1) Michi (Road) 2) Day by Day 3) Ai Uta (Love Song) 4) HIGH G.K. LOW ~Hajikero~ 5) NEW LIFE 6) Koinu (Puppy) 7) MISS YOU 8) Tegami (Letter) 9) Party People 10) Raggae Raggae 11) Midori (Green)
A , Domo. Hajimemashite is JRock/Pop quartet GReeeeN's debut album . This was released last year on June 28th in Japan & 3 singles are included in the quartet's debut album offering .
& what better way to kick things off with the group's major label debut single Michi (Road) . This's a nice mid tempo song that's easy & pleasant sounding to the ears .
I find Day by Day to be a really cute song as I feel it's a really catchy no. backed up by the tinkling of the piano & strong backup vocals of the other 3 guys in the band in which they assist lead singer HIDE .
The next 2 songs are singles that they have released prior to A , Domo. Hajimemashite & incidentally track 3's the group's 3rd single Ai Uta (Love Song) & this's the song which has been considered to be the quartet's breakthrough hit before their 7th single Kiseki came in the pic & took things a notch or 2 higher for the guys this year when Kiseki was released .
It's easy to see why Ai Uta did wonders for GReeeeN as it's such a great song & not to mention the lyrics & melody harmonise real well together . Before Kiseki was released , Ai Uta was the group's best single in terms of chart & sales wise .
Moving a single back , it's their 2nd single HIGH G.K. LOW ~Hajikero~ . I find it odd & weird that HIGH G.K. LOW ~Hajikero~ is the group's worst single in terms of chart & sales performance which's a pity because unlike Michi or Ai Uta , HIGH G.K. LOW ~Hajikero~ is an upbeat peppy no. which was used in an ad to promote Coke Cola which explained the somewhat Coke influenced going on in HIGH G.K. LOW ~Hajikero~ .
The last 7 tracks in the album are non singles tracks . Just like HIGH G.K. LOW ~Hajikero~ , NEW LIFE is also another upbeat song which has strong traces of guitar going on in the melody & I like this no. , it's a good no. & the sound consistency from their 2nd single to this album track's there .
I find Koinu (Puppy) to be extremely Christmas inspired especially at the beginning of the song where it sounds like something you can easily find straight out of a traditional Christmas carol song . Koinu's actually 1 of my fave songs on A , Domo. Hajimemashite & I find it to be a cool no. .
Initially I thought MISS YOU will be a ballad even though I was only 1/2 right as it's a mid tempo no. . At the beginning I find the song to be a bit un-memorable for my liking . As a result I had to take a few more listens before I got used to how the song sounds like .
1 of my fave album tracks is track 8 which's Tegami (Letter) . This's a really nice ballad driven song & it sounds like a less complicated version of Ai Uta in terms of the music structure .
2 upbeat party inspired tracks back to back Party People & Raggae Raggae takes track 9 & 10 . The music direction for both songs are different in the sense that Party People has a rather strong violin introduction while for Raggae Raggae , it has a somehow reggae inspired tune going on in the song .
The final track to close off the album is titled Midori (Green) which's a bit ironic considering it's also a nod on the band's name in terms of Japanese context but in anycase , I was very surprised when I 1st heard Midori as it's a soothing piano driven song & not to mention the melody's really captivating too which's a great way to conclude things nicely .
I didn't really had any expectations when I gave A , Domo. Hajimemashite a listen but I was surprised at what this talented quartet has to offer . The only thing I didn't like was the somewhat huge list of 7 album tracks after HIGH G.K. LOW ~Hajikero~ as I feel the guys should at least spread out Ai Uta & HIGH G.K. LOW ~Hajikero~ instead of lumping them together side by side .
Regardless of which , it's good to see that GReeeeN is able to be versatile in ballads & as well as upbeat songs as evident in their debut album A , Domo. Hajimemashite .
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
