day after tomorrow – lost angel August 10, 2009

Track Listing

1. lost angel
2. Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto
3. more than a million miles
4. lost angel -Instrumental-
5. Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto -Instrumental-
6. more than a million miles -Instrumental-

1. lost angel

lost angel began pretty differently than their previous efforts with strings and a darker touch than normal dat.  That is before Misato (guitarist) comes in with a harder drive than normal.  Even misono gives a pretty good performance as well and Daisuke plays 2nd fiddle in the song.  Then after a while it seems like the song isn’t really going anywhere and has the same rhythms going on.  Yeah, I really started to get tired of it pretty quickly.

2. Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto

However, Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto is leagues better than “lost angel”.  For one thing it’s tie-in with the Tales… series is already one good point for them since “Starry Heavens” was also a tie-in through the series.  I really love Misato’s guitar riffs all over the song and could be one of his best tracks.  Even Daisuke (keyboardist) plays a bit more broader here and mixed with misono, they really made an epic track to begin the era off.  Makes me wonder why this wasn’t the A-side in the first place. 

3. more than a million miles

Oh the lulz factor.  This track had a tie-in to the movie “Day After Tomorrow” and hey what’s the name of the band?  Already from the start you can feel the melancholic sound and oddly enough an acoustic one at that.  Everyone knows misono can’t do ballads, especially as of late, but I really like this track and misono isn’t horrible which is a first.  Best ballad of misono, probably.

 

 

dat begins their final era with lost angel, but seriously the title track is pretty meh and overshadowed by both of its fellow B-sides.  Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto is catchy, spunky and full of dat power which is great and is one of their best B-sides.  more than a million miles was also great and showed off misono in a ballad in a good light.  Pretty good way to begin the era (minus the A-side)

misono – Tales with misono-BEST June 10, 2009

Track Listing

1. Starry Heavens
2. Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto
3. VS
4. Lovely♥Cat’s Eye
5. Ninin Sankyaku
6. Tales… (bonus track)

1. Starry Heavens

We begin this mini-album with a dat track which kind of beats the purpose of a “just-only misono” song.  I continue to not find anything that’s really special about this song, but I guess since it is the bands most well-known track, I can’t argue with that.  misono does sound pretty good overall and I quite like the fact that she isn’t screaming her head off.

2. Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto

Oddly enough this was my first song that I ever heard from day after tomorrow and misono, so I’ve easily fell in love with it.  Why it wasn’t an A-side surprises me (which by the way this was a B-side from “lost angel).  Now this is a pretty sweet track borderlining epic because misono is just right for the song and I love the guitar riffs in the verses and the after chorus.  I have to say one of my favorite songs from them.

3. VS

Then we leave dat for misono’s solo songs and VS is up first.  Everyone states that there hasn’t been anything quite that good in misono’s career since this song, which is actually false because there’s others.  VS was a pretty nice debut overall and she sang it with pretty good vocals compared to “end=START” which I’ll agree her vocals are not as good as they are here.  I really like this track and its accompanying PV.

3. Lovely♥Cat’s Eye

Whee, the cat song comes up next and I really don’t see how this track got a tie-in through the Tales series.  Like “VS”, this track has some very exciting moments and I love the chorus to death since it’s all loud and all the various cat moments made the song even better.  I do hear some guys voice in the background during the 2nd bridge…I never heard that…well whichever, this song is still good.

5. Ninin Sankyaku

The only song to actually have Tales in the PV, Ninin Sankyaku was a breath of fresh air in the second era because this was just damn good and I was happy to hear something epic.  I really love the after-chorus where she’s backed away from the microphone, that was just too cool misono!  Still, this track was just a great song to represent the games and it shows.

6. Tales…

OH!, here as a bonus is a new track from misono…Though as I listen along to the song it actually screams day after tomorrow especially comparing the arrangement against “Ninin Sankyaku”  Actually, looking at it, it might be an unused song from the group because misono does sound a bit younger and the song sounds a little aged.  The song though sounds like a mix of the mehness of “Starry Heavens” and guitar moments of “Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto”.  That’s not good thing either, since the track is pretty boring still.  Oh well, but I really do think it’s an unreleased dat track.

