...my true love gave to me an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Avex celebrated their 20th anniversary this year and debuted the special group GIRL NEXT DOOR, fronted by Chisa. Though they only debuted in September, the group released 3 singles in 2008, with their most recent top 3 hit being Jyonetsu no Daisho:

GIRL NEXT DOOR was a group I REALLY tried to like straight away but just didn't. Their dance sound just didn't appeal to me and I felt their first two singles were very similar; they weren't bad by any means, it just isn't the type of music I really enjoy straight away. That being said, Jyonetsu no Daisho won me over straight away and was the epiphany I was looking for with GND. The song is pulled back ever so slightly from their upbeat previous songs and it's just a very memorable track from the trio. Chisa is such a cutee you can't help but like her and she is a great vocalist. The PV is also really stunning, their best yet.

GIRL NEXT DOOR have had a pretty successful year despite only debuting in the later half of the year: 3 top 3 singles, an invitation to appear at this years Kohaku and they also have their debut album being released next week. On top of this, the groups official fanclub 'Next Door' will launch on Monday - it's been a few pretty busy and very successful months for GND. 2009 should bring more of the same success!

PREVIEW: GIRL NEXT DOOR is perhaps one of the biggest debut acts of the year, not so much in terms of success but in regards to how much they've been pushed by avex. It really seems they want this group to succeed and I do too. I haven't loved their 3 singles, but I've kind of liked them all so I'm hoping for something to hook me onto GND and their debut album might just be the thing!

GIRL NEXT DOOR's self titled debut is released the day before Christmas and has a very clear winter theme. The covers are incredible, the whole winter idea of this album is sublime! I really, really am hoping for something that knocks my socks off. Lucky for me, the PV for the leading track of the album Winter Games was released today and it's so great!

Ok, so the song is a similar style to the previous tracks which I have constantly panned for all sounding the same ... whatever. I've pretty much accepted the fact that all their songs are going to have some lame disco/dance sound to them. This one does seem to stand out from their other tracks so far, at least for me, the chorus is great. Although it might just be the PV which is hilariously awesome. Watch through to the end, it's great!

Either way, I'm looking forward to GIRL NEXT DOOR and hoping for a great release. I honestly can't believe I'm a fan of the group and I don't even listen to their music -_-;; ~ Give me something to like!! lol. The album drops on the 24th of December.

REVIEWS: I’m being so punctual this week to make up for last week’s tardiness. I’m doing reviews of 3 singles for today's review post: Perfume’s Dream Fighter, UVERWorld’s Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi and GIRL NEXT DOOR’s Jounetsu no Daishou / ESCAPE. I really wanted to review Ogawa Mana’s new single but I couldn’t find it anywhere and I didn’t want to review it from the PV only. I’ll wait and do a joint review of Mana and Twe’lv soon.

Dream Fighter Perfume

I could never really get into Perfume. I do enjoy their style, they have some catchy songs, but the whole synth vocals really aren’t my taste – so I’m warning you already lol and I’ll try to remain impartial.
Dream Fighter actually has a really funky beat to it and that is something Perfume is great at, their instrumentals are always very catchy and get my feet tapping and my body moving. The chorus is really nice and catchy, all throughout which I haven’t been able to say about too many Perfume songs - granted I haven't heard many. I tend to find their songs sound very similar or don’t really have a distinct sound to them but Dream Fighter stands out for me. I can’t say I love the song, purely because of the synth style, but for a Perfume song, it's quite nice.

Rating: 7.5/10

Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi UVERworld

I loved loved LOVED UVERworld’s last single Koishikute, it was a great rock ballad. Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi is a much more upbeat number and is the new theme for Gundam 00.
Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi kind of worried me at first, since it opens with synth vocals lol. I thought ‘oh god!’ but thankfully it’s back to normal after a few seconds. I can handle synth vocalization in small doses only :p and to be honest it does sound good as the intro to this song. The instrumental in this track is really great, I love the sections after the chorus, the pre-chorus bridge is also really great. So I love before and after the chorus, but the chorus itself doesn’t leave a huge impression on me. It’s upbeat and rockin’ but it’s just not particularly catchy, I don’t think, which is a shame since the song is pretty solid.
I feel that this track seems to get less interesting and captivating as it goes on, which is slightly odd. It is an anime theme so maybe they focused too much on making the intro really catchy and the rest of the song suffered because of that? I’m not particularly sure. By no means is it a bad song but it just doesn’t give a long lasting impression.

