By 'tomorrow' I meant today (it was like 3am) ;) ... so here are my reviews for this week's new releases: Hey!Say!JUMP's Mayonaka no SHADOW BOY; AKB48's newest single Oogoe DIAMOND; Mihimaru GT's Shiawase ni Naro; and Nakagawa Shouko's Kirei À La Mode!
My blog's been up since July now and I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to review new singles from artists for the 2nd or 3rd time even, and it's quite interesting to compare. This is the 2nd single I'm reviewing of Hey!Say!JUMP's while Shokotan is popping those singles out, her 3rd in the latter half of this year.
Mayonaka no SHADOW BOY Hey!Say!JUMP
I wasn’t too impressed with Hey!Say!JUMP’s last single Your Seed / Bouken Rider, but Mayonaka no SHADOW BOY is actually quite good. The song has a funky beat with a hint of an Arabian flair, which I always enjoy. It doesn't overpower the song, it isn't an Arabian style song, but it has certain moments which keep give it a really unique sound. The verses are quite catchy, thanks to some girl named ‘Cherry’ (I think) … actually I have no idea who Cherry is but they refer to her/it often and it’s catchy. The chorus lifts really nicely and is set apart from the rest of the song. The boys also take their shot at English giving a ‘Shadow’ or two, not too bad. It’s not amazing enough to hook me onto the group but it’s definitely a top notch track and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much of anything; A nice surprise.
Rating: 8.5/10
Oogoe DIAMOND AKB48
AKB48 have been a bit quiet on the Single front this year. This is their 3rd real single of the year (they had some digital one a little while back), but their first since February. I haven’t overly enjoyed AKB48 ‘s singles since maybe BINGO! but for me, Oogoe DIAMOND is quite a *gem* ^_^ ~ The chorus is what wins this single over: it’s extremely catchy, enjoyable and easy to pick up. The instrumental is also really fun and has some nice moments. Vocally I have to say that AKB48 has a lot of decent singers, I’m not certain how many actually lead in this single but they all sound pretty good. It's a good track and I really enjoy this style from AKB48.
Rating: 8.5/10
Shiawase ni Naro mihimaru GT
While we’re on the subject of quiet years, I’ve been waiting 6 months for a new mihimaru GT single and finally we’re here (I didn’t count that SOFFert collab, didn’t like it much). Praise hiroko! :D Shiawase ni Naro is a ballad but with mihimaru GT’s distinctive style; It’s a ballad with a twist of GT ;) The not-quite-but-almost rap verses are really great from hiroko, who is just incredible. She rocks my socks, majorly. miyake’s obligatory rap is also very nice and his beats really make this the great song that it is. Then we come to the chorus which is just beautiful. I really love how hiroko sings it, especially the 'Shiawase ni narou' line , so cute ^_^ ~ This song could melt even the blackest of hearts! :p Did I mention I love hiroko? ... :)
Rating: Song ~ 9/10; Hiroko ~ 11/10
Kirei À La Mode Shouko Nakagawa
Shouko is kind of a hit and miss artist for me. She has a good single, then a couple of bad ones, then a great one, then a bad one … the cycle just keeps continuing. Her last single Tsuzuku Sekai was a good song so, you guessed it, Kirei À La Mode isn’t. This song isn’t necessarily bad and it does have its charms. The chorus is quite cute, I’ll give it that but the song as a whole just kind of drags on. It honestly almost put me to sleep, though I am pretty tired atm. No, I’m pretty sure it’s the song. Better luck next time Shokotan.
REVIEWS: I'm doing reviews a little differently from now on. I really enjoyed the more in depth reviews I did last week so from now on I'll just write very small reviews for most of the releases and then go to more effort and detail for my favourite releases of each week. I've also changed the rating system to an 'out of 10' score which gives me more room. I was finding everything rating as a B, B- or B+ beforehand lol. Anyway, onto the reviews!
Kurage, Nagareboshi Otsuka Ai
Otsuka Ai's 5th anniversary is celebrated by this beautiful ballad. Kurage, Nagareboshi is a lovely, little tune but it isn't anything new from Ai and it's very similar to some more impressive tracks she has had in the past. That being said, fans of Otsuka Ai will probably adore this song and it is a nice nod to her previous styles for an anniversary track.
Rating: 7/10
Kaze no Tegami alan
Kaze no Tegami is alan's 3rd elements single, this time representing the air/wind. Once again alan gets a great budget producing a very professional and radio friendly track. I'm not really certain why she isn't more popular. The song isn't bad but it borders on bland in some parts. I also don't think it represents the element as well as her previous two singles.
Rating: 6.5/10
Glass Skin Dir en grey
Glass Skin is a very original, interesting track from Dir en grey. For a more thorough review check out rockerica's blog. I can't say I'm as enthusiastic about the track as she is, though she seems to be a fan. I do give props to the originality and experimentation. It isn't something I'd generally listen to though, but it is good.
Rating: 7/10
Aka to Kuro no MATADORA / I LOVE YOU wo Sagashiteru GLAY
Aka to Kuro no MATADORA is a Spanish inspired, mid tempo rock track. It has some nice strings throughout and an impressive amount of layers. The chorus is particularly good and very catchy. I'd advise you to check out this track, it is quite good for those who enjoy adult-contemporary rock. Unfortunately the other A-side on this single didn't impress me at all and thus the single isn't a single of the week.
