Cover for both CD & CD + DVD's
1) Sosoka (Likely Send Song)
2) Welcome Back
3) Sosoka -KARAOKE Ver.-
The duo's 1st single release for 2013 , Sosoka was released 2 months + after the guys put out their 4th album LIKE A NOVEL .
Sosoka was written & composed for TV Asahi's special drama Yurichika e Mama Kara no Dengon which was aired on 26th Jan .
Regarding the song , vocalist/rapper TOC commented , “With the theme ‘to retain feelings’ , we left our ‘feelings’ that will not fade even after tens of years in ‘music’ ."
The amount of emotions that TOC poured into Sosoka is quite evident which makes Sosoka really enduring & I like the relaxed chilled out feeling that the song gives that has been complimented with a really nice soothing guitar driven melody .
Welcome Back serves as the B-side in the single & just like Jigsaw Puzzle's Technical , it's not considered as my fave Hilcrhyme B-side as I didn't like that Welcome Back was quite random if not a bit annoying sounding .
Still I wouldn't lie that Welcome Back contrasts Sosoka well but considering that the duo has much better B-sides in their discography , if given a choice , I definitely will skip Welcome Back & embrace Sosoka more so .
Hilcrhyme has been on a non stop music roll for the past 4 years after they made their major label debut with Jun'ya to Manami & they have release their latest single offering Sosoka to kick start 2013 .
And I'm already on standby in anticipation on what their next music move will be .
CD
CD + DVD A
CD + DVD B
1) RUSTY HEARTS
2) CHALLENGERZ
3) Kimi no Koe ga Kikoeru (You Hear The Voices Of) ~Acoustic Version~
The guys's 1st single release for 2013 , the A-side has 3 promotion tie in's , in the form of being selected to be used as the opening theme song for the SEGA online game RUSTY HEARTS + the opening theme no.s for Chiba TV's MUSIC LAUNCHER & TV Asahi's Break Out for this month .
Written & composed by frontman DAIGO , RUSTY HEARTS is described as a solid rock no. that was written as the theme song for Sega's online game of the same name .
The visuals for this single represents the game's worldview as it features objects such as a full moon & bats in the darkness . With it featuring the theme of vampires , BREAKERZ went for the same direction with their new look .
It's easy to draw comparison with RUSTY HEARTS against another dark no. of the guys which's the 1st A-side of their 11th single LAST † PRAY / Zettai ! I LOVE YOU ie. LAST † PRAY since both this song & RUSTY HEARTS fall in the same music direction .
But other than that , I must admit that RUSTY HEARTS was not catchy on 1st listen & also both songs were composed by different people as LAST † PRAY was composed by guitarist AKIHIDE .
RUSTY HEARTS is definitely a grower as the song sounds much more stronger as each listen goes by . I really like it when DAIGO write & compose together which's evident for what he did in RUSTY HEARTS . Let alone , I adore the melody with it staying faithful to the musical roots on what the song's based on .
There're 2 B-sides in the single , the 1st B-side is something that's titled CHALLENGERZ .
CHALLENGERZ has 2 promotion tie in's , in that it was selected to be used as the official image song for Cardfight!! Vanguard + in the ads of Bushimo Presents WRESTLE KINGDOM 7 ~EVOLUTION~ in Tokyo Dome .
Written by DAIGO & composed by guitarist SHINPEI , CHALLENGERZ is the 3rd song of the guys to be featured in the Cardfight!! Vanguard ads , after CLIMBER x CLIMBER & GO .
I have to say that I really adore CHALLENGERZ on 1st listen . Unlike RUSTY HEARTS that took me quite sometime to remember/get used to , CHALLENGERZ was a sure home run no brainer immediately when I heard it .
When I 1st heard CHALLENGERZ , I couldn't help but feel that it has a strong Americanised flair , just like FIGHTERZ's SUPER-HI-TENSION !! but with that said , CHALLENGERZ is extremely catchy & very addictive .
The fact that SHINPEI composed CHALLENGERZ speaks volume & usually most of the time , his compositions are spot on & that goes for CHALLENGERZ too .
Kimi no Koe ga Kikoeru (You Hear The Voices Of) ~Acoustic Version~ serves as the 2nd B-side & the original take of the song was 1st found as track #5 in the guys's 1st mini album Ao no Mirai EP .
Both the original & acoustic versions of Kimi no Koe ga Kikoeru were written & composed by DAIGO .
Kimi no Koe ga Kikoeru is 1 of my all time fave songs that DAIGO both wrote/composed in the band's discography . The acoustic of it is just simply stunning & stuck a chord with me as lyrically , the song is a love ballad .
I remembered when I 1st heard Kimi no Koe ga Kikoeru way back 5 years ago in Ao no Mirai EP , I really liked it as it's those feel good type of songs & when I found out they were going to make an acoustic of the tune , I was thrilled to bits .
Needless to say , Kimi no Koe ga Kikoeru ~Acoustic Version~ did justice to what the original had to offer & I personally adore it very much .
BREAKERZ kicked off 2013 with this solid & musically diversed single in the form of their 14th single RUSTY HEARTS .
To be honest , I was a bit skeptical on what RUSTY HEARTS had to offer as their previous single A-side single ie. Miss Mystery was quite a letdown for me , even though I adored Miss Mystery A-side wise but the 2 B-sides in the single are some of their weakest sounding ones to date .
But thankfully , that's not the case for RUSTY HEARTS with each song having an identity of its own & I feel that each of them compliment if not contrast each other very well/nicely .
It remains to be seen on what the guys's next music move will be because they are going on a group hiatus in Spring to pursue solo projects . I'm not sure what they have up in store next but no matter what the future holds , I will support the guys no matter what .
For now , RUSTY HEARTS is a great solid single to kick off 2013 & possibly (for now) their last group release to offer fans before their impending hiatus .
2 CDs
2 CDs + DVD A
2 CDs + 44 page photobook type B
A total of 6 new songs are included from Matsushita Yuya's 1st best album U ~BEST of BEST~ that was released last month on 5th Dec .
U ~BEST of BEST~ was released on the same day as his 1st music videos collection U ~BEST MUSIC VIDEOS~ DVD and Blu-ray .
With regards to the 6 new songs that're included in U ~BEST of BEST~ , 2 different tracks are found in each edition .
In 1st disc that's titled U Love Ballad Disc , the following 3 songs are found in each edition of U ~BEST of BEST~ :
- Key (2 CDs edition track)
- Just the way you are (2 CDs + DVD edition track)
- Ordinary Love (2 CDs + photobook edition track)
Personally I feel out of the 3 new songs in U Love Ballad Disc , Ordinary Love is the standout track with it being a very heartfelt emotional piano driven ballad that fits the concept of the 1st disc extremely well .
I also enjoy Key which's a nice mid tempo ballad but with regards to Just the way you are , it somewhat feel quite out of place & for this track , I thought it should be included in the 2nd disc of U ~BEST of BEST~ instead since I did not get any ballad vibes coming from Just the way you are .
In 2nd disc that's titled U Love Dance Disc , the following 3 songs are found in each edition of U ~BEST of BEST~ :
- Naked Night (2 CDs edition track)
- No rain , No rainbow (2 CDs + DVD edition track)
- Crazy Funky Holiday (2 CDs + photobook edition track)
With regards to Naked Night , it's the only new song to get a music video & its video is included in U ~BEST MUSIC VIDEOS~ .
I kind of understand why Naked Night is the only new track in getting a video as out of the 3 new songs in U Love Dance Disc , it's the most prominent if not memorable sounding .
As for the other 2 tracks , it took me quite a while to get used to them as on 1st listen , I do not really enjoy them so much .
No rain , No rainbow has almost a similar music style to SEE YOU's BEAUTIFUL GIRL but comparing with both tracks , BEAUTIFUL GIRL is much more stronger while No rain , No rainbow sounds like a poor cousin of BEAUTIFUL GIRL .
As for Crazy Funky Holiday , I wasn't expecting a rather dated sound as I thought it sounded really cheesy on 1st listen but it definitely does live up to the song title name but I'm not so sure if I can consider this as a fave track of Matsushita as he has other great dance tracks which I prefer over Crazy Funky Holiday .
CD
CD Limited Pressing (available only until Feb 18th 2013)
CD + DVD
1) REVERSI
2) Theory Tono Ketsubetsu no Kenkyu +81
3) ace of ace [LIVE at Yokohama Arena 2012.07.08]
4) CORE PRIDE [LIVE at ZEPP TOKYO 2011.07.27]
This is actually a recut single since REVERSI was originally included as track #9 in the group's 7th album THE ONE which was released on 28th Nov .
All B-sides in the single will not be reviewed .
The main A-side REVERSI was picked to be used as the outro theme song for the anime film Ao no Exorcist in which the movie was released last month on 28th Dec .
Ao no Exorcist is a popular manga by Kato Kazue that's been serialised in Jump Square since 2009 . UVERworld has provided the opening theme song for the TV anime series' 1st season which started airing in April 2011 .
Lead singer TAKUYA∞ commented , "UVERworld is made up of members that we gathered in our hometown , so we're old friends from before forming the band . There's a link between Ao no Exorcist & how we move forward with irreplaceable friends . We produced a song that will find its way in the movie's story . "
REVERSI is a high-energy rock tune from a super high-energy band that will get Ao no Exorcist fans excited even before they step into the cinema .