The past week has been hell on me. Nothing went well at all, so life pretty much sucked, thus resulting in the sucky posts.

Nothing new on the Jpop front, except maybe one PV worth blogging about, once I recover from my shock of it all.

Anyways, I will be reviewing a few singles all at once. I will still group them into good, so-so and bad songs, so try not to be confused.

The singles up for review this time are:


NEWS' Taiyou no namida, High and MIGHTY COLOR's Flashback/Komorebi no Uta, AKB48's Sakura no Hanabira-tachi 2008, C-ute's LALALA Shiawase no Uta and YUI's Namidairo. I'd almost dumped Utada Hikaru's single HEART STATION into the bunch as well, but I realized it would almost certainly cause me a block with its utter mediocre-ness. It's not bad, it's just really boring. And I didn't include Hirai Ken because I know some of you are tired of reading about him AND his single is honestly none too fantastic.

[The good singles]

YUI's A-side, Namidairo is a step-up from her previous emo-ish single LOVE & TRUTH. With a slow start to the song with her guitar, it builds up to a nice chorus with strings in the background. It sounds really dramatic when I describe it, but you'll realize that it's really a simple piece upon hearing it. None of the music fights for attention, and even YUI's voice take center stage quite meekly as well. While still very distinctively a YUI song, this was a refreshing change from her other works, much because of the more relaxed atmosphere this song had, along with WAY lesser of that CLANGCLANGCLANG guitaring she loved to do on her other singles. The song is easy on your ears, easy to remember and will most certainly become another classic YUI favorite.

I wanna be... is honestly not a bad song, just that it pales much in comparison to her A-side, which is good since sometimes B-sides can steal all the limelight from the main song. She seems to be going back to her LIFE days with this song, with strong guitar rhythms and a spoiled-innocent-brat voice. It turns out to be less polished than I really would have liked, but the fascinating tune saves it all. It ends rather abruptly though, and I'm not too sure if that's a bad thing. The song CAN get a wee bit repetitive, or longwinded. Or whiny.

Overall, it's worth getting or listening no matter what kind of fan you are. YUI did almost everything right with this release.

C-ute's Saikoukyuu ENJOY GIRLS has a strong beat, along with a very digital tune, yet outshines its A-side song by being far more fascinating. Some pauses in music here and there create more interest in the song. And DID THEY JUST YODEL IN THE SONG?! The song is funky, whacked-out and definitely delivers loads of fun. The vocals are not impressive by any means, but the tune is one that will stick around in your head for a long time to come. Expect digital-game-ish sounds to attack you. The transpose at the end was a nice touch (and as you will read later on, the other song needs a transpose too).

LALALA Shiawase no Uta is catchy, but has vocals that are either too nasal, too un-cute or too sharp. This makes the song lose out on the sugary-adorable factor. Not too mention the scary male voice at the back that constantly goes "OKAY", which reminds me of a big bad wolf, or a rapist sneaking up on the girls. A transpose at the end would have given the song a bit more drama and probably more interest. It is otherwise just another dancey-poppy tune amongst the many that this group would no doubt go on to sing.

Overall, I'm not too sure how great a release it is for the older fans, but from my point of view, new fans should be able to enjoy this single for its sheer fun. Might be a little childish, so older people beware.

[The so-so singles]

NEWS' Taiyou no Namida takes A LOT OF getting used to before you will actually like the song. In other words, it's a grower. This time, I'm not too sure whether they're going for an Arabian theme, but it sure as hell sounds ten times more Arabian than what AAA was trying to do with MIRAGE. The song is pretty consistent throughout, but on first listen the chorus would sound a bit off, all the way till their sudden outburst of "TAIYOU NO NAMIDA!". As I've said, no worries, you'll get used to it. Both Yamapi and Ryo does not impress on this track, with Yamapi trying too hard to be sexy and Ryo sounding like he just broke up with Yamapi. Tegomasu sounds impressive as usual, although I'm quite sure this song is a bit lower than what they're used to sing. As for Kato.... I really can't figure out which is his voice. And I couldn't give half a hoot about Koyama.

