Reviews written by Aural Candy
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Utakata (Normal Edition) (Japan Version)
Utakata (Normal Edition) (Japan Version)
(1)Our Price: US$15.49Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:1 people found the following helpful
November 23, 2006 Best Kagrra, Single Ever!1. Utakata / Oh, wow. I will say this right now, this is Kagrra,'s best song ever. If I ever have to introduce a potential new fan to Kagrra, and am only allowed one song, Utakata will be the one I pick. I'm convinced that if this track alone can't move you, nothing else Kagrra, produces ever will, for Utakata is the penultimate representation of the band's neojapanesque repertoire. This stunning piece of work entrances and delights the ears and enraptures the heart. It touches that deepest part of my soul and makes me weep at the song's sheer beauty. Really, it's rare for a song to move me to tears like this. Maybe this is what paradise is like. Izumi had written in his diary entry a while ago that this song embodies the beauty, tradition, mystery, and exoticism of Japan from foreigners' eyes. Is Japan paradise?
2. Sakebi / 3. Ano Saka wo Noboreba / I feel bad lumping the rest of the tracks together. But after Utakata, I don't think I can enjoy any other song to the same degree for a while (I must be bewitched!). Everything else pales and seems unimportant in comparison. If I hadn't been exposed to Utakata, I would still have ranked these two tracks near, if not at the top of my all time favorites list. These are marvelous, solid works in their own right. They're classic Kagrra, songs characterized by pleasing melody, soothing vocals, and that touch of sparkle. Ano Saka wo Noboreba (track 3) is a lighthearted and delightful piece that brightens any day, while Sakebi (track 2) is heavier, rockier, but still upbeat and cheerful. Great, great songs, both of them.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Filth in the beauty -Auditory Impression- (Japan Version)
Filth in the beauty -Auditory Impression- (Japan Version)
(2)Our Price: US$15.49Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:1 people found the following helpful
November 10, 2006 Gazette Continues to Deliver1. Filth in the beauty / I've already goshed over this song so much back when the PV first came out that now I'm at a loss as to what to say. Yes, the brilliant fusion of R&B and hard rock kicks ass from Thailand and back (actually, it's probably from Japan and back). The female vocal enhances the song and gives it that extra "omph". Ruki sings in English throughout most of the track, but of course, no one can even tell what he's saying. :D Nevertheless, Filth in the beauty rocks hard and has become one of my favorite Gazette songs of all time. (Someone had suggested that this song is about incest between father and daughter. All I can say to that is: f**king hell!)
2. Rich Excrement / I've already made fun of the song title in a previous post, so let's just skip that part. A street-punk rock song in which Ruki raps through the entire track, Rich Excrement reminds me of previous works like Maximum impulse and Maggots. The track features the same type of call-and-response found in Gazette power songs: Ruki growls out lyrics and the rest of the band roars back in answer. This is a phenomenonal headbanger and will be another hit live song, I can already see it.
3. Crucify Sorrow / I really looked forward to hearing this song in full after listening to the preview. I'm glad to say, it doesn't disappoint. This track is designed to showcase Ruki's rich, dynamic voice. Ruki finally sings instead of screaming and yelling into his microphone and I applaud. For some reason, the bridge section tends to be my favorite part when it comes to Gazette, and this is another one of those songs. Ruki sounds simply exceptional.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Speed (Japan Version)
2 people found the following helpful
September 3, 2006 Great Potential1. Speed / I cannot get over how jarring Ken's singing sounds in this track. No matter how many times I listen to the song, I just can't adjust to his voice. I'm not sure if it's intentional or not, but he sounds off key in many places. As a result, the melody is so unfortunately damaged that I honestly cannot like the song. It's a shame.
2. Empty Rooms / I believe most (if not all) of this song is sung in English, though I can't really understand the lyrics due to Ken's pronunciation. Whenever he sang "empty rooms", I thought he had said "Aunty Ruth" instead. O_o But other than the heavily accented English, this is a great mellow song. It's melodious, soothing and reminds me of smooth jazz music (I love smooth jazz). This time, I have nothing to complain about Ken's singing. His voice is appropriately fitting.
