Tracks:

1. progressive

2. Utsukushisa (うつくしさ)

3. progressive ~Instrumental~

progressive is Kalafina’s 6th single and it was released on October 28th, 2009. This single reached #14 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 6,139 copies.

I know I’m about to make a lame joke here, but progressive is really progressive, to say the least. It’s got this catchy thumping beat accompanied by some elongated strings. Throw in some underlying electric guitar and you get a song. The ladies, like always, sound great together and solo and I thought this was a much better song than storia (even though I liked it, but that’s not my point). The song doesn’t let up from beginning to end and it has a great build-up, right up to that epic guitar solo. Alright you three! Now where’s that album?

Kalafina have always been rather experimental with their B-sides. They’ve done folk songs, ominous rock songs, to name a few. Now they’re trying a… ballad? I don’t really know what you’d called Utsukushisa, but it sure is something. This song was kind of haunting and sounded really somber, thanks to the repeated three piano chords that’s in the song until it ends. It starts out slow, but it has a nice ending when there’s some ad-libbing and electric guitar thrown in. It’s not their best, but it’s a nice addition to their other B-sides, since it shows experimentation.

Overall Grade:

Tracks:

1. Boku wa Kimi ni Koi wo Suru (僕は君に恋をする)

2. Hitori Janai (一人じゃない)

3. Catch you

4. Boku wa Kimi ni Koi wo Suru (Less Vocal)

Boku wa Kimi ni Koi wo Suru is Ken Hirai’s 31st single and it was released on October 21st, 2009. This single reached #3 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 43,687 copies. The title track was used as the theme song for the movie Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu, while Hitori Janai was used as the ending theme for Shin Sanjuushi.

CANDY was a slip up on Ken Hirai’s part, and I’m glad he bounced back with Boku wa Kimi ni Koi wo Suru, a heartfelt ballad, with Ken-chan showing off his vocal range (not including the falsetto. ;D) This song is really pretty and I’m glad he was able to regain ground after CANDY (which was seriously a slip-up), because honestly, he sounds a hundred times better when he does serious songs. Anyways, this song is a gorgeous, sweeping ballad that impresses me from beginning to end. Great job, Ken-Ken!

Hitori Janai is… interesting to say the least. This song uses more lounge-style sounds and is pretty chill compared to the seriousness of the A-side. I was all fine with this cute song, until the CHILDREN came in for the closing ad-libs. It seriously through me off and I was wondering if I was listening to Ken Hirai still. Despite that, this song is kinda cute and a refreshing change of sound for Hirai.

In all seriousness, there has to be a pop track, or a straight-up… um… what genre is Catch you again? No matter, it’s FIERCE, and shows off a sexier side to Ken that I love. ;D It has a cool mix of clapping sounds and beats to give it a catchy sound.

Overall Grade:

Tracks:

CD+DVD A Tracklist

1. Hide & Seek

2. Hide-away

3. Hide & Seek (Instrumental)

4. Hide-away (Instrumental)

CD+DVD B Tracklist

1. Find you

2. Hide-away

3. Find you (Instrumental)

4. Hide-away (Instrumental)

CD+DVD (“Hide-away” Memorial Arena Edition) Tracklist

1. Hide-away

2. Hide-away LIVE

3. Hide-away (Instrumental)

CD Only Tracklist

1. Hide-away

2. With you

3. Hide-away -dino starr Mix-

4. Hide & Seek -SCR ReVamp Mix-

5. Find you -Super Mix-

6. Hide-away (Instrumental)

Hide-away / Hide & Seek / Find you is AAA’s 22nd single and it was released on October 21st, 2009. This single reached #2 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 43,659 copies. With you was used as the ending theme for the anime InuYasha.

Ahem… before I begin this review, I would like you to keep a few things in mind: my opinions don’t generalize everyone’s thoughts on this… single. So if you’re a rabid AAA stan, plz leave.

I’m gonna do this review a little different… because well, you’ll find out why. Okay so, there’s seriously only one redeeming quality on this single, and that’s Hide-away, or With you, idgaf which song since they’re both the goddamn same. Seriously, With you has like… different lyrical content from Hide-away, but that’s about it. Everything about the songs are the exact same. Anyways, I actually like this song and I thought it was a good effort from AAA… despite being extremely lazy in how they went on about this single…

Oh… now we get onto the fun part of the single. Hide & Seek takes a trance version on the song… using the same lyrics, adjusting the melody and changing the way the music sounds. That’s about it, featuring only the boys. Find you is with only the girls and is a rockish(?) take on it. Again, using the same lyrics. Yawn.

