5 posts tagged “single”

i'm sure i'm TOTALLY late on this and leaks have been out forever and the single has been released for several days now already...
but having just heard it for the first time, i feel the need to officially declare to the world that i love it and the chorus will be stuck in my head FOREVER. :D
Ohno's solo too <3 ugh i love his voice.  it's such an optimistic song.
and i think i really like Tobira too!  mayowazu ni someday~~~ oh oh oh~~ :D
i was really in need of a mood pick-me-up, and damn this helps a lot. <3
yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy~

HELP ME WORLD.

I do so want to order both editions of Kaze no Mukou e / Truth.   I love the cover from the LE B, which I ordered...  but how can you not also want LE A???!  Red and black are my trademark colors too.  Practically everything I own is red and black. XD

I WANT THEM BOTH.  I CANNOT AFFORD THEM BOTH.  MUST. EXCERCISE. SELF. CONTROL.

should i try switching to the other cover? ;-;  Seriously.  Everything I have is red and black practically.  Red & Black + Arashi = special squeeing power.  But they look like they must be so happy on LE B.

OTZ

Himitsu this week... well, the first half hour of all these annoying giggly ladies and their skin really irked me.  I pray that's the last we see of that corner, much as I love the nurse costumes.

However, they played a prank on Oh-chan by setting of a fake filming of the most ridiculous noodle cm you'll ever see. The other guy in it was on VS Arashi at some point... he's the guy who says Yayakoshii... which they said a thousand times during the fake filming... It was some bizarre commercial that was a pun on "Maou"  - Nisshin Maou noodles (they don't really exist but they were supposed to be really spicy, since Maou = devil)  Ohno was really cute though... and you really got the sense he's very patient and good-natured on set.

Then they gave Ohno the chance to plug Maou, yay.

he did this adorable thing based off of the fake cm:

Heheh

Pan!

<---------first the mischevious smile

then the adorably lame gag <3 --->

AND they played Truth in the background!!  I'm so excited.  I think it's going to have a bit more of a slick dance/techno vibe than we've heard in the past.  the production sounds full and smooth.  I'm trying to think if it reminds me of anything of theirs in the past and nothing is coming to mind... if you can think of something I'd love to hear it!!  If anything I would say the production style might be similar to Step & Go but the emotion of the song is completely different and you wouldn't instantly say they're similar. Plus it's still really hard to hear.  I'm so excited, I can't wait~~~ there's a line of the lyric you can hear that sounds something like "kanashimi ni tatoe donna owari wo egaite" and i think it goes on to start with "kokoro" and I lose it after that... anyway I think that Kanashimi line is the primary hook of the chorus... and it's really good.  It goes places you wouldn't expect, sort of turns around.  The owari wo egaite bit is cool. I haven't heard Green yet, nor have I heard anything that makes me really excited about it, and though I really enjoy One Love and think it's quite well-done, it was sort of pleasantly underwhelming for my tastes.  Truth, however, will be a song I think I can get really fired up for. 

***edit: you can hear another sample of Truth here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFBMLHyoNok and I think the phrase you can hear at the end of Himitsu-chan must be the opening or the bridge maybe... the sample you can hear in this version is a bit different and a bit stronger, sounds more like a chorus*** 

>>I think the songwriting for Arashi has honestly really gone up in quality in the past year or two compared to their earlier stuff (love it though I do!!!)  some of their older works are a bit forgettable if you're not a fan, but Truth, One Love, Flashback (imo) and a few other DAL songs depending on your opinion, Shiriusu, Koe, Happiness, Step and Go, and... I'm not sure what songs I'd include here from Time, definitely a few, probably Love So Sweet, Kaze, Aozora Pedal, We Can Make it, and Love Situation... all of these are examples of really well-written and well-produced pop songs.  I think they've pretty much always had good songwriting for an idol group better than KAT-TUN usually, imo, though it's not anyone in KAT-TUN's fault   and actually some of their earlier songs were really clever (shinchousa no nai koibito anyone?).  However,I think taking a look at the direction they've begun to take and the ways they've begun to chage... I'm really proud to say, I think they're going to be able to stay at the top because of the quality of their songs - it will give them appeal and respect among the public in general, outside of girls who love the because of who they are and how beautiful they are.  This makes me really happy for them. kyaa~~ <<

Guys if you haven't all seen Himitsu-chan or heard a sample of Truth yet you should really look it up!!  Himitsu-chan is now available at d-addicts' tv shows and... I don't know where else. x_x

whooooo~ finally got my single today.

i love this song more and more now... in full quality, i think you notice the song picking up in the middle section... i really didn't notice when i saw the PV. in higher quality audio (after having only seen the PV on crappy speakers) i think the beat is much stronger.  previously all that i remembered hearing was the orchestral, flowing feeling of the chorus.  the beat picks up at the chorus and really holds strong throughout, from there, though.  i love the way the structure of the song really builds, melodies and harmonies.  What's more, it's a bit heavier on the midtones... i like that.  I feel like their pop songs are generally a lot heavier on the low and the high ranges of the sound... not as much in the middle.  It's not neccessarily bad at all - i think that's just a tendency, it's fairly characteristic of how Arashi's pop is produced.  However, One Love, I think, fills out the midranges a bit more, and it's a refreshing touch to the tone.  Actually, this same principal has guided the production of Dream-"A"-Live, I think, and it's part of what impressed me so much with the quality and sophistication of the production.  Also, I think I've mentioned this before, and i can't substantiate it much because I don't have the training, but i think the melody in One Love is fairly unique and probably a little culturally influenced.

