PASSPO☆ – CHECK-IN December 13, 2011

Track Listing

1. Boarding
2. Shoujo Hikou
3. Kiss=Suki
4. Hello
5. Street Fighter
6. Turn Round
7. Material Girl
8. Uhae!
9. Starting Over
10. ViVi Natsu
11. Jaa ne…
12. Hakana
13. ROCK DA WEEK
14. See You Again
15. Hareru yo

1. Boarding

Marked as the introduction, Boarding sounds really cool for some reason with a darker electronic start.  Now I don’t know the members at all but one of the starts talking like she’s welcoming us to the album which is a nice start I say.  At the end all the members shout ~PASSPO, TAKE OFF!!~.  Which I’m sure is a nod to there first album, “TAKE☆OFF”…Nice!

2. Shoujo Hikou

Fitting to make the first full song be the group’s first major label A-side.  Then again it has the record of being at the top of the Oricon charts and then the next week crashing all the way down to #102.  DAMN.  Getting back to the song at hand, I really only remember the song because of the whole ~yeah yeah~ parts.  I mean it’s an alright song but “ViVi Natsu” totally took over as a much better track.

3. Kiss=Suki

The first new song on the album, Kiss=Suki is of course going to be much cuter than the last song but I’m ok with that because this song has such a good chorus.  It’s just catchy and full of life and brings is a lot of good stuff.  The rest of the song like the verses are a bit weaker and kind of is forgettable but at least it’s remedied with that awesome chorus.  I’m rather on the fence for this song, but in the end I think I’ll grow to enjoy it all the way through.

4. Hello

I’m starting to worry that the arrangements aren’t really gonna change that much since I’m beginning to get that stale feeling at the fourth song of the album.  Hello does have strings amongst pop/rock melody and I’m just kind of meh with the song since it also reminds me of “Shoujo Hikou” in some respects.  I’m also noticing no solos through the ladies yet…quite absurd if you ask me xD

5. Street Fighter

At least something different steps up when we get to Street Fighter.  It actually sounds different from the previous three tracks and there seems to be parts that have dual parts (or where one girl sounds louder than the other).  I actually enjoyed this song because of its more angsty arrangement and better vocals.

6. Turn Round

The opening for Turn Round does sound like a great song for chanting and such.  It kind of goes back to the earlier songs with such a typical pop/rock melody that kind of bores me.  This one didn’t really work because the bridge to the chorus was awkward and the girls didn’t sound as vocally great either.  I’m not really into this song unfortunately.

7. Material Girl

~material girl…~…Yeah, our next song kind of goes back to “Street Fighter” with the whole angsty feel with gritty guitars and vocals (which it sounds like some of the members aren’t even a part of it).  At first, I thought it was pretty good, but then the chorus happened and I was quickly turned off.  Another song that’s probably left better for touring.  At least it’s nice to hear solo lines here…but that’s bout it.

8. Uhae!

To be honest, I could’ve lived without any of the B-sides from the era making the album’s tracklist but here we are with all three making it.  “Shoujo Hikou’s” B-side is first and at the time when I first reviewed this, I liked it a bit more than the A-side but since then and on this album, it’s a bit like some other track on the album which at this point makes me disappointed, but this is kind of catchy…even if the vocals aren’t up to par.

9. Starting Over

I got “Street Fighter” vibes once again for Starting Over which is pretty much punkish but with girls singing together.  I didn’t think they could make a song sound so plain but they managed it with this one.  Like I’ve said numerous times, the chorus is just so 1-dimensional and bland…but the verses actual had hope…but yeah ruined…

10. ViVi Natsu

Trying to shake off this boredom of this album comes the second A-side released and I really liked it when I first heard it.  There’s a lot of elements that really stood out to me and just sounds a whole lot like their whole shtick of being flight attendents (even though it’s a summer song).  It still picks me up after the amount of meh songs which is good because I needed it at this point!

