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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

CD Review :: ARASHI - Time

Regular Edition Cover :

2 CDs Limited Edition Cover :

Disc 1 Tracklist :

1) Oh Yeah !
2) Love so sweet
3) WAVE
4) We can make it !
5) Firefly
6) Taiyou no Sekai (The World Solar)
7) Carry on
8) ROCK YOU
9) Cry for you
10) Love Situation
11) Kaze (Wind)
12) Be with you
13) LIFE
14) Aozora Pedal (Blue Sky Pedal)
15) Everybody Zenshin [Advance] (Regular Edition Track)

Disc 2 Tracklist (Limited Edition) :

1) Song for me (Ohno Satoshi's Solo)
2) Friendship (Aiba Masaki's Solo)
3) Niji [Rainbow] (Ninomiya Kazunari's Solo)
4) Can't Let You Go (Sakurai Sho's Solo)
5) Yabai-Yabai-Yabai (Matsumoto Jun's Solo)

Time is ARASHI's 7th album . It was released last July on the 11th in Japan in 2 different formats .

Prior to the release of Time , 3 singles were lifted from the album .

The regular edition contains a bonus track titled Everybody Zenshin (Advance) , while the limited edition includes a second CD containing a solo song that were done by each of the members .

Prior to the release of their latest/8th album Dream"A"live , Time was the 2nd album ARASHI included a solo song from each of the members in the limited edition pressing of their albums , the 1st time that happened was for their 5th album One .

The album kick things off with an highly energetic no. called Oh Yeah ! which's extremely entertaining & very catchy on 1st listen which kinda sets the mood for Time in a very fast paced mood in the beginning .

Track 2's the band's 18th single , Love so sweet which was used as the theme song to the dodrama Hana Yori Dango 2 in which fellow ARASHI member Matsumoto Jun plays the lead character Domyoji Tsukasa .

There's just something captivating & well sweet about the song . Even before I watched both series of Hana Yori Dango , I have already like the song & it seems that after watching the sequel to the drama , it makes me appericate the song even more than before .

The PV's a bit silly & random but the concept in general's quite cute .

Track 3's a song called WAVE & it's a cool track that's being backed up with strong melodies & the saxophone that's being played at the background makes WAVE a star in its own right .

Next in line's the band's 19th single We can make it ! which was served as the theme song to the dodrama Bambino ! which MatsuJun plays the lead actor Ban Shogo .

We can make it ! is sorta like a Japanese version/take of Agnes Carlsson's song Love Is All Around .

I remembered when I 1st heard We can make it ! , I didn't really like it for some weird reasons as I felt it sounded quite 'dead' of sorts considering the song title & the dynamics of the tune but it's only after I watched an Eng subbed episode of HEY ! HEY ! HEY ! where a lame & silly inquiry was done during the show which took place during the shooting of the We can make it ! PV (which at that time I didn't know what PV it was when the HEYx3 crew were at the scene when I started to know ARASHI) that made me sit up & go hey this song's is not so bad after all .

& now We can make it ! stands as 1 of my fave singles from the guys & nowadays whenever I watch the PV , I can't help but laugh as it always brings me back memories with regards to the HEYx3 episode which you can find it lurking around veoh.com .

Somemore the guys showed some fancy dance moves in the PV which's really cool . Not to mention the appearance of Sakurap makes the song sounds even better after every listen .

The next 2 tracks in line are extremely catchy tunes in their own right . I start with Firefly which's 1 of the strongest & yet most edgy/serious song on the record .

I like it that Sakurap kicks in at the beginning of the song & not to mention the sound consistency's there from the start to the end of Firefly . Also there're some strong guitar riffs going on in the no. which's great .

Track 6's Taiyou no Sekai (The World Solar) which's another fantastic non single . Just like Firefly , Sakurap kicks in at the start . Taiyou no Sekai is 1 of those guilt free pleasure songs that I enjoy listening to .

After a string of upbeat no.s , the mood's slowed down considerably next in the form of a mid tempo guitar driven no. called Carry on . I suppose you can consider this a ballad of sorts as it has some great guitar riffs going on & it's 1 of those serious songs & the guys's vocals compliment the song really well .

Track 8's called ROCK ON . I find it a bit odd that it's titled ROCK ON since the most common phase I heard in this song's So Don't Stop My Love but aside from that it's another solid catchy tune coming from the guys .

I like the piano that's being played in ROCK ON & also the part that the guys go nanana & Sakurap makes this song extremely fun to listen to .

