CD Review :: Tackey & Tsubasa - TRIP & TREASURE EP
CD Regular
CD Limited With Hardcover Photobook
CD + DVD
1) Jikan Ryokou (Time Travel)
2) Billions of You
3) L.O.V.E
4) Spotlight
5) Hanahana (Flower Flower) ~Boku to Anata~ (You & Me) (Takizawa Hideaki's Solo)
6) Chance to Dance (Imai Tsubasa's Solo)
7) TINY PIRATES
8) Luv The Shangri-La
9) Seaside Romance
10) Yamanotesen Sotomawari (Clockwise Direction) Feat GUSSAN
TRIP & TREASURE is Tackey & Tsubasa's 2nd mini album & it was released on 16th March .
No singles are included in the duo's latest mini album offering . As such , their 11th single Ai wa Takaramono (Love Treasures) is excluded from the tracklist .
2 songs from the tracklist get music videos . TRIP & TREASURE takes its listeners through a trip into the music world .
Jikan Ryokou (Time Travel) is the 1st song to kick things off & it's also incidentally the 1st track from TRIP & TREASURE to get a music video too .
I wasn't sure what to expect for a song that's titled Jikan Ryokou but it's actually a light hearted cheery track & it's almost in the same music vein as Ai wa Takaramono except in this case , Jikan Ryokou I feel is less cheesy for me to handle .
Billions of You follows after Jikan Ryokou & this's actually 1 of my fave tracks found in TRIP & TREASURE because it's such a catchy memorable song .
When I 1st heard Billions of You , I really like it on 1st listen , I guess what stood out in Billions of You from the other album tracks is that it's a simple fuss free feel good pop no. .
L.O.V.E is track #3 & for this song , I'm sitting on the fence on this because 1 moment I like it & the next I might not like .
1 thing that gripped me about L.O.V.E is that it can get cheesy if not rather kiddy sounding at times , which's a problem I had when I 1st heard L.O.V.E & let alone Ai wa Takaramono .
As such for L.O.V.E , it really depends on my mood as it's 1 of those songs that I will either like or dislike on a particular day .
Spotlight is track #4 & for this , I probably can consider this as 1 of the major highlights of TRIP & TREASURE simply because it's written & composed by capsule's producer Nakata Yasutaka who also produces Perfume's material .
Now I don't listen to capsule & Perfume but given how much of a status Nakata Yasutaka has , I was pretty sure Spotlight was going to be something & turns out I wasn't disappointed .
Spotlight has something different to offer in TRIP & TREASURE . Both Tackey & Tsubasa were able to make this song unique on their own & the ending result's very memorable & enjoyable .
The next 2 songs are solo songs sung by each guy respectively in the group & for each solo tune , the lyrics are written by the person who sung the song himself .
Hanahana (Flower Flower) ~Boku to Anata~ (You & Me) is Tackey's solo & I have to say this's such a simple fuss free ballad .
What I like about Hanahana ~Boku to Anata~ is that it's a no frills & straightforward song to like . Unlike other Tackey solo songs that I have heard before which I kind of cringe at some of them , Hanahana ~Boku to Anata~ is a very pleasant easy listening no. which should do nicely for fans & non fans of Tackey .
Chance to Dance is Tsubasa's solo & unlike Hanahana ~Boku to Anata~ , Chance to Dance is quite an enjoyable peppy tune .
I wasn't sure what to expect when comes to Chance to Dance but I do admit at times , it can get a bit cheesy for my liking but considering Tsubasa wrote the lyrics for the song , I suppose I can close an eye or 2 on this .
TINY PIRATES follows after the 2 solo songs & this's 1 really upbeat cheery sounding no. .
With a title like TINY PIRATES , I was expecting something much worst but it's 1 of those songs that screams out fun all over .
Likewise , the same thing goes for Luv the Shangri-la except in this case , Luv the Shangri-la employs a much more harder sound which's more than enough for itself to stand out from the rest of the songs found in the mini album .
Seaside Romance is the 2nd last song & on 1st listen , I somewhat had strong vibes of the duo's 2nd single Yume Monogatari (Account Of A Dream) .
Not that it's a bad thing since Yume Monogatari is 1 of my fave singles of the group but I suppose I did a comparison for both songs because the bridge in Seaside Romance has that very familiar nostaglic feeling being instilled .
Yamanotesen Sotomawari (Clockwise Direction) is the final track found in TRIP & TREASURE & just like Jikan Ryokou , it's the 2nd song to get a music video & Yamanotesen Sotomawari features GUSSAN who's the guy that's talking over the microphone on the song .
Both Jikan Ryokou & Yamanotesen Sotomawari are lighthearted songs but for Yamanotesen Sotomawari , I feel it's more amusing because you're able to hear a few famous hot spots that're known for in Tokyo , such as Shibuya , Harajuku & Shinjuku .
TRIP & TREASURE is the 1st Tackey & Tsubasa (mini) album that I have listened to & I have to say , at 1st I went in with low exceptions as this's 1 (mini) album that I didn't want to review/listen at 1st .
But after I saw the videos for Jikan Ryokou & Yamanotesen Sotomawari , that spiked my interest to check out TRIP & TREASURE . Turns out it's quite a solid album from start to the end .
As what TRIP & TREASURE promised , the mini album takes its listeners through a trip into the music world which I feel this concept was nailed downpat .
The only drawback I feel TRIP & TREASURE suffered is that some of the album tracks are a bit too cheesy / kiddy sounding for my liking , considering that both Tackey & Tsubasa are fast approaching the 30 age mark & some of the songs sound as though they're trying a bit too hard to stay young & to keep up with their younger peers in Johnny's & Associates .
At the end of the day , you have to give Tackey & Tsubasa props in releasing music considering that in recent times , their release pattern has been getting somewhat a bit sporadic so it's best to savour whatever they release for their fans before anything else happens .
