2 CDs
CD + DVD
1st CD tracklist
1) Green Light
2) Tsunagu
3) ｢Mikan｣
4) Sugar
5) Power of the Paradise
6) Ari no ma Made
7) Fuun
8) I'll be there
9) Houyou
10) Pray
11) Hikari
12) Kanata e
13) Song for you
2nd CD tracklist (only available in the 2 CDs edition)
1) BazuriNIGHT (Aiba Masaki , Ohno Satoshi & Sakurai Sho)
2) Yoru no Kage (Matsumoto Jun , Ninomiya Kazunari & Ohno Satoshi)
3) UB (Aiba Masaki & Ninomiya Kazunari)
4) Come Back (Matsumoto Jun & Sakurai Sho)
5) Kanpai･Song (Bonus Track)
The group's last album release was last Oct's Are You Happy ? . 「untitled」 was released in 2 versions , 2 CDs & CD + DVD . The new album includes single songs Power of the Paradise , I'll be there & Tsunagu . Album track ｢Mikan｣ is the only new song to get a video .
The 2nd CD in the 2 CDs version of 「untitled」 has 5 bonus tracks , inclusive of 4 unit songs & a group track . The last ARASHI album not to include solo songs was 2006's / 6th album ARASHIC .
「untitled」 is purposely titled to suggest that it is 'unfinished' , thereby sublimating ARASHI's legacy in their 18th year since their debut through their bold challenge to produce this album .
In 「untitled」 , ARASHI makes their 1st attempt to create a 'suite' . An exceptional song was created by incorporating the melodies from various genres into a long song of over 10 mins . When listening to it in its entirely , you can sense ARASHI's past , present & future .
Kicking things off in 「untitled」is Green Light which I feel it's only an ok sounding album track .
Tsunagu is ARASHI's 52nd single & it was used as the theme song to promote leader Ohno Satoshi's movie Shinobi no Kuni .
For Tsunagu , it lyrically leans to a world's view & melody . The high energy song follows a path to an era of hope & love even to war torn countries .
The thrilling melody of prominent electric guitars & shamisen which perfectly melds 2 different music styles of past and present resonates an emptiness that matches ARASHI's vocals , making Tsunagu their 'ultimate love song' .
｢Mikan｣ which's 「untitled」 lead album track epitomises the album's title in every way as it has elements of Japanese Wa , Digital , Classics & Hip Hop . Sakurap is included in ｢Mikan｣ , which's a song that disperses all the themes ARASHI has ever taken on to create a single core out of that chaos that evolved into a musical piece brimming with the sense of speed .
Sugar is the next album track & I honestly feel this should have been the opening number as I like it much more than Green Light .
Power of the Paradise is ARASHI's 50th single & it was used as NTV's theme song in covering the 2016 Summer Olympics that was held last year at Rio de Janeiro , Brazil .
Member Sakurai Sho served as the main caster in covering last year's Olympics . Power of the Paradise is described as a support song for the athletes as well as for all the people who keep on challenging & it has a positive vibe that wraps around listeners with refreshing vigour & kindness .
Ari no ma Made & Fuun are the next 2 album tracks in which both of them are polar opposites . While Ari no ma Made is a mid tempo song , Rock influences can be felt considerably in Fuun which I miss that aspect in ARASHI's music as it reminds me of their older works which were very Hip Hop/Rock driven .
I'll be there is ARASHI's 51st single & it was used to promote Fuji TV's Kizoku Tantei drama that starred member Aiba Masaki . It's described as a cool song with a dynamic melody that goes along with the drama's mysterious world of view .
Houyou sounded as though it borrowed elements from I'll be there as it's also another Jazz inspired no. that has Sakurap .
Pray is the only album track that's a ballad & this's something that I enjoy .
Hikari is the next new song & out of the new material in 「untitled」 , this's my favourite . I was expecting another ballad but instead it's an upbeat gospel inspired like song that I really like and this's another example where ARASHI took a typical boring song title & make it sound better than I expected (1st was Sakura) .
Kanata e is the 2nd last album track and this empowering no. is another song that I find myself liking quite a lot .
Concluding things in the 1st CD is Song for you & it's the longest album track in ARASHI's discography , clocking in at a whopping 11:29 mins .
Song for you is basically a mix mash of any type of music genres made known possible & it reminds me the same thing what V6 did for their 2012 / 40th single kEEP oN. except for ARASHI's case , it's twice as long & it sounds like 5-6 different songs rolled into 1 long track .
I will only do a short summary regarding the songs found in the 2nd CD in the 2 CDs version of 「untitled」 . Out of the 4 unit songs , I surprisingly like Come Back the most which's sung by MatsuJun & Sakurai . Also Sakurap is present in the song .
BazuriNIGHT that's sung by Aiba , Ohno & Sakurai is a fast paced number while Yoru no Kage is a mid tempo song that's handled by MatsuJun , Nino & Ohno .
UB is the only unit song that's a ballad & this's sung by Aiba + Nino . UB actually stands for Unit Bath and lyrically it's quite amusing .
Kanpai･Song is the only song in the 2nd CD that's sung by the whole group & it's a fun cheery number . And in a way it's not surprising that this's the last song to conclude their current ongoing ARASHI LIVE TOUR 2017-2018「untitled」 .
ARASHI boldly takes on new challenges & music styles in their 16th album 「untitled」 & ARASHI's latest album offering is so much better than I thought .
It's no secret that I was quite disappointed with last year's Are You Happy ? as that to me is their most boring album to date & for the 1st time I felt really disconnected from an ARASHI album .
Hence before listening to 「untitled」 , I kept my expectations for it as low as possible but I was overall pleased on how 「untitled」turns out to be .
Unlike Are You Happy ? , I feel that ARASHI took on a lot more music risks in 「untitled」& in this sense , it paid off as it's overall much more memorable & engaging .
Also I think switching up the album's format helps too as for once 「untitled」 doesn't have any solo songs since their 2006's / 6th album ARASHIC which's pretty crazy but I don't mind as normally ARASHI will only perform the new material once during each tour & after that they will not do so .
Overall 「untitled」 is better than I expected . As I said before I rather ARASHI release a new album once every 2 years as in recent years , their albums have been quite inconsistent sound wise but luckily they haven't lost their touch when comes to singles (yet) .
All in all I'm pleased with what ARASHI released this year & I look forward to see what they plan to do so in 2018 , music wise .