3. The Shadow Of Your Smile / 4. Speed(karaoke) / Track 3 is a short instrumental piece and features a trancy, New Age-like guitar sound. It is strangely hypnotizing. Track 4 is the karaoke version of Speed. I like it a lot better than the vocal version. I'm sorry Ken, you really sounded awful in that song.
Other than that strangely off key song, Speed, this is a quite nice single. Ken isn't as good as the other L'Arc~en~Ciel individual projects such as HYDE or Creature Creature (yet). But there's definitely great potential.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Otegami (Normal Edition) (Japan Version)
Otegami (Normal Edition) (Japan Version)
(1)Our Price: US$13.49Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:1 people found the following helpful
September 1, 2006 Very Nice!1. Otegami / I have to say, I'm impressed. The fusion of traditional Japanese melody and Western rock delivery successfully lends the song an aura of exoticism and it sounds even, shall we say... alluring? The music is sweet, coaxing, and seductive. Mao's caressing voice pleasures the ears and touches the inner heart. Definitely another of my SID favorites, I'm very pleased with "Otegami".
2. life / This is a very laid-back and cheery song, perfect for the summer. And of course, it evokes a completely different mood from "Otegami". This change in mood feels a bit abrupt and is kind of odd. However, this is a solid song. While it's not a masterpiece like "Otegami", it does stand well on its own.
SID keeps on giving me pleasant surprises by releasing such awesome songs. It's a band that I'll definitely keep tabs on. I plan to purchase their 3rd album when it comes out on November 8, 2006.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Hoshizora Ressha no Kiteki wo Kikinagara (Japan Version)
Hoshizora Ressha no Kiteki wo Kikinagara (Japan Version)
(1)Our Price: US$29.75Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:September 1, 2006 Could be Better1. Toki no Ressha / The melody is absolutely beautiful. The arrangement sounds simple, yet perfectly suitable. Just as I was getting into the track, however, Keiyuu started singing. Keiyuu's voice is dull. It also lacks the finesse and clarity of tone needed to pull this one off. I'm not saying his vocals is bad, just entirely average and therefore uninteresting. This song might have become one of my all-time favorites if only it was done by a better vocalist. Though, I'd like to see Toki no Ressha arranged into an orchestral piece. I'm certain it'd sound freaking amazing.
2. Machi no Hi / This is a quite pretty jazz-influenced track. Yet once again, I'm not taken with Keiyuu's vocals. It's entirely too restrained. He needs to sing with a fuller voice and not hold back.
3. Diary / 4. Yukue Shirenu Toki / 5. Ama no Gawa Touhikou / See my comments above about the vocals. All of these songs suffer from the same problem. I'm not going to bother typing it out again. I also feel that these songs lack harmonic complexity, as if the band's cutting corners when putting the music together. While it was okay with Toki no Ressha because the gorgeous melody made up for the arrangement simplicity, this simplicity is a defect in these songs.
It's a shame. This otherwise promising mini album is held back by the mediocre vocals. There's a lot of room for arrangement improvement, too. I'm considering not touching Kra's releases again until either Keiyuu improves his singing or the group gets a new vocalist. However, that wouldn't be fair. So instead, I'll give them more chances in the future.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
NIL (ALBUM+DVD+Booklet)(Limited Edition)(Japan Version)
NIL (ALBUM+DVD+Booklet)(Limited Edition)(Japan Version) DVD Region 2
(5)Our Price: US$43.75Related promotions:2 people found the following helpful
September 1, 2006 Gazette Rocks & Rolls1. THE END / The first track of the album, and it's named "the end"? How interesting. This is more of an instrumental piece that sets the mood for the album (I wouldn't call what Ruki does singing, in the strictest sense). Dark, mysterious, and very catchy.
