my little album review. Taken from LJ and EDITED
[edited as of 2010/08/20]
..
1 - Moving On (3.5)
[I've grown to like it. I think as an opening song it's really good. The chorus, as I said is catchy as hell and that's what grips me to this song. I doesnt' make a spot on my playlist but when I listen to the album as a whole I always feel very energized and eager to hear this song again.]
2 - Muda Ue Wo (2)
[Eh.. my opinion hasn't changed. I don't like this song. That doesnt' mean I dislike it but.. it's just not my style. If I hear it I don't mind and i certainly never skip this song but it's not something I would listen to alone. I applaud them for trying something so dark though]
3 - refrain (3.8)
[I've grown to like this. I wont' give it the rave reviews everyone else seems to be giving this song but it's good. Surprisingly, it has managed to worm its way onto my playlist so congratz. I don't really care about lyrics - so skip that - but the melody, the tune, at first it seems boring but after listening to it over and over I find it is a very catchy song. It's not as fast as other songs I prefer but somehow it still pulls me along. Also I find the sound of the song very relaxing.. someone said it reminded her of rain. I agree, when I hear this song i think of a dark, rainy night and empty streets with a single street light shining.... I can imagine a PV for this song xD]
4 - Troublemaker (3.5) - IN THE ALBUM
[I have a love-hate relationship with Troublemaker... especially in this album. This song is catchy as hell but one-to-many listens and i get tired of it. In the album.. somehow it doesn't seem to fit to well either in my opinion. It's just a bit too upbeat sounding to match with songs like Refrain etc. etc. Nevertheless as a single it's a good song but not a preferred one. ^^;; Catchy as all hell but like I said - one-to-many listens (and karaoke runs) makes me tired of hearing this]
T.A.B.O.O (4.5)
At first I thought this song was alright. Then I grew to like it and now I positively love this song. I think, after Yume de mo Ii Kara it's my most favourite Sho solo. It's hot, sexy, sizzling (the lyrics are just downright dirty)... and it's catchy as all hell. The chorus.. the lines, the way it's sung. Everything about it just makes me want to sing along with it. The rap is a bit lack-luster, sounds... very bland. ^^;; I like rap with a bit more of a tune, like in Kitto Daijoubu or Sakura Sake. But overall - hot and sexy and cannot wait for a con performance (in which I imagine a half-naked Sho looking like how he did in his CUT shoot from 2008)
6 - Circus (4.8)
[I said this was my most favourite song and then I heard Gift and for some reason this song was forgotten in my review. And then I heard it again. Gift might be my most favourite ballad but for up-beat - Circus is brilliant. My two most favourite songs tied back-to-back. It's dark, but not as dark as Mada Ue Wo and it's catchy and gives you this mysterious, magical feel. Like you're on a drug high going through some twisted, colourful, carnival-esque hallway, spinning around and.. being high xD. It's mysterious. I imagine darkness along with the colours.. like a sub-dued image. Damn, I'm going way out with the imagery, but this is a GREAT song. Catchy, mysterious, dark, just the right amount of everything to make a perfect song <3 ]
7 - Gift (5)
[My last review was a bit uncomprehensible due to the massive fangirl attack I had after hearing MatsuJun's voice singing the first time and sounding beautiful while doing it. A lot of people don't seem to like Gift or they just fly by it but THIS is my most favourite song of the single. It's beautiful. Not too slow to be boring and just... wonderful to listen to. It's calming, soothing. I picture them standing somewhere high (maybe in the sky?), singing their hearts out like how they sang 5x10, surrounded in whites and the faintest hint of soft blue... *sighs wistfully* - a beautiful song]
8 - Everything (4)
[I've always liked Everything and I think it actually suits the album well. Better than Troublemaker does - or maybe it's the placement that this song is in? Who knows, but even as a single I like this song. It's refreshing. The PV of this song is pretty much how I picture the song except.. maybe a bit more grass and meadows and sunshine. But it's a beautiful song, catchy, up-beating, up-lifting yet with a slight hint of maturity.. (ie - doesn't sound like Kitto Daijoubu crack xD), I want to say it's my most favourite single in this album but I feel like I'm betraying Monster]
Come back to me (4 - and you read that right)
Let me set this straight - synthesized songs? Not my style. Not my style at all. That's why I hate K-POP but.. FU#$ this song is so catchy, oh my god. From the minute you hear the beginning line "1, 2, 3 I will set you free" i'm completely hooked and I don't know why. I just can't help singing along and bobbing my head to it. The only thing that I don't like is the part when he does the "crowd-shout" thing and when he raps. ^^;; At first I would skip those parts, now I just kind of... tune out of them, sometimes I laugh. yeah - one thing.. this song makes me laugh, HARD. Sometimes I just burst out giggling when I sing along. But not my favourite solo - despite my rave reviews and the fact that I gave it 4/5 - the parts that I dislike are a really big negative in terms of "favourites". The 4 really doesnt' mean much because I have a bias for solo songs xD Especially for MatsuJun solo songs *cough* yeah - i have no ears - shoot me now.
