CD Review :: ARASHI - Beautiful World
1) Rock this
2) Mada Minu Sekai he (World That Is Yet To Be Seen)
3) Lφve Rainbow
4) always
5) Shake it ! (Matsumoto Jun's Solo)
6) Niji no Kakera (Rainbow's Fragments) ~no rain , no rainbow~
7) Dear Snow
8) Hung up on (Ohno Satoshi's Solo)
9) Joy
10) Doko ni Demo Aru Uta. (Song That Exists Anywhere) (Ninomiya Kazunari's Solo)
11) negai (Wish)
12) Lotus
13) 「Janakute」(That's Not It) (Aiba Masaki's Solo)
14) morning light
15) To be free
16) Kono Mama Motto (More Like This) (Sakurai Sho's Solo)
17) Hatenai Sora (Endless Sky)
18) Tooku Made (Until At A Distance)
Beautiful World is ARASHI's 10th album & it was released last week on 6th July .
ARASHI's latest new album offering comes about close to 11 months + since the release of their previous album , the million selling Boku no Miteiru Fukei .
Beautiful World consists of 5 singles , 5 solos , 8 group tracks which in total , 18 songs are found in a single disc in the album , unlike the 2 discs version that Boku no Miteiru Fukei had , let alone for the group's last few albums which includes Dream"A"live & Time .
The album kick things off with Rock this which packs quite a lot of punch to set the mood to a good start . Personally I feel Rock this is equally good/on par with movin on' & the inclusion of Sakurap naturally makes things a lot more better .
Mada Minu Sekai he (World That Is Yet To Be Seen) marks a 1st for ARASHI because it's the 1st album track of the group that gets a music video . However , the clip & making offshot footages of Mada Minu Sekai he are only included in the ARASHI 10-11 TOUR "Scene" ~Kimi to Boku no Miteiru Fuukei~ DOME + DVD .
With that said , I can see / hear why Mada Minu Sekai he has the honour in this aspect because it sounds like basically from where Boku no Miteiru Fukei left .
This can be a good or bad thing but personally , I like most of the album tracks found in Boku no Miteiru Fukei & I like Mada Minu Sekai he the 1st time I heard it so I'm alright with it & the autotune that's used in the song's just sufficient .
Just like Rock this , Mada Minu Sekai he also has Sakurap included but I feel the autotune kind of diluted & made things bad slightly since a combination of autotune & rap should not go hand in hand together in any single way .
Løve Rainbow is ARASHI's 32nd single & it was used as the theme song for the drama Natsu no Koi wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku which starred Matsumoto Jun .
Even though it has been close to 10 months since Løve Rainbow was released , this's something that I'm not bored with even up to now . I have no issues with Løve Rainbow in any single way so I leave things as it's .
always is the group's 3rd album track & this song has some attitude just like the 1st 2 album tracks of Beautiful World .
The opening for always intrigued me & I like the fact that the song began to transform itself into a mean gritty angsty track that's backed up quite significantly with edgy beats which I think it's very cool .
Shake it ! is the 1st solo song found in Beautiful World & for this , this's sung by Matsumoto Jun .
I never really like the past solo songs of MatsuJun but I'm surprised for Shake it ! , I actually kind of enjoy it .
Just like Boku no Miteiru Fukei's Come back to me , there's quite a lot of autotune influences going on in Shake it ! which I suppose it works well in MatsuJun's favour , especially since he's not the best , when comes to his vocals .
Niji no Kakera (Rainbow's Fragments) ~no rain , no rainbow~ follows after Shake it ! & this's probably 1 of my fave album tracks in the album , simply because it sounds like nothing on what the group had done before .
Immediately when Niji no Kakera ~no rain , no rainbow~ started , I have that impression of a countryside chilled out carefree setting that came on when I heard the song .
Niji no Kakera ~no rain , no rainbow~ is quite an unusual sounding no. but this works very well for ARASHI .
Dear Snow is ARASHI's 33rd single & it was used as the theme song for the film Ohoku which starred Ninomiya Kazunari .
Out of the 5 singles that're included in Beautiful World , Dear Snow is probably my least fave because even though it's a ballad , it treds quite dangeoursly on the boring side & the video didn't help things either .
Having said that , I frankly don't really mind Dear Snow that much but I usually will tend to skip this because there're other tracks in the album that I like much more than Dear Snow .
Hung up on is the 2nd solo song & for this , it's sung by the leader Ohno Satoshi with interestingly enough , there're rap lyrics found in the song that's written by the resident rapper Sakurai Sho .
I wasn't sure what to expect when comes to Hung up on but considering that it's a known fact Ohno has the best vocals in the group , I wasn't disappointed when I gave Hung up on a listen .
For once , Ohno didn't sang a ballad & I feel he's able to carry almost all different styles of music available which I supposed this's the reason why he choose to tackle such a pretty much autotune driven no. .
I can't really hear the presence of Sakurap that much on Hung up on , except only a little of it in the background of the song .