2. Nausea & Shudder / This is a heavy song with pretty hard instrumentals yet a great melody. Here, you get the first taste of Ruki's vocal improvement since Gazette's last album, Disorder. If you haven't been following their 2005 singles releases, you might be caught off guard by the vast difference of Ruki's singing. His voice is richer, more powerful, and can reach a wider range. In this song, he sounds so passionate and has beyond met my expectations.
3. Bath Room / Ahh, this song has an awesome beginning. Once again, it's a relatively heavy piece. I think my favorite part is right after the guitar solo. Ruki restrains his vocals most of time during this track but breaks into intense full voice singing that truly enhances the climax of the song. Solid work.
4. Maggots / Wah, a head banging heavy metal song! I think metal fans can probably appreciate this track better than I can. This song is so very masculine, which reminds me once again that despite the band's beautiful appearance, these are men. Heavy instrumentals, heavy chanting, very hardcore.
5. Namaatatakai Ame Tozaratsuita Jounetsu / I think my jaw dropped when I first heard this track. It... sounds like... SWING?! Had I been a better swing dancer (or at least more agile on my feet, because trust me, this song requires serious footwork), I'd break out into a dance to this song. I am so pleasantly surprised by this new style. It really showcases the fun side of the band and shows its willingness to experiment. Blood cool!
6. D.L.N / Oooh, a ballad! My gosh, the chorus part is absolutely beautiful. The children's voices really complement and enhance Ruki's singing. He puts so much passion, so much fire into his performance. This is a song that tugs on my heartstrings and really makes me feel. Simply fantastic.
7. SHADOW VI II I / Holy crap, this song has an awesome bass line, wow! I normally don't pay as much attention to bass lines because they often don't stand out, but man, it's hard to ignore this one! Reita does amazing work on his bass and really makes this track unique. This is once again a swing-like, completely danceable song. But this suddenly changes about 2/3 through the track (the bridge), the tempo shifts and what the... this song is now funk?! Then just as quickly, it returns to the original swing beat and left me sitting there blinking. This is some serious experimentation. I love it!
8. Baretta / This is a semi-ballad song, semi, because I think the beat is too fast throughout for it to be a true ballad. This particular track doesn't really stand out for me. It's very nice and might work better had it been a single or even the B-side to a single. But in an album, it gets overshadowed (probably because it's sandwitched between two of my favorite tracks). Meh.
9. Cassis / Nice, another beautiful ballad. The guitar solos featuring Uruha and Aoi freaking kick ass. After seeing the PV, I realized that Ruki plays the guitar too in this song. He even gets a mini guitar solo right after Uruha's solo (well, kind of)! This song once again characterizes my favorite aspect of Ruki's vocals, the rich timbre and the impassioned singing.
10. SILLY GOD DISCO / I really should have seen this coming, since clues have been dropping with Namaatatakai Ame Tozaratsuita Jounetsu and SHADOW VI II I, but I was still caught off guard when this track came on. I think I must have jumped off my chair and started leaping about the room. *sweatdrop* Gazette + funky disco = holy crap, this song is too awesome for words. This is such a fun, wacky, wicked piece! Very very sexy, it's just... argh! Too bloody brilliant. Ruki's English is awful and I can't understand a word, but who cares?!
11. DISCHARGE / Hehe, another heavy metal track. This would be a great piece to play during lives because it'd really get the crowd worked up. I can already imagine the headbanging and roaring. The fangirls are going to go wild.
12. Taion / This is such a dark and harsh song. By harsh, I'm not just talking about the heavy instrumentals, but really mean the emotion conveyed through this piece. It feels so naked and raw, liking stripping away the outer layer and finding what's underneath bleeding and screaming for release. This song really really moves and resonates within me. This is probably the most emotionally powerful song and a wonderful end to this masterpiece album.
Yes, I think this is Gazette's best work so far. Ruki's amazing vocal improvement truly stands out. I'm glad to support such wonderful artists.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Zekkeishoku (Normal Edition Type-B)(Japan Version)
Zekkeishoku (Normal Edition Type-B)(Japan Version)
(1)Our Price: US$33.75Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:1 people found the following helpful
September 1, 2006 Wonderful Full Length Album!1. Koukan / What a fantastic opening song! I was instantly grabbed by Shou's clear, pure voice. The song utilizes Shou's vocals very well. The melodious music is thrilling and pure enjoyment to the ears. Bloody brilliant.
