Tracks:

1. I RAVE U

2. ROCK U feat. Namie Amuro

3. Just The Two Of Us feat. Tohoshinki

4. HOUSE NATION feat. LISA

5. Bangalicious feat. Anna Tsuchiya

6. Believe in LOVE feat. BoA

7. NEW ECCENTRIC GIRL feat. CHISA (GIRL NEXT DOOR)

8. Golden LUV feat. Maki Goto

9. V.I.P.P. (Very Important Party People) feat. TRF & VERBAL(m-flo)

10. 1 more night feat. MONKEY MAJIK

11. Warui ko Mitsuketa. feat. Ando Yuko

12. I RAVE U feat. DJ OZMA

ravex’s trax was released on April 29th, 2009. It’s their debut album and it charted at #20 on the Oricon Weekly Charts, selling 6,539 copies in its first week.

Opening up the 20th anniversary super-group’s debut album is I RAVE U. Unlike the original with DJ OZMA in it, this one is lyricless and features more synth than the original. I thought this was ACTUALLY a good way for the album because it gives a little taste of what’s to up.

Our first new track on the album features the ever-so-fierce Namie Amuro for ROCK U. This track does indeed ROCK U with it’s aggressive tone and rough vocals from Amuro. Though I like this song, there’s one thing that keeps me from listening to it. After the first chorus(?) there’s this annoying beeping/clicking noise that’s really loud and is during most of the song. It gets really annoying and it always gives me headaches, so I can’t really listen to this song.

Track 3 features a group that I’ve really grown to like, Tohoshinki. Just The Two Of Us is a really cool song, filled with a constant harmony between the group members and really catchy synth. This song sounds really repetitive, mainly because it repeats a lot of the lyrics, but there’s this ~break-it-down~ point where one of the members actually sings, which I thought was nice. I thought this was a really catchy track and I thought DBSK was a great addition to it.

Originally the B-side on the I RAVE U single is HOUSE NATION featuring the former singer of m-flo, LISA. I still like this song, despite it being somewhat repetitive, and full of silly lyrics. XD But LISA sounds really nice, so I can overlook that.

This next track has more aggressive synth in it, making it one of the more unique songs on the album. Bangalicious features Anna Tsuchiya… who I don’t necessarily like. I thought the track was kind of catchy and the prominent guitar riffs were cool and all, but sadly I don’t like this song because of the vocalist. Nothing against, Tsuchiya, I just don’t like her.

Track 6 is the dreamy A-side prior to the album, Believe in LOVE. I still really like this song, mainly because of its dream-like quality. I especially like it for that high note BoA hits during the chorus. Seriously, it’s AMAZING.

Woo! I LOVE NEW ECCENTRIC GIRL, mainly because it has CHISA from GIRL NEXT DOOR in it. (I seriously LOVE her.) Though the title might sound like a bouncy, happy track, this track is actually a sleek pop song (lol at me for almost typing poop…) Another reason why I like this song is because CHISA doesn’t sound like she’s shrieking, like she does in her GIRL NEXT DOOR songs, even though she sings well doing that. It was nice to hear her in a more mellow tone, as well. This track also speeds up the album and shifting to a more upbeat phase of the album.

Up next is the B-side on Believe in LOVE, Golden LUV. I still think this song is fierce and Maki Goto sounds as amazing as ever. ♥ Plus, that amazing brass section during the chorus.

At first, I thought V.I.P.P. (Very Important Party People) was a hot mess. But this song has really grown on me and it’s definitely one of the better songs on the album, in my opinion. This time around it features VERBAL of m-flo and TRF… though the only parts TRF get in this song are the “WOAH WOAH WOAH” and the “YEAH YEAH YEAH” parts. I love all the random beats here and there as well as the beeping synth. VERBAL provides a fun rap in the song and he was a welcome addition to the song. I guess TRF were too… even though VERBAL totally stole the limelight.

ANOTHER group that I’ve come to like a lot is MONKEY MAJIK for 1 more night. It seems a little out of place after V.I.P.P., since it’s a lot more mellow than it. Anyways, the Plant brothers really shine in this song and I really like their vocals. Like I said, this track is one of the more mellow ones and features light synth and a few synthetic beats.

Here’s another one of those random tracks. Warui ko Mitsuketa. is by far the most unique track on the album because it has a sound similar to that of reggae music. Though I can’t really call it that since it’s mostly all synthetic. Since I don’t really know Yuko Ando, I can’t really comment on her vocals, other than I thought they were nice and fit well with the song.

Ugh… I’m still wondering why they put I RAVE U and the end of the album. I still loathe this song with every fiber of my being, mainly because DJ OZMA is a creeper and can’t sing. Probably the worst way they could’ve ended the album.

Though I mostly liked every track on this album, there are still the ones that were a little off-key, mainly I RAVE U, Bangalicious, and ROCK U. Other than that, I thought this was a really fun album and a creative idea on avex’s part. I hope they collaborate with more artists, since there are still plenty of artists to choose from. Like Ayumi Hamasaki and alan to name a few… ;D WHAT!? DON’T YOU THINK THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!? One can only hope, I guess.

Overall Grade: