how beautiful you are – Ayumi Hamasaki
02/22/2012 at 11:00 AM | Posted in Ayumi Hamasaki | Leave a commentTags: ayumi hamasaki, digital single, how beautiful you are, party queen, review
~Single~
how beautiful you are – Ayumi Hamasaki
1. how beautiful you are
2. how beautiful you are (Instrumental)
A short one today, a digi single in anticipation for her new album Party Queen, which I can’t wait for.
“how beautiful you are” is naturally a ballad and quite a typical one for Ayumi. One thing I must commend is the simplicity of the arrangement. It’s not overly grandiose which was refreshing, though it does build a little as the song progresses so it’s definitely not a bore at the same time. The song contains piano and strings and the occasional harp which makes it that much more lovely. I really liked the vocalizing in the bridge and even more so when it built up after the first round, it’s probably one of my favorite parts of the song.
Score – 8
Final Note
Not bad, honestly, really can’t wait for all the new songs coming from the upcoming album.
Overall Rating
MiChi – TOKYO NIGHT
02/15/2012 at 11:00 AM | Posted in MiChi | Leave a commentTags: michi, review, single, tokyo night
~Single~
MiChi – TOKYO NIGHT
1. TOKYO NIGHT
2. December
3. Revolution
4. TOKYO NIGHT (Instrumental)
MiChi’s lastest single before her new album THERAPY comes out! Let’s see now…
“Tokyo Night” starts off with quite an electronic sound which I think was probably foreseeable. As soon as MiChi starts singing though, things sound a little flat, and dare I say it, boring. The building right before the chorus showed promise but then once the chorus actually hits, it just definitely felt a bit lackluster. Again it was one of those songs that I kept waiting for something to really happen, but it never really goes anywhere.
Score – 7.5
As soon as “December” starts, I was feeling it. It’s quite quiet at first but then bursts into some percussion and electric guitar. It suffers a little bit from being slower paced and I do wish it was faster. The chorus helps alleviate some of the draggy feeling and is the highlight of the song. MiChi sounds a little shaky in this one which isn’t something I hear from her often, but it didn’t detract too much and I still enjoyed the song. Interesting to note that the song is all in English.
Score – 8
“Revolution” is a cover, naturally for a MiChi single, of The Veronicas song by the same name. The music sounds a little on the light side and I wish it had been a little harder like the original. The sound seems to get a little better towards the end. MiChi occasionally sounds shaky again while singing this one, I noticed it more here than in December. An OK cover, she’s definitely done better though.
Score – 7
Final Note
Well all I can say about this single, with the exception of December, is that I’m glad her new album is coming out soon because this just wasn’t really up to par, like many of her latest singles unfortunately.
Overall Rating
Koda Kumi – JAPONESQUE
02/08/2012 at 6:17 AM | Posted in Koda Kumi | Leave a commentTags: album, japonesque, koda kumi, omarion, review, slow, t-pain, v.i.p.
^the only cover I found tolerable.
~Album~
Koda Kumi – JAPONESQUE
1. Introduction ~JAPONESQUE~
2. So Nice feat. Mr.Blistah
3. Boom Boom Boys
4. V.I.P. feat. T-Pain (Album Version)
5. Slow feat. Omarion
6. Brave
7. Everyday
8. IN THE AIR
9. You are not alone ~acoustic version~
10. Interlude ~JAPONESQUE~
11. ESCALATE
12. Love Me Back
13. No Man’s Land
14. Ai wo Tomenaide
15. KO-SO-KO-SO
16. Lay Down
17. Love Technique
18. Poppin’love cocktail feat. TEEDA
19. All for you
Sorry this was delayed although that’s probably now expected of me (working on it I swear!) I have my reasons of course… but anyway, was a little skeptical about this one given Dejavu, though still optimistic.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review
02/01/2012 at 9:53 PM | Posted in PlayStation 3 | 2 CommentsTags: final fantasy xiii-2, game, review, square enix
As most of you know, a few months ago I was flown out to L.A. by Square Enix and got to give FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 a preliminary spin. I’ll be honest, prior to attending this event, I was skeptical about XIII-2. Granted, I was excited for the game, the announcement trailer looked quite promising, as did the subsequent trailer featuring gameplay. Even so, after FINAL FANTASY XIII, I was unsure about a sequel. Don’t get me wrong, I liked XIII, a lot actually, I find I’m one of the bigger fans of the game. Criticism notwithstanding, I still felt wary about a XIII-2. So, it was a pleasant surprise when I finally got my hands on it, and almost instantly felt a lot better. It was clear right from the get go that Square Enix took XIII’s criticism to heart and worked hard to improve on things in XIII-2.
Now Square has thankfully given us a full review copy of the PS3 version, here is my final impressions of their attempts to win back some of the pessimists. Continue Reading Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review…
Just To Clear Things Up
01/13/2012 at 11:47 PM | Posted in Blog Posts | Leave a commentA Little Harsh, Gretch.
So you may or may not have noticed that my most recent review of girl next door’s most recent album “Agaruneku” seemed a little on the harsh side, rating-wise, coming from me. And that’s because I’ve come to realize that I rate things a bit too highly. Shocking I know, (sarcasm) of course people have been telling me I’m too forgiving all my life but hopefully I can try to change that, at least with my reviews from here on out.
Unfortunately, it seems as if girl next door suffers from my new found revelation, although I think it’s a great example of how things will be from now on, for example, I can tell you this, had I not come to this realization and made a concious effort to utilize the other end of the rating spectrum, 5 and below, there would have been a lot of 6s and 7s in that review.
New Feature!
You also may or may not have noticed, however, in the track listing there are now songs bold and in blue! What are these you ask? Recommended Tracks! Whooo. These tracks are either the best the album had to offer, or sometimes it might mean the only tracks you should really even bother with… More often than not, I’d imagine these tracks got an 8 or above, though I’m sure there could be some slight exceptions. This will only ever appear on album track listings just to let you guys know.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy all the more now and again, as always, thanks for reading! <3
P.S. I’ll be working to sort every review by artist so you can simply click and read every review of that artist’s release. It might take a while… Why didn’t I think of this before?
girl next door – Agaruneku!
01/13/2012 at 11:45 PM | Posted in girl next door | Leave a commentTags: agaruneku, album, girl next door, review
~Album~
girl next door – Agaruneku!
1. Dada Para!!
2. No.1
3. Summer Time
4. Boogie-Woogie Night
5. Kimi no Moto e
6. Kimi no Tomodachi
7. ROCK YOUR BODY EXTENDED
8. my own path
9. Zutto
10. Kiss Kiss Kiss
11. Yume no Hana
12. Your Story
13. snowflakes
Sorry this is so late, again, wasn’t really looking forward to this review as I was afraid it would be bad… So let’s see if my suspicions are true.
Namie Amuro – Sit! Stay! Wait! Down! / Love Story
12/23/2011 at 3:46 PM | Posted in Namie Amuro | Leave a commentTags: love story, namie amuro, review, single, sit stay wait down
~Single~
Namie Amuro – Sit! Stay! Wait! Down! / Love Story
1. Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!
2. Love Story
3. Higher
4. arigatou <thank the world for LOVE… gift song for 2011>
5. Sit! Stay! Wait! Down! (Instrumental)
6. Love Story (Instrumental)
7. Higher (Instrumental)
There’s just something about “Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!” that I really. Like from the versus to the lead up into the chorus, and the chorus itself of course the song has a lot of variety in it. The whole thing flows incredibly well and transitions between everything are done well, altogether the song feels very cohesive. The thumping beat during the chorus is addictive and especially catchy. The lyrics, which include her actually saying “Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!” as well as “Good boy” as if commanding a dog, but I’m sure she’s probably commanding a man here, were a fun touch.
Score – 9.5
Things come to a halt upon the beginning of “Love Story” which I’m sure you realized from the title is a ballad. It features prominent piano, acoustic guitar and some snapping. I wasn’t really interested in it overall, though the chorus manages to carry the song a bit. I’d hate to say that it ended up feeling a bit forgettable but it kind of did.
Score – 7.5
Naturally, things get pumped back up with “Higher”. It’s a really electric song. I was kind of disappointed because while the song kind of goes electric/ethereal during the chorus (which I tend to love) it sounded like it was building towards something better the whole time but never really went anywhere. Though don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the chorus, the sound of voice as she sings “Take me Higher” was great.
Score – 8.5
Again things get slowed down a bit for “arigatou” which is another ballad but this one had a bit more beat to it. I can’t help but feel I hear a little bit of HANABI by Ayumi Hamasaki in some of the melody, just an observation, doesn’t matter much. The song just ends up seeming exceedingly average, and again, I found it to be a little forgettable. My favorite Namie ballad still manages to be Meaning Of Us and it doesn’t look like Love Story or arigatou are going to change that any time soon.
Score – 7.5
Final Note
I tend to like both fast and slow songs, but this time, I was completely bored by the slow, and totally turned onto the fast.
Overall Rating
Crystal Kay – Superman
12/23/2011 at 12:48 AM | Posted in Crystal Kay | Leave a commentTags: crystal kay, single, superman
~Single~
Crystal Kay – Superman
1. Superman
2. Love Road
3. Superman (Piano Version)
4. Superman (Instrumental)
5. Love Road (Instrumental)
Yay finally!
Crystal gets back to her true R&B roots with “Superman” and it has never looked better on her. The song starts off with some thumping beats alongside Kay’s smooth voice. I liked how the chorus kind of explodes and I especially liked the melody during it. The breakdown starting off the bridge, featuring a small talking section in English, was a really cool touch. Also, the sound effects during it gave a really different feel. The synths and claps that the song ended with was incredibly cool and ended the song off well.
Score – 8
“Love Road” is most certainly a typical piano ballad, especially one from Crystal Kay, you’ll probably feel as if you’ve heard it already unfortunately. I mean, Kay’s voice is beautiful there’s no doubt, but there’s really nothing groundbreaking about this one. Though, the almost uplifting sound of it all was nice and that I enjoyed. Again, it’s a bit more R&B than the majority of her stuff lately, which is a nice change up, even though I liked the more synthetic sound FLASH had.
Score – 7.5
The “Piano Version” of Superman is exactly what you’d expect it to be, a slowed down, piano ballad version of the song. I thought it wasn’t going to work that well, but it ended up sounding much better than I thought it would. The translation from uptempo song being sung in this manner with the piano backing it actually was kind of refreshing. I was unexpectedly impressed, though, I wouldn’t go on and say it was amazing or anything.
Score – 8
Final Note
This single might not be her best, but I’m just glad she’s back tbh.
Overall Rating
BoA – Milestone
12/23/2011 at 12:26 AM | Posted in BoA | Leave a commentTags: boa, milestone, single
~Single~
BoA – Milestone
1. Milestone
2. I SEE ME
3. Merikuri -BEST&USA Version-
4. Milestone (Instrumental Version)
5. I SEE ME (Instrumental)
6. Merikuri -BEST&USA Version- (Instrumental)
So Milestone is in commemoration of BoA’s some odd years in the industry, I can’t really be arsed to look it up at the moment. I really tend to hate when artists start celebrating anniversaries, mostly because they get really lazy and just tend to release Bests </3 But anyway, that’s enough ranting, onward!
“Milestone” is a ballad, that’s evident of course right off the bat with the sole piano accompanied with BoA’s vocals. I’d hate to say that BoA ballads are boring but… Erm anyway, once the chorus kicks in, some strings kick things up a notch and BoA hits some wonderful high notes. It’s too bad the whole song couldn’t be like that because it sort of reverts to being boring after that, no matter how much more magical the choruses after that got. It also ends sounding extremely… unfinished? I was like “Wait, did the song end?” And then I SEE ME started…
Score – 6.5
I reviewed “I SEE ME” much earlier in the year when it was released as a digital single, mostly because I really liked it and thought for some reason that it would never see the light of day as a normal release. The chorus is truly the highlight of the song, however, unlike Milestone, the rest of it isn’t as boring as hell.
Score – 8.5
As I understand it, Merikuri was a song she released a while back, but then re-recorded for her most recent(?) best album. Well regardless listening to this “BEST&USA Version” of the song is the first time I’m hearing it. To put it bluntly, I really just don’t care for it. It was kinda sleepy which is sometimes OK but it was borderline boring here. As far as Christmas songs go, it didn’t sound very Christmasy… which I think might have hurt it a bit for me. I mean, it was kind of, but just not enough. Just a typical sounding piano ballad with some chimes, etc. I just ended up feeling “Nothing to hear here, move along.”
Score – 7
Final Note
Meh, Oh nice I SEE ME, Meh
Overall Rating
Perfume – JPN
12/15/2011 at 5:38 PM | Posted in Perfume | 2 CommentsTags: album, jpn, perfume
~Album~
Perfume – JPN
1. The Opening
2. Laser Beam (Album Mix)
3. GLITTER (Album Mix)
4. Natural ni Koishite
5. MY COLOR
6. Toki no Hari
7. Nee
8. Kasuka na Kaori
9. 575
10. VOICE
11. Kokoro no Sports
12. Have a Stroll
13. Fushizen na Girl
14. Spice
Sorry this is so late… OH WELL.
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