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Show-Ya: Showdown
By my count, Show-Ya had nine full-length releases between 1985 and 1995, before a respite in their career. They came back in 2012 with Genuine Diamond and have subsequently released five more albums, the most recent being this year’s Showdown.
Show-Ya is an all-female group from Japan and describe themselves as a metal band. That moniker seems questionable to me, at least on Showdown. Rather, the album sounds like a solid work of power pop with moments of hard rock.
The lineup includes Keiko Torada on lead vocals, Miki “Sun-go” Igarashi on guitar, Miki “Captain” Nakamura on keyboards, Satomi Senba on bass, and Miki “Mittan” Tsunoda on drums. In addition, Doro Pesch provides guest vocals on “Heavy Metal Femininity.”
Tsunoda is a powerhouse on the drums. Torada is a talented vocalist, with a wide range. And Nakamura provides some nice keyboard textures throughout the album.
The standout tracks, in my opinion, are “Heavy Metal Femininity,” “Thunder,” and “Hold Me,” all good rockers with catchy hooks. I like the music on “Wind,” which features some nice tempo changes, but Torada sounds a lot like Bonnie Raitt at times, which just doesn’t match the song. The only track on the album that I can’t tolerate is the closer, “So… .” It comes off as an unsuccessful attempt to replicate a Natalie Merchant tune from, say, Tigerlily, Ophelia, or Motherland, and I like all three of those albums.
Will I listen to Showdown again? Maybe. But did it do enough to make me want to investigate Show-Ya’s back catalog? No.
Track Listing:
1. Eye to Eye
2. Never
3. Heavy Metal Femininity
4. Tokyo, I Scream
5. Kiss in the Riot
6. Wind
7. Thunder
8. Hold Me
9. Don’t Runaway
10. Rocks
11. So...
Added: October 15th 2021 Reviewer: Aaron Steelman Score: ![](images/star_whole.gif) ![](images/star_whole.gif) ![](images/star_whole.gif) Related Link: Band Website Hits: 645 Language: english
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