misono – Zasetsu Chiten July 26, 2008

Track Listing

1. Zasetsu Chiten
2. black & white ~Kuroi Sunglasses Kaketa Hi Kara~
3. Zasetsu Chiten -instrumental-
4. black & white ~Kuroi Sunglasses Kaketa Hi Kara~ -instrumental-

1. Zasetsu Chiten

What can I say about Zasetsu Chiten?  I mean it’s probably one of her best tracks since “VS” I know it’s her debut track, but nothing from her since has made me appreciate female J-Rock until I heard this.  It’s very in-your-face and misono shows perfect emotion.  It’s her best effort thus far.

2. black & white ~Kuroi Sunglasses Kaketa Hi Kara~

Enter the more darker track, black & white is doesn’t have as much force as the A-side but shows a big difference in sound.  With loud bass and strong vocals, but the chorus kind of sounds messy to me.  Still, I think it really made for a good B-side.

 

 

misono’s 3rd single for the “Sei -say-” era was really a ppwerhouse of a single.  Zasetsu Chiten was omfg powerful and wowzers.  So, both do make it on the album which is great!

Rina Aiuchi – Forever You ~Eien ni Kimi to~ July 26, 2008

 

Track Listing

1. Forever You ~Eien ni Kimi to~
2. Rosemary
3. Forever You ~Eien ni Kimi to~ (Jelly Wong Mata Leao Mix)
4. Forever You ~Eien ni Kimi to~ (Instrumental)

1. Forever You ~Eien ni Kimi to~

I think it’s her first ballad A-side and actually it’s a pretty one too.  Rina sounds pretty strong singing along with the piano.  Then it goes into a rock ballad and it was a kind of strange thing to do.  Rina sounds great even that super high note.  It’s not something you hear from Rina this early in her career.

2. Rosemary

Rina trying to be BoA again?  Well, she tries with this R&B flavored track.  It’s still very awkward to hear her try this kind of accompainment, the addition of the E. Guitar does make it sound pretty cool.  The sudden strokes of the strings also create a pulse in the song, which took me by surprise for sure.  I actually enjoyed this track a lot!

 

 

Wow, this single was a new turn for Rina since we have a rock ballad and on the other side we have a hard R&B track.  They both carried so much coolness and is probably the 2nd best single of the era “Run up” being the 1st.  Sucks that she never puts her B-sides on her albums *since most of the time they’re better anyway*

Ai Otsuka – Daisuki da yo. July 26, 2008

Track Listing

1. Daisuki da yo.
2. Friends ~Sakaban ver.~
3. Daisuki da yo. (Instrumental)
4. Friends ~Sakaban ver.~ (Instrumental)

1. Daisuki da yo.

Another ballad single, Daisuki da yo. has a little less flare and keeps it in a nice slow tempo.  I kind of thought this was a step down from “Kingyo Hanabi”.  Then again Ai has so many ballads it’s almost crazy.  She does sound stronger however so I guess that’s a good thing.  Strong ballad from Ai.

2. Friends ~Sakaban ver.~

A great strong ballad from Ai, it has a strong guitar following which is a surprise for me.  Since the album version of Friends is orchestrated, this is the rock ballad version and I kinda like it a lot better than the album version.  Ai sounds pretty good though she can get nasal at some notes.  What a nice B-side.

 

 

Daisuki da yo. was a pretty single though the title track isn’t one of her best ballads it’s still good for being one.  Friends however made this single shine with its great rock arrangement!  I’d recommend listening to the single.

dream – reality July 26, 2008

Track Listing

1. reality
2. reality (Dub’s Warp House Mix)
3. send a little love (BEATWAVE REMIX)
4. reality (EUROBEAT MIX)
5. send a little love (Happy Euro 2000 Mix)
6. send a little love
7. reality (Instrumental)
8. send a little love (Instrumental)

1. reality

I actually was surprised at how much it sounds like some of dat’s stuff in this song.  The strong guitar and synth usage.  It’s a bit less memorable as the other singles however because of how similar it is arrangement-wise to them.  It is a happy track though.

2. send a little love

Then comes the B-side and truthfuly, I was liking the more lower sounding synths.  The bridge was kind of cool because it had this twinkling sound.  The girls sound a bit different with the BKGD vocals helping out.  It’s still a dance tune however but a very awesome one at that.

 

 

dream’s 5th single was little disappointing in the A-side since it really didn’t stand out for me but send a little love really ante uped the single with its awesome trance sound.  Thank god both are found on “Dear…”