CD Review :: Saito Kazuyoshi - Tsuki ga Noboreba
Cover For Both CD Only Regular & Limited Editions :
Tracklist :
1) COME ON !
2) LOVE & PEACE
3) Eiga Kantoku (Movie Director)
4) Don't Worry Be Happy
5) Koukai (Regret) Shuffle
6) Yah , Mujyo (Cruelty)
7) Tengokuno Tsuki (Month Of Heaven)
8) Phoenix
9) Bitch !
10) Summer Days
11) Hello Good-bye
12) Encore
Tsuki ga Noboreba is singer/songwriter/guitarist Saito Kazuyoshi's 13th album . It was released last month on the 16th & it contains 3 singles .
The album debuted at #7 in the weekly Oricon album chart with 1st week sales of 21,422 .
COME ON ! is Saito's 37th single & the most recent single to be included in Tsuki ga Noboreba before the album was released .
As expected , COME ON ! is still fresh in my mind & the music arrangement for this really upbeat & peppy tune is just something .
Saito used a variety of instruments such as electric guitar , acoustic guitar , synthesizer , electric bass , drums & tambourine just for the music component for COME ON ! which really is impressive .
LOVE & PEACE is the 1st album track & just like COME ON ! , it's another solid catchy rock driven tune . The instruments that Saito's used is the same as COME ON ! except with the inclusion of a cowbell which sounds odd but it really works in favour for LOVE & PEACE .
I really like the song on 1st listen as it somehow has more stronger guitar riffs as compared to COME ON ! which's neat .
Eiga Kantoku (Movie Director) is track #3 & it's the 1st album ballad you can find in Tsuki ga Noboreba .
This's not a typical rock ballad . Saito used acoustic guitar , acoustic 12 strings guitar , piano , farfisa micro organ , synthesizer , electric bass , drums & tambourine in creating an unique sound for Eiga Kantoku .
The final product results in this somewhat old school piano driven no. which's plain lovely .
Don't Worry Be Happy is Saito's 36th single & this was the song that started my Saito music journey .
I still find it really cheesy & I realised he even included the usage of a bongo in the music component of the song & I remembered I wrote before that I love the B-side Kuronuri no Sedan (Sedan Of Black Coating) a lot more than Don't Worry Be Happy too .
But considering that Don't Worry Be Happy opened the doors in me discovering his awesome unique blend of music , I guess I can cut some slack in here .
Koukai (Regret) Shuffle is track #5 & this's the longest track on Tsuki ga Noboreba , clocking in at 5:58 mins .
The song I feel , it's really charming as it's more synth driven as compared to other songs you can find in Tsuki ga Noboreba . Also , with the usage inclusion of a acoustic baritone guitar , it's cool I say .
Yah , Mujyo (Cruelty) is Saito's 34th single & it's a nice old fashioned guitar driven song . I'm frankly am netural towards Yah , Mujyo as it's a tune I neither like or dislike so it's OK I guess .
Considering that he was awarded the Gold Award at the 50th Japan Record Awards for this song , I guess it's saying something in this aspect .
Incidentally , Saito's 35th single Otukaresama no Kuni is absent from Tsuki ga Noboreba .
Tengokuno Tsuki (Month Of Heaven) is the album's 2nd ballad . Unlike Eiga Kantoku which was piano & various instruments driven , Tengokuno Tsuki sees Saito with his trusty acoustic guitar only on hand .
To me , what I like about Tengokuno Tsuki is that Saito kept things simple in that he didn't went for something over the top in here & the result gives you a really easy listening & chilled laidback tune .
Phoenix is 1 song that I feel it's probably 1 of the stronger album tracks in Tsuki ga Noboreba . It's so in your face in a not very dramatic manner & the music melody for Phoenix is just gorgeous .
Saito even incorporated the use of a slide guitar in Phoenix's melody & the song's just bursting with tons of energy & class which I feel it's kick ass .
Bitch ! is the shortest track in the record at 1:47 mins & it's no surprises I went LOL when I saw Tsuki ga Noboreba's tracklist & this song immediately caught my attention , title wise .
I find Bitch ! really amusing & it's very drums & acoustic guitar driven . Too bad it's sorta like a long interlude as I'm quite sure it has the potential to sound even better should Saito have chosen to expand the song by a few mins or 2 .
Still , Bitch ! is something I like & definitely not what I expect from Saito at all & the lyrics are quite in your face & somewhat vulgar so yeah haha .
Summer Days is another cool old fashioned guitar driven no. . I can imagine myself listening to Summer Days if I'm in a beach & just chilling out there .
It took me a while to get the hang of Summer Days as I didn't find it as memorable as what I was hoping for but I'm fine with it now .
Hello Good-bye is track #11 & ah I was so surprised to find this song included in Tsuki ga Noboreba .
The reason on why I said so is because in the Don't Worry Be Happy single , you're able to find Hello Goodbye ~Epilogue~ , which's an instrumental piece .
In here , Saito incorporated lyrics into the song while retaining the instrumental piece for Hello Goodbye ~Epilogue~ & it's no surprises that this's 1 of my fave tracks in the album as I immediately recongised the tune for Hello Good-bye as it's .
You also can find Saito singing the album title Tsuki ga Noboreba in Hello Goodbye too .
Encore is the final track in Tsuki ga Noboreba & I think Saito did a great job in closing things off with such a fine understated no. .
He just made use of a piano & mellotron for the melody & it's the 2nd album track that's piano driven after Eiga Kantoku .
Except in this case , Encore's a lot more simpler in terms of music arrangement & it's just Saito singing alongside with the piano which I really like that coming from him .
Tsuki ga Noboreba is the very 1st record I have listened & also bought of Saito Kazuyoshi & I have to say that I feel this's an amazing album that was very enjoyable from the start to the beginning .
I somehow know that the album was going to be great as I was really blown away with the quality that he dished out in the singles of Don't Worry Be Happy & COME ON ! but my expectations in this case were really blown away & Tsuki ga Noboreba was a lot more better than what I expected to be .
As you can tell in the earlier review of this entry , Saito incorporates a wide range of music instruments for all the 12 songs you can find in Tsuki ga Noboreba & what amazed me's that he played every single instrument that was listed & here I was assumingly that he's only talented when comes to guitar but not anymore .
The whole album's really top notch & the quality's there which's no surprises as it was mastered by Ted Jensen at New York's Sterling Sound .
Saito has been in the business for 16 years & it's great that he's still around , making great understated music as it should be & I'm so glad to have chance upon his music , after I found out he's the one who did an amazing job composing/writing Kanjani∞'s Puzzle .
A highly recommended album & I can't wait to see what else Saito has in store in due time but I do want to hear his take of Puzzle in the near future if that's possible !
