1) SHE SAID ... 2) NEVER AGAIN 3) I LIKE IT 4) MIRACLE 5) BLUE TUESDAY 6) RHODESIA 7) GOLD 8) WILDS OF MY HEART 9) SPECIAL HAPPINESS (Kamenashi Kazuya & Taguchi Junnosuke Duet) 10) ONE ON ONE (Tanaka Koki & Nakamaru Yuichi Duet) 11) BUTTERFLY (Akanishi Jin & Ueda Tatsuya Duet) 12) RUSH OF LIGHT 13) Harukana Yakusoku (A Promise Long Time Ago) 14) PRECIOUS ONE 15) Real Face #1 (Regular Edition Track)
Best of KAT-TUN is KAT-TUN's debut album . It was released 2 years ago on 22nd March & it was released on the same day as their debut single Real Face & also their DVD Real Face Film & no surprises , all three shattered records in sales & topped the charts , making them the 2nd artiste do so after ayumi hamasaki & for the guys to finally able to debut after a 5 year long wait since their debut formation in 2001 , it's amazing so to speak .
Just 1 single's lifted from the album which's only available in the regular edition pressing of the record . Even so , the single available on the album's not the same version as found in the single . The only difference's that it has been arranged differently , music wise .
It might sound strange to call their debut album Best of KAT-TUN but the reason why that's so is because the album comprises of many of the songs they made popular during lives along with 7 new songs recorded just for the album in which the 7 new songs are in question , they're MIRACLE , BLUE TUESDAY , RHODESIA , SPECIAL HAPPINESS , ONE ON ONE , BUTTERFLY & RUSH OF LIGHT .
1st up in line's the infectious & very grand sounding SHE SAID ... . Just when I thought the opening song of KAT-TUN III -QUEEN OF PIRATES-'s T∀BOO is awesome , SHE SAID ... is also equally fantastic too .
I like the fact that Tanaka started things off with his rapping skills which added a nice touch to SHE SAID ... & of course the melody of the no. is to die for with the crunchy guitar riffs .
Track 2's titled NEVER AGAIN . It's an edgy hip hop no. that has shades of guitar riffs being thrown in for good measure . I think it's somewhat a bit of a weak song on 1st listen but it grows on me eventually .
Next in line's the 1st 4 of slow no.s available on Best of KAT-TUN . I LIKE IT is a slow mid tempo no. which the guys's vocals gel extremely well together with the melody of I LIKE IT .
Track 4's MIRACLE & this's a great & extremely catchy song on 1st listen . The chorus of MIRACLE's strong & very likable going on in the tune .
The next tune's titled BLUE TUESDAY & it's the 2nd slow no. on the album . This's another nice ballad coming from KAT-TUN as it bear resemblances to their 3rd single Bokura no Machi de (In Our Town) & the guys have control in their vocals in BLUE TUESDAY & not to mention the title of the song's charming too .
The pace's now cranked up to maximum level with the next 3 tracks on the record . 1st in line's a song called RHODESIA which's 1 of the harder sounding songs on Best of KAT-TUN . The melody's awesome with heavy emphasis on the lead & bass guitars .
Track 7's titled GOLD . I had a problem remembering how GOLD sounded like at 1st because there wasn't a mention of the word gold in the song + the beginning of the song was a bit boring for my liking but now I have no issues with GOLD as I can remember it from the chorus which the guys went 'all or nothing now or never we can make it happen we can make it alright' .
The album's 1/2 way mark track follows suit with an interesting song title called WILDS OF MY HEART . I love the title of the song & when I managed to heard the song eventually , I wasn't disappointed . It's another uptempo rock influenced no. at its best .
The next 3 songs are duet no.s which's no doubt an interesting concept that the guys have partake .
The 3rd slow no. in the album is called SPECIAL HAPPINESS & it's sung by Kame & Taguchi . This's my 2nd fave slow song on the album . That's something charming about the melody of SPECIAL HAPPINESS & it's a very nice finger snapping & guitar driven song which's very cool .
