I just KNEW avex wouldn't let us fans off this easily. Somehow no releases for a few months sounded awfully suspicious.

And so! They came up with a DIGITAL SINGLE. Crazy arses.

After much trouble and help from a friend, I managed to buy the damn things off HMV. It was a pain and a half that I shouldn't even bother talking about.

Anyways, here's a review and streaming links for you to listen to.

Song Number 1 - Crash



This was one of the better songs in this single, mostly because Urata was the main voice in this one, and I am biased. xD

But preferences aside, this one was still a good listen for a few reasons. For one, it at least had a melody you can hum to. Try humming a song you like, if the song doesn't sound much like a song after you hum it, it's not melodic enough for me.

This song is pretty much a rock song that is still pretty upbeat, which is a vast improvement from the boys' first horrible try at rock, also known as Soul Edge Boy. Somehow, this is the kind of song you would jump and scream to at concerts. It even has special parts for you to scream "YEAH!" at. Fun song, but could get tired very easily I'm assuming.

This song sounds like a song KAT-TUN would sing, but let's not go there, lest we spark off the whole avex VS Johnny's debate again. Ok, let's just go there for a little while. I think AAA does a magnificent job with this song that KAT-TUN can never match, but they will never be as successful as KAT-TUN because well, they aren't in Johnny's And Urata is too old to be there too. xD

Song Number 2 - BET



Hidaka takes the bulk of this song with his rapping, and he does a really good job at it. Although truth be told, only a select few would understand what in heck he is rapping. I still can't figure out what he rapped in CRAZY GONNA CRAZY, "And day and night we feed you rice"...?

There are a few lines here and there done by Shuta and Shinjiro, which impresses me to no end. Shinjiro may not be a good singer, but he definitely has a very unique voice (think a cute husky puppy who has lost its voice), which somehow suits this song pretty well. Shuta however was simply AWESOME. Rock is definitely his element. He takes on the notes head-on and gets them all in surprising power. I always knew Shuta could sing, but I've never really expected him to sing THIS well. Worth listening to just for Shuta and Shinjiro

Song Number 3 - Hasta la Vista ~アスタ・ラ・ビスタ~



The song started off rather weirdly, much like the start to some horror film or something. And from there it totally deviated from the initial sound. It became some weird dance number that is really rather ok for most parts, but the chorus was just too much for me. Robotic sounds and me don't mix really well. Easily the worst song of the lot in my opinion.

Song Number 4 - あきれるくらいわがままな自由



The slow song! Nissy and Urata both take the lead for this one and both of them do a really good job at it too.

If you've been an AAA fan for a long time, you'll really notice how different Urata's voice has become in recent months. It's much less nasal and much thicker, which makes for a really awesome sound, and this is reflected in this song. Nissy and Urata did another duet way back for Chewing Gum, and in that one, you can hear how nasal Urata is. So in comparison, this song was a much better song.

A few comments though. This song sounds awfully 90s for some odd reason. Like an A1 or a Backstreet Boys kind of song. The kind where young teenage fangirls will wave their glowsticks dreamily and slowly during a concert, and the guys will stand in a circle and sing passionately, thus making every girl in the audience cry and hug each other and wish they were hugging the guys instead.

You know, that kind.

Overall, I guess the trouble I went to to get these was worth it after all. If this was released as a tangible single, I would definitely buy it. It's worth the listen, and definitely worth the buy. But skip Hasta la Vista of course, that one is pretty bad. The others make for a good listen, although it is rather odd that these were released for winter, since they do not sound wintery at all, with the exception of あきれるくらいわがままな自由. But of course, that's only my opinion. You can like robotic sounds for all I care. =D

Labels: AAA