 

 

misono’s first best-of doesn’t exactly scream NEED TO BUY, but it’s a good collection of songs from the Tales series.  I do think misono’s solo stuff outshines the dat stuff and that shows that misono is doing better sounding off as a solo artist rather than being in a group….(imagine if misono was still in dat, it’d be like GND).  The new track was different, but y’know give credit where it’s due….it’s a dat track xD

day after tomorrow – primary colors February 23, 2009

Track Listing

1. Starry Heavens
2. Time Machine de Tsuredashite
3. Fitness
4. Show Time
5. Itazura na KISS
6. CURRENT
7. Shoujou no Mama de Ita Ano Koro
8. regret
9. wind flower ~spring ephemeral~
10. Dear Friends
11. These Days
12. It’s My Way
13. Hotarubi

1. Starry Heavens

If we have to, begin the album with the most well-known track.  I still don’t see where the whole, awesomeness factor comes in.  I fount the song to be just a little on the boring side and doesn’t have a big surprise in it at all until the guitar solo.  Definitly could’ve began the album more louder.

2. Time Machine de Tsuredashite

Our first new track off the album is probably more along the lines of what I wanted this album to start with.  We actually hear the guys get some singing parts which is good because misono definitly needed some backup.  It’s funny they put in a censored beep.  I was like what the hell is that about, haha.  It’s quite catchy, but the arrangement could’ve been more exciting.  Good track though.

3. Fitness

My prayers were answered with Fitness which did sound pretty cool right from the start.  Even though there isn’t anything exactly groundbreaking at this point.  It’s the usual fare of the combination of synths and guitar.  misono sounds a little dead in the song right up to the chorus.  I guess this is just a filler track for the album.

4. Show Time

I still laugh hard during the song’s first lines.  It’s so hectic and just them having fun with the song.  On the single, it sounded pretty different and so random and it continues to be so damn random on here as well.  The chorus is nicely done by misono and the band using arpeggios…though the transitioning between the bridge/chorus/after chorus is very questionable, it still has a cute charm to it.

5. Itazura na KISS

You know what, IMO this is dat’s best in their entire discography.  The main thing I remember about this song is how much I’d love to karaoke with it once Inuyasha ended.  Just like the previous track, they are having tons of fun for this song and c’mon the riffs are just so cool here.  I think misono sounds really cool here too and doesn’t rely heavily on that crazy vibrato.

6. CURRENT

Returning from the same single “Itazura na KISS” was from, CURRENT was the more serious one.  Once again it seems that it’d be a bit better had it been left on the single.  It’s just like the other tracks, but once again it’s used to split the happy songs, so CURRENT did its job right. 

7. Shoujou no Mama de Ita Ano Koro

Is it coincedence that I’m starting to feel the same just like I did with GND’s debut album?  Like how the songs are starting to sound the same and not enough difference between the songs.  Shoujou no Mama de Ita Ano Koro proves that theory because NOTHING makes it stand out at all.  The chorus reminds me of “CURRENT” which is a bad thing because that track was right before it…the solo though was nice though.

8. regret

See, regret is something this album needed.  It’s what we’d call a rock ballad because the synth aren’t as important as the other instruments this time, such a great change of sound.  I think misono sounds jsut right with this song and if she wanted to, she could cover it in her solo career.  I have no idea why she hasn’t yet, it’s the best of the new tracks.

9. wind flower ~spring ephemeral~

However, the last new track on the album sounds like the return of a more fierce “CURRENT” which is what I really wanted and I got it through this pretty sweet track.  misono is pretty loud and the guitar wailing  just somehow attributed to this songs great power.  I thought it sounded a bit American, but in a good way. 

10. Dear Friends

I’m still surprised at how wintry it starts off and things pick up so quickly for the chorus and dies down again for the verses.  It has a very topsy-turvy arrangement and the guitar riffs are so cool and are very reminescent to a future track of theirs.  What saved the song from bein just another one of their typicals was a stronger presence of actual piano.  Cool!

11. These Days

Why, oh why, did you have to add this song on the album.  There’s a few good things to point out and it’s mostly for piano inclusion, but the song is suffering from the boring syndrome.  It does sound like something that should’ve been on their first full album, but on here it seems like it wasn’t produced fully enough.

12. It’s My Way

Even though the song is a secondary A-side, I thought this was a bit more meh.  I mean with the songs beforehand having a very similar arrangement, come closer to the end, this song is just made worse by inclusion on this album at a very late time.  There’s nothing special here anymore….Best left on the single for sure. 