10 - My Girl (3)
[When i first heard the song in My Girl and saw the PV, I liked it. It was a sweet song, catchy enough and what not but aside from being a theme song it's pretty lack-luster. Generally I like theme songs so it's always no my playlist but I dont' really react when I hear it. It's just a song... I don't love it, I mean.. I like it... enough and I don't dislike it surely. I really don't have much to say.. ]
Magical Song (5)
So, as I said before, favourite solo. Which is ironic because I dont' listen to it half as much as I listen to Ohno's or Nino's solo. In fact I listen to this song the least. But when I hear it I love it and it will be my favourite. It's so different from Hello Goodbye or Friendship and yet it still sounds.. the same. It's up-beat, cute.. magical. Like honestly, i imagine disney when I heard this. Aiba singing in front of Disney castle with Mickey Mouse and Tinkerbell flying around him, I'm not joking. I just find this song adorable.. and I don't know. It captures me.. it's just so.. Aiba. <3
12 - Let Me Down
[uh... I don't.. really like the song. It's not memorable - cannot remember what it sounds like after listening to it, nothing stands out and I just don't like how it sounds. ]
13 - Monster (5)
[<3 <3 <3 - i dont' think any words are necessary]
14 - Don't Stop (0.5)
[Like Let Me Down yea.. not memorable, don't like it. But this one actually gets a score because it sounds marginably better. It's actually catchy when I hear it but one the next song comes along - completely forget about it. ]
Shizuka na Yoru Ni (4.5)
Yes - Ohno did not get a 5. You read that correctly. It's a beautiful song.. but.. it's one of those songs that are just a tad to slow. When I listen to it I love it and I often repeat it over and over but oddly I can't seem to give it a perfect score. Possibly because out of all of Ohno's solos.. I find Take me Faraway and TOP SECRET so much better. Shizuka na Yoru ni is undoubtedly a beautiful ballad and a wonderful display of Ohno's vocals, no doubt. As a song it's a 5 but as to how much I like it compared to his other solos.... now that's not a perfect score. It's not a bad song but like I said, a little too slow. It reminds me of rain as well.. but it's not as dark as refrain. Reminds me of soft, drizzly rain... i can imagine Ohno singing this on the street surrounded in light grayish hues, singing.... *another wistful sigh*
16 - Mukae ni Iku yo (5)
[Just as in my last review, I loved this song and I still do. It's a awesome song. It's slow, yet fast and soothing but with just enough pep to it to be called POP and it's up-lifting but not like Happiness... this song is just so good. It's not as dark as circus either. it's just.. so.. mature sounding and calming. I don't imagine rain with this, but I imagine many dark-blue-ish hues in my mind. I just love the way they are singing. The constant, soft, ups and downs and when they go into that... what is it called... a falsetto? I don't know musical terms but when they all go and hit that high-note in the chorus.. *shivers*. Sounds so good... yeah, dark-blue-ish hues.. solemn setting.. walking into a starry sky with a sun beginning to rise... breathtaking. and the "ooh" part at the end........ *yet another sigh*]
1999*4##111 (5)
This.. song was a surprise. The sound I mean. When I first read the title I imagined something along the lines of Gimmick Game, but when I learned what the title meant I thought it would be a ballad. But no, I was surprised, this sounds glaringly close to Himitsu and I love it. I LOVE Nino's voice in this, how he goes up and down and hits those notes and sounds so good... and the lyrics are so cute. The chorus is catchy as all hell - i can imagine flaily Himitsu-ish Nino dancing happening here. It's such a cute song, cute and touching. And the fact that Nino wrote and produced this himself adds bonus points. Not as good as Niji and Konseki but those are slow songs, as a fast, more up-beat solo this is one of my favourites of Nino's.
