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Friday, July 18, 2008

CD Review :: ARASHI - ARASHIC

CD Only Cover :

CD + DVD Cover :

Tracklist :

1) WISH
2) Runaway Train
3) Raise Your Hands
4) Kitto Daijoubu (Surely Okay)
5) Ready To Fly (Ohno Satoshi's Pick Up Song)
6) Caramel Song (Ninomiya Kazunari's Pick Up Song)
7) COOL & SOUL
8) Tabidachi no Asa (On the morning of departure)
9) I Want Somebody (Matsumoto Jun's Pick Up Song)
10) Secret Eyes (Aiba Masaki's Pick Up Song)
11) Chou Arigatou [Thank you very] (Sakurai Sho's Pick Up Song)
12) CARNIVAL NIGHT part 2
13) Silver Ring
14) LOVE PARADE (CD Only Track)

ARASHIC is ARASHI's 6th album . It was released in Japan 2 years ago on July 5th .

The album was released in two editions , a Regular and a Limited Edition . The regular edition contains a bonus track LOVE PARADE and a 32-page lyrics booklet , while the limited edition contains a DVD with clips from their live performances that they did in their One Summer Tour .

2 singles are included in ARASHIC which're highlighted in bold .

Unlike their 5th album One & subsequent albums after they put out ARASHIC in the form of Time & Dream"A"live , in this record , instead of solo songs , each member did a "pick-up" song with one member being the lead vocal and the rest providing backing vocals for each "pick-up" song .

As such , I will review the 5 "pick-up" songs separately from the non singles & singles found on ARASHIC .

The 1st track to start things off is the the band's 15th single WISH which was used as the opening theme song for the 1st season of Hana Yori Dango which Matsumoto Jun played Doumyouji Tsukasa in the dodrama .

An interesting fact about WISH is that MatsuJun accepted an offer to play Doumyouji Tsukasa so that ARASHI can release the song as their next single .

WISH is yet another great single coming from the guys & not to mention it does fit the whole theme going on with Hana Yori Dango although I'm not feeling the PV as much as the song . Must be the all red outfits that the guys wore in there although I love the concept going on in the video .

The next 2 non singles songs on ARASHIC are uptempo no.s which're fantastic in their own right . I start with Runaway Train 1st which's 1 of the stronger & more prominent tracks on ARASHIC .

The melody's awesome which has a heavy synth factor being attached to the song & of course the appearance of Sakurap just makes the song a whole lot more fun than usual .

Track 3's Raise Your Hands also contains traces of Sakurap where Sakurai opened the song with his vocals . Raise Your Hands's 1 of those songs that will put you in a really good mood after each listen .

The next track's the song that started it all for me & for getting me hooked onto ARASHI's music & also it was the very 1st song I heard from the guys . Kitto Daijoubu (Surely Okay)'s the band's 16th single .

I remembered a while back , I was wondering as to how come Ken Hirai was obsessed with Kitto Daijoubu as he talked about his obsession with the song during his Ken's Bar '06 Winter performance & naturally I was curious to know why that's so .

& 1 thing led to another , I was soon hooked & drawn to Kitto Daijoubu within mins of hearing & watching the PV which's very entertaining to watch . As such I have a special liking for Kitto Daijoubu & this song never fails to brighten me up whenever I hear it .

Since the next 2 tracks are the pick up songs from Ohno & Nino , I will reveal them separately & so I jump straight to track 7 COOL & SOUL which's the most odd song on ARASHIC .

The reason why I said that so is because in here , all the members tried their hand in rapping from the start to the end . I disliked COOL & SOUL when I 1st heard it as it's quite obvious that only Sakurai's adapted & good at rapping but now after hearing the song many listens , I grew to appericate the uniqueness of COOL & SOUL since there're not many songs that all of them tried their hand in rapping .

The next track's 1 of my absolute faves on ARASHIC & it's 1 of the 2 ballads on the record . Tabidachi no Asa (On the morning of departure) is just amazing from the start to the end . The melody's just gorgeous to boot & the guys have control over their vocals in here .

Not to mention there's a great saxophone beat going on in Tabidachi no Asa & the song just captivates me big time .

I jump all the way to track 12 on ARASHIC . CARNIVAL NIGHT part 2 is 1 seriously addictive catchy song on 1st listen , you can't help but like it on 1st instance .

The 2nd slow no. on ARASHIC is up next which's titled Silver Ring . It's an interesting song title & just like Tabidachi no Asa , it's a great ballad coming from the guys & I love the piano & guitar riffs that're being used in the song .

The last song to close off ARASHIC is LOVE PARADE which's only available in the CD only edition pressing of the album . The melody of the song consist of swinging jazz & trumpet beats that's so addictive it hurts .

I feel it's a great way to close off the album with such a guilty pleasure song .

& now I will review the 5 "pick-up" songs separately from the non singles tracks .

1) Ready To Fly (Ohno Satoshi's Pick Up Song) - I adore Ohno's solo songs that were found in Time & Dream"A"live & in this pick up song , Ready To Fly showcases Ohno's great vocals that he was being backed up by the rest of the guys & it's a mid tempo no. coming from Ohno .

2) Caramel Song (Ninomiya Kazunari's Pick Up Song) - Nino's always full of surprises & in this tune which's a rather slow no. which has a charming melody attached to it & Nino allowed his vocals to shine & he has complete control over his vocals .

3) I Want Somebody (Matsumoto Jun's Pick Up Song) - this's my fave pickup song among the 5 of them . I Want Somebody's an angsty mid tempo guitar driven no. . The melody's fantastic & MatsuJun has great backing up assistance from the rest while he sang the lead in I Want Somebody which's a good thing considering that the solo songs that he did in One , Time & Dream"A"live are not really that fantastic to begin with since he's not the best vocalist in ARASHI so this's really something !

4) Secret Eyes (Aiba Masaki's Pick Up Song) - this's a pretty good pickup song from Aiba & the melody's choked full of Carribean beats & trumpets being blared out for good reasons & also great Sakurap going on in the midst of Secret Eyes . This's a nice song to listen to during the summer or if you're having a beach party .

5) Chou Arigatou [Thank you very] (Sakurai Sho's Pick Up Song) - The last pickup song on the list that's done by Sakurai . Chou Arigatou allowed him to showcase his vocals & Sakurap in its finest form possible & in the song he does more Sakurap than singing in which it's nice since he's more prominent in his rapping than singing in ARASHI .

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ARASHIC's 1 of my fave albums coming from ARASHI alongside with their 7th album Time .

All the songs on their 6th album are solid & well crafted in their own right & not to mention the idea of a pickup song's a smart move to undertake seeing that it serves as an advantage for some of the guys in ARASHI whose vocals are not strong to begin with & it's a wise move to get 1 member to take the lead vocals & the other 4 backing him up musically .

Also I personally feel that the non singles are superb & onpar if not even better than the 2 singles found on ARASHIC .

ARASHIC's 1 highly enjoyable & well liked album from the start to the end & it's worth getting a copy of it .