Great combination of heavy metal, pop music and symphonic power metal - A review of Hamada Mari's Light for the Ages - 35th Anniversary Best～Fan's Selection

At fifty-six years old and more than thirty-five years into her impressive career, it only makes sense for Japanese legend Hamada Mari to release an extensive compilation with three discs, forty songs and two hours and thirty-one minutes of music. This release comes as a regular edition with a generous booklet and a limited edition with a forty-page photo booklet and a large plastic folder with a picture of the singer. Both editions offer value for money and are equally recommended to faithful collectors, occasional fans or new admirers who have only recently been coming across one of Japan's most influential and successful singers.

The songs on the three discs are presented in chronological order. Hamada Mari started as a heavy metal and hard rock artist supported by Loudness drummer Higuchi Munetaka, versatile compositor, guitarist and producer Kitajima Kenji, Make-Up guitarist Matsuzawa Hiroaki, X-Ray guitarist Yuasa Shin as well as Heavy Metal Army and Eastern Orbit keyboarder Nakajima Yuki. This impressive group of rock and metal musicians is responsible for Hamada Mari's early breakthrough with songs such as the energetic, melodic and pumping ''Tokio Makin' Love'' with its playful drum patterns, bumblebee bass guitar sounds, ecstatic guitar riffs and solos, atmospheric keyboard layers and the singer's own high-pitched screams that almost make her sound like a female counterpart of Judas Priest's legendary singer Rob Halford. The first disc also features some danceable but never shallow hard rock tunes like the catchy ''Misty Lady''. An extraordinary ballad can be found on the first disc with ''Promise in the History'' with its excellent keyboard layers and Hamada Mari's astonishing vocal range that will send shivers down your spine and make you want to cuddle your girlfriend.

The second disc shows a shift towards adult-oriented rock music and pop music. Even though the second disc is the weakest of the three in my opinion, Hamada Mari's pop music is never shallow and should easily please to fans of artists like Jennifer Rush. The free-spirited, light-hearted and positive ''Return to Myself'' as well as the uplifting ''Hey Mister Broken Heart'' convince with their sincere emotions and easily outperform many popular Western pop artists of the nineties.

The third disc represents a shifts towards symphonic rock and power metal territories with slightly progressive song structures and more epic lengths. The power metal epic ''Momentalia'', the atmospheric and profound ''Historia'' and the fast, melodic and sacral ''Black Rain'' best represent these changes here and show the pop singer not only returning to her heavy metal roots but adapting a more contemporary, intellectual and playful style where the instrumental work is as essential as the timeless vocals.

At the end of the day, Hamada Mari's Light for the Ages - 35th Anniversary Best～Fan's Selection is the perfect compilation for new fans, occasional admirers and faithful collectors alike. This is the first record of Japan's greatest singer that I have purchased and I have listened to this compilation many times in the past two years and a half. The compilation works particularly well on long car rides through untouched wilderness on smooth summer days. Anybody who likes hard rock, pop music, symphonic power metal or a combination of all those genres should purchase this outstanding release and support Hamada Mari while she's still releasing music and playing concerts.

Final rating: 90%