18 - Sora Takaku (3)
[Now let me be honest. I liked Sora Takaku when I heard it at the end of Saigo no Yakusoku but eventually... yeah, the like faded. I never got the hype with this song. I mean it's a good song, definitely, but I don't follow a majority of othe fan's love for this song - it's not THAT good is it? But as to the actual song.. it's nice, it's like Mada Ue Wo. Except it's more my style - just sounds.. kind of... boring. ^^;; I dunno. I don't find the song nearly as catchy nor as memorable as their actual singles (although I'd rather this than To Be Free >.>). When you hear the lines after the chorus.. I always think disco's 70's music. It's not like I imagine NEWS Koi no ABO style but.. somehow I just think "DISCO". The rap is.. nice... i guess, I never actually make it that far into the song before I skip onto... ]
19 - Kagero (5)
[I know the majority of the songs on this album aren't SLOW but none of them are necessarily FAST songs either - except for Kagero which is my style of FAST and I LOVE THIS SONG. It doesn't beat ouf Gift and sits on the same pedastal as Carnival maybe a bit higher because like I said - my style of speed to a song. It's the right speed, memorable, the background tune is amazing. What can I say - it sounds like an anime theme song and I love anime theme songs. <3. This is what I would want as an anime theme song from Arashi. Fast, Action, Adventure, that's what the song sounds like. I can imagine barren sand dunes and the hint of Arashi travelling through their own anime adventure to find some all-powerful-armageddon saving stone.. *sigh* Now if only my wish for an Arashi-Anime would come true *laugh*]
20 - Summer Splash! (2)
[Uh... I don't know what to say. THIS song really reminds me of DISCO 70's when I hear the opening instrumental.. and then they start singing and that imagine is replaced by a pool and Arashi shirtless and I'm gone. xD It's true, this song is the stereotype of Arashi/Summer and it sounds nice but so generic and thus... not that memorable either. I mean, the chorus is catchy when I hear it but after ... I never really feel a need to listen to this song again? It's better than Let Me Down and Don't Stop but.. it's just... not that great? Lots of people seem to like it, I guess cause it's so generically Arashi but it's a subdued generic. If I want fast-pace summer I would go for something along with Happiness. ^^ Also the style they're singing really doesn't... yeah, I don't really like it that much in this song.]
so... the bottom line to sum this thing up?
....
I'm.... what can I say? At first I was kind of disappointed with this album. I mean, as you can see the scores for the songs aren't over the top and some of them did get depressingly low scores (below the 50% mark) but... after listening to it for so long I have to say that overall as an ALBUM I really enjoy it. Listening to it from beginning to end, all 20 songs, all together in one package, it's a great album. Not as good as TIME but.. it's getting there.
Honestly, this is probably my 2nd most favourite album.. although I liked ONE quite a bit as well. Maybe they're tied? I mean, it's true, the amount of songs I actually liked are.. quite few (and highlighted in pink minus singles - but you can tell which single I liked xD) but.. overall, like I said, the whole package? It's good. I love how they mixed up the solos as well, feels like a concert then. ^^ And I have to say, love all the solos, all of them 100% love them, there is no solo that I dislike and all of them made it at least in the top 3 of my solo list.
so as a whole packaged album - despite some of the songs getting terrible low scores - as a WHOLE PACKAGE.. I'd have to honestly say? 5/5. ^^ I like the single that much. The colour scheme as well, the blues and greens? Reminds me of the Vancouver Olympics and being a vancouverite I'm biased. Haha.
it's a good album, I would recommend this actually, to people. This album and TIME would be good albums to recommend to non-arashi fans. <3
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