
Track Listing
-
Jesus -ЯR II ver.-
-
Suddenly
-
No Reason -ЯR II ver.-
-
In Flames
-
Sayonara -ЯR II ver.-
-
GHOST
-
Blue Lagoon ~Shinkai~
-
Oblivious ~Kao ni Nai Tenshi~
-
My Father’s Day
-
Koakuma Heaven
-
Faraway ~Hoshi ni Negai wo~
-
Flower ~ЯR II ver.-
-
LOST ANGELS
CD2
-
RE:BORN “ZERO’S MAIL”
1. Jesus -ЯR II ver.-
While it is the first single of the era, Jesus was touched upon on this album and since it is the only single with his normal “Gackt” name pinned to it, I was wondering what changed about it. Jesus was surprisingly hardcore when I first heard it last year when it was first released. I love the energy and since it’s a new version, the only thing that was added was an extended ending which felt like something that would end a tour performance or something. Still a great track after all this time.
2. Suddenly
I still don’t know if I really like Suddenly since the “LOST ANGELS” single, so w/e. It tones things down after “Jesus” that’s for sure, but there’s just something that isn’t really eye-opening or even interesting here. It probably was because of his monotone vocals here that didn’t work for me.
3. No Reason -ЯR II ver.-
Why did No Reason get the new version huh? Well not really, it just had a small extended opening. Also found on “LOST ANGELS”, I thought this track did a way better job than “Suddenly”. The aggressive guitar riffs and GACKT’s more echoey vocals worked better and at points it reminded me of “BLACK STONE”. It’s interesting nonetheless and has gotten better with each listen.
4. In Flames
One of the best B-sides of the era, In Flames is a great song and I’m happy he included the song for the album. I’m not sure that placing it right after “No Reason” was the smartest idea, but whatever, this creepy song is amazing and GACKT’s vocals are stronger.
5. Sayonara -ЯR II ver.-
So we get a rearrangement of a song that was rearranged to begin with???…Confusing right? Well, the 3rd version of Sayonara has a long opening which explains the extra minute. It just sounds like GACKT was walking and opening a door that leads into this song. It is the only track that didn’t originate in the era so I thought that was cool, but did we really need this track, even though it’s a pretty ballad especially when the strings come up.
6. GHOST
GHOST definitely does not belong on this album period LOL. Between this and “Koakuma Heaven” they both have a strong electronica feeling and like I said kind of doesn’t fit on RE:BORN. I’ll admit, GHOST is one of my favorite songs released this year. It’s got a great feel and with GACKT under vocoder, it just totally made the song epic. I wish they’d give this song another verse because it felt short and too much in the instrumentation.
7. Blue Lagoon ~Shinkai~
As the fellow B-side to “GHOST”, Blue Lagoon felt like it would’ve been great to listen to after “In Flames”. It carries a little bit of synths in the song, but it feels like a great mixture of GACKT and his wild vocals. It’s a little weaker than other B-sides, but it’s not too bad.
8. Oblivious ~Kao ni Nai Tenshi~
While “Faraway” was the worst single released in the era, I liked Oblivious. It was a bit different than what he released in the era at the time and acoustic/epic chorus definitely worked for me. There were times that his vibrato was rubbing me the wrong way but it’s oddly enough one of the better ballads.
9. My Father’s Day
One of the B-sides I was pretty happy with, My Father’s Day sounded great with it’s edgy rock form and GACKT sang it well, except for his accent in English was quite off. The whole ~thank you, daddy~ at the end was/is still a little strange, but I guess it was a nod to Ken Ogata…one of the stranger things GACKT has done in his career.
10. Koakuma Heaven
Like I said on “GHOST”, Koakuma Heaven really doesn’t fit on this album. This time though, it’s the lyrics and pure randomness this song is. I mean even hardcore GACKT fans would probably agree that this song came out of left field. It’s got GACKT heavily on both auto-tune and vocoder which is weird, but the arrangement is chaotic. It’s a pretty good song, but it still makes me go 0.o
11. Faraway ~Hoshi ni Negai wo~
Honestly, I don’t like this song for some reason. It might because of the heavy mix of acoustic and rock altogether. Or it could be GACKT’s vocals as well. I swear there’s something in the song that just turns me off, but the clapping is quite cool. Not much else to say here.
12. Flower -ЯR II ver.-
Flower also got to have a new opening, sadly I don’t know what GACKT is saying, so the new beginning just flies over my head. The acoustic background is nice though. It’s got a strong rock feeling, but by this point in the album, I’m already getting tired of the similar songs here. It did wake me up after “Faraway” so I can give props to that right?
13. LOST ANGELS
Ending the album off awesomely, LOST ANGELS was probably the 3rd best song of the era. It’s really beautiful and makes a great album ender. IMO, this should’ve been the FFXIII tie-in song because it just feels and makes more sense than “Kimi ga Iru Kara”. Best guitar solos are found here and GACKT sounds amazing in the verses.
CD2
1. RE:BORN “ZERO’S MAIL”
While I didn’t download this, it’s just a story with GACKT, Nana Mizuki, and another guy whose name I can’t remember. When I looked at it, the story lines with up as 25 tracks which is hellishly crazy. Maybe someone can tell me what’s the story about or something?
Tracks Recommended
-
GHOST
-
Jesus -ЯR II ver.-
-
LOST ANGELS
-
In Flames
-
Koakuma Heaven
Song of Avoidance
GACKT should HAVE NOT done that 4 singles parade. It seems that the 4 singles were a mixed bag of good and bad while the main singles were quite awesome. I can only wonder if the previous 3 singles, “REDEMPTION”, “No ni Saku Hana You ni”, and “RETURNER ~Yami no Shuuen~ will ever get to be on an album, but RE:BORN is alright if you come in thinking that the four singles in 4 weeks didn’t happen LOL