Rating: 8/10

Jounetsu no Daishou / ESCAPE GIRL NEXT DOOR

GIRL NEXT DOOR is a funny group for me because I want to like them so much and, to tell you the truth, I do - but not for the right reasons. I enjoy their image, Chisa is adorable and a great singer. Their PVs are great … but the music does little for me. Unfortunately that’s really the most important thing, right?


Jounetsu no Daishou continues their dance beat style of songs but it is pulled back ever so slightly which is a nice change of pace from their previous upbeat singles. The chorus in this song is pretty good, I love Chisa’s voice and this song allows her to express a bit more emotion than previous singles. I just wish they’d actually gone the full way and made a nice ballad out of this instead of feeling like they had to create some 90s style dance track. It is rather similar to their other stuff and it’s getting old really quickly. That being said, it’s probably my favourite of all their tracks and I do like it.


This single is a double A-side just like their last single and ESCAPE is another dance track (surprise, surprise) which sounds just like all their other songs. I have to say this track’s verses are almost identical to their first singles’ Guuzen no Kakuritsu, I mean the beat is exactly the same. The song in general is really boring, I have no idea why it is an a-side. I think they delayed the single too in order to make it a double a-side. meh whatever.
This group is starting to get on my nerves only because I want to like them just sooo much! RELEASE BETTER MUSIC PLEASE!!! (or at least more diverse stuff)

Rating: 8/10 for Jounetsu no Daishou & 6/10 for ESCAPE

REVIEWS: This week I'm reviewing 3 pretty good singles: GIRL NEXT DOOR's Drive Away / Shiawase no Jouken; Porno Graffitti's Love,too Death,too; and Koda Kumi's Taboo.

Drive Away / Shiawase no Jouken GIRL NEXT DOOR

GIRL NEXT DOOR's second single is a double A-side, both songs being upbeat, pop numbers.


Drive Away is the standout track on this single for me, pretty much because both songs sound very similar and Drive Away is just a lot more catchier. The chorus really makes Drive Away stand out from Shiawase no Jouken. It is very catchy, especially the "drive away" bit and the song in general just has a really uplifting feeling. I had a problem with their debut single not quite being able to distinguish itself between rock and pop/dance. This single clears that all up, both songs are very up tempo, dancey ... very pop.


My issue with this single is that the second A-side, Shiawase no Jouken, is very similar to the first track. It's almost an extension of Drive Away - If you did a nice transitioning, they could be the same song. The problem with this is that neither track really distinguishes itself enough. I personally had trouble remembering what each song specifically sounded like shortly after listening, despite being able to recall the general sound of the single. It's all one big mush of dance/pop.

I do like this pop style GIRL NEXT DOOR is going with but some variation between the two songs would have been nice. Perhaps a rockier tune for the second to compliment Drive Away's pop style? Why have a double a-side if both songs offer you exactly the same thing? Still both songs are fun and reasonably decent tracks.

Rating: Drive Away 7.5/10 - Shiwase no Jouken 6.5/10

Love,too Death,too Porno Graffitti

Porno Graffitti's 26th single adopts a jazz/rock kind of style ... whatever it is, I really enjoy it!


Love, too Death too is just an undeniably catchy, fun tune. It has a really interesting arrangement with inspirations from jazz styles plus their typical rock sounds and even some orchestral strings. I'm not really a regular listener of Porno Graffitti's stuff so at first I found Okano's vocals slightly off putting (he has a unique voice) but I got over that pretty quickly and actually really enjoy them now (the same thing happened when I reviewed Gift lol). The chorus is obviously the highlight in this song, the "Love, too Death too" line is the song's hook and it's repeated a lot but never gets tiring. The verses have a great style to them and the instrumental sections are a joy to listen to. The bridge towards the end of the song is also another highlight for me, it has a great melody and sets up for a cool guitar instrumental.

All in all, just a really refreshingly unique track from Porno Graffitti. The boys have 2 BEST albums released in a couple of weeks BEST ACE and BEST JOKER ... I'll have to check them out.

Rating: 8.5/10

Taboo Koda Kumi

This single has been a LONG time coming but it was definitely worth the wait. Koda's Taboo sees her return to the funky, dance tracks that she has been so popular with in the past.