Utsukushisugite Beautiful Eyes sounds like a really retro ballad. It's almost as if they released this song ten years ago and are just re-singing it for their 10th year anniversary or something. The song lacked harmony, and sounds just like a few people singing together instead of being united as one group. The bridge was impressive (I'm guessing Tegoshi sang it) until Ryo took over. He was nasal, and sounded in pain. Just because you're in pain doesn't mean you should cause us pain too you know Ryo-chan.

Lady Spider sound like a cross-breed of a SMAP song and a KAT-TUN song. The SMAPpiness of it gives it a slightly more catchy tune, while the KAT-TUNness of it leaves the song empty and rough with sub-standard vocals. It's catchy at the chorus, and probably fun to watch at a concert, but the verses do nothing for me. The rapping is forced and is inferior to KAT-TUN's as well. Perhaps it's a problem with the mixing, but the instruments sound VERY far back, leaving the song hollow and radio-ish. This is turn lends no help to NEWS' none-too-amazing vocals. It didn't end up in the BAD section only because it is memorable, although I'm not too sure that's necessarily a good thing.

Interesting but slightly disappointing. Buy only if you're a fan. Bubblegum-pop lovers steer clear.

AKB48's Sakura no Hanabira-tachi 2008 is a graduation-themed (I suppose) song, which I suppose is really apt for such a big group to sing together. The verse is obviously a bit too low for some of them and it sounds a bit taxing on them. On the flipside, there were no screechy girly sounds that girl groups tend to have with overly-high songs. That was refreshing at least. I'm not sure what to make of the constant bell dong-ing throughout the song though. It reminds me of school yes, but is it really needed for it to be there THROUGHOUT the song? Honestly though, there is nothing much to nitpick about the song. The song is enjoyable, but is rather forgettable after a while. It does work well as a graduation song and I can totally see myself crying at my graduation along to this song. Other times of the year however, it might be slightly wrong timing.

Saigo no Seifuku starts off with guitar and something like a recorder (I think) and is another graduation-y song. This is the sort of song you would expect to be placed at the end of a concert so that everyone in the audience and on stage will cry buckets. That said, the music is lovely but a bit dated. I mean, must all graduation songs be like this? Isn't there a more hip and new way to do these songs? The main vocals cover the harmonies at the back, so basically all the ooh-ing and ahh-ing was a wasted effort. It has a simple tune to follow, which I suppose is for easier sing-along sessions. A graduation with everyone singing a Hamasaki Ayumi song (along with the screaming and all) would be a tad messy. I doubt this would make for good everyday listening though. Not a bad song, but still really timing-dependent.

Good if you're graduating, nice for casual listening, buy only if you're a fan.

[The BAD singles]

HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR's FLASHBACK sounds like the bunch of them in constantly on a rush to somewhere (out of the industry perhaps, at this rate they're going), with annoying music and a mind-numbingly dull tune. Whoever the male voice was, should not have been allowed to sing. He sounds really amateur, much like the hordes of star-wannabes you find at karaokes. The song remains persistently monotone with not much ups and downs. I suppose I am supposed to be impressed by the electric guitar-solos and all, but by the time I reach that part, my mind is already blanking out from the boredom of it all. The female lead vocal lacks passion/attitude, and opts to sound like a schoolgirl who stands still and sings and thinks she is oh-so-rocker. This is probably the only rock song ever to be able to put me to sleep with its hypnotic repetitiveness. Very very indie.

Komorebi no Uta is a much better effort than the previous song, but is still a little fragmented for my liking. It feels like all the musicians and singers are not part of a single group, but rather all soloists placed together by force. The rapping was still a disaster though, but the guitar solo in the middle of the song was a nice touch. Still no harmony in sight. The main vocals still fail to impress, falling short and thinning out just as she hits the higher notes, which reminds me of a blocked nose. Well at least this song had a much more distinct high and low, and a much more memorable melody. Much less fake compared to FLASHBACK, though the rapping is still reminiscent of trying 6-year-olds.

Overall, it's probably just me, but this is the kind of single I will not bother even thinking about. Weak on vocals, weak on impression, weak on impressing. Your time is much too precious for this.

[BEST SONGS]

1. Namidairo
2. Saikoukyuu no ENJOY GIRLS
3. I wanna be...

[WORST SONGS]

1. FLASHBACK
2. Komorebi no Uta
3. Utsukushisugite Beautiful eyes

Labels: AKB48, C-ute, HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, NEWS, YUI