13. Hotarubi

Hotarubi is a very appropriate song, to finally end the album up.  It just has ending properties that signals the closure.  The single was a good idea, but it kind of was weird paring up with “Show Time”.  At least it makes sense now, so I can appreciate it more than before

Tracks Recommended

• Itazura na KISS
• regret
• wind flower ~spring ephemeral~
• Dear Friends
• Hotarubi

dat’s sophomore album, is a minor step-up from their 1st full-album.  I found that a lot of the tracks were very similar to one each other, but it’s nice to know that there was equality between the singles and new tracks (even though it was heavy with single tracks).  I did miss the fact there was no piano-only ballad though, but we’ll see with their final album.

day after tomorrow – Hotarubi/Show Time January 26, 2009

Track Listing

1. Hotarubi
2. Show Time
3. Hotarubi (instrumental)
4. Show Time (instrumental)

1. Hotarubi

I think what made this song stand out was the long string opening.  The song is the usual fare of dat, which is synths and guitar riffs controlling the song.  The song can be considered a ballad since it’s slow moving and even though the song is pretty forgettable, it made a pretty good A-side.

2. Show Time

~1 2 3 got a hajimaru boyfriend…”  It’s definitly a playful track representing the other A-side.  Even though the song sort of parallels “Itazura na Kiss” the lyrics are pretty funny especially in and around the chorus where the rhythms of misono show and it’s really good.  There’s still better tracks that they’ve put out that’s this upbeat.

 

 

dat finally finished this era off with what could be the meh one.  It’s not bad, but at the same time it wasn’t really anything new that we heard previous this.  Hotarubi was the rock ballad and Show Time was the more upbeat coupling.  Useless single though as both tracks are on their album.

day after tomorrow – Dear Friends/It’s My Way December 30, 2008

Track Listing

1. Dear Friends
2. It’s My Way
3. Starry Heavens (Orchestra Version)
4. Dear Friends (Instrumental)
5. It’s My Time (Instrumental)
6. Starry Heavens (Orchestra Version) (Instrumental)

1. Dear Friends

I’m hearing jingle bells again…I really don’t like where it was going until the tempo sped up instantly in the chorus and then slowed down again when the verses started.  The guitar riffs reminded me of their other track “Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto” and some of GND’s stuff.  I still like the other than that.  Definitly wasn’t a song I was expecting from the title.

2. It’s My Way

I would’ve thought that this’d be the ballad, but I was wrong once again.  It’s more of the same pop/rock found in the song.  misono sounds a little nasally, but it’s usual. There’s less going on and a bit more simplistic in arrangement, but still a good song from GND….I mean dat. xD   

3. Starry Heavens (Orchestra Version)

I wish misono resang this because it’s just awkward having no changes in vocals but add strings.  Even then it isn’t a full orchestra version because there’s still guitar.  No synths though, just those two things and drums.  That’s not really a full change.  Even then, I’m still not fully into “Starry Heavens”.  I do love the guitar solo with the strings, however.

 

 

dat….where’s our album?  This double A-side was definitly the upbeat one and the one that really is similar to GND’s stuff which I blame the keyboardist for making it all sound the same.  Anyway without the assumption, this is a good single overall

day after tomorrow – moon gate November 26, 2008

Track Listing

1. Starry Heavens
2. Neverland
3. These Days

1. Starry Heavens

I guess for gamers, this is dat’s most memorable track.  It was the theme for Tales of Symphonia and well you guessed it it’s full of energy.  Now, it isn’t as catchy as other tracks, but how the song sounded overall was great.  I mean I’m still wondering why this was the most memorable track from them, it isn’t exactly anything to brag about.  misono sounds quite nasally throughout and it definitly isn’t at the top of favorites.

2. Neverland

So that’s how misono came up with the title of her debut album.  It starts out with quite an impace and sounds pretty regal than the song turns into a track were the synths are more in front than the other sounds.  The sad thing is that the song is pretty monotonous with misono doing the vocals.  The chorus just seemed to drag on by.  The verses were definitly better and after a while the chorus does become catchy.

3. These Days

Ugh, this song definitly the worst on the single.  I mean it’s the slowest of the three but is the most boring of them as well.  misono tries hard to be exciting, but with everything coming at a slow pace, it just wasn’t enough.  The ~whoa’s~ were also too much for the song and it annoyed me to no end.

