Reviews: 11/5 New Releases

REVIEWS: I'm tardy with my reviews once again this week but I am determined to keep reviewing new singles so here are this week's reviews, new singles from BREAKERZ, ARASHI, Berryz Koubou and Yuzu.

Angelic Smile / WINTER PARTY BREAKERZ

I really liked BREAKERZ last single and I’m really interested in the double A-side thing they’ve been going for. I get really annoyed with double A-side singles when the two songs are really alike, but BREAKERZ last single had two totally unique, great songs, so I had high expectations for this one.

Angelic Smile is an upbeat rock song and it’s a great track. DAIGO of course is great on vocals, his voice really suits the rock genre; It’s really great to listen to. Like I mentioned on my review of BREAKERZ last single, this truly feels like a group rather than a front man and some band. AKIHIDE and SHINPEI get some awesome solos and the instrumental is generally really good. I like the bridge after the instrumental break in this song, it melts back into this great change of pace before the final chorus.

WINTER PARTY excited me because of the title, if you had read my post on Koda’s new track, you’d know I love all things Winter. The little bell chimes at the beginning just get my spirit soaring ^_^ … this track is really quite fun. It definitely has that Christmas vibe to it, from the instrumental to the lyrics (the chorus mentions silent night, holy night and later on they sing Merry Christmas … you can’t get more Christmasy than that ^_^ ). It actually gets me kind of excited for Christmas, so it does its job well especially for a rock song. I really like the pre-chorus bridge, it’s the highlight of the track for me.
Another great single for BREAKERZ, both tracks being unique and top quality songs. They’ve captured the winter theme really well.

Rating: 8/10 & 9/10

Beautiful days ARASHI

2008 is definitely ARASHI’s year with all their ’08 singles selling huge amounts, their last, Truth/Kaze no Mukou e in excess 600K. So now that we’ve determined they are hugely successful, let’s get to their latest single Beautiful days.
The thing I immediately like about Beautiful days is that it is unique from the rest of their recent singles which have shown a nice range for fans. While it doesn’t have the immediate infectious hit of Truth, Beautiful days has a charming, pleasant arrangement. It’s easy to listen to and the guys are all sounding pretty nice, it is definitely a genre they excel in. The chorus is particularly likeable, and pretty catchy actually. I was totally getting into it even on the first listen.
I’m predicting another huge seller for ARASHI (yes kind of cheating since its two day sales are pretty amazing) … but I would have predicted this 2 days ago too, I swear ;)

Rating: 9/10

MADAYADE Berryz Koubou

Why am I doing a H!P track review in my new release reviews? – There is a very simple reason … I can’t be bothered doing a full review ;) I totally forgot to review Pepper Keibu, so I’m just gonna stick MADAYADE in here or I’ll forget that too.
Berryz lately has been on top of the fun, upbeat tracks and I think that is really working for them. MADAYADE is another upbeat, catchy, fun song. I really dig the surf feel to the instrumental and the verses are really cool, especially the Arabian sounding bit (I’m probably the only one who thinks it sounds Arabian but yeah, that bit :P ). I gotta say my tiff with this song is the chorus. While the chorus is undeniably catchy, it’s also really effin annoying. HA HA!! MADA MADA MADA – I can take maybe 15 or 20 MADA’s but after that it starts to get repetitive and boring. Despite this, as a whole it’s a good song, but it doesn’t live up to the previous two singles imo.

Rating: 7/10

Shish Kebab Yuzu

Shish Kebab is Yuzu’s 3rd single of the year, and is the theme for the drama Salary Man Kintaro. I don’t know the duo well, so I don’t have much to say on them. They’ve been around for AGES, I probably should know their stuff, but alas I don’t. I’m going into this blind.
So, my first impressions are that it’s a fun, upbeat, endearing song. The shish-shish-ka-bab lines are catchy and really cute (see Berryz, sometimes less is more :p ). The pre-chorus bridge has lines which sound suspiciously similar to some lines from MM’s Da Di Du De Do Da Di! … but it’s probably just me. The song grows really well leading up to the chorus and the instrumental has a nice folky sound to it.
Shish Kebab is one of those happy, fun songs that doesn’t take itself too seriously. From the silly chanting to the let loose chorus, it invites you to have a fun time listening.

Rating: 7.5/10