原文鏈接：https://www.allmusic.com/album/break-the-rules-mw0000500642

作者：Ted Mills

翻譯：Nomanlandever

This is an album of diminished expectations being rewarded with fine pop, of a star out of the limelight enough to begin to get interesting again. Like the cover art suggests, Amuro's second team-up with American producer Dallas Austin (Boyz II Men, Monica, TLC) preps her for an announced American breakthrough (although that's what they said about the older Japanese pop diva Seiko Matsuda, whose attempt to hit the U.S. market was laughably flat). There's even a song called "Crossover." Austin may be the right man for the job: his tracks (about half of the album) are far from pop (though nothing too far from mainstream R&B -- witness the Jennifer Lopez soundalike "Girlfriend"). He doesn't push Amuro beyond her range (except on "Think of Me" where you find out she isn't Christina Aguilera -- thank goodness), and keeps her vocals sleek, multi-tracked, and smooth. Highlights include the pop psychedelia of "Better Days," sounding like a great lost P.M. Dawn track; "Never Shoulda," full of drama; and Komuro's own effort, the lead-off single "No More Tears," which is complemented at the end by a disco remix by Junior Vasquez. It's an interesting test run for Amuro's takeover bid, but suggests there's more work ahead.

這是一張不被寄予厚望但口碑良好的流行專輯，一個(gè)遠(yuǎn)離聚光燈的明星再次變得頗具魅力。正如專輯封面暗示那樣，安室奈美惠與制作人Dallas Austin (Boyz II Men, Monica, TLC)?再次開展合作，為進(jìn)軍美國市場做足準(zhǔn)備（盡管他們也是這樣形容前輩日本天后松田圣子的，她曾竭盡全力地進(jìn)軍美國市場卻啼笑皆非地毫無水花），專輯甚至收錄了首名為“Crossover”的歌曲，Dallas Austin也許能夠勝任這份職務(wù)：他操刀制作的單曲（占專輯一半曲目）刻意避開流行風(fēng)格（盡管與主流R&B相差不大——如幻聽成Jennifer Lopez的歌曲“Girlfriend”）。他并不逼迫安室奈美惠突破自身安全區(qū)（除了在"Think of Me"中你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)她并非Christina Aguilera——幸好不是），并讓她的嗓音始終絲滑，飽滿，悅耳。專輯高光時(shí)刻包括迷幻流行的“Better Days”，感覺像是黑人樂隊(duì)P.M. ? Dawn的遺珠歌曲。"Never Shoulda,"戲劇性十足。小室哲哉操刀的專輯第一首歌"No More Tears"，在結(jié)尾處加入Junior Vasquez做的迪斯科混音樂段。這是一張趣味盎然充滿安室奈美惠野心嘗試的專輯，但也表明未來還有很長一段路要走。