Mai Kuraki – 24 Xmas time November 23, 2008

Track Listing

1. 24 Xmas time
2. All I want
3. 24 Xmas time (Remix)
4. 24 Xmas time -instrumental-
5. All I want -instrumental-

1. 24 Xmas time

Mai-K and christmas tunes go hand in hand, because her last winter A-side “Winter Bells” was definitly one of my favorite J-pop Christmas songs and to see that she did it again made me happy.  24 Xmas time is upbeat and carries a more apparant R&B sound.  The problem is that she actually returns to this R&B that she’s been trying to get away of somewhat.  There’s a rapper as well in the song, and he’s alright but not the best.

2. All I want

All I want is the winter ballad of the single.  The lack of anything except piano and acoustics does seem pretty bland, but Mai’s voice is so sweet and lovely to hear.  She doesn’t get too crazy with the vocals which she has done before.  I’ve said this to many artists, but I also feel Mai-K has pushed with too many ballads.  So they start to become less memorable by each release, so I’m fearing this’ll also be forgotten.

3. 24 Xmas time (Remix)

I’m not sure why you’d need to remix a christmas tune, but I guess this track has been done.  The remix has a heavier R&B atmosphere, but it’s still basically the same track as above.  I did find the beats to be a little overbearing and it kind of messed up the holiday feeling the song was supposed to bring.  I guess my hopes weren’t too high for this.

 

 

Mai’s holiday single is alright, but it doesn’t hold a candle to “Winter Bells” for sure.  I guess it’s kind of strange to see Mai-K going back to her roots for the single because the song has such an R&B sound to it.  The B-side is alright, but it’ll get old pretty quickly.  Remix wasn’t needed, but I guess it’s needed. 

Gackt – Jesus

Track Listing

1. Jesus
2. Sayonara -ЯR II ver.-
3. Jesus (Instrumental)
4. Sayonara -ЯR II ver.- (Instrumental)

1. Jesus

We actually get a pretty hardcore track from Gackt which is nice and all the yelling is pretty cool.  Gackt sounds pretty good and even though the chorus is a little repetitive, it still comes out pretty well.  Gackt’s yelling of ~Maria~ and ~Jesus~ is so hot and sexy and I don’t think I ever heard him yell like that.  The only downside is that the song is pretty short…

2. Sayonara -ЯR II ver.-

Sayonara is one of Gackt’s older tracks being from his 2nd album “Rebirth”.  I’m not sure what the original sounds like so don’t mind me not knowing real old stuff from him, but this version is very close to being very boring.  I mean his voice sounds kind of empty and with just the piano playing it starts to bore me.  Later in the song, a pretty strong Cello pops in and surprises me with some very intricate playing.  Quite the thing Sayonara needed at this point.  Still, the first half is so boring.

 

 

So, we finally get a new release from him.  It’s been at least a year since last single “RETURNER ~Yami no Shuuen~” and people were definitly waiting on something new.  Jesus finally brings back hard-rocker Gackt in full force.  Sayonara however kind of got boring for the single, but it does have a great instrumental middle.  Stronge how that works.