Credits really have to go to Kame for penning the lyrics of SPECIAL HAPPINESS under his pen name K^2 .
The pace is now picked up with the next 4 tracks on Best of KAT-TUN . Up 1st's Track 10 called ONE ON ONE & it's sung & rapped by Tanaka & Nakamaru respectively . The beginning of the song's very interesting because it features great beat boxing skills from Nakamaru & Tanaka's rapping skills in which both guys's unique skills compliment each other really well .
Subsequently after that's gotta outta the way , the actual tune of ONE ON ONE kicks in . The melody's sorta like futuristic inspired & reminded me of a more mellow take of DON'T U EVER STOP .
ONE ON ONE is 1 of the most unique songs on Best of KAT-TUN & not to mention 1 of the more rap influenced tune coming from rapping provided by Tanaka in the background of the song & both guys cowrite ONE ON ONE together which's awesome as they displayed considerable good songwriting skills in their subsequent solo singles .
Track 11 has gotta be 1 of my fave songs on Best of KAT-TUN for a non ballad song that's . Titled BUTTERFLY , this tune's sung by Akanishi & Ueda . For me , I love it that the song kicks off with an explosive guitar riff & it's practically in your face just like their previous hard rock no.s like Keep the faith & LIPS .
& of course being a rock chick , this's 1 song that I loved to play & cranked it up a notch or 2 whenever I have the chance to & I also feel BUTTERFLY's 1 of the stronger & memorable tunes in the album & the guys had a hand in cowriting BUTTERFLY together which's great . They even throw in a good measure of French in a paragraph or 2 which's cool .
Track 12's titled RUSH OF LIGHT . This's another very catchy tune except as compared to the group's rock songs , the melody of the song's quite toned down considerably & being quite heavily emphasised on the synth factor since that's what I heard in the beginning but then eventually the guitar & amp factor kicks in .
Next in line's Harukana Yakusoku (A Promise Long Time Ago) which's the only Japanese titled song on the record & it was the 1st song that the group recorded together as 1 .
Once again KAT-TUN has put out another awesome catchy guitar driven no. & Harukana Yakusoku's 1 smooth uptempo rock song & this's also another fave song of mine as I'm hooked onto the guitar riffs that's being used in Harukana Yakusoku .
The 2nd last track's incidentally the final slow no. on the album . Titled PRECIOUS ONE , this's my fave slow jam tune outta the 4 slow tunes . I love the way the guys's vocals work in synth with the melody & they really put it their best & deliver a great solid ballad .
It's just them being backed up with a piano & the final result's just stunning for words .
The final track on Best of KAT-TUN's just so happened to be the only single available on the album except it's titled Real Face #1 .
Real Face's their debut single & the single version's not available in the album . Instead the song has been arranged differently music wise by B'z Matsumoto Tak & been renamed as Real Face #1 .
Real Face #1 is only available in the regular edition of Best of KAT-TUN .
Well honestly I prefer both versions of Real Face , be it the single or album version since at the end of the day , both of them are still rock songs but it's quite something for 1 1/2 of the top selling Japan act of all time to come onboard to lend a hand & put a few nice touches to the top selling single of 2006 in Japan .
Best of KAT-TUN was quite a task for me to listen especially since there're 14 new songs & only 1 single for me to listen to but it's an interesting package .
Unlike their 3rd album KAT-TUN III -QUEEN OF PIRATES- which's extremely radio friendly & well defined in all aspects , I had a bit of problem with Best of KAT-TUN as some of the songs did not grab me on 1st instance but gradually as time goes by , I managed to appreciate every song & different aspect of KAT-TUN's debut album .
The songs that stood out are fantastic & sounds even better as each listen goes by while the slightly weaker ones managed to catch up & grow on me after I listened to Best of KAT-TUN over & over again .
Definitely an album worth checking out .
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
