CD Review :: Kobukuro - CALLING
CD Only Cover :
CD + DVD Cover :
Tracklist :
1) Sayonara (Goodbye) HERO
2) Koigokoru (Love)
3) To calling of love
4) Niji (Rainbow)
5) STAY
6) Tenshitachi no Uta (Song Of Angel)
7) FREEDOM TRAIN
8) Summer rain
9) Sunday kitchen
10) Kamikaze (Divine Wind)
11) Betelgeuse
12) Toki no Ashioto (The Footsteps Of Time)
13) Akai Ito (Red Thread)
CALLING is Kobukuro's 7th album . It was released last month on the 5th & this comes almost 2 years+ since the release of their million selling album 5296 .
Their 3rd #1 album contains 3 singles & 4 B-sides .
Sayonara (Goodbye) HERO is the 1st album track in CALLING & wow , what a way to start things off !
Because their main music focus tend to lie in folk , it was surprising to hear them do such an in your face rock song coupled with wicked synth beats which was really refreshing .
Koigokoru (Love) is the 2nd album track & it's a really nice folk ballad . It's definitely a lot more calmer than Sayonara HERO & you also have strong acoustic guitar riffs going on in Koigokoru which's plain lovely .
To calling of love is track #3 & this's the 2nd longest track in CALLING , clocking in at 6:21 mins & it was 1st performed during their 5296 live tour .
This's an unique song I feel because it's a slow song but yet there're traces of harmonica going on in To calling of love which I find it really cool as it gives off that old school country vibe that's nice .
Also you tend to hear Kuroda sing more than vocalist/guitarist Kobuchi in To calling of love as compared to other songs where they tend to have equal singing parts .
Niji (Rainbow) is the duo's 17th single & it was used as a tied up no. with the airline company JAL (Japan Airlines) .
I remembered when I 1st heard Niji on 1st listen , I really like it as it's a very upbeat & soaring pop/folk tune which strays away from the usual slow/mid tempo tunes that Kobukuro does & it's a song that gives off positive vibes too .
STAY is their 18th single which was the last single that they released before CALLING was dropped .
It served as the theme song to the TBS drama series Kanryoutachi no Natsu , which's based on a novel by the late Shiroyama Saburou .
STAY is definitely on par with their best selling single to date which's Tsubomi (Flower Bud) since both songs are power ballads which're a class of their own .
I really love the music arrangements going on in STAY which I feel it has an unique flair .
Tenshitachi no Uta (Song Of Angel) is track #6 & it's the 4th album track . It's a mid tempo song which has a really gorgeous melody . I was really taken aback when I 1st heard Tenshitachi no Uta as it gives off positive affirmations that I like .
The next 2 songs are B-sides no. .
FREEDOM TRAIN is the 1st B-side of STAY & just like the song title suggest , it's a carefree tune & I'm frankly happy to see the song make the cut in CALLING as it deserves to .
Summer rain is the 1st B-side of Niji & it was used as the opening theme for the manga-based TV Tokyo baseball anime Cross Game .
To me , what I like about Summer rain is that the acoustic guitar riffs in Summer rain are nice . It's not as out there as compared to Niji but still this's a song that I don't mind listening to .
Sunday kitchen is track #9 & just like Sayonara HERO , it's a song that I definitely wasn't expecting of Kobukuro seeing that it's a somewhat Carribean inspired no. that has the appearance of a flute going on which's unusual but somehow it works in their favour .
& in here , you tend to hear more of Kobuchi's vocals as compared to Kuroda's .
Kamikaze (Divine Wind) is the last album track you can find in CALLING & this's the 3rd song that's not a typical Kobukuro style that you can find as just like Sayonara HERO , it's rock but you will not find synth beats going on .
Instead , it has been replaced with rough & in your face electric guitar riffs which I think it's pretty good & kicking .
Betelgeuse is the 2nd B-side of their 16th single Toki no Ashioto (The Footsteps Of Time) & this's the only B-side tune on CALLING that received a music video of its own .
When I 1st heard Betelgeuse , I was surprised because it's an unusual song & also it's very different from Toki no Ashioto which I like .
It took me forever to remember how Betelgeuse sounds like but after I saw the music video , I'm fine with it now .
The next song after Betelgeuse's the A-side song itself , Toki no Ashioto . It was used as the theme song for the NTV drama Oh ! My Girl !! .
Toki no Ashioto is the oldest single in CALLING because it was released last year as compared to Niji & STAY where both tunes were released this year .
If you listen to Toki no Ashioto , the music arrangements is unique as it utilise somewhat clock sounds & piano beats . This odd combination sounds weird but it strangely works in the guys's favour .
Akai Ito (Red Thread) is the final track you can find in CALLING & it's also the 1st B-side of Toki no Ashioto .
It's also the longest track in the album , clocking in at 6:55 mins .
I guess somehow because of the really long time duration of Akai Ito , I'm not really feeling that much love for the song as much as I want to seeing that it tends to get a bit boring & unmemorable for my liking but considering that the duo slotted in this song as the last no. , I don't mind skipping it on times when I feel like it .
CALLING is the 1st record I chose to listen to of Kobukuro & I was pleasantly surprised on what the folk duo has to offer . I assumingly thought that the album was going to be a strict & full on folk/rock album given their niche music areas but that's not the case after I listened to it .
There're some experimentations that went on in CALLING in which the final products turned out pretty nicely as they shown me musically that they do well in other music genres other than folk itself .
Definitely a solid album worth checking out for in 2009 .