Rating: 7.5/10
I LOVE YOU wo Sagashiteru is a rock ballad. Now I've also reviewed UVERworld's Koishikute (another I Love You rock ballad) below as one of my singles of the week. This I LOVE YOU doesn't even come close, sorry. It's emotional in the chorus but the arrangement and melody is bland and forgettable. The vocals aren't all that flash either.
Rating: 5.5/10
Single/s of the Week
Tsuzuku Sekai Nakagawa Shouko
Shouko Nakagawa is someone I've tried really hard to like because of all her H!P fandom and anime goodness. Up to now I've been very -meh- about her. Her last single Shiny GATE did nothing at all for me. I rated it a C+ because it was so ordinary. Tsuzuku Sekai however is a nice switch-up to a rockier style which is more towards my tastes. Tsuzuku Sekai is Shouko's 6th single and is the theme song for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
The song starts out with a REALLY beautiful melody. I've read some comments from people who don't think it fits well with the song but I do adore songs which have a very delicate opening and then burst out into rock. Tsuzuku Sekai does this really well and the rock beat is equally awesome. OK... the verse comes along and we have to handle that hurdle that is Shouko's voice. Personally, I don't find it good at all. I always have a problem when I listen to original songs and the singer still sounds very pitchy and out of tune. This is one of those songs. On the plus side, there's no doubt Shouko is giving it her all, especially in the chorus. She is able to convey emotion well through her vocals which is great but I'm left feeling that with a better singer this song could have been a real hit. For me, while the voice wasn't great I was able to get past it, kudos to the actual song arrangement for that. I really like the chorus on this track, as I mentioned Shouko gives it her all and it is generally pretty catchy and opens with a bang. The verses are very good as well with a somewhat moody aspect while the pre-chorus has a nice tempo change to bridge towards the chorus effectively. The really winner here is the instrumental which is pretty awesome imo. The whole song has a beautiful pop feel with an edgy rock sound. There are two instrumental solos about 3/4 through and at the end. Both fit in well with the song and don't feel intrusive at all. Originality wise, they aren't groundbreaking but they are enjoyable. Perhaps one quip is that the 3/4 solo could easily be excluded, Shouko offers nothing during the instrumental and it kind of just stops and the song continues, but lots of songs do that I guess. It didn't really bother me. The bridge is a little too similar to the rest of the song but has a nice ending leading onto the final chorus. This is followed by another rock instrumental and then the beautiful melody we heard at the opening, to close it out.
This song has a few things wrong with it: It isn't very original and Shouko seems out of her league with her singing but that doesn't matter much when I generally just enjoy the track. Sometimes you can analyse a song to death and find many faults but still enjoy it. This is one of those songs for me. It has a high energy which is maintained throughout, I really enjoy the opening and closing melodies and the rocky edginess of the song. It's a good track.
Rating: 7.5/10
Koishikute UVERworld
UVERworld have been around since 2005 but I honestly having paid too much attention to them (purely because I've only recently been getting into a lot of new artists). I don't know much about them; I'm kind of going into this review blind but when I heard Koishikute I was pleasantly surprised. This single is their 11th and is a stunning rock-ballad.
Koishikute is beautiful right from the beginning with a sweet orchestral string opening over piano which leads onto a very stripped back, honest acoustic verse. Can I just say TAKUYA's voice is awesome?! It is perhaps one of my favourite male Japanese vocals that I've heard. He has a unique, emotionally driven sound. I really love the little breaks in his voice leading off certain notes. I’m not sure if they’d be as effective in other songs but in this song it adds that emotion that propels Koishikute to another level. He definitely gives it his all and is very talented. Naturally the stripped back verses are beautiful with TAKUYA's vocals leading onto a bridge which is similarly simple and wonderful with a lovely high note at the end. We then head into the rocky chorus which is pretty incredible. The emotion of the lyrics is conveyed not only through TAKUYA's intensified vocals but also the rocky music. The chorus is somewhat catchy which is good for a ballad (Yuna Ito's Miss You did this well too). We then head back to the simple verse which is similar to the first however a marching drum beat is introduced to the pre-chorus this time around which is a wonderful addition. The second chorus then leads onto the bridge which is played over a really awesome guitar solo and drum beat and then drops back to a beautifully simple piano tune. The bridge is actually quite long, it's almost like a 3rd chorus and has many different levels which is creative and keeps interest. The final set of choruses are much more intensified with a lot of vocalisation from TAKUYA and a beautiful closing note. The songs finishes up with a similar guitar/drum beat as was seen in the bridge, some great work from the other members of UVERworld.
All in all, I'm very impressed. Koishikute is a perfect ballad: creative, original and not at all boring. The catchy rock chorus keeps you hooked throughout while the verses move you. I can't speak more highly of the vocals; They suit this emotionally driven song perfectly. The build in the song is flawless, with nice additions of the drum beat in the second pre-chorus and the different instrumentals throughout the bridge. I’ve been harping on about TAKUYA’s vocals but a lot of credit goes to the other band members. The instrumental is incredible. The song's message of saying goodbye to a loved one resonates throughout. It’s quite touching.
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.
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