HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR – Remember October 12, 2008

 

Track Listing

1. Remember
2. Hana Fubuki
3. PRIDE “LIVE MIX 2008″
4. Remember -instrumental-

1. Remember

Wow, I don’t think I’ve heard them being this great since “Ichirin no Hana”.  I mean the production does seem similar to “PRIDE” but Maaki gives her strongest performance and the song really has a somber sound.  Yuusuke sound deathly angry which is so awesome.  The music finally has suited with them very well and it’s definitly one of their best songs.

2. Hana Fubuki

I would have not expected a soft song being the B-side.  It’s definitly a first for more and it kind of sounds pretty nice.  I guess it does make a more statement saying goodbye than “Remember”.  Maaki though should not try for really high notes because they aren’t that good.  Yuusuke actually kinda sings or raps w/e.  A great soft track.

3. PRIDE “LIVE MIX 2008″

Kind of nice that they included their debut with the final Maaki track.  I have no idea where this was performed, but OMG does it still sound godly good.  Maaki sounds pretty strong with the furious riffs the boys are doing and Yuusuke doing his thing very well.  As I’m sitting here listening I’m thinking of the past songs that got them this far.

 

 

What a bittersweet single.  I mean everything is top notch good.  It’s sad that Maaki is leaving the group and I hope they do find a good singer, but she’ll never beat out the energy Maaki brought out within the group.  I wonder how Yuusuke’s actually taking the news.

alan – RED CLIFF ~Shin Sen~ October 12, 2008

Track Listing

1. RED CLIFF ~Shin Sen~
2. Xin Zhan ~RED CLIFF~
3. Ashita e no Sanka (Orchestra Version)
4. RED CLIFF ~Shin Sen~ (Instrumental)
5. Ashita e no Sanka (Orchestra Version (Instrumental)

1. RED CLIFF ~Shin Sen~

 I’ve been waiting for this track to release for so long.  It’s a slow burner, but alan keeps captivating me with her soothing vocals.  Then the instruments come in and there’s strings…OMG.  Already this ballad stand outs from the other ballads in her career so far.  Like there’s something really graceful that’s bringing her out.  After the blazing chorus it calms down again.  What really too this song to a high level was the Tibetan mountain notes close to the end.  Once again she sent shivers right down my spine.  Such a young lady and yet, so powerful.

2. Xin Zhan ~RED CLIFF~

Alright!  For us fans we get the Chinese version of the A-side.  I’m not sure which version I prefer exactly.  I’m noticing though that the Japanese version flows more smoothly while the Chinese has a more fierce punch to it.  Though I think sometimes that she cusses but she isn’t -_-…   Still, it’s basically the same track with a different language.  Problem is that this one failed because there’s no Mountain notes….which totally failed the song *sigh*

3. Ashita e no Sanka (Orchestra Version)

Yep, her debut track gets the orchestra touch and OMG it starts off with the mountain notes which already made me happy.  The orchestra made the song so much more epic and beautiful at the same time.  I’m surprised they put so much effort into the single and what came out was this beaituful rendition of her debut.  How they played when the chorus started was the most slickest thing ever!

 

 

Wow, I am totally baffled.  I mean this single was totally win.  Both RED CLIFF’s were superb new tracks and really brought the ballad a new meaning.  Ashita e no Sanka though was wow!  I mean they really did win with this song which was awesome.  Fire is the element being portrayed and it shows that fire isn’t all aggressive and angry,, it can be a beautiful site as well.  Nice meaning alan

dream – solve October 12, 2008

Track Listing

1. solve
2. sincerely (AQUA mix)
3. solve (Beatwave Anthem Mix)
4. solve (Dub’s Floor Mix Pop Tune 002)
5. solve (Conmo remix 4.17)
6. solve (Instrumental)

1. solve

Use of strings and eurobeat?  Is this possible?  Hahah, I guess it is because once the ladies sing it sort of disappears.  It’s kind of a mish-mash of various sounds and beats which impressed me, but also made the song sound a little confusing and messy too.  I didn’t find this as good as previous tracks so I thought this was a filler track.

