CD Review :: abingdon boys school - abingdon boys school CD Only Cover :
CD + DVD Cover :
Tracklist :
1) As One 2) HOWLING -INCH UP- 3) Via Dolorosa 4) INNOCENT SORROW 5) DOWN TO YOU 6) Atena 7) stay away 8) Nephilim 9) LOST REASON Feat MICRO from HOME MADE Kazoku 10) DESIRE 11) Dress (BUCK-TICK cover) 12) ReBirth + ReVerse
1 of my fave new acts to emerge this year in the scene , it's J rock newcomers abingdon boys school or known as abs for short & what better way than to do a review of their self titled debut album today .
Fronted by Takanori Nishikawa of T.M.Revolution , abs debuted in 2005 with the song stay away which was featured on the Love for NANA ~Only 1 Tribute~ compilation album . Their debut single , INNOCENT SORROW, was used as the first opening theme song to the anime D.Gray-man .
& abs released their self titled debut album on 17th Oct in Japan . The band is named after the famous all boys school in England , Abingdon School which the members of Radiohead attended .
With the exception of Dress & ReBirth + ReVerse , the lyrics of the other songs on the album were written by frontman Takanori Nishikawa .
The album kicks off with an Eng no. As One & it was followed by a new music arrangement of their 2nd single HOWLING which's the 1st song that I heard from them & er honestly I cannot tell the difference between HOWLING & HOWLING -INCH UP- cos both songs sound the same to me . I don't see or should I say hear any musical arrangement differences between the both of them .
Track 3 is my 2nd fave track on the album that's if you don't count the singles that abs has released prior to the release of the album . I love the music arrangment of Via Dolorosa when I 1st heard the song . Very nice . Too bad there's no video to accompany Via Dolorosa .
INNOCENT SORROW's next in line which's incidentally their debut single . I did not find it as catchy as HOWLING initally but now I like the song . After in which you get DOWN TO YOU & Atena .
For some reasons , when I 1st heard both DOWN TO YOU & Atena , they tend to sound the same to me in which around this time , the songs in the album started to blend together but now I don't really have this problem .
stay away's found in the Love for NANA ~Only 1 Tribute~ compilation album & Nephilim's abs's 3rd single . I like all 3 singles that abs has released from the album & Nephilim doesn't fail to disappoint .
After Nephilim , it's LOST REASON & it's the B side of Nephilim . However , the version found in the album's different because unlike the version found in the single of Nephilim , this 'new' version of LOST REASON on the album feats MICRO from HOME MADE Kazoku .
I think whether you're talking about the 'old' or 'new' version of LOST REASON , both of them sound the same except the 'old' version doesn't contain MICRO's rapping but still it's a good B side .
I also like track no10 DESIRE , I think it's 1 of the strong non single tracks on the album & after in which it's a cover of BUCK-TICK's Dress . For some weird reason/s , I did not like Dress when I 1st heard it . I heard the original version done by BUCK-TICK & compared with abs's redition , I prefer abs's anytime .
& what better way to close the album with my fave track which's ReBirth + ReVerse which incidentally it's the longest track on the album with Dress coming short at being the 2nd longest track on the album .
The reason why I love ReBirth + ReVerse is simply because it's the only instrumental track on the record & it sounds great . It started out mellow & then it breaks into a full synth retro vibe which's damn cool & good .
With that said , I really enjoy abs's self titled debut album & it's the 1st J rock record that I listened to but hey there's always a 1st for everything & I'm glad that I decided to give abs's music a shot & this album definitely will be in the top 5 of my list of fave albums for the year .
Blog Personnel
Karen Pang
# 10th Jan
# #1 BREAKERZ fan in Singapore since 2008 debut single ♥
# My music blog consists of JPop/Rock singles & albums reviews that I put my heart , efforts & soul into writing them as I'm disgusted with the way that JPop/Rock music is being treated/written/reviewed in Singapore so to the local media (yes you TEENS , Teenage Magazine & The Strait Times) , screw you all . I basically can write better JPop/Rock reviews , period
