CD Review :: Tegomass - Tegomass no Uta
CD Only Cover :
CD + DVD Cover :
Tracklist :
1) Miso Soup
2) Kiss ~Kaeri Michi no (Going Back Home) Love Song~
3) Tatta Hitotsu Dake (Just The Only One)
4) Natsu e no Tobira (Door To Summer)
5) What's going on ?
6) Kushami (Sneeze)
7) Sayonara Boku no Machi (Goodbye , My Town)
8) HIGHWAY
9) POWER OF EARTH
10) Shikisai (Colour Of Four Seasons)
11) Kataomoi no Chiisana Koi (Tiny Crush)
12) Aiaigasa (Sharing An Umbrella)
13) Ame nochi Hare (Rain Then Sunny) (CD Only Track)
14) Chicken Boya (Boy) (CD Only Track)
15) Miso Soup (CD Only Track)
Tegomass no Uta is Tegomass's debut album . It was released last month on the 15th .
The duo's 1st 3 singles are included in Tegomass no Uta & as such , you will not find their 4th single Tanabata Matsuri (Star Festival) in here which was released a week before the album dropped .
Miso Soup is track #1 on the album & it's their debut single which was released 3 years ago . I have to admit that initally when I saw the title Miso Soup , I thought it might be some corny/cheesy tune but I'm actually surprised on how mature like it sounded to a certain extent .
It's a nice mid tempo ballad I should say & both Tegoshi & Masuda's vocals compliment each other very well .
Incidentally , the English version of the song is the last track you can find in Tegomass no Uta (assuming if you bought the CD only edition as you will not find it in the CD + DVD edition of the record)
Kiss ~Kaeri Michi no (Going Back Home) Love Song~ is track #2 & it's their 2nd single . The song was used as the ending theme song for the anime Lovely Complex & the B-side Kimi + Boku = Love ? was used as the opening theme .
This's also the only single of the duo that did not debuted at #1 as compared to the rest of their discography . It had to settle for #2 eventually .
It's a pity I say because I honestly really like Kiss ~Kaeri Michi no Love Song~ as it's such a sweet sincere ballad & there's no way you will dislike this type of music at all , no matter how somewhat cheesy it's but it still gives you a warm fuzzy feeling at the end of the day .
Tatta Hitotsu Dake (Just The Only One) is the 1st new album track on Tegomass no Uta . This's a really upbeat & peppy song . The guys sounded like they had a lot of fun belting this no. out . I wouldn't blame them if that happened as it puts me in a really good mood when I 1st heard Tatta Hitotsu Dake .
Natsu e no Tobira (Door To Summer) is a nice & rather chilled out mid tempo song . It's a pop song but it's not exactly a full blown pop no. . Instead you have shades of synth in Natsu e no Tobira & the ending product that you get to hear's this somewhat groovy tune which's frankly cool .
What's going on ? is track #5 & what an upbeat song this's & I say this's a perfect sound transition from Natsu e no Tobira to What's going on ? & it helps that this's some serious catchy tune that I like .
Kushami (Sneeze) is an amusing song title . I thought it might be a joke song or something but I'm surprised that it's a very short song .
In fact it's the 2nd shortest song in Tegomass no Uta , clocking in at 2:17 mins & in here , you get an awesome stripped down song in which the guys are backed up only by an acoustic guitar which's basically back to basics & you can hear the duo's vocals shine & it's kinda evident as to why Tegoshi & Masuda are considered 2 of the best vocalists in NEWS .
Sayonara Boku no Machi (Goodbye , My Town) is an interesting song . I say so because it's 1 of the 2 songs you can find in Tegomass no Uta that's heavily Enka influenced to a certain extent which caught me by surprise when I 1st heard it .
Also you can hear the sounds of flute going on in Sayonara Boku no Machi which I think it's cool as it gives the song an even bigger music edge that it needs to stand out from the other songs you can find in Tegomasu no Uta .
HIGHWAY is 1 of my fave album tracks & it's quite easy to see why because HIGHWAY consists of loud trumpets blaring out in full force in the beginning of the tune & this's the perfect song to blast out in your sound systems if you're planning to throw a party as it will give you that really high (drug free) feeling .
