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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

CD Review :: GIRL NEXT DOOR - GIRL NEXT DOOR

CD Only Cover :

CD + DVD Cover :

CD+DVD Cover (Recochoku's special cover)

CD + 2 DVDs Cover (mu-mo's special cover)

CD + 2 DVDs Cover (TSUTAYA RECORDS's special cover)

Tracklist :

1) Winter Game
2) Drive away
3) Power of love
4) Shiawase no Jouken (The Condition Of The Happiness)
5) WINTER MIRAGE
6) Jounetsu no Daishou (The Compensation Of The Passion)
7) Fine after rain
8) Breath
9) Day's ...
10) ESCAPE (Album Edit)
11) Winter Garden
12) Climber's high
13) NEXT DOOR
14) Guuzen no Kakuritsu [Accidental Probability] (Album Edit)

GIRL NEXT DOOR is the debut self titled debut album of the jpop/rock trio & it's released officially today .

All of the trio's singles & a B-side are included in their 1st album inclusive of 2 double a-side singles in which 2 songs received album edited versions & there're 2 interludes included in GIRL NEXT DOOR which leaves out a total of 6 album tracks in their new album .

For the first time in the world of music , all the songs included in this album are tie-up to the media such as drama series , television shows , or commercials & that goes for the 2 interludes you can find in the album too which's pretty something .

The only album track to receive a music video of its own is also incidentally the 1st song on the album to kick things off in the form of Winter Garden . Initially I didn't like the song as I didn't find it as kicking or memorable as I thought it will be but as time goes by , I like it now .

Drive away is the 1st A-side of the trio's 2nd single . I still like this song as it sounds really upbeat & polished & I like the dash of synth being thrown in for good measures .

Power of love is 1 of the most interesting songs in the album simply because it has an oriental / enka touch to it which already makes itself stand out from the masses . Lead vocalist Chisa's vocals are more or less in fine form in this song & it's a really neat package altogether .

Shiawase no Jouken (The Condition Of The Happiness) is the 2nd A-side of their 2nd single & even up to now , I still don't really like this song as I find it a bit weak as compared to the other A-side singles that they have released so far since Sept this year . You can definitely tell that Shiawase no Jouken is overshadowed by Drive away slightly but still it doesn't hurt to enjoy this no. .

WINTER MIRAGE is the longest track on the album , clocking in at a whopping 6:26 mins ! . Even so , this's probably 1 of my fave album tracks as it's such a nice ballad . The music is quite sad which I believe fits the whole theme of WINTER MIRAGE perfectly .

Jounetsu no Daishou (The Compensation Of The Passion) is the 1st A-side of GND's 3rd single & even up to now , I still like this song . It's somewhat borderline on the angsty side which's a nice change for the trio in terms of musical direction .

Fine after rain is the 3rd album track & I find this to be pretty catchy although frankly it's nothing outstanding in my books & not to mention it just ended abruptly without telling but the melody is really nice & scored brownie points .

Breath is the only B-side which made the cut in GND's debut album . Breath was 1st found as the 1st B-side in the trio's debut single Guuzen no Kakuritsu & naturally for me I was thrilled when Breath made a 2nd appearance in the album simply because it's 1 of my fave b-sides of the trio . I still like Breath even up to now & it's great that GND decided to include it a 2nd time as it's still nice to hear Breath despite many listens .

Day's ... is the 1st interlude in the album & for an interlude , it's sure long at 2:17 mins . It basically constitutes mash up versions of their 1st 3 singles in instrumental format which's pretty cool .

ESCAPE is the 2nd A-side of GND's 3rd single & it's also the 1st song to receive an album edit version & I suppose it's fitting because from Day's ... to ESCAPE , it flows in really well & the sound transition is there . There's no much change to the melody of ESCAPE though .

I still feel that ESCAPE's a very interesting song as it basically sounds like a mix mash of their 1st 3 singles Guuzen no Kakuritsu , Drive away & Jounetsu no Daishou . If you listened to ESCAPE , the opening sounds like Jounetsu no Daishou , the verses will remind you of Guuzen no Kakuritsu while the chorus's kinda similar to Drive away .

Winter Garden is a very Christmas inspired song & you can't help but feel really happy / uplifted when you hear this song . This's also another fave song of mine in their new album & it just makes me real excited for Christmas to arrive in style even though technically I don't celebrate it .

Climber's high is the final album track & it's another classic song that GND has delivered . Initially it started out mellow but then slowly but surely it lashed out at full swing which's really admirable . It sounded a bit angsty as well but that I really don't mind at all .

NEXT DOOR is the last interlude on the album & if you have been following the trio's music career since they made their debut in Sept this year , you would have immediately recognised the tune which's basically an extended introduction version of what you might heard in the MUSIC VIDEO - SPECIAL VERSION of their debut single Guuzen no Kakuritsu (Accidental Probability) & needless to say I never get failed to get blown away with this interlude no. no matter how many times I listened to it .

I should note that NEXT DOOR is also the title of their fanclub as well which opened just recently on Mon .

Guuzen no Kakuritsu is the final track to wrap things up & it's also the 2nd song to receive an album edit in a nod to make the sound consistency of NEXT DOOR to Guuzen no Kakuritsu flow . I think it's the perfect way to conclude simply because it's the trio's debut single & outta the 3 singles that GND has released , I still think this single's the best no. that they have put out to date .

I didn't know what to expect at all when I gave GND's self titled debut album a listen but I must say that it has more or less exceeded my expectations . All the singles that were included are great & not to mention the album tracks were able to sound just as great as its singles counterparts , if not even better than the singles themselves .

What a great way to end off 2008 with this pretty neat album from this really talented trio & I can't wait for them to release even more material when 2009 rolls by .