
Track Listing
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Angel Night ~Tenshi no Iru Basho~
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GOD KNOWS…
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Seikan Hikou
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Yuzurenai Negai
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Sobakasu
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Ame ni Kiss wo Hanataba wo
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Hohoemi no Bakudan
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Tokimeki no Doukasen
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Give a reason
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Tamashii no Refrain
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Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Power!
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Precure 5, Full Throttle GO GO!
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DAN DAN Kokoro Hikareteku -short ver. (CD+DVD only)
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Don’t say “lazy” -short ver.- (CD+DVD only)
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Moonlight Densetsu -short ver.- (CD+DVD only)
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Sailor Star Song -short ver. (CD+DVD only)
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Fushigi Iro Happiness -short ver.- (CD+DVD only)
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DON’T YOU…? -short ver.- (CD+DVD only)
1. Angel Night ~Tenshi no Iru Basho~
Beginning this rather long cover album, Angel Night kicks things off with an amazing strings opening. Now I haven’t heard anything this strong from Shoko since well…”Tzuzuku Sekai” because of the great mix of strings and rock. Add the fact that Shoko’s vocals are surprisingly strong for a song like this. It’s a great song to begin the album!
2. GOD KNOWS…
So now we have a cover of Aya Hirano’s hit, GOD KNOWS… and since I’m still enjoying the rock side to Shoko, I have to say this is a pretty good cover. To be honest, I might prefer this over Aya’s version since Shoko’s vocals are a bit more capable under rock. I think the guitarwork here is quite awesome though so haha maybe that’s why I enjoy it more.
3. Seikan Hikou
Then we get into the odd sounding covers. Seikan Hikou reminds me of something psychedelic, but retains this synthy sound of today. Now Shoko’s vocals are getting a bit more tighter sounding which isn’t a good direction for her, but it somewhat fits the song’s mood. To me this is kind of not my thing, but it’s somewhat enjoyable.
4. Yuzurenai Negai
As the album’s promotional song, I was surprised she picked one the vocally weak songs instead of something earlier. The ballad-y opening was pretty icky to listen to, but as the rock arrangement and strings mix returned, Shoko also came back, but that chorus is just not good for her. Not too bad, but not that good either.
5. Sobakasu
Then we get into Sobakasu which is just weird all-around. It’s different from what we’ve heard so far being the fact that it’s really poppy and to be honest her worst song yet. Now, I’ve said various times before that singers/seiyuu’s should never bring their seiyuu voice in their main work because it just gets bad…leave them for character singles, not your own work. Shoko’s vocals are really ear-piercing and add the fact she’s yelling is not cutting it either.
6. Ame ni Kiss no Hanataba wo
Hmmm…? What’s this song doing here? I mean yeah, it’s a cover but it’s the first time in the Shokotan series of albums that a song was previously released (in this case, this was a B-side on “Arigatou no Egao”). While it’s one of the few songs where I’ve heard the original, this actually stayed pretty close to the original and it’s got that same amount of fun and pep Miki Imai’s did. Song is exciting for sure!
7. Hohoemi no Bakudan
This song definitely has an 80′s feel to it because of the guitar-work, but what got me going was Shoko’s deeper vocals through the verses, it isn’t as shocking like “Shachihata” from Otsuka-san, but this is will make you wonder if you’re listening to the same person. It’s funny that deeper vocals from seiyuus are like crazy amazing. It kind of makes you wonder why they don’t do this more often. So I ended up liking the song a lot.
8. Tokimeki no Doukasen
Strange opening with brass and piano if you ask me. I’m not sure how to take this song, but it’s another one of those odd songs that you really have to get into. Other than the opening, the song is kind of filler-ish since there’s not much to really remember it by.
9. Give a reason
I’m not surprised by the fact that Shoko was going to cover a song that’s been covered a bajillion times. I wonder if Megumi Hayashibara is getting tired of people covering this song. I’ll admit this cover is a bit closer to the original and is the first song to really get dark and use guitar and synths together. Problem with this song, is that Shoko doesn’t sound to excited for the song, but I forgive her since the song overall is great.
10. Tamashii no Refrain
Another one of those songs that’s always covered by someone, Shoko’s version of Yoko Takahashi’s most famous tune, starts off quietly and pretty smoothly before turning into an electro tune which is a first on the album so that’s a plus because she did a whole lot better than what she did to “Give a reason”.
11. Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Power!
I’m afraid of songs with titles like this because it’s usually something really off the wall and strange. However, ZENKAI Power! is actually quite the opposite and while it’s like overloaded with 80′s written on it and features a small rap from Shoko, this wasn’t too bad and I liked the arrangement as well. Cosmic and weird, just as I like em.
12. Precure 5, Full Throttle GO GO!
As the final “full song” off the album, Precure 5 is what I was expecting most of the album would’ve been. You know, full of these cute songs. Oddly enough, I didn’t think this was all that bad and the energy was spot on. Shoko’s vocals are a little tight, but it’s nothing to fully worry about and found myself loving the genki parts. Yay for this song!
13. DAN DAN Kokoro Hikareteku -short ver.-
On the CD+DVD version of the album, the last 6 songs are the openings/endings without stretching into full length. While to many that’s probably a bad thing, but 18 full songs is a lot to handle. DAN DAN Kokoro Hikareteku just seems rather typical and just flies by me whenever I listen along.
14. Don’t say “lazy” -short ver.-
As the most recent song to be covered, Shoko’s take on one of the more popular songs last year, I actually really enjoy the song because of the edgier rock arrangement and of course it suits her. I think Shoko should stick with rock music XD
15. Moonlight Densetsu -short ver.-
Ok, I’m surprised she didn’t sing the full version. While it’s not like the others covers, it’s quite nice and the whole sound felt so cool to me. Definitely a 90′s tune, but always a good one to listen to once in a while.
16. Sailor Star Song -short ver.-
Uhm, of the short songs, I was bothered the most with this one. Shoko is using her cute vocals here and add the uber pop feel to the cover and you get a pretty bad experience. Just nothing exciting about the song to make me warrant another listen really.
17. Fushigi Iro Happiness -short ver.-
Ok, now besides the short ver. of “Don’t say “lazy”, Fushigi Shoku Happiness is my favorite of the short tunes. It might be vocally shrill, but the mysterious sound and kind of fun arrangement does remedy that problem. Once again making me wish it wasn’t so short!
18. DON’T YOU…? -short ver.-
Finally ending the album, DON’T YOU…? is so weird, but it’s not because of Shoko, it’s more of the background vocals in the verses, they were really weird. It’s a fun song for sure, but there’s just something about it that just screamed WAY TOO SHORT!
Tracks Recommended
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Tamashii no Refrain
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Angel Night ~Tenshi no Iru Basho~
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Ame ni Kiss no Hanataba wo
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Precure 5, Full Throttle GO GO!
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GOD KNOWS…
Song of Avoidance
Shoko’s 3rd cover album is actaully quite good if you ask me. There are a few songs that can be passed up because of Shoko’s not so good cute voice and the 6 short tunes prolly was just pure fanservice, but otherwise, pretty strong but I’m still waiting for her 3rd studio album!!!