HANGRY & ANGRY – Kill Me Kiss Me November 20, 2008

Track Listing

1. Kill Me Kiss Me
2. Angelia
3. GIZA GIZA
4. Romantic ni Violence
5. WALL FLOWER

1. Kill Me Kiss Me

Yep, you guessed title and promotional track.  We begin this mini with what I liked to call…(What the hell!) Let’s look at who we’re talking about Yossie and Rika previously in Morning Musume and ex-H!P decided to group up together and go totally goth on us.  Anyway to the song, it’s surprising that they put this out.  The song is very rock and interestingly there’s a evil to it that is so awesome.  Yossie makes this work with her more deeper voice and definitly devoid of the idol-like sound she used to have.  Rika on the other hand is still sounding very girly.  Put them together and you do get an interesting sound.  They even vocodered there voices at the end of the chorus which was strange.  Definitly one of the cooler tracks this year.

2. Angelia

Angelia is like “Kill Me Kiss Me” but more focused on the synths rather than the hard guitars.  Sadly, this does sound like what Morning Musume would do given the chance to darken their identities.  This really isn’t that bad and the darker synths give it life.  Rika though kind of ruins because of the idol voice of hers.  There’s a cool bell part that leads into an awesome guitar solo.  What does Angelia mean anyway?

3. GIZA GIZA

Kind of a hectic piano start, but there’s even more synths found here than the last two tracks.  It also seems a bit upbeat after the underlying dark stuff.  I have to say both girls really sound great here.  Sadly, the chorus was a hot mess.  Like they are singing really fast and the slow down near the end of it.  The verses however are the memorable parts of the song. 

4. Romantic ni Violence

Starts off kinda mysterious, but then it becomes a more clappier “Kill Me Kiss Me” luckily, the bass really stands out the beginning and the girls get better here as well.  The best parts are the verses because of the drum/bass moments…So awesome.  The chorus also is very catchy as well.  Even the clapping seems fun and easy to hook easily.  Best song here right now.

5. WALL FLOWER

Now this seems to be more along the lines of Morning Musume.  It does sound less aggressive as the previous tracks and is prolly the most upbeat track of the mini.  It’s another really good memorable track from them.  The only thing that I didn’t enjoy was why did it end with this track?  I would’ve put it after “GIZA GIZA” for more connections. 

 

 

I was totally surprised by this.  After seeing the PV for Kill Me Kiss Me I was doubting that the album was gonna be a flop, turns out this mini-album was really good even though it’s 5 songs.  All 5 songs that I really enjoyed and I’ve haven’t had that.  The great thing is that H!P isn’t even backing this up which is super awesome.  I hope this isn’t a one time thing because Rika and Yossie are an awesome duo…maybe Makoto Ogawa could join too.  LOVE HER!  *RECOMMENDED*

ANNA TSUCHIYA inspi’ NANA (BLACK STONES) – ANNA TSUCHIYA inspi’ NANA (BLACK STONES) November 20, 2008

Track Listing

1. rose
2. Without You
3. zero
4. scream
5. Take me out
6. Kuroi Namida
7. I’m addicted to you
8. LUCY
9. rose -Street Live Edition-
10. Kuroi Namida -TV Live Edition-

1. rose

rose sounds so friggin hardcore starting this otherwise “concept album”.  Even though the song sounds pretty much like “LUCY” this song sounds a lot less wild and more controlled.  Anna sounds pretty cool and husky and rose is becoming a quick favorite.  Love the rawness of the song.

2. Without You

Continuing on, Without You is definitly more or less what the previous track showed off.  I did think the song was a little dark as well mostly because of the lyrical content of the song.  The 2nd verse did become messy with the added bass…Luckily, it goes away once the bridge starts.  Borderline metal, if you ask me XD.

3. zero

I’m really starting to tell this album is very sameish already as with zero is still practically hard rock.  Even though the song is a bit shorter than normal the song shows off Anna’s sexyness and it sort of works but the music seems to cover it sadly. 

4. scream

Well, the song does start with a little music until the scream is heard.  What seperates this from the other tracks is that Anna is singing through a megaphone which is pretty interesting.  The scream does hurt my ears though so that really isn’t a good thing.  It seems to drag to the chorus and even then it isn’t anything super special. 

5. Take me out

We slow things down a bit for our next track.  ~I was waiting for someone to take me out~.  That’s does sound pretty depressing and knowing Anna this does come as a surprise to listen to.  I actually really like the song, it’s pretty catchy and when it gets into the instrumental parts the song gets a little dark and then pops back to just being rock.  Also, noting it’s the last new track.

6. Kuroi Namida

As being the only japanese-titled track, it’s also the only song with full-on Japanese.  Kuroi Namida is actually slower and could be considered a rock ballad.  Anna does hit some interesting sour notes and I think she is trying hard, but the song is definitly a nice listen.  IMO I like the “Deep Sadness” version more.

7. I’m addicted to you

I guess we needed to amp up the adrenaline rush, because I’m addicted to you flys in through and kicks so much ass.  The riff is so good to me and how Anna brings her energy into the song definitly worked for me.  To think this was a B-side was totally not a smart move because this was better than “Kuroi Namida” on the single. 

8. LUCY

Damn, after the great B-side, we get the great A-side.  LUCY defines hard rock and crazy riffs and sound all in one tune.  After hearing that the song was musically created by American artists, I was surprised what came out of it.  Anna is definitly showing off her version of “girl power” and it’s so good.  Definitly something I miss as of recent.

9. rose -Street Live Edition-

In other words, it’s a live version of said track.  rose still sounds great and hearing the audience in nd out of the song is great for Anna.  I think she had so much fun singing this live.  She actually sounds good live as well.

10. Kuroi Namida -TV Live Edition-

In other words, practically the same thing…Maybe it was off NANA, like taken straight out of.  She sounds oddly quiet through the verses and there’s still those sour notes that I don’t exactly enjoy.  There’s more presence from the electric guitar which is cool.  I guess these two track to good finishing this off.

Tracks Recommended

•  LUCY
• I’m addicted to you
• rose
• Take me out

If your looking for rock, this is your album.  Anna does this genre very well, and going to the next single…it’s quite strange why she didn’t stick with this.  Even though there was only 4 new tracks, they were hard hitters as well…a few weren’t that good, but listenable.  Oh yea, LUCY reviewed 3 times?  How ridiculous XD