I've loved this song ever since the previews and I'm a fan of Kuu-chan's stuff in general, especially her past two albums. Despite hearing this song, probably a month or so ago and listening to it over and over (and over) again, I still haven't got sick of it. It's such a great song; The chorus is catchy, the verses are catchy, the beat is infectious... What more can I say? I definitely prefer this style for Koda, her voice suits and excells in this genre. The random English throughout is a nice touch, even though a lot of it is hard to decipher without lyrics (ahh Engrish^_^ ~!)

Taboo is everything that a Koda song should be (more of this, please!) and it's already in the mail, heading to me right this moment.

Rating: 9.5/10

REVIEWS: A little bit different this week due to no one single really standing out to me, I'll be doing slightly more thorough reviews of 4 different singles which I thought were all equally good (though not great). They are my collective group of Singles of the Week, and for that reason they all have previews which I'm sure you'll all enjoy!

Guuzen no Kakuritsu GIRL NEXT DOOR

GIRL NEXT DOOR is a new band from Avex and Guuzen no Kakuritsu is their debut single. The band consists of female vocalist Chisa, and band members Suzuki Daisuke and Inoue Yuji. Can I just say that the band's name is slightly misleading. Chisa looks anything but the 'girl next door'! *fans self*


Guuzen no Kakuritsu begins with a really sweet piano intro and for a second you almost think you're going to get a sweet ballad out of this but the instrumental soon drops into a rockier style.
The verses are sung smoothly and there is no denying Chisa has a beautiful voice. It isn't the most unique voice I've heard, sounding a lot like many other singers, but she hits all the notes and it's very pleasant. The step up into the bridge is nice and not too intrusive, with a couple of hooks and a really good change of style leading into the chorus.
The chorus kind of moves onto an upbeat, dancy pop style but it's not too impressive to be honest, at least until the end. The end of the chorus has a few really rock driven vocal lines, where Chisa gives a real punch and it leaves quite an impression for me. I really love female pop/rock songs which utilise such types of lines. They seem to be common but I can't get enough.
The second verse and chorus are much the same as the first which is a shame as a song like this could benefit from some surprises and switches. Oh well. Following the second chorus we get an awesome rocky instrumental section which is kinda the highlight of the song for me lol. Oh look, here comes a synth vocal bridge, how original...
The final chorus brings nothing new to the table apart from some random synth backing vocals.

I tried to LOVE this song but I don't. It's almost as if the song is a giant tug-of-war; one side being rock the other being pop/dance and both sides are fighting out to become the victor, with neither side winning. You would think that a rocky, pop/dance number would bring the best of both worlds to the table for a wonderful track but for me it doesn't. It tends to do the opposite, attempting to mesh both styles and in the process losing the heart of each style, if you will. There are moments of brilliance, the instrumental and some vocal lines and the song is catchy and will appeal to the masses I'm sure. My problem with the song is that it could have been so much more.

Rating: B

HANABI Mr. Children

HANABI is Mr. Children's 33rd single and the theme for Code Blue -Doctor Heli Kinkyuu Kyuumei-. When I saw they had a new release this week I was a bit confused, thinking I had reviewed them only a few weeks ago and alas I had. Their 32nd GIFT, was released at the end of July and failed to spark much interest in me. Thankfully HANABI is a much more enjoyable venture.


HANABI is a sort of a mid-tempo styled ballad and a nice opening to the Autumn/Fall season. The song starts out with a really nice, somewhat melancholic instrumental which sets up the mood for the rest of the song. The verses are sung in a really beautiful way. I'm not a HUGE fan of the guy's voices but their singing is full of emotion and it makes me forget about anything else. I honestly have no clue what this song is about (fireworks doesn't give much away) but it sounds reminiscent and sort of sad (I'm pretty sure they're saying goodbye to something in the chorus... *pretends to speak Japanese*)
There is a short instrumental and a drum leadup to the chorus which lifts really nicely. Without such a push I feel HANABI could have just drawn along and become a bit boring but the steps within the song are really nice. Once again the chorus is sung with much emotion, very nice.
The second verse has a bit more oomph in the vocals which help continue the growth of the song and the bridge starts of soft and grows really nicely leading up to the final set of chorus' which are introduced with a nice acapella of the first line.
The song ends with the beautiful instrumental again, which lasts half a minute of so, it's a nice way to finish off the song. The instrumental slowly dies away and fades out.

The song is a pretty good indication of a nice Autumn ballad, somewhat laid back with a rich, earthy sounding instrumental. I prefer this much more to GIFT which I found a bit monotonous and bland. The growth of this song helps it overcome this trap and they end up with a good tune.