And then there are the three horrendous remixes of Hide-away, Hide & Seek, and Find you. At this point, I’m lazy and bored with this single. Honestly, the only relatively good song(s) on this single are Hide-away and/or With you. All in all, this whole single is just a big pile of lazy, stacked up on one another. Basically, go to their earlier stuff, and avoid this single.

Overall Grade:

Tracks:

1. “Arigatou no Egao” (「ありがとうの笑顔」)

2. rainbow forecast

3. Ame ni Kiss no Hanataba wo (雨にキッスの花束を)

4. “Arigatou no Egao” -Instrumental-

“Arigatou no Egao” is Shoko Nakagawa’s 10th single and it was released on October 14th, 2009. This single reached #6 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 14,746 copies. rainbow forecast was used as the theme song for the Japanese version of the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Shoko Nakagawa is on a roll with these slower songs. “Arigatou no Egao” is the more reserved A-side of Nakagawa’s third era and she really shows some emotion in this sad, yet lighthearted ballad. While I will admit, I’m a bit bored with this song, it’s nice to see that she’s spicing things up, since she has a great voice for ballads. I liked the quiet beat during the verse (which are also quiet), and when the chorus comes along it makes everything brighter with it’s uplifting strings and percussion line. Alright Shokotan, we’ve what a rock song, an upbeat ballad, and a sad ballad… what’s next?

rainbow forecast was originally the title for this single, but it was put as a B-side for some reason. This song is almost like a continuation of the A-side, since it has a similar melody. This song is pure pop and it sounds like something straight off her 2nd album Magic Time. I like this song a little more, since to the trumpets throughout the song.

Track 3 is a cover of Miki Imai’s Ame ni Kiss no Hanataba wo which was used as the opening theme for the anime YAWARA! years back. Both Nakagawa’s and Imai’s songs sound similar, so I guess Shokotan wanted to stay true to the original. I definitely like this version better since it’s faster and the vocals sound a lot better. This song uses a lot of 90s synth, so if you’ve heard the original, you can get a general idea of the sound.

Overall Grade:

Tracks:

1. Moshimo Negai ga… (もしも願いが・・・)

2. Sukiya de ~Itoshii Hito e~ (好きやで～愛しい人へ～)

3. MAGIC (Regular Edition)

3. Moshimo Negai ga… (Instrumental) (Limited Edition)

Moshimo Negai ga… is Nami Tamaki’s 18th single and it was released on October 14th, 2009. This single charted at #20 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 3,408 copies.

Third time’s the charm for Nami Tamaki, since I LOOOOOVE Moshimo Negai ga…. Since she’s switched, her songs have had a little R&B ting that I’ve noticed throughout her recent singles. Well, this track is full blown rhythm and beats. Not only is it her best song so far, but her vocals also sound more refined and fit really well with this type of genre. Since it’s R&B, there’s various beats here and there, as well as a prominant use of piano. I’m wondering if she’ll try out new genres, go back to straight-up bubblegum, or go back to her Sony style. We may never know, since this year has been a rough one for her music (and my ears.)

Sukiya de ~Itoshii Hito e~ was produced by the hip-hop group ET-KING. The B-side is a little more light-hearted, but it still has an R&B style. that makes it really catchy. I like the chorus since it has a nice build up, and it’s really catchy with the male vocals (which I’m assuming are ET-KING.) It seems Nami is improving every single.

If you got the regular edition of the single, you got a second B-side which is a cover of MAGIC, originally by R&B singer Tina. I haven’t heard the original, but it’s safe to say that Tamaki did this song some justice since it’s really catchy. It’s the most westernized R&B song on the single, thanks to the loud synth.

Overall Grade:

Tracks:

1. CANDY

2. Fursa Saida (フルサ・サイーダ)

3. Do it!!

4. CANDY ~less vocal~

CANDY is Ken Hirai’s 30th single and it was released on September 23rd, 2009. This single reached #7 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 11,944 copies.

For me, CANDY sounded like something that came off his last album, FAKIN’ POP. That being said, I don’t really like it. The new songs from FAKIN’ POP were really bad and sloppily put together pop songs that I liked at first, but eventually got annoyed of. So you can see what I mean now. CANDY has too much going on in it for me. Like all of the random beats and twinkles and other annoyances. Not to mention, Hirai’s vocals bother me at points, like his falsetto at the end of the lyrics in the chorus, and the falsetto that ends the song. Like I said before, I liked it at first, but after awhile it gets on my nerves. Luckily, his latest single is even better, so I can get over this.

