CD Review :: GIRL NEXT DOOR - Destination
CD Regular + Bonus disc of remixes
CD Limited (limited low price)
CD + DVD A ; DVD contents - music videos
CD + DVD B ; DVD contents - live footages of the FIRST TOUR 2010 FINAL encore performance
1) 3rd contact
2) Freedom
3) Yume no Katana (Beyond Dream)
4) Kaze no (Wind) Capsule
5) Aitai Yoru (I Want To See At Night)
6) Winter breeze
7) Wasuretai no ni ... (I Forget)
8) Unmei no Shizuku (Drop Of Fate) ~Destiny's star~
9) Impish music
10) Ready to be a lady
11) Hajimari (The Beginning)
12) Silent Scream
13) Arigatou (Thank You)
Destination is GIRL NEXT DOOR's 3rd album & it was released a few days ago on 27th April .
The original release date for the trio's latest album offering was supposed to be 16th March .
4 singles & 6 new album tracks are included in Destination . All lyrics are cowritten by vocalist Chisa & Kenn Kato while all music are composed by keyboardist Daisuke Suzuki .
After a 1:23 mins introduction titled 3rd contact , the album dives straight into the group's 8th single Freedom .
Freedom was used as the theme song for the ANB drama Jotei Kaoruko .
Up to now , I still consider Freedom as 1 if not the best single the trio has released since their debut single Guuzen no Kakuritsu (Accidental Probability) .
Even though it has been close to a year since Freedom was released , this's still 1 song that I'm not bored of hearing as this's 1 of the many future singles of theirs that began to take on a more mature & prominent sound attached in each no. .
Yume no Katana (Beyond Dream) is the 1st album track & just like Freedom , it's another mean gritty angsty song .
Interestingly enough , in Yume no Katana , Chisa's vocals are somewhat different & she sang the song in an unique manner which I thought it's pretty cool .
I already loved what the preview for Yume no Katana had to offer so it didn't surprise me that the full version of the song was very enjoyable & memorable .
Kaze no (Wind) Capsule is the 2nd A-side in the trio's 9th single Ready to be a lady .
Ready to be a lady contains 3 A-side songs but the last track Shiawase no Hakari (Scale Of Happiness) is excluded from the CD tracklist of the album .
However the video for Shiawase no Hakari is included in the DVD's tracklist in the CD + DVD A pressing of Destination .
Kaze no Capsule is a fun song to sing along to . It doesn't have as much spark as Ready to be a lady but still , this's something nice to listen to despite being quite a typical GIRL NEXT DOOR standard fare no. .
The next 3 songs are album tracks , the 1st one titled Aitai Yoru (I Want To See At Night) .
Aitai Yoru is a light hearted cheery no. but what makes the song interesting is the melody which has quite a bite attached to it .
I wasn't expecting to hear layers of synth thrown in for good measures in Aitai Yoru but still this's something I don't mind to listen to again .
Winter breeze is track #6 . The group's 1st 2 albums have some album tracks that have the word Winter titled in their songs such as Winter Game , WINTER MIRAGE , Winter Garden , Winter Crystal & then now finally Winter breeze in Destination .
This time round , Winter breeze is basically a chilled out no. . It sounds odd for a song of theirs to have a word Winter titled as so in Destination but such things are basically secondary at the end of the day .
Wasuretai no ni ... (I Forget) follows after Winter breeze & Wasuretai no ni ... is the only album track for a ballad .
On 1st listen , Wasuretai no ni ... reminded me of previous album ballads found in the group's discography but what makes Wasuretai no ni ... memorable for me is that the song kept me interested from the start til the end .
Also , what I like about Wasuretai no ni ... is that Chisa did not go over the top with her vocals in the song which's a good thing I feel .
Unmei no Shizuku (Drop Of Fate) ~Destiny's star~ is the 1st A-side of the trio's 10th Single Unmei no Shizuku ~Destiny's star~ / Hoshizora Keikaku .
Just like Shiawase no Hakari , the 2nd A-side Hoshizora Keikaku (Planning Stars) is excluded from the CD tracklist but the video's included in the DVD .
Unmei no Shizuku ~Destiny's star~ was used as the theme song for the movie Ultraman Zero The Movie : Super Deciding Fight ! The Belial Galactic Empire .
In Destination , alongside with Freedom , I consider Unmei no Shizuku ~Destiny's star~ as another strong prominent single that the trio has released in recent times .
Both Unmei no Shizuku ~Destiny's star~ & Freedom are more or less on par in terms of the strength & catchiness but both songs are still fantastic to listen to at the end of the day .
After a 1:18 interlude titled Impish music , the next song to be followed shares the same title as the trio's 9th single Ready to be a lady .
Ready to be a lady is still a song that I'm not bored with even up to now . Unlike the other singles being included in Destination , Ready to be a lady is a fun peppy song to listen to .
Also my fave part of Ready to be a lady has to be the keyboard beats & guitar riffs that took place after Chisa belts out the 2nd chorus of the song , which's something that makes Ready to be a lady stood out from the rest of the pack .
Hajimari (The Beginning) is the 2nd last album track & this frankly to me is the only slight weak link in Destination .
I was honestly expecting Hajimari to be a ballad but I was surprised to find that's not the case .
Also , Hajimari basically is a standard electro pop fare the group offers . It's neither a good or bad thing but I will not really consider Hajimari as a fave album track of mine .
Slient Scream is GIRL NEXT DOOR's 11th single . The original title was Twitter ~silent scream~ & this's the most recent single release included prior to the release of Destination .
It's unfortunate that Slient Scream is the group's worst charting release to date because I really enjoy Silent Scream a significant deal .
The angst factor is quite prominent in the song a great deal & kudos to its group's keyboardist/composer Daisuke for composing such a great melody for Silent Scream .
Arigatou (Thank You) is the final track in wrapping things up for Destination & I wasn't surprised that with a song titled Arigatou , it's a cheery sounding no. that's filled with positive vibes .
I was hoping that Arigatou might be another ballad but considering that this's slotted as the last track in Destination , I suppose the group wants to conclude things with this happy sounding song .
Being a longtime fan of GIRL NEXT DOOR (I became their fan instantly after hearing their debut single Guuzen no Kakuritsu) , I'm very pleased to say that I really enjoyed their latest album offering Destination a great deal .
Unlike their 1st 2 albums where some of the album tracks for both records were in the miss department , the quality found in the new batch of songs in Destination has a lot of volume & substance which're able to match up if not be on par/more superior than the singles .
Let alone , I feel that Destination contains some of the trio's best if not prominent memorable works to date & for that , it's something heartening to know so .
I'm not sure what's going to happen next but at this rate GIRL NEXT DOOR is going , I predict nothing but only the best material will be released from them .
