Reviews: 8/06 New Releases

I AM YOUR SINGER Southern All Stars

I AM YOUR SINGER is Southern All Stars' 53rd single and a commemorative track for their 30th anniversary. The song is a very happy style track with some vocal synthesis in certain bits. Southern All Stars' are very popular in Japan but they don't really do it for me. I can appreciate that the track is kind of cute but I could hardly listen to it the whole way through. I'm not a fan of the main singer's voice and the song doesn't have many different levels, it's pretty bland the whole way through.

Rating: C

RAINBOWS alice nine.

alice nine. is a Oshare/Visual-Kei band and RAINBOWS is their 13th single. Once again, the main singer's voice isn't ideal for me. It's similar to a lot of Visual-Kei groups, very deep, Hyde-ish like. I don't like it. Apart from that, the song isn't too bad. The instrumental is really nice and the sound is a nice blend of rock and mainstream pop, which is really pretty in certain parts. The voice ruins the song for me. I know some people like that style of voice but for me it's not my taste and this is my review so there!

Rating: B-

Shiny GATE Nakagawa Shouko

I want to like Shouko, I REALLY do. She's a major Morning Musume fan and she's funny and cute. This song is just so un-inventive and bland though. How does something like this become a single? It sounds like an ordinary B-side or album track. Shouko's idol vocals are nice and do suit the song, I suppose. I'll give her props for her Olympic themed PV, it's pretty awesome. I think the judges must've been deaf though, cause the song sucks.

Rating: C+

Hotaru Onitsuka Chihiro

Hotaru (Firefly) is Onitsuka-san's 14th single and was the theme for Last Game Saigo no Soukeisen. It's a very simple ballad to a piano instrumental. The song is ok, it's nothing special but it's not necessarily bad. Onitsuka-san's are the nicest thing about this release. She does have a beautiful voice and handles the lower registry really nicely while flawlessly floating to some of the higher notes. Not bad, but forgettable.

Rating: B-

Single of the Week



Kane wo Narashite Bonnie Pink

I listen to all the songs I review before I pick my single of the week and Bonnie Pink's new track was the first I listened to. If you had told me then that it would be my Single of the Week I would have laughed. I honestly have not been impressed by this week's releases at all.

Kane wo Narashite (an English ver of this song - Ring a Bell - was also released. I'm reviewing the Japanese version) is Ms Pink's 24th single and the theme of Tales of Vesperia which is a game on the Xbox 360. It is a mid-tempo track with rock elements. Bonnie's voice isn't the greatest in the world and she struggles with the higher notes but it somehow works in the midst of the song. The winning points in this track are the chorus which has a few nice sounding lines at the beginning which set it apart from the verses nicely. It kinda falls apart after that though, it could have been better. I also liked that at about the 3/4 mark the song veers left and decides it wants to go down another road with an unexpected turn. A nice little bridge, better than most.

It's not an overly fantastic track but when thrown amongst mediocrity it comes out on top, at least in my eyes. It had grown on me though, so I'll let you make up your own minds. You can listen to the track in the media player at the top of this blog. Let me know what you think.

Rating: B

I'll do a review of THE Possible's new single sometime within the next week hopefully. The track is my favourite new release but for non-bias purposes, my Single of the Week is always non-H!P/TNX related. So look out for a review soon.