Music Column: Morning Musume album songs that should have been singles.

Morning Musume has 14 albums by now and quite a few best of albums.

These albums have a lot of songs that fans hold dear and a lot of songs that would have made great singles. Today we are going to look at some album songs that could have been amazing singles.

Mind you, this is completely my opinion, so tell me if I miss something or you have a different one!

First let me start with the difference between an album song and a single song (in my opinion). Album songs are usually songs that are harder to promote with an MV or that lack the wow factor and single needs to sell. Single songs are usually more focused on the main members (ace/center, what ever you wanna call it), while during album songs others get a chance to shine too. Yet there are some songs that could have had that WOW factor if only given the chance and that's what I wanna share with you. Some songs are amazing and great, yet they fit an album better.

Fantasy Juuichi is an album which a lot of fans felt rushed. I guess it kind of looked like they wanted to end the platinum era with the graduation of Kamei, Linlin and Junjun. 

I, however, really loved this album as there are quite some amazing songs on it. This album has two songs that would have made amazing singles, in my opinion. These songs are:

Fantasy ga Hajimaru & Itoshiku Kurushii Kono Yoru ni

These songs have Michishige Sayumi and Kamei Eri as leads and I think both had so much potential. Fantasy is really cool and has this sexy and modern feel to it. While Itoshiku is really sweet and nostalgic feel to it. I really love how their voices blend in both version, but it also shows of some of the other great voices (Ai-chan). 

10 MY ME was the first album to release when I just became a fan of Morning Musume, so it's quite dear to me. There are a lot of great songs on it and I love the generation songs sooo much. I think it would have been great if Namidacchi would have been a single. I mean Loving you Forever is amazing and Moonlight Night is tha bomb, yet I feel like those songs fit this album and actually make the album what it is. Namidacchi has such a great feel and energy to it that I think it would have been a joy if they released it as a single. They could have used all these cool effects and it would have showcased each and ever girl.

Ai no Dai 6kan is one of those albums which actually had a lot of great songs that actually fit an album. Ship to the Future! is one of my all time favorites, but I find it more fitting for an album than a single. But ofcourse I included this album, because I actually do think there is a song on here that could have been a single, even if it would have been quite different from the singles released up until then. It would have been Koe. Koe is such a lovely and cute song. It might be quite weak if you compare it to other songs, but I think it could have been a single like Namida ga Tomaranai. The song is also quite populair, so I think it would have made a great single. 

I guess these are the songs I would have loved to see as a single. The first three albums are solid as a rock for me and I wouldn't want to chance anything. As for number 4.5.7.8 and 9, most songs here were real album songs. Great songs to listen to, but I can imagen them not making the cut for a single. With number 12, 13 and 14 I kind of have the same. There are some amazing songs on there that are great in concert, but a lot of them are already forgotten or never even got a hype to begin with. I really like albums as they usually showcase the background members more, but usually I do understand why a song didn't make the cut for a single. And don't we all love the shuffle songs?