POWER OF EARTH is track #9 & this's also another fave album track of mine as it's a pop/rock guitar driven no. . It might sound like a standard typical pop/rock fare but Tegoshi & Masuda's vocals were able to save it from becoming a boring tune & they changed HIGHWAY to something worth listening/looking out for which's great .
Shikisai (Colour Of Four Seasons) is the shortest track in Tegomass no Uta , clocking in at 2:11 mins & this's the 2nd song that's heavily Enka influenced .
I wouldn't really call this a full song , it's more like a long interlude that's oddly smacked in the middle of the album . There were basically less than 10 lyrics lines or so in Shikisai but man the melody's something that I really enjoyed .
Especially at the last part where it gets very aggressive & heart thumping somewhat .
Kataomoi no Chiisana Koi (Tiny Crush) is track #11 & it served as the ending theme song for the 2nd season of the anime Neo Angelique Abyss .
This's probably 1 song that I have been waiting for the longest time to hear the full take of it seeing that I heard the short version of the song since last year & for me to finally to be able to hear the full version of Kataomoi no Chiisana Koi , it's definitely worth the 1 year+ wait for me .
For me , what I like about Kataomoi no Chiisana Koi is that it's such a nice ballad & the music cameo of a flute & also some Enka influences thrown in for good measures makes Kataomoi no Chiisana Koi stands out from the other tunes you can find in Tegomasu no Uta .
Frankly I was hoping that the duo would have released Kataomoi no Chiisana Koi as a single as it's written single material all over the place but too bad that didn't materlised but at least it made the cut in Tegomass no Uta which I guess it's not so bad at the end of the day .
Aiaigasa (Sharing An Umbrella) is the duo's 3rd single which was used as the ending theme song for the 1st season of Neo Angelique Abyss .
Ah what's there not to like such a sweet song ? Aiaigasa was also the 1st tune I heard from Tegomass too so it has quite a lot of special memories/meaning to me & just like Kiss ~Kaeri Michi no Love Song~ , it has that warm fuzzy feeling you will have when you listen to Aiaigasa .
The next 3 songs are tunes that you're only available to find in the CD only edition of Tegomass no Uta .
Ame nochi Hare (Rain Then Sunny) is a charming song I should say . It's really carefree & it's 1 of those songs that will want you to just kick back & relax when you listen to Ame nochi Hare .
Chicken Boya (Boy) is another song title that will make go o_O but it's interesting to note that this's the only song in Tegomasu no Uta which has personal input that were contributed by the duo .
The lyrics of Chicken Boya were written by Masuda while the music was composed by Tegoshi .
I have to confess that I thought the song might be something cheesy/weird but I'm surprised that it's quite mature sounding . I guess this goes to show that you should not judge a song based on its title alone & I believe the same thing goes for Miso Soup & also Chicken Boya too .
It's a pretty good mid tempo song & considering that it's the duo's 1st song that they have wrote & composed separately (respectively) , hats off to them for doing so .
Miso Soup is the final track on Tegomass no Uta & no your eyes are not playing tricks with you in that there're 2 songs in the record that shares the same song title .
In here aka track #15 , it's the English version which was 1st released in Sweden before the Japanese version was released because the writer of Miso Soup who goes by the name of zopp is Swedish himself so that's probably 1 of the reason why so it happens .
For me , I'm surprised that the duo's English command's pretty good in here . I did got lost in the midst of hearing it , especially after they belted out the 1st chorus & I had to look at the lyrics sleeve when I listened to it .
Considering that English's not their 1st language , it's commendable I say .
Tegomass no Uta is a pretty neat debut album delivered by Tegomass . In here , you get a mixture of upbeat/mid tempo pop songs with ballads thrown in for good measures .
Let's just say that the material you're able to find in Tegomass no Uta , are tunes that you will not be able to see NEWS doing it at all & in here , you have 2 of NEWS's best vocalists in delivering this solid album offering .
I'm not sure whether will they be releasing another album & let alone a new single . That reminds to be seen coming from the management's point of view but until then , do yourself a favour & listen to Tegomass no Uta .
You'll be amazed on how top notch this debut album offering's .