11. Jaa ne…

Then like on the “ViVi Natsu”, the next track after the A-side is one of the two B-sides from that single.  Funny enough, I think they should’ve placed this song towards the first half of the album since it’s happy-go-lucky presence sounds like it should be there and not towards the end.  I will say the song actually stood out to me a little bit but I’m not sure why since it’s kind of the idol pop that I find bland.  It’s alright, much better than some of the album tracks TBH.

12. Hakana

It seems like the album is getting more interesting towards the end since a song like Hakana popped up.  It took the stuff that the album has used throughout and made it a bit more poppy and slightly synthy as well which gives it a happy and peppy feeling (like “Jaa ne…” but less typical).  It’s fun and I hear ~PASSPO☆~ being used at least once which is interesting lol.  Pretty good song!

13. ROCK DA WEEK

Yeah the other B-side from “ViVi Natsu” makes an appearance and I’m kind of shrugging this song since I’m not a fan of it though on the album it actually stands out because it has brass in its arrangement and the girls are singing a bit more brazenly.  I will say the chorus has grown on me even though their singing bout the days of the week and such.  It’s short but sweet.

14. See You Again

As the album’s longest song at 5 minutes, See You Again to me should’ve signified as the last song since the title kind of has that ending quality to it.  It is also the closest we get to a ballad on this album which is sad but it’s alright since I liked the acoustic guitar feel of the song with a lil bit of electric in it.  It’s alright, but like the other songs, it doesn’t have longevity.

15. Hareru yo

The actual final track, Hareru yo is kind of unfitting to close the album since it’s peppy like the other songs but not as much because it slightly has the closing feel.  It’s alright but nothing to notable in this song.  It’s just plain for me.  I don’t know why but this shouldn’t have been the final song on the album.

Tracks Recommended

• Street Fighter
• ViVi Natsu
• Hakana
• ROCK DA WEEK

Song of Avoidance

• Material Girl

I didn’t have high hopes for PASSPO☆’s second album (first major) and sadly my low expectations really showed me that I was kind of correct on how I was going to feel about the album.  I will say that the album is pretty consistent on the upbeat tunes (no true ballads, but nothing very ballsy as well).  There’s a couple of good songs, but otherwise, I was disappointed in this one x.x

UVERworld – BABY BORN & GO/KINJITO

Track Listing

1. BABY BORN & GO
2. KINJITO
3. UVER Battle Royal ~5/L6S mix~

1. BABY BORN & GO

Recent days have seen UVERworld trying some new ideas and sounds and they come at a head with BABY BORN & GO which the most prominent feature is the amount of saxophone here.  I know it’s been used quite a bit in the “LIFE 6 SENSE” era, but this is pretty much making the sax important along with TAKUYA and the rest of the band.  I actually liked the song a lot and it’s so different yet the same from them, I think it makes a good formula for a good song! 

2. KINJITO

I was a little surprised that KINJITO in comparison to BABY BORN & GO is a bit brighter and spazzy when compared to their A-sides they’ve released so far.  It’s a little jazzy and a little rockin’ all thrown into a blender and we got this.  It also sounds like there’s a guest singer in the song (the female vocalist).  Though she isn’t there very much and TAKUYA takes over.  It’s pretty good and to me a little better than “BABY BORN & GO” to be honest.

3. UVER Battle Royal ~5/L6S mix~

So just like on “CORE PRIDE”, we get another one of these mixes which include various songs from UVERs collection.  Though they mixed the music up to where that you can only figure the songs just through the lyrics.  I hear “NO.1” for sure which was the first one I caught.  Some of the song is a little messy, but the last one also was just a little bit as well. 

 

 

UVERworld begins their new era with a pretty strong double A-side in BABY BORN & GO/KINJITO.  The first really shows off the saxophone and mixes it with UVER’s J-rock style and it gave a lot of color to the song that “CORE PRIDE” wished it showed more of.  KINJITO is also kind of unique to the group throwing saxes and a female voice in the works was interesting.  I think the only song that brought the single down a little bit was the UVER Battle Royal because while it features muliple songs from UVER’s catalog, it was a tad messy in the arrangement.  Otherwise, great single from the band here!