 

 

I can’t really bash the single since I haven’t heard the singles, but solve was such a weak song and I didn’t find it’s purpose in the single.  So far this has to be ny least favorite single from them

miyavi – miyavizm October 12, 2008

Track Listing

1. Sukkyanen MYV ~MYV Man Koshiki Ouenka~ (Zenpen)
2. Koi wa Push Phone♪
3. Viva★Viva★Bebop ~Jinsei, Wakaranai~
4. Pop ‘n Roll Koushien (Baseball)
5. Aho Matsuri
6. Sai Sai Sai Nara Byebyebye feat. PSY
7. Ame ni Utaeba ~Pichi Pichi Chapu Chapu Ran Ran Blues~
8. ROCK’N'ROLL IS “NOT” DEAD
9. ♂Papa Mama♀ ~Nozomarenu Baby~
10. Sukkyanen MYV ~MYV Man Koshiki Ouenka~ (Kouhen)
11. Shakespeare ni Sasagu (CD Only) or Rock no Gyakushuu ~Super Star no Jouken~ (CD+DVD Only)
12. Freedom Fighters -Icecream wo Motta Hadashi no Megami to, Kikanjuu wo Motta Hadaka no Ousama- (CD+DVD Only)

1. Sukkyanen MYV ~MYV Man Koshiki Ouenka~ (Zenpen)

Something about the song is a little messy to me for being his first major label song.  It’s a little less shocking to hear since miyavi is singing in a lower tone than normal.  He’s screams are totally weird as well.  It’s so grungy and like totally different from his last album already and then it fades when it finishes.  Definitly didn’t expect that.

2. Koi wa Push Phone♪

Now this is what I wanted.  A very loud and fast track.  Miyavi sounds a lot more grittier in his vocals which totally shocked me.  Also, his guitar playing has gotten more advanced for obvious reasons.  Luckily it’s what I wanted and this song is awesome.

3. Viva★Viva★Bebop ~Jinsei, Wakaranai~

A more interesting rock track.  Viva Viva Bebop really has some wild things happening.  Miyavi I know is having so much fun doing this track and his vocals are like right on.  His constant whoohooing also showed it also.  The guitar riffs are so cool and really made it stand out from the album early on.

4. Pop ‘n Roll Koushien (Baseball)

OH!  So the beginning does sound like he was at a baseball game about to perform.  There’s also a clapping beat that easily could fit in it.  Then you hear the crowd cheering before the song really starts up.  I sense a good sense of swagger and smoothness within the song that I really enjoyed as well.  Another great track.

5. Aho Matsuri

~oooo~ like one of those japanese ones you know?  I thought having taiko drums start off was great, but they they are dropped for a medium-paced rock track.  You can hear the Japanese culture all over which is so awesome.  I think this could be his cleanest song in the album right now, but it’s so catchy!

6. Sai Sai Sai Nara Byebyebye feat. PSY

~Hallo~ Definitly returning to real hard rock, miyavi decides to feature someone in one of his songs?  I’m guessing he’s the BKGD singer which is alright I guess, but this song is the first track that really got me annoyed because the music isn’t really well put together and the chorus that only consists of the title will annoy you pretty bad.

7. Ame ni Utaeba ~Pichi Pichi Chapu Chapu Ran Ran Blues~

Odd, I’m hearing water running before the music comes in and miyavi repeating ~Pichi pichi chapu chapu ran ran blues~.  It’s another of those that it could annoy you after a while.  Musically it’s more quiet than the last track and a lot easier to hear miyavi.  I kind of found the song very bluesy which is a nice change of style as well, since he rarely did that back in the days.

8. ROCK’N'ROLL IS “NOT” DEAD

~I am Rock~  I think that’s pretty true since he really brought this song to life with his pretty fast playing.  The drummer is also losing his mind since it’s another feature that sticks out from the song.  The chorus though, oh god was that a mess…I mean it didn’t flow good. but everything else is….weird…

9. ♂Papa Mama♀ ~Nozomarenu Baby~

To be honest, this was the only track I knew off the album and it still is frickin awesome with it’s march style entrance and how epic it sounds altogether.  It’s got some pretty interesting stuff and when miyavi gets angry, he says fuck!!!  His English is OK but it’s no brownie pointage from me.  There’s something that I hear that might be bells or something, but it was really good.  My fav track.

10. Sukkyanen MYV ~MYV Man Koshiki Ouenka~ (Kouhen)

The interlude happens and it’s just on giant guitar solo.  Hey, nothing wrong with that at all.  Then there’s some weird and eerie and miyavi starts singing again which was like the other way around at the beginning.  Genius move!  I still love the haunting keyboard here and then it’s led into either our last track or a single

11a. Shakespeare ni Sasagu

Yep, the last track on the CD only is an acoustic ballad.  I missed his acoustic driven tracks and it’s great to see.  miyavi’s voice through the whole album to me has felt a little deeper to me, which I’m noticing pretty harshly with the song.  It does show his work on the guitar and he impresses me so much.  Then he talks for awhile which was like…..huh?  Still great way to end the CD only

11b. Rock no Gyakushuu ~Super Star no Jouken~

I love that evil laugh at the start.  miyavi sounds possessed as well which was so pretty sweet.  I think this one has to be his angriest on the album.  His growl/scream really was prominent and really kicked the song’s elusiveness really well.  I still think this was another one of the better tracks and I’m glad it was a single.

