UNIVERSITY STREET

What she meant to make as a graduation keepsake acquired an ironic twist: she had to repeat a year. A moment that came too soon. A3, with its light sound like a stroll across campus, may make you wonder whether it is a cover of 'Ai Aru Kagiri.' It could only have come from a college-student singer. The wistful voice and melody of Masamichi Sugi's fine ballad A5 sit alongside the composer's own sweet guitar solo. There are many such excellent songs here, but the highlight is A2, a triple-rhythm ballad for which Takeuchi wrote both words and music. Tatsuro Yamashita and Minako Yoshida's chorus builds the loneliness to a sob: it is enough to bring tears to anyone who has loved in vain.