CD Review :: V6 - READY ?
CD Only Cover :
2 CDs Only Cover :
CD + DVD Cover :
Tracklist :
1) Portraits ~prologue~
2) GUILTY
3) Spirit
4) Hoshi ga Furu Yoru demo (In A Star Spangled Night)
5) Swing !
6) Chou (Butterfly)
7) will
8) Air
9) RADIO MAGIC
10) way of life
11) LIGHT IN YOUR HEART
12) Bouquet
13) Portraits
14) SILENT GALAXY (First Press CD Only Track)
READY ? is V6's 11th album . This was released last week on 31st March & this's the group's 1st album release in 2 1/2 years since 2007's Voyager .
The album debuted at #2 with 1st week sales of 67,951 . The 2 CDs only edition of READY ? includes a bonus disc featuring the solo songs from each member , and the songs from the 2 sub trio units in V6 ie. 20th Century & Coming Century but I will not review the 2nd disc in here , I just will focus in reviewing the main disc .
Portraits ~prologue~ is the 1st track to kick off READY ? & I really love this no. & if you realise in the tracklist of the album , Portraits is found as track #13 which will be reviewed by me later on .
In fact to sum up Portraits ~prologue~ , it's basically a 1:06 mins acapella version of the song which's very nice/lovely & the guys's vocals harmonise very well for that matter .
GUILTY is V6's 36th single & it was used as the theme song for the 4th season of the dorama Keishichou Sousa Ikka 9 Gakari which starred member Inohara Yoshihiko .
This's the last single included prior to the release of READY ? .
I still like GUILTY even up to now . It's a somewhat dark angsty pop driven song & I appericate the rap which happened after the 1st chorus of GUILTY which I feel members Miyake Ken & Morita Go did a really good job in rapping .
The only thing that turned me off slightly for GUILTY was the way that the guys sang like robots . I'm not sure if that was done on purpose but I'm not going to lie that this's 1 song I really like .
Spirit is the group's 35th single & it was used as the Waseda Academy ad song and also the theme song for Fuji TV's program VivaVivaV6 .
Even though Spirit is almost going to be a 1 year old + song , I still cannot get enough of it .
Somehow or another , Spirit reminds me of summer & I like that it's such a nice enpowering song too . You can't help but feel that the song gives you some really good positive vibes after you listen to it & that's a good sign I say .
Hoshi ga Furu Yoru demo (In A Star Spangled Night) is track #4 & it's the 1st album track you can find in READY ?
It's also the only album track that receives a music video for that matter & I guess I can see (hear) why .
It's a really nice ballad & after 2 uplifting songs , it's good that the guys slow down with this really nice ballad Hoshi ga Furu Yoru demo which's piano driven .
After Hoshi ga Furu Yoru demo , the next 2 songs are singles .
Swing ! is the 2nd A-side of V6's 34th single LIGHT IN YOUR HEART / Swing ! & it was used as the theme song for VivaVivaV6 .
Honestly out of the singles that made the cut in READY ? , I think this's probably my least fave . Even up to now , I still do not really like Swing ! as it's quite cheesy & sounded like some 90's dated song & the rapping going on in Swing ! , that kind of turn me off in more ways than other .
Chou (Butterfly) is V6's 33rd single & it was used as the theme song for the 3rd season of the dorama Keishichou Sousa Ikka 9 Gakari .
This's 1 hot passionate song . I love the somewhat Spanish latin influence vibes that Chou gives off & I really can see this song being blasted out loud & proud in dance clubs as it's just so dancey & seriously catchy .
The next 3 songs are album tracks .
will is a really fresh sounding pop song . I like it that it's upbeat & it's virtually fuss free for that matter & the guys's vocals are pretty good/strong in here too .
The same thing goes for the next track Air . I actually find will & Air pretty simliar as both are pop driven but somehow or another , both songs have their own unique flair attached to each other which I like .
RADIO MAGIC is also on the pop side of things but unlike will & Air , RADIO MAGIC is a lot more poppy & somewhat piano driven .
I also realised that RADIO MAGIC is a lot more fast paced than the other tracks in READY ? too . I actually had quite a hard time to try to sing along in this song but I somehow failed lol but this's nice , I really like it .
The next 2 songs are the final 2 songs which served as singles .
way of life is the group's 32nd single & it was used as the theme song for the dorama SP which starred member Okada Junichi .
In fact , way of life is the oldest single that's included in READY ? seeing that it was released some 3 years ago .
I considered way of life as like the 1st proper song I heard from V6 . I listened to their other classics songs like CHANGE THE WORLD & Darling but that time I wasn't really into jpop & I didn't even know about V6 & the other Johnny's so I suppose way of life can be counted as my V6 music ticket to their music discography .
As a result , I still have quite a lot of fond memories whenever I hear way of life . Even though the song's 3 years ago , I think this great ballad sounds awesome even up to now .
It's probably due to nostaglic feelings I guess .
LIGHT IN YOUR HEART is the 1st A-side of the band's 34th single LIGHT IN YOUR HEART / Swing ! .
This's the final single included in READY ? & it was used as the theme song for the movie Daikessen ! Chou Ultra wa 8 Kyoudai which starred Nagano Hiroshi .
I prefer LIGHT IN YOUR HEART a LOT more than Swing ! in every single aspect . It's quite a dark angsty song like GUILTY . But nevertheless , I remembered when this single was released , I was really impressed with LIGHT IN YOUR HEART more than Swing ! .
Bouquet is track #12 & like the other album tracks , it's also pop driven with shades of subtle rock thrown in for good measures .
Frankly , it took me quite a while to remember how Bouquet sounds like as I didn't find it as memorable as what I was hoping for but I'm fine with it now .
Portraits is the 2nd album ballad after Hoshi ga Furu Yoru demo & you can hear the guys doing an acapellla version of Portraits in the 1st track of READY ? aka Portraits ~prologue~ .
In here , you can finally get to hear the song in full version & I think this's probably 1 of my fave tracks in the album .
It's really beautiful & it's sorta like a wedding theme driven no. . I was really captivated when I 1st heard Portraits as it's just well really touching & emotional .
Too bad Portraits didn't get a music video as I feel it really deserves so , even though I'm not saying that Hoshi ga Furu Yoru demo doesn't deserve to get 1 .
Only found as a 1st press track in the CD only edition of the album , it's SILENT GALAXY .
Man on 1st listen , SILENT GALAXY reminded me of a cross between LIGHT IN YOUR HEART & GALAXY . Only thing's that , SILENT GALAXY has a more harder angsty sound attached to it .
Not that I mind as I think this song closed off the whole READY ? album quite well .
READY ? is the 1st full length album I listened to from V6 & I have to say that I was really surprised at the quality of the album .
All the songs are pretty solid & the guys have really strong harmonisation with regards to their vocals .
The only thing I don't like about READY ? is the way the album flows . The sound consistency's not there , especially with a ballad sandwiched in between two upbeat songs .
But other than this , I really enjoyed listening to READY ? . Then again , this year it will be 15 years since V6 was formed so they definitely have come a long way since then .
Definitely a really good solid Johnny's album to check out for 2010 .