 

 

Wow, after hearing all that praise for Starry Heavens, I thought I would’ve liked it.  Instead, the song isn’t a song people should be raving about because it just wasn’t as memorable as last single’s “DAY STAR” was.  Neverland is the best of the three, but not too high on my favorites.  It also is another track that doesn’t make it on “Primary Colors” and only is seen on there “Complete best”.  These Days will also baffle me and in not a good way…I’d pass this single up

day after tomorrow – DAY STAR October 7, 2008

Track Listing

1. CURRENT
2. Itazura na KISS
3. Smartly

1. CURRENT

I was surprised that this song was so good.  misono’s up and down-ing the chorus was definitly a feat for her and it sound so bad.  As usual the guitar riffs and mixture of rock and pop really works for them.  Against the other upbeat tracks however, it comes off as a little stale and maybe a little boring but on the single it’s a good 1st track.

2. Itazura na KISS

Their most recognizable track comes through this song as it was a tie-in for the anmie Inuyasha.  Another upbeat track but focuses more on the synth this time rather than the guitar.  This is the track that really made me like them a lot since this song is very catchy and hard to get out of your heart.  misono has great energy throughout and her vocals are powerful for a song like this.  I think this was their supposed A-side for the single, since this does have a PV for it.  ONe of their bests of their career together.

3. Smartly

Three upbeat tracks on one single?  I think this track is more calmer than the two before and musically it’s a good guitar driven track.  Once again, misono delivers with some power and her voice isn’t so bad.  Though how she says ~Smarrrr-telll-eeee~ Yea, it’s not good.  Other than the random bad English, it was pretty good

 

 

For the first entry for the “primary colors” era this was downright surprising.  All three tracks are wildly upbeat and has some of the catchiest guitar and synth riffs.  CURRENT does become a little on the bland side once songs like “Yuri no Hana” and “Kimi to Aeta Kiseki” come out.  Itazura na KISS would be the best track off the album with it’s playfulness and yet interesting music.  Smartly is the odd one out of the bunch because like one of the next tracks on the next single, it doesn’t appear on the album and only appears on their “Complete Best” album which is weird.  Together, it’s a high quality single.

day after tomorrow – elements September 22, 2008

Track Listing

1. High-Spirit
2. Time Of Destiny
3. Arifureta Nichijou wo Sutete
4. Sentence
5. Stay in my heart
6. Oval
7. Losing myself
8. FUNNY DAYs
9. Morning glow
10. grow
11. naturally
12. flower of youth

1. High-Spirit

We start this album with the oldest track which was a bonus track found in the “DatII” era.  It still is great song and made a great opening.  misono still sounds great singing with this and the band as well.  Cool

2. Time Of Destiny

A weird start to our 1st new track.  It sounds like very classic like 70’s pop or something like that.  I blame it with the keyboard just because it has so many different sounds to it.  misono this time sounds a little off here but then again her voice is in a higher register.  I got to say though this is a pretty catchy pop track.

3. Arifureta Nichijou wo Sutete

OMG, now this is what I’m talking about.  The music is so much fun and full of life, add some cool synths and a pretty good guitar riff and we get this awesome track.  misono sounds pretty serious in the song and it corresponds with everything else thats going on.  Though it’s shorter than I wanted it to be it’s probably my favorite song on the album so far.

4. Sentence

Sentence is like what the later songs will sound like mostly.  Slow opening before opening to the main melody and then starting with the lyrics.  I enjoyed the guitar mostly in this song with its guitar riffs.  misono sounds a little more calmer than “Arifureta Nichijou wo Sutete” but it doesn’t bother the song at all.  The synth line is pretty catchy too.  Another great track.

5. Stay in my heart

As one of the singles, this song was a good choice for a single, but I would’ve put “Sentence” as a single instead.  It’s a tad slower but in production it’s actually a pretty good song.  Though it’s weird to hear piano as the verses and everything else is the chorus.  Still it’s a lot of people’s favorite song from this era.

6. Oval

I wished it was a full song.  All it is is just a piano interlude into our next song.  Though I do like how nice the interlude is and its simple.  Nice and it ends like immediatly into

7. Losing myself

Right into this very in your face track.  I mean it’s got some pretty aggressive strikes from the keyboard.  Though I found myself annoyed with those strikes after awhile.  At least it isn’t covering misono much.  She’s kind of filling in the gaps when it doesn’t strike which is so good.  Not the best track but I like misono here.

8. FUNNY DAYs

Weird idea for a song to have such an odd beat and melody.  Eventually the song gathers its momentum and we’re left with a guitar riff and drums playing with misono in her normal range.  It’s actually not that bad of a song.  The chorus is pretty sweet and how she ended the chorus on a minor note was funny.  Hence the name right? 