Fursa Saida is the only good song on this single, in my opinion. I love the Arabian feel this song has, thanks to all the ethnic beats. Though I like it, I will admit it has its fair share of crazyness, but it’s a good crazy.

I definitely did not like the atrocity that was Do it!!. This song is all kinds of clunky and Hirai’s vocals sounded really awkward and boring. The way he sang, his vocals were really slow and they didn’t fit the song’s mid-tempo style at all.

Overall Grade:

Tracks:

1. Take It Easy!

2. Kirai Suki Daikirai (キライスキダイキライ)

3. Take It Easy! (Instrumental)

4. Kirai Suki Daikirai (Instrumental)

Take It Easy! is Buono!’s 8th single and it was released on August 26th, 2009. This single reached #10 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 18,170 copies. The title track was used as the ending theme for the anime Shugo Chara!! Doki.

Compared to MY BOY, I was flat out bored with Take It Easy!, a light-hearted acoustic based pop song. I’m not saying I didn’t like it, though. While I did like, I didn’t connect with it like I did their last single. This song does have redeeming qualities, tbh. The main part I liked about this track was obviously the prominent acoustic guitar. There’s even some banjo thrown in there for good measure. XD The girls fit in well with this cutesy acoustic track and they sound well together, like always. I’m hoping Bravo☆Bravo is better, since while I wasn’t completely bored, I know the girls can do better.

Now Kirai Suki Daikirai is more like it! This song uses lots of drums and is more edgier than the A-side, so it provides a nice contrast. I thought the chorus was a little sloppy with the drums, since it sounded like the drummer couldn’t keep up at times. But overall, I preferred this track more.

Overall Grade:

Tracks:

1. YELL

2. Joyful (じょいふる)

3. YELL -instrumental-

4. Joyful -instrumental-

YELL / Joyful is ikimono-gakari’s 15th single and it was released on September 23rd, 2009. this single reached #2 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 68,732 copies.

ikimono-gakari have been pumping out the singles lately, haven’t they? I mean, this is their 3rd single this era and there’s already a 4th on the way! They’ve been on the more serious/depressing side as well. YELL is a lot like Futari for me, since I found a bunch of similar stuff in it that I did the first single of the era. That being said, I liked this song a tad more than Futari, but like I said in the review for it, I felt it was a little on the boring side, which is exactly how I feel about YELL. My love for ikimono-gakari died out after My song Your song came out, and these singles have made little effort to make me enjoy them fully again. I’m hopefully their next single, Nakumonka, will bring back the ikimono-gakari I knew and loved.

It’s obvious that I liked Joyful more. It’s been a while since they’ve done a plain fun song, and that’s exactly what this track is. This song doesn’t let up and it has a consistent drumline, and it was extremely catchy. This song doesn’t really have much structure, though. It’s still a fun song to go crazy with and this is something I’m looking for in their next single since it’s what they excel at as a group.

Overall Grade:

Tracks:

1. Tightrope

2. Bloodberry

3. Lapis lazuli ~Kimi wo Omou Hodo Boku wa Hoshi Konaru~ (Regular Edition)
(Lapis lazuli ~君を思うほど僕は欲しくなる~)

3. Shikou no Bi no Houkai (Type B) (至高の美の崩壊)

4. Tightrope (Voiceless)

Tightrope is D’s 14th single and it was released on September 23rd, 2009. This single reached #9 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 7,840 copies.

While I wasn’t completely blown away by Tightrope, I still enjoy. I like the energy this song has and it’s shown both vocally from ASAGI and instrumentally from the other band members. This song isn’t really anything new from D, so that’s why I wasn’t astounded by it. This song is still good and it’s BIG improvement over their last single, Snow White. One thing that IS good about this song is that guitar solo that comes in half way through the song. Another good song from the somewhat major band.

Now, the B-sides are what made the single for me. Bloodberry is like the A-side, but slower. While I liked this song… there was just one thing that through me off. There are these lines that ASAGI sings before the chorus and it just sounds plain weird. Other than that it’s a good B-side.

Lapis lazuli ~Kimi wo Omou Hodo Boku wa Hoshi Konaru~ was a big surprise. It’s something completely different from D that I’ve never heard before! There’s some piano in it. *dies* Though it’s a bit lighter than what they normally do, I still love this song to death and it’s my favourite off the single. For one reason or another, I just REALLY liked the epic guitar in this song and I thought this should’ve been the A-side.

