audio CD
What a good artistic year Matthew Sweet is having. First the U.S. was treated to a lovely new CD, Living Things, that returned him to the power and acuity of Girlfriend. Now a work he originally created for his Japanese fan club only, Kimi Ga Suki, is available stateside, and it's even better (by a hair) than Living Things. There's a looseness to these 12 tracks missing from the official release -- a result of having set himself paramaters and recording quickly. Still, the deadlines worked in his favor. Sweet's gorgeous power pop is a confection, best served fast and fresh. Nuggets here include the aching "Love Is Gone" and the Mach V opener "Dead Smile". If only FM radio would pick up on his singular talent once again.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
"Kimi Ga Suki" finally makes its stateside appearence on CD and, although it's not Sweet's best album, it can more than hold for the most part. The most melodic songs on the album like the rocking "Dead Smile" or "Through Your Eyes" will remind you of the best material from Sweet's "Girlfriend" or "Altered Beast". The production is a bit thinner and not as splashy or slick but that's no surprise given that Sweet recorded this at home. "Ocean in Between" recalls "Girlfriend" the most with an infectious hook, killer harmony vocals and a melody that ingrains itself into your brain almost from the first verse. As a result, everything from the best songs to some of the lesser ones have a flow unlike some of his previous albums.

The good news that many of his usual collaborators appear here including Television guitarist Richard Lloyd. His guitar work adds much needed bite to some of the weaker material which gives it a bit more substance. The home recording approach actually works in the album's favor making it difficult to pigeon hole the album's sound. While much of it does recall his previous material, the best songs tend to build on rather his other albums rather than standing at the same level. Adding to the charm is the fact that Sweet wrote the album straight through vs. accumulating songs over time and recorded them in a rush of activity over a week or so. This approach (like McCartney's on "Driving Rain")only adds to the quality of the songs and charm. There's no second guessing here as there wasn't much time to do it.

"Kimi Ga Suki" may be an imperfect album but it's an imperfect album packed with ingenious melodies, sharp playing and singing as well as musical ambition. Unlike another reviewer here, I actually did like "Thorns" and "In Reverse" as they both showed a willingness to step away from a sound that made him successful and take risks outside the power pop genre.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Good, Not Superior.
An interested album, but not Matthew Sweet's best work (that would undoubtedly be Girlfriend). An enjoyable spin and decent sonics.
Published 2 months ago by CDJones
5.0 out of 5 stars Good music...
Matthew Sweet is a talented artist with a big range from loud guitar chords to ballads. All his music tells a good story but this collection feels more personal some how.
Published 4 months ago by J. Broughton
5.0 out of 5 stars The Last Return of Matthew Sweet
Almost a decade and a half after Matthew Sweet redefined power pop with earthy undertones with Girlfriend, he returns with the same lineup of incredible musicians and a short... Read more
Published 23 months ago by C. Nekritz
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting Powerpop
It's nice to hear Matthew Sweet return to exciting powerpop again after two lackluster albums. All is right in the universe when I hear songs like Dead Smile and Hear This. Read more
Published on April 26, 2010 by DW
5.0 out of 5 stars Hidden Masterpiece
Kimi Ga Suki is so under appreciated its not even funny. This is Sweet at his best. It has the major "Girlfriend" era players, Richard Lloyd - guiter, Greg Leisz - guitar, Ric... Read more
Published on December 19, 2008 by D. A. Essig
5.0 out of 5 stars "We are not so many worlds apart"
Since "Blue Sky on Mars," I lost track of what Matthew Sweet was putting out. I still love "100% Fun. Read more
Published on September 3, 2006 by mwreview
5.0 out of 5 stars "We are not so many worlds apart"
Since "Blue Sky on Mars," I lost track of what Matthew Sweet was putting out. I still love "100% Fun. Read more
Published on September 3, 2006 by mwreview
5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Rock & Roll
This is Matthew Sweet's best album.

Just straight-forward rock/pop.

Raw, but melodic tunes with heft and heart. Read more
Published on January 28, 2006 by paul
4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet comes roaring back with a classic after a decade in the doldrums
In reading Mr Lavezzoli's excellent review, where he says almost everything, I find he has said almost everything I wanted to say. Read more
Published on August 21, 2005 by rash67
4.0 out of 5 stars Not Girlfriend but far from Mars
Matthew Sweet made his indelible mark on the music world with albums that resonate with Pop, Rock, and a sense of fun. Read more
Published on August 2, 2005 by C. Cooley
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 



So You'd Like to...


Create a guide

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?



Look for Similar Items by Category

cdgiveaways Privacy Statement cdgiveaways Shipping Information cdgiveaways Returns & Exchanges