9. Morning glow

A more haunting piano interlude.  Morning glow I enjoyed more as an interlude than “Oval”.  Though I don’t know why they would have two in the first place only after two song in between.  Funny how it’s like a long opening to our next track.

10. grow

I didn’t notice the song changed into “grow” until I heard misono started singing in this rock ballad.  There’s some beautiful strings in here and it made the song so pretty to listen to.  A very great ballad comparing to alot of the past tracks.  Everything seemed to flow well in the song even the bridge was was lyrically faster.  Awesomeness.

11. naturally

I found it to have naturally near the end a pretty good idea beacause I couldn’t have thought of a better place to put it.  As it is another single I thought this was a pretty good song comparing it to “Stay in my heart”.  The only thing I griped was how they ended the chorus.  It just didn’t seem right there.  Other than that it was a pretty good song.

12. flower of youth

To end the album we have this odd pop ballad.  It’s slower than “naturally” but there’s like some strong sounds filling the song.  Though I kinda found this song to be on the boring side of things.  misono also did too, she doesn’t didn’t really sound like she wanted to do this tune.  Oh well…..

Tracks Recommended

• Arifureta Nichijou wo Sutete
• grow
• Sentence
• FUNNY DAYs
• naturally

dat’s first full album was OK at best.  There were some great songs and there were songs that needed some work on.  I do like how at that time no one really sounded like them at all.  They still today sound so different from any other acts out today.  Wished they reunited. 

day after tomorrow – Stay in my heart August 18, 2008

Track Listing

1. Stay in my heart
2. naturally
3. Stay in my heart -Insturmental-
4. naturally -instrumental-

1. Stay in my heart

Rock ballad!  Yea, this song sounds pretty awesome in the beginning then the guitars leave and we’re left with a beat, piano and misono.  Hmph, I still think she isn’t so good at ballads.  Then again the chorus shutted me up pretty quick where she sounds great.  Though I didn’t like the verses that much I loved the chorus.

2. naturally

Yea, naturally is what the song should be called because it’s naturally a dat-usual song.  So it’s pretty memorable for me.  Since, I like the upbeat tracks they release, this song was pretty cool.  Best part was the end of the chorus where it has some cool synths and misono finishing the chorus.  Way better than “Stay in my heart”.  The only part I gripe is the ending, it was just ended on a horrible note, this same problem is found on a previous track “for you” also.

 

 

Wow, this single was actually pretty awesome.  Though it’s the usual fare of sound from them.  Rock ballad and a pop/rock track.  So either way they both appear on the album, so it’s rather useless to get the single now. 

day after tomorrow – day after tomorrow II July 31, 2008

Track Listing

1. futurity
2. rosy girl
3. My faith
4. Hello, everybody!
5. melody
6. after all…

1. futurity

Ahhh, the 2nd single of the era appears first and truthfully is a good starting song.  It’s got such a cool beat and definitly something fresh at least to everything that came out at the time.  A beautiful track indeed.

2. rosy girl

A more beat-driven song, rosy girl is an alright song with a consistent beat, but it doesn’t really stand out for me.  I thought I heard this same production somewhere.  The synth solo however was a nice surprise but it didn’t really help this filler track at all.

3. My faith

 Then we get into our winter track, My faith.  I still think it was awkward for misono.  Her vocals just seemed not in a good place here, and well c’mon it’s misono for gosh sakes.  It was boring too lol.  I’m pretty sure they could rework it better.

4. Hello, everybody!

Surprise!  This silly track appears and it’s like very catchy.  The music is wild, fun, and almost too outrageous.  misono is definitly having fun too making perfect sense.  The chorus is a bit catchy to me and I catch myself humming along.  The best track of the mini-album.

5. melody

Going back to slow down the mood is melody, our rock ballad.  It’s one of the standout tracks because of their use of synths.  It’s kind of lacking in something, but its an alright tune and the synth solo once again made the song XD…strange

6. after all…

The final song is a ballad of course.  It’s a bit better than “melody” of course, and I actually enjoyed misono’s vocals in here.  I would’ve been happy if this song was a tie-in for an anime.  A nice finisher for the album.

 

 

dat’s 2nd mini-album was a bit like the 1st one…Which i was kind of disappointed to hear.  Luckily the new tracks were alright, but not at their best caliber.  Luckily, it’s their last mini-album