Shikou no Bi no Houkai is more like D’s older stuff, since it has a more serious and creepy feel to it. This was another good B-side since it features a really nice bass line and the slowness of it was really nice to hear. Plus, the chorus was really cool since it has a weird echo-y sound to it, and ASAGI’s vocals were really strong there.

Overall Grade:

Tracks:

1. ETERNAL FLAME

2. Saigo no GAME (最後のGAME)

3. Perfect World

4. Namonaki Kakumei (名もなき革命)

5. Nighter (ナイター)

6. Feelin’ The Light

7. Meramera (メラメラ)

8. Piece Of Your Heart

9. Kitakaze (北風)

10. his hometown

11. Honoo (焔)

12. Umareyuku Monotachi e (生まれゆくものたちへ)

13. Tangerine Dream ~10th anniversary~

ETERNAL FLAME is Do As Infinity’s 7th album and it was released on September 30th, 2009. This album reached #9 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 22,779 copies. Saigo no GAME was used as the opening theme for the anime Hikaru no Go: Selection.

Do As Infinity’s 10th anniversary album opens up with a bang. ETERNAL FLAME is pretty epic as an opener, as it transitions through many different styles of songs. I didn’t like this track AT ALL my first listen, since I thought the transitions through genres were really sloppy (which I still think they are) and Van’s English was really awful (it still is.) Luckily, I started liking this track and it’s sloppily transitioned, Engrishy-ness. Despite the transitions, it has great stages of the song. It starts out slow, almost ballad-like, than turns into a really great guitar solo. other stages are just plain piano and drums, and a faster-paced version of the second one. It’s a great track, if you overlook the flaws.

I liked Saigo no GAME right from the beginning. It opens with low electric guitar and this weird beeping sound. When Van’s vocals kick in, she’s already sounding strong, which she sounds like throughout the song. There isn’t much else too the song, since it’s pretty straight forward.

Some tracks are kind of hard to describe, but I’ll do my best to try. Perfect World has kind of an ethereal feel to it, since it has strings that flow in every now and again. I like the echoey-ness to the chorus.

Namonaki Kakumei is even more epic. It uses flowing strings and calming electric guitar. I liked the added vocal effects to Van’s voice, and the male back up singers that come in during the chorus. It gives it an even more epic feel. This starts the album’s mini-phase of quieter songs.

I couldn’t help but get a sad feeling from Nighter. This song has a nice ballad feel, thanks to the nice piano chords that come in during some parts of the song. And is that a sitar I hear? I approve! Oh, and Van sounds gorgeous during the chorus.

It’s about time there was an upbeat song. Feelin’ The Light comes in, sunshine and all, and it’s a nice change from the more serious songs. This song is also in English (even though I couldn’t tell at first lol). From what I can understand from the lyrics, they’re really cute and up the happy in this song. The upbeat piano was a nice touch too.

Meramera storms in after the last track. Though this wasn’t my favourite B-side from the single (I prefered Timeless over this) it’s still a welcome addition to the album, since it fits right in, with it’s thumping beat and underlying electric guitar. This is it the only single track until the last song on the album, so bring on the new tracks!

Piece Of Your Heart is another happy track. It follows a similar style as Feelin’ The Light, but I like the other one more. This song is still nice though, and I really liked the tambourine parts for some reason or another. lol

The last couple of new tracks aren’t all that great, and they’re definitely the worst part of the album. At this point I’m getting lazy so I’ll just sum them up in one paragraph. Kitakaze is the better of the three and I liked the woodwinds during the chorus, but it’s pretty dull for the rest of it. his hometown is another boring one and while it has a few redeeming qualities (the piano and the chorus) the verses are quite boring, so I end up skipping it. Honoo is like a mix of the serious songs in one final product. It’s alright, but I was expecting more from the last new track. These last three tracks, like I said, are pretty forgettable.

Luckily, the epic Umareyuku Monotachi e is there to fix everything. This is probably one of my favourite tracks by the ~new DAI~ and I want moar like it. lol

As a first press bonus there’s a 10th anniversary version of Do As Infinity’s debut single, Tangerine Dream, as a trio. This song is really soothing and it’s a nice way to end the album. Can you believe its been 10 years?

Being that this was going to be my first Do As Infinity album, I was really excited since the single preceeding it, ∞1, was pretty amazing (except for the last track, but dats besides the point.) When I first listened to it, well, let’s say I was really underwhelmed. I just wasn’t connecting to most of the new songs and some tracks I just didn’t like at all. I listened to it a second time and I finally was able to like more songs than I did my first listen. For you newer DAI fans out there, this one might take some growing. Or maybe not, if you’re less picky than I am.

Overall Grade: