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Willie, 
HapPy nEw YeAr!!    to you too. 

A few days ago, I took out the "Forever Live '98" and played only the following:
"Koisuru Omoi Fall In Love"
"Dear Father", 
"Acoustic Version", and
"Medley"

After that I played 
Seiko's cover of Carpenters, and
"Kanashimi no Boat"

from Zepp Tour 1999. Her voice at Zepp was definitely off her usual quality, 
but I wasn't disappointed at all. The mood and the background circumstances 
that had triggered the Zepp Tour was just one of the kind, with Seiko so close
in real proximity and in spirit to the fans for the first time. It brought back
a lot of great memories and faith in what I had always identified with Seiko: 
Passion, Style, Excellence, Sincerity, Gifted, Present and Future, Discipline.

As much as I loved the energy I felt at the concert hall of the L&E tour 2001,
and the magnificant "This is the Place" & "20th Party" performances, when I 
replayed the lives from 1992, to 1995, to 1998 and then to 1999, I cannot 
help but for the very first time wished that the current Seiko was not a reality, 
wondering the great possibilities of 

"What if there hadn't been a 20th Anniversary, would the concert lives of 2000 
and 2001 been different"

"What if the orignal band that was with Seiko since the 90s was still with her? 
Surely, they were moving towards something else, as shown in the 1998 and 1999 
concerts... the songs in the 20th Party "Mid Summer Night Dreams" "Rain" are 
excellent and unique to what had been done so far..., What if there had not 
been a HS...:("

"Eternal Mind album was too hurried album that had resulted in so-so results.
"Sakura no Sono", "Kanashimino Boat" will always be gems of a mixed era of 
Seiko's career. Looking at what we have now, I really wonder if the 'dream' 
album/song would be the one which we have Matsumoto Takashi as producer but
with ample time preparation, with Seiko's full energy in it,... 
Eternal Mind was perphaps just a couply years too early.

The L&E was catchy and all... had it been released in the early 90s, it might
have been better received. We don't need a Rock or Dance Seiko now. We had some,
10 very good years of that. HS, seems to be 10 years behind time. As it is with
all Seiko fans, and those who had loved Seiko the last 21years for, we still 
want Seiko to "move along" like she have had... What I saw in 2000 and 2001 was
a little like a flashback of the 90s... Is it the time to move to super ballads 
(not tear-jerky ones)? Anything is better than nothing, and we do know that no 
one comes close to a SEIKO BALLAD (ok, the Red'nWhite performance 2days ago was 
an exception) There is a need to remind everyone that Seiko is the voice to 
that sound that makes a difference to a song a writer writes. 

Whatever it is, Seiko and her music had been so part of my life for many years,
almost 20 now. I still remembered vividly the smile on Seiko's face and how she
looked when she saw the small non-Japanese national flag I had during the 
summer tour and the dinner shows. I also remember the kindness she had showed 
during her shows. For all the inspiration, for all the good times, for the 
future, I would still continue to buy her albums, go for the shows, etc. But I 
am in the minority whom Seiko represents numerous meanings, not an average 
music lover who only buys a CD for its music contents.

Shopgirl