12. Freedom Fighters -Icecream wo Motta Hadashi no Megami to, Kikanjuu wo Motta Hadaka no Ousama-

Why do you have to name a song sooooo long.  I didn’t really like the song that in the first place, because it just didn’t seem interesting and it sounded like a few of the tracks on the album.  I guess it was only on the album just because it was a single.  I guess I can’t really hate on it for that.

Tracks Recommended

• ♂Papa Mama♀ ~Nozomarenu Baby~
• Aho Matsuri
• Rock no Gyakushuu ~Super Star no Jouken~
• Pop ‘n Roll Koushien (Baseball)
• Viva★Viva★Bebop ~Jinsei, Wakaranai~

I seriously thought I wasn’t going to enjoy the album since he’s now on a major label.  That made me think twice because a lot of these tracks were just as good as some of his past works, let’s hope he can surprise with the next album

HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR – Days October 12, 2008

Track Listing

1. Days
2. Seek

1. Days

I guess they were smart enough to bring strings back for another song.  It’s still like rock/pop instead of the hardcore stuff like “OVER” and “PRIDE”.  There’s just something that I do like with the song.  It probably it’s Maaki’s singing or the happy feeling of the song.  Yuusuke to me didn’t really sound to good here which luckily he wasn’t featured as much.

2. Seek

Obviously Seek had to be the better song…The beginning starts off calm and scary before Yuusuke does his scream.  I actually love the dark sound of Seek which shocks me.  The guitars are still pretty angry and full of life and there’s strings also which is always great!  One of the cooler tracks of the era.

 

 

HandMC’s final single of the era ends kind on a strange note being that the B-side was way better than the A-side, It’d make a pretty good album track because for gosh sakes it’s not on it.  Let’s hope the next era is good.

BoA – LOSE YOUR MIND October 12, 2008

Track Listing

1. LOSE YOUR MIND feat. Yutaka Furukawa
2. Smile again
3. LOSE YOUR MIND (Instrumental)
4. Smile again (Instrumental)

1. LOSE YOUR MIND feat. Yutaka Furukawa

I knew this would’ve been aggressive since you know that Yutaka is part of DOPING PANDA so I was like thank the heavens that she’s bringing sexy back.  The song has nice fun touch and there’s energy in BoA’s vocals and the guitar solo is so beyond me.  The only downside is that well the lyrics are bizarre and nonsensical to the english language.  Still the music and BoA’s vocals are top notch!

2. Smile again

Talk about a twist, we get a majestic ballad…She has too many ballads in her discography as well, which kind of kills because it must sound like something previous and such right?  Her vocal are pretty good here, except the chorus is so loud…overpowering the music itself….I think she could have quieted herself a little bit, but it’s a pretty strong performance and the music is quite simple and cute.

 

 

BoA’s 3rd single for “THE FACE” is her best one of the four.  Both the songs are pretty different from each other and both complimented each other.  One being the sex drive and the other the beauty as well.  Awesome that both songs are on the album!

 

Rina Aiuchi – Kaze no Nai Umi de Dakishimete October 12, 2008

Track Listing

1. Kaze no Nai Umi de Dakishimete
2. little grey mermaid
3. Kaze no Nai Umi de Dakishimete -instrumental-

1. Kaze no Nai Umi de Dakishimete

Another ballad as an A-side?  I’m already getting bored.  There’s strings present and it creates a sort-of somber and sad side to the song.  So the first half of the song is just a ballad, but it picks up pretty quickly in the 2nd verse where the percussion comes in and boost the song up.  That’s where I started liking this track.  In the end, I think it came out pretty well.

2. little grey mermaid

I like how this tracks starts out with some mystery in it before it came into another pop track.  Sadly, this would be a track that I didn’t find appealing.  Rina still sounds pretty good, but I was kind of turned off that point you know.  The guitar riff is probably its only saving grace.

 

 

Rina’s 3rd single for the era didn’t really stand out for me.  Finally, I’m disappointed in a B-side more than an A-side!  I still wonder why this is her most memorable track (I think there’s others that were so much better).  little grey mermaid is prolly my least favorite track of the era, but who knows 2 more singles.

Rina’s Colors: Grey