Joy is the 5th group track & out of the 8 group album tracks , Joy has to be my least fave because I find it very boring on 1st listen .
It's a standard pop song but the vocals in Joy sounded really flat & the inclusion of Sakurap honestly saved the no. from becoming a total snoozefest .
Doko ni Demo Aru Uta. (Song That Exists Anywhere) is the 3rd solo song & for this , this's sung by Ninomiya Kazunari .
Nino had a hand in writing & composing Doko ni Demo Aru Uta. & he coarranged the song with ha-j .
Usually , Nino's solos tend to be either a hit or a miss but I'm glad to say that Doko ni Demo Aru Uta. falls in the hit department .
Doko ni Demo Aru Uta. is no Niji but I like just how emotional driven & sincere Doko ni Demo Aru Uta. sounds . The fact that Nino had personal input towards Doko ni Demo Aru Uta. , it's worth commending for .
negai (Wish) is the 6th group track & unlike Joy , negai fares slightly better . The opening wasn't very interesting but negai mangaed to pick up the pace & interest me a lot more than what Joy had to offer .
Lotus is ARASHI's 35th single & it was used as the theme song for the drama BARTENDER , starring Aiba Masaki .
This is the most recent single included in Beautiful World before the album was released & Lotus is still something that I enjoy listening to , in line with the edgy angsty driven sounds that it has going on which I still feel it's great .
And speaking of Aiba , his solo no. 「Janakute」(That's Not It) follows after Lotus .
Even though Aiba doesn't have the best vocals in the group , he's able to choose solo songs that conceals his weak vocals & also showcase the fun & outgoing traits of himself which I suppose that also applies to 「Janakute」 as well .
For Aiba to tackle 「Janakute」 , I think he did it pretty good . It's just that for a change , I would like him to probably make an attempt to do a ballad next time since this's something that he has not done before yet .
morning light is the group's 2nd last track & this's 1 song that I really like a lot on 1st listen simply because it has plenty of angst , spunk & attitude in which all 3 go hand in hand together very well , with autotune thrown in for good measure .
When the introduction of morning light hits , it immediately sets the tone on how the song is like which I feel it's great .
To be free is ARASHI's 31st single & it was used in the ad of Asahi's Mitsuya Cider soft drink which Sakura Sho appeared in the ad himself .
This single is the oldest single found in Beautiful World . But I still enjoy listening to To be free a great deal up to now because I like the somewhat simple fuss free under-stated song that's very guitar driven .
The last single that has such vibes was probably the group's 17th single Aozora Pedal & to me , I feel To be free brings back to basics on what ARASHI used to do when comes to their older works .
Kono Mama Motto (More Like This) is the last solo song & for this , this's sung/rapped by Sakurai Sho .
I never really enjoy Sakurai's solos because just like Nino , they can be a hit or miss but for Kono Mama Motto , it's a definite hit because Sakurai is not trying to do anything extreme but at the same time , a mid tempo ballad with Saxophone beats thrown in for good measures , works wonders for him .
Out of the 5 solos included in Beautiful World , Kono Mama Motto surprised me the most & the fact that Sakurai's solos are generally something that I like or dislike , for Kono Mama Motto to sound this carefree & nice , it's refreshing to say the least .
With the Sakurap that's thrown in the song , it makes things so much better .
Hatenai Sora (Endless Sky) is ARASHI's 34th single & it was used as the theme song for the drama Freeter , ie wo kau , starring Ninomiya Kazunari .
This's the last single included in Beautiful World & I remembered when Hatenai Sora was 1st released , I disliked the song a lot because I thought it sounded really bland & boring .
But along the way , my opinions towards the song have changed significantly after I found out the meaning behind what Hatenai Sora is all about .
Tooku Made (Until At A Distance) is the final group track found in Beautiful World & for this , Tooku Made was selected to be used to promote the latest JAL ad featuring the group , just like what happened to Boku no Miteiru Fukei .
Basically in short , Tooku Made is a fuss free song to enjoy & the fact that summer's currently taking place , this's something that's good to listen to if you want to take a time out .
After the million selling Boku no Miteiru Fukei , ARASHI launched another milestone of theirs , with their latest 10th album offering , Beautiful World .
Truth be told , before I listened to Beautiful World , I was worried how the album was going to turn out as I have previous experiences of listening to albums where the group album tracks would sound great but the solos are a big mess & vice versa .
Surprisingly , for Beautiful World , everything flows well from the start to the end & I think another thing that surprised me was that this time round , all the solos found in the album are actually really solid which I should give kudos to each member for tackling each solo song of theirs with gusto .
In ARASHI's previous albums where I find myself not enjoying all the solos & in the process skipping them , that did not happen for Beautiful World .
Group tracks wise , they're all done nicely with each song having the ability to stand out from each other . The only drawback I find is that there's surprisingly a lack of album ballads this time round which I'm not sure why that's the case but it will be good to note in their next album release , this's something that they should work on .
Having said that , ARASHI has come a long way since their debut in 1999 & Beautiful World is 1 album that's a must get & a must listen to get for 2011 .