2. Velvet / Excellent music, excellent singing. Velvet is a "rockier" song compared to Koukan, but it still manages to delight me because it's so fun. This song has really grown on me after a few listens.
3. FANTASY / This song very definitely belongs to the popular rock genre. The opening showcases Shou's great vocals, for he dives straight into singing full voice. This was alice nine.'s most recent single (along with Akatsuki/Ikuoku no Chandelier) and I was very pleased to see the tremendous improvement in Shou's singing, definitely one of my favorite alice nine. songs.
4. 3.2.1.REAL -SE- / This track is a short instrumental, with interesting sound effects. It sounds like an experimental track, just for the band to try out arranging the different effects. It works very well to link FANTASY to the next song... which is
5. Haru, Sakura no Koro / This sounds like a down-to-earth song that descibes everyday life. Just like the life of a person, it may not be dramatic, but it is fun nevertheless. A quite decent track.
6. DEAD SCHOOL SCREAMING / DEAD SCHOOL SCREAMING has an unusual melody and contrary to the image evoked by the title, the song itself is not as heavy and aggressive as I first thought. An okay song.
7. Kokkai no Kurage -Instrumental- / Another short instrumental piece, it has an ethereal quality. Since the title is about the jelly fish of the Black Sea, I think it makes sense that this track has that floating, pulsing feeling. It serves to bridge this track to the next, which is
8. jelly fish / Track 7 is "jelly fish of the Black Sea", we get "jelly fish" for track 8. This song uses acoustic guitar instead of the usual electric, a decent piece.
9. World End Anthology / This song evokes a similar mood as tracks 5 and 8. Decent, but the songs are starting to become dull because they're so similar. I want to emphasize though, that this song stands well on its own. However, because I was listening to the tracks on this album in order and in one setting, I became weary at this point.
10. Q. / Ah, just as I was thinking I have enough of merely "decent" songs, alice nine. breaks the pattern and gives us another kick-ass track. Hehe, surely I'm not the only one who's reminded of Linkin Park by this song? Shou starts off with a strong voice and is joined by Saga (of all people!) in the chorus/harmonizing sections. I'm very pleased with the Shou and Saga combination because it sounds so good. I'd like to see more singing from Saga in the future.
11. Kowloon -NINE HEADS RODEO SHOW- / This is the heaviest song on the entire album with much more aggressive guiltar and chorus. The entire band joins in with the chanting. I can already imagine this song driving the crowd wild at lives because it rocks so hard. It really gets the adrenaline pumping.
12. ARMOR RING / The final track is a nice and mellow ballad, again utilizing Shou's voice to maximum effect. It wraps up the album and leaves the listener with a feeling of contentment.
With this album, I gained a lot of respect for Shou and Hiroto (not to mention I was delighted to discover that Saga can sing). It's apparent that Shou's vocal trainings had paid off and he now sings fantastically. Why Hiroto though? Most of my favorite tracks on this album were written by Hiroto (tracks 1, 2, 3; the 4th favorite, Q., was written by Tora) ! The music he writes really speak to me. I now pay a lot more attention to Hiroto because he's a musician after my own heart. One problem I noticed with this album was the track order. There was a string of mellow songs that caused my attention to wander. I wish the order was mixed up a bit to spice things up.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
NIL (ALBUM+DVD+Booklet)(Limited Edition)(Japan Version)
NIL (ALBUM+DVD+Booklet)(Limited Edition)(Japan Version) DVD Region 2
(5)Our Price: US$43.75Related promotions:September 1, 2006 Gazette Rocks & Rolls1. THE END / The first track of the album, and it's named "the end"? How interesting. This is more of an instrumental piece that sets the mood for the album (I wouldn't call what Ruki does singing, in the strictest sense). Dark, mysterious, and very catchy.