(though now that i think about it, the PV may be appropriate for hana yori dango, but it's not really one of the ones I'll watch repeatedly...)

Oh Junjun.  he has a bit of a spotlight in this song, of course.  he will always be jun, but despite that he really sounds good. (XD)  much as i love the boy, i've never been crazy about his vocal tone.  HOWEVER, i am impressed with how he's worked on his breath control and support of phrases.  excellent work, Junjun.  his tone is still "jun", but even that has made some progress.  good work.  yoku dekita.  now keep working.

Ohno of course... sounds amazing as usual.  everyone knows this by now.

as for How To Fly, i really like it.  it has the feeling of 'setting out on a journey' to me.  and i love the little bits of spanish guitar here and there and the rythms... it's quite catchy.  and of course they're all sounding good vocally here too!  all of them shockingly.  oh jun you're lovely but you give me headaches.  problem child.. 

i think the remix... much as i'm not a fan of remixes usually, it's really very cleverly done.  successfully blending quite a variety of styles.  throwing in some walking acoustic bass during WISH, of course, and a little bit of light jazz-style drumming, i think, and then playing with beats and distortion throughout the rest (omg speaking of acoustic bass... flashback is such a great song, guys...)  A lot of messing around with distance and layers in Love So Sweet gives it a really lush feel, and One Love adds in some neat instruments and samples - the brass was a fresh touch.  in the Love So Sweet section i think they played around with the accented beats a bit.  I'd say for a remix, a remix that blends multiple songs no less, it's really, really well done and pleasant to listen to, neither too distracted nor monotonous.  no small feat, honestly, when you think about what involves.

i think it's a perfect ending to handan.  I never really thought about that before, but with the final remix on the LE - at first i was annoyed all you get on the LE is a remix (not really a fan of them usually) but it really does put the handan trilogy of singles in perspective and highlights their continuity.  One love does indeed have the feel of a grand finale.  And i give the production team credit for thinking up the LE remix... it adds a lot of perspective to the single.

If I had to say there was anything i disliked about this single... honestly there isn't much i sincerely dislike.  but on the flipside, i will say i didn't totally, totally love it.  i think it works exceedingly well for what it is... it's skillfully created in that regard, it's musically solid, the performances and prodution are all great.  but it's not instantly my favorite and probably never will be.  Just based on my own tastes, i felt it lacked something... and i could have used a bit of sho-rap. (edit: perhaps not sho-rap... but something to break the song up a bit would have been nice, especially considering the beat pretty much never changes.  i do like me some sho-rap though.) that's part of what goes into my personal favorite Arashi songs.  I'm not going to place it on that high of a pedestal, but all things considered i think it fits its purpose incredibly well and is a solid release from pretty much all perspectives.

to be honest, though i owe handan quite a lot - without it i wouldn't even be familiar with our stormy five - i'm happy to see it go.  i loved the story, i loved the singles, it was cute, the acting was cute, all the actors were cute, etc.  but i like arashi more. hahah.  so i'm happy to see them move on to a point where hopefully they won't automatically be associated with handan and where perhaps people won't always point to jun first.  not everyone does that now, of course, particularly not within the fan community.  but i hope you know what i mean with regards to their publicity - now theres so much more going on for the boys but every now and then there's been a bit of a tendency to point to handan.  understandably, consdering what it's done for them.  i'm just happy to see them move into something new.  however, that said, i'm very thankful for handan and everything it's done, and i don't think Arashi could have a better way of closing that chapter than One Love.  it ties everything together so well.  it truly makes things feel complete.  and i'm really thankful for that.  <3  Couldn't have been done any better.

here's to 22 singles, and 22 more!  love you boys~

LSKDJF:LSKDf

THE PV IS OUT, EVERYONE.

I just watched it.  And actually.... >>shock<<  I know the leaks have been out forever but it's the first time I've heard the whole song.  I try not to ruin these surprises for myself too soon, so I've been avoiding it

~Jun gets lots of solos!   (And he's starting to sound really good!)  How appropriate, since this is for HanDan. <3

~I really like whatever that... synth-thing is in the opening.  Sounds a little like a bagpipe.

~This might sound odd, but the Japanese-ness of the melody really strikes me.  It's not really the kind of thing I normally notice or see as any different, but if you think about it... I don't really think you'd get mainstream pop songs with melodies like that in America.  It's not that it sounds traditional or anything, it's just that they use different intervals and stuff.  A different mode.  Again, I usually don't notice this kind of thing... I've been listening to Japanese music for so long it's become fairly normal to me... but occasionally my parents hear a J-pop song and make comments like this (they're both avid musicians).  Like, "wow, you can really hear how Japanese that is... I mean it's definitely not Western."  ...which sounds a bit, eh... simple maybe?  but there's some truth to that. The types of melodies you hear in Jpop are sometimes written quite differently than in mainstream American pop.  It's a really interesting phenomenon to me... and I think parts of One Love reflect that quite well, the chorus in particular.  It would be interesting to study more.

~The PV is pretty. *w* in a really bizarre wedding-cake way.  I like the watercolor effects though~  the boys all look so gorgeous.  Jun looks stunning.  Sho looks adorable.  Riida's eyes look heavenly... yet again. As usual.  Aiba and Nino look extra-cute. :3  yay. aklsdfja;lsdkjf;alkdjfalkdj

Link if you have not seen it yet:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5qu86_hq-pv-arashi-one-love_music

NOTE:  I got the link from K-ba - much love and thanks to her~ <3