Rating: B

Kono Yubi Tomare Suga Shikao

Kono Yubi Tomare is written, produced and performed by Suga Shikao and is his 24th single. If I had to describe this song in one word it would be 'funk'tastic', it's just very hip and cool.


This song starts with some infectious bass playing leading into a disco style beat with some strings. I have to admit, the opening has me dancing in my seat as I type this (-_-;) ...
Suga's vocals are raspy which work wonderfully for this song, working even further with the laid back, cool feeling of the song. It's almost like he doesn't care, he's just singing along with the music, not even trying. Not to say he sounds bad, just singing effortlessly.
The verses have some very catchy sections which sadly are missing from so many songs nowadays. In fact Suga manages to create some catchy melodies in all aspects of this song which is surprisingly nice. The bridge leads off the verse really well, almost like it is a part of it.
We totally jump up on the chorus which has beautiful lift (yes I love my lifts) though still retaining the song's laid back atmosphere. A slight downside is that the chorus isn't anymore memorable to the rest of the song. You could look at that as a plus towards the verses or a negative for the chorus. I actually prefer the verses and build to the chorus. Anyway, back to the funky bass beat *dances*
The bridge of this song really brings the song's tempo and instrumental back down. It's only short but effective in creating another level to this song. The instrumental quickly grows and we get a nice violin instrumental section before heading back into the final chorus'.
The song fades away *eventually* with lots of la la las and humming.

Like I said, this song manages to be hip and cool without seeming to try very hard which can ultimately be very difficult for a performer to do. A downside is that it substitutes any real oomph for this laid back style, and while some sections are catchy, it all ends up melding into one continuous beat with no real distinction within the song's sections apart from the bridge towards the end of the song. This may be a plus for some but it works against the song in repeatability, at least for me. I prefer songs which have that catchy, definable chorus and this song just doesn't have that. That being said, I did really enjoy this track and it made me dance which is always a good thing. Very cool!

Rating: B

miss you Yuna Ito

The final song this week is Yuna Ito's beautiful ballad miss you, her 11th single.


miss you starts off with the sound of waves crashing on the beach, very sunset summer-ish which is perfect for this time of year; Summer has just ended and Autumn is beginning (In the northern hemisphere at least). Nice timing there from Yuna.
Ballads can easily be VERY boring but this song manages to be catchy, sweet and beautiful at the time. The first thing I notice about this song is Yuna's vocals, they are just so pure and wonderful. There is this unique fragility which aids this song's melancholic overtones.
The verses are simple, with the instrumental softly growing behind the vocals. The pre chorus build opens with beautiful high notes which are repeated throughout till the chorus. The bridge gives off the feeling of needing, reaching for something which is displayed through Yuna's vocals, especially in the higher sections.
The chorus is the winner here, with repeated vocals it is surprisingly catchy for a ballad. To be fair the chorus ventures towards a faster tempo and the whole song flutters between slow and mid-tempo but whatever. The final line of the chorus is the epitome of the song, "I miss you" with Yuna's flawless voice. It's very moving.
The bridge isn't very different from the rest of the song, which I think works well for miss you. It's such a pure, soft song that any drastic tempo or style change could ruin it. The bridge sounds almost like a 3rd verse but is different enough to distinguish and lift towards a climax.
The final set of choruses start off with a soft instrumental, which shows off Yuna's vocals even further and the songs ends with some vocalisation from Yuna and the beachy sounds again. I would have liked for the song to end with the "I miss you" line, I think it would have left a more lasting impression.

The ballad is beautiful and very good for a ballad. The problem is that I don't think it sounds too different from a lot of other ballads, in fact it sounds really similar to a couple of the Wonder Girl's ballads, mainly due to the instrumental I think. It's still touching and sweet and nice way to say goodbye to Summer. The sun is setting on Summer (well it technically has already set but I'm not sure I'm ready to let it go)... I won't miss some of the awful summer songs though lol.

Rating: B (close to a B+ but needs more originality)

ROUNDUP

All the singles I've reviewed this week are good, but not great. I feel they each have something specifically holding them back, preventing them from being fantastic. I have given them all Bs, I prefer some to others but I'd put them all relatively on the same level quality wise. These Bs are high Bs, very close to B+ but not quite there. I also listened to TOKIO's new single and didn't care for it at all so I didn't even bother >.<

Let me know what you think of this week's releases ^^