2. Nausea & Shudder / This is a heavy song with pretty hard instrumentals yet a great melody. Here, you get the first taste of Ruki's vocal improvement since Gazette's last album, Disorder. If you haven't been following their 2005 singles releases, you might be caught off guard by the vast difference of Ruki's singing. His voice is richer, more powerful, and can reach a wider range. In this song, he sounds so passionate and has beyond met my expectations. ♥
3. Bath Room / Ahh, this song has an awesome beginning. Once again, it's a relatively heavy piece. I think my favorite part is right after the guitar solo. Ruki restrains his vocals most of time during this track but breaks into intense full voice singing that truly enhances the climax of the song. Solid work.
4. Maggots / Wah, a head banging heavy metal song! I think metal fans can probably appreciate this track better than I can. This song is so very masculine, which reminds me once again that despite the band's beautiful appearance, these are men. Heavy instrumentals, heavy chanting, very hardcore.
5. 生暖かい雨とざらついた情熱 / I think my jaw dropped when I first heard this track. It... sounds like... SWING?! Had I been a better swing dancer (or at least more agile on my feet, because trust me, this song requires serious footwork), I'd break out into a dance to this song. I am so pleasantly surprised by this new style. It really showcases the fun side of the band and shows its willingness to experiment. Blood cool!
6. D.L.N / Oooh, a ballad! My gosh, the chorus part is absolutely beautiful. The children's voices really complement and enhance Ruki's singing. He puts so much passion, so much fire into his performance. This is a song that tugs on my heartstrings and really makes me feel. Simply fantastic. ♥
7. SHADOW VI II I / Holy crap, this song has an awesome bass line, wow! I normally don't pay as much attention to bass lines because they often don't stand out, but man, it's hard to ignore this one! Reita does amazing work on his bass and really makes this track unique. This is once again a swing-like, completely danceable song. But this suddenly changes about 2/3 through the track (the bridge), the tempo shifts and what the... this song is now funk?! Then just as quickly, it returns to the original swing beat and left me sitting there blinking. This is some serious experimentation. I love it! ♥
8. バレッタ / This is a semi-ballad song, semi, because I think the beat is too fast throughout for it to be a true ballad. This particular track doesn't really stand out for me. It's very nice and might work better had it been a single or even the B-side to a single. But in an album, it gets overshadowed (probably because it's sandwitched between two of my favorite tracks). Meh.
9. Cassis / Nice, another beautiful ballad. The guitar solos featuring Uruha and Aoi freaking kick ass. After seeing the PV, I realized that Ruki plays the guitar too in this song. He even gets a mini guitar solo right after Uruha's solo (well, kind of)! This song once again characterizes my favorite aspect of Ruki's vocals, the rich timbre and the impassioned singing. ♥
10. SILLY GOD DISCO / I really should have seen this coming, since clues have been dropping with 生暖かい雨とざらついた情熱 and SHADOW VI II I, but I was still caught off guard when this track came on. I think I must have jumped off my chair and started leaping about the room. *sweatdrop* Gazette + funky disco = holy crap, this song is too awesome for words. This is such a fun, wacky, wicked piece! Very very sexy, it's just... argh! Too bloody brilliant. Ruki's English is awful and I can't understand a word, but who cares?! ♥
11. DISCHARGE / Hehe, another heavy metal track. This would be a great piece to play during lives because it'd really get the crowd worked up. I can already imagine the headbanging and roaring. The fangirls are going to go wild.
12. 体温 / This is such a dark and harsh song. By harsh, I'm not just talking about the heavy instrumentals, but really mean the emotion conveyed through this piece. It feels so naked and raw, liking stripping away the outer layer and finding what's underneath bleeding and screaming for release. This song really really moves and resonates within me. This is probably the most emotionally powerful song and a wonderful end to this masterpiece album. ♥
Yes, I think this is Gazette's best work so far. Ruki's amazing vocal improvement truly stands out. I'm glad to support such wonderful artists.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This)
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