Heartsdales / The Legend : 4 of 5

On my last trip to Japan I picked up a Heartsdales CD single (plus DVD) that I really enjoyed, so I've been planning on checking out some of their other material someday. Well, it turns out that the band is calling it quits, but to go out with a bang they released an awesome hits compilation CD that includes a DVD with videos for almost every song on the disc! Heartsdales play hip-hop or rap or whatever you want to call it - Rum does most of the complicated rapping and Jewels does the sweet singing on the choruses (gotta love those stage names!). I'm hypnotized by Japanese rapping, because the mixture of Japanese with English is incredible - they even rhyme words between languages! The videos are pretty cool, full of weird sets and high fashion, such as the opening number So Tell Me, which takes place on a submarine, and Rum has a full-size teddy bear hanging off her belt. Candy Poppin' is accented with amazing retro graphics (I really like that kind of stuff), and Angel Eyes has both motorcycles and cheerleaders, which are quite a combination. Foxy Lady has the most outfits - seeing the cool clothes they get away with wearing is half the fun! I'm definitely impressed with CD/DVD combos like this that are overflowing with songs and videos, so I'm really glad I ordered it (but too bad Heartsdales had to break up to get this CD made).