Up next is probably my fave non single on the record . Called Cry for you , the song's fabulous from the beginning to the end simply because it incorporates a much gritter & harder rock sound as compared to the other songs on Time .

Cry for you's 1 of those angsty/moody songs which will do you good if you're having a lousy day & not to mention what better way than to crank it up in your stereo .

The next 2 tracks are somewhat the weak links on Time . I had a bit of trouble in telling the difference between Love Situation & Kaze (Wind) at 1st because the melody for both songs sounded the same in that they both started off with a piano but after extensive listens on both tunes , I have not much of a problem now .

Besides Love Situation has a more poppy trumpet driven sound than Kaze which the latter's an extremely easy & pleasant tune .

Track 12's the only non single ballad on Time . Called Be with you , it's quite a powerful & dramatic ballad which I extremely like considering that the bulk of Time has a lot of catchy & upbeat tunes so Be with you is a breath of fresh air to me .

Up next's a song called LIFE that's another guitar driven no. . The chorus of LIFE is catchy & Sakurap just step up & make the song sounds a whole lot better than the norm .

The 2nd last track on Time is the band's 17th single Aozora Pedal (Blue Sky Pedal) which was used as the ending theme song for the live action movie Hachimitsu to Clover which stars the rapper of the band Sakurai Sho .

I'm not sure why I did not like Aozora Pedal when I 1st heard it . Maybe because I wasn't used to the style of the song which's a bit more grown up than the band's other releases but as time goes by , I began to appericate on where Aozora Pedal is coming from .

Everybody Zenshin (Advance) is the last track on the album (assuming that you have the regular edition) . This's such a great way to close off Time as it's such a catchy & extremely upbeat tune . You can't help but like it on 1st listen .

The next 5 songs are solos done by each of the guys in ARASHI which only can be found if you bought the limited edition of Time . I wouldn't go in depth as to how each of the solos sounds like so this's just an in brief summary .

1) Song for me (Ohno Satoshi's Solo) - Once again Ohno doesn't disappoint in his solo songs & Song for me's a mid tempo tune . I like the melody going on in the song & Ohno carries it pretty well with great vocals coming from the leader of the band .

2) Friendship (Aiba Masaki's Solo) - This's another nice no. coming from Aiba . The style of the song's quite a throwback to the 80's since there're disco beats that were given off in the song . It also somewhat was able to conceal his vocals seeing that he's not the strongest vocalist in the band .

3) Niji [Rainbow] (Ninomiya Kazunari's Solo) - This's probably the most surprising song that's found on Time & also my fave solo song in disc 2 .

Nino's always full of surprises & in this solo no. which's a ballad called Niji , it's just him being backed up with a piano & nothing else . I personally think he allowed his vocals to shine in this song & he did such a great job with it .

4) Can't Let You Go (Sakurai Sho's Solo) - a good solo effort coming from Sakurai in which for Can't Let You Go , you get an equal balance of him singing & rapping although I personally like his rapping more than his singing .

5) Yabai-Yabai-Yabai (Matsumoto Jun's Solo) - the last solo tune on disc 2 , this's quite a silly & pretty senseless solo song coming from MatsuJun as he keep going Yabai-Yabai-Yabai (Oh No / Oh Dear x3) from the start to the end .

It's 1 of those songs that you don't take yourself seriously when you listen to it although I must say I definitely prefer this over than Naked anytime of the day !

I'm not sure why his solo songs are quite sub par in standard as compared to the other members's . I put it down to either bad song choice selection or the fact that he's not exactly the best vocalist in the band . I think I go with the former .

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I consider Time to be 1 of ARASHI's strongest music efforts to date . Unlike Dream"A"live where I needed a bit more time than usual to warm up to the non singles , the non singles on Time are really good & are on par & if not are more superior than the singles counterparts .

All the songs on Time are extremely unique & well defined in their own right . Except for Love Situation & Kaze (Wind) which I had a bit of trouble at the beginning , I have no problems identifying the other songs found on Time on 1st listen .

I had a great time listening to ARASHI's 7th album from the beginning to the end & it's a highly entertaining record .

Not to mention the 5 solo songs coming from the guys are not bad too & Nino's solo take on Niji is easily the best outta the lot , hands down .

Time has its share of extremely memorable catchy no.s although like what I said in my album take on Dream"A"live , it will be nice for the guys to incorporate more ballads in their future albums as in their 7th album offering , the upbeat no.s outweight the ballads .

But with that said , Time's highly recommended especially if you're looking for an album choked full of fantastic & solid crafted upbeat no.s with a few ballads & solo songs from the members thrown in the mix .