Credits wise , UTA arranged Xmas Santa & it's ayaka's eldest daughter that suggested to her to name the song Xmas Santa as so after she kept listening to the song's demo on repeat .
Xmas Santa is a really nice festive sounding song which's no doubt perfect to listen to during Christmas . Considering this's ayaka's 1st original Christmas song , I think she did a pretty good job with it .
Christmas songs could go 2 ways , either depressing or positive sounding & luckily Xmas Santa falls in the 2nd category .
With today being the last day of 2020 , it's a bit of a solace to conclude this otherwise crappy year with a bit of positive festive cheer .
Separate CD
Joint 2 CDs + DVD
angeL Tracklist :
1) Alarm
2) I'm Lovin’
3) for...
4) RUN
5) puff
6) Lucky Star
monsteR Tracklist :
1) Killer MonsteR
2) WORK IT!
3) FliCky
4) No One
5) Sing the truth
6) XXKK
Koda's latest music offerings are to celebrate her 20th anniversary in the business .
Each mini album has 6 songs . angeL focuses on light while monsteR focuses on darkness .
These songs were released months digitally prior to angeL + monsteR [MY NAME IS...] :
- puff
- Lucky Star
- XXKK
While these songs were released digitally last month before both mini albums were released physically this month :
- I'm Lovin' ; released digitally on 13th Nov
I'm Lovin' was used to promote TBS's Good Luck! morning show
- Killer MonsteR ; released digitally on 20th Nov
- RUN ; released digitally on 27th Nov
In RUN , Koda delivers a message to everyone that has supported her through the good and bad times over the past 20 years & it's linked together with her past 2 songs , walk & WALK OF MY LIFE .
2 mini album tracks Killer MonsteR & RUN have music videos made .
angeL + monsteR [MY NAME IS...] follows almost the same duo music format as Koda's 2017's W FACE ~inside~ & ~outside~ duo albums , so if fans didn't like W FACE ~inside~ & ~outside~ then the same thing might happen again this time round .
Back when Koda released W FACE ~inside~ & ~outside~ , my favourite between the 2 was W FACE ~outside~ & frankly even before hearing the rest of the new material in angeL + monsteR , I had a feeling history would repeat itself and turns out I'm right .
I don't like all the songs in both mini albums but I do admit Killer MonsteR & RUN deserved to have music videos made as they're the standout tracks in each mini album .
Killer MonsteR reminds me of HUSH to some extent where both songs have very simple melodies but they work really well in Koda's favour .
The other song in MonsteR that I like a great deal is WORK IT! & in angeL , the 2nd best new song to me is for... which's the only other ballad besides RUN .
For the other material in both mini albums , given a choice I would rather not listen to them as they're really not to my liking & to me the worst song in the whole lot is Sing the truth .
That said even though I don't like all the songs in both mini albums , I do wished that Koda's latest release could have done much better but for once I'm actually glad she didn't release another typical best album to celebrate her 20th annivesary milestone in the business .
CD Regular
2 CDs Limited
The release of LOOP WORLD comes in almost 11 months since the release of AKIHIDE's previous solo album , Hoshikai no Shounen beginning of the year .
The inspiration of AKIHIDE's latest solo album offering is due to the discovery of him utilising the loop pedal extensively during the COVID-19 stay at home time frame that Japan imposed a few months ago .
This's the 2nd time AKIHIDE released 2 solo albums in a year after 2013's Amber & Lapis Lazuli .
The following 4 songs in LOOP WORLD featured AKIHIDE singing in them which includes
- LOOP WORLD
- Yoru no Kemono
- New "Today"
- Okaeri
Just like Hoshikai no Shounen , a short video was made to promote LOOP WORLD (the song) which's the lead promo track of AKIHIDE's new album .
2 songs were released digitally prior to the physical album release of LOOP WORLD :
- LOOP WORLD ; 11th Nov
- Jukai ; 18th Nov
While these 2 songs are only available in the CD only regular version as live bonus tracks :
- Utsukushii Hitomi (from AKIHIDE MUSIC THEATER -Hoshi no Kaeru Basho- @ Hulic Hall Tokyo)
- Namida no Umi , Koete (from AKIHIDE MUSIC THEATER -Hoshi no Kaeru Basho- @ Hulic Hall Tokyo)
The 2 CDs limited version of LOOP WORLD included a 2nd bonus disc In the "LOOP WORLD" -Best Selection- which AKIHIDE selected 8 songs and had them rearranged & re-recorded with the utilisation of the loop pedal :
1) Hoshi Matsuri no Yoru ni
2) Lost
3) RAIN MAN
4) Moon Dancer
5) Hoshi no Ouji Sama
6) Kumo no Ito
7) Lapis Lazuli
8) Memory Fish (NEVER LAND)
It felt like history repeating itself when AKIHIDE once again release 2 solo albums within a year & even AKIHIDE himself said that he didn't expect this to happen either .
For me I have no complaints as most of what AKIHIDE does , he rarely disappoints & this's no exception for LOOP WORLD .
Just like his other solo albums , each of AKIHIDE's solo releases have a very distinct & unique concept and LOOP WORLD is very different from Hoshikai no Shounen be it musically or visually .
Surprisingly my favourite song in LOOP WORLD is not in the main CD but rather it's actually the re-recorded version of NEVER LAND's Memory Fish & it's also the only song that AKIHIDE said the song's title before he began singing it too .
Not a lot of people would have known the exitence of Memory Fish as it's quite an elusive but yet fantastic song in NEVER LAND's short lived discography so it was really great to know out of the many great NEVER LAND songs they put out , AKIHIDE chose to place emphasis on Memory Fish .
That's not to say that the new material in LOOP WORLD is bad , in fact I really enjoy all the new songs be it the ones AKIHIDE sing them or instrumental .
Even though only 8 songs are included in LOOP WORLD , each of them don't sound like leftovers that could have been in Hoshikai no Shounen even though some of the songs AKIHIDE worked on quite sometime back but at that time they don't fit in his past releases until now .
The 2 bonus live tracks are also quite good although I wished Namida no Umi , Koete could have been switched with another song that AKIHIDE sang in it .
That said , for DAIGO to be in awe of AKIHIDE's ability to put out 8 solo albums since 2013 , that says a lot about how musically gifted AKIHIDE is & I really hope he will not stop doing what he does best .
CD
2 CDs + DVD and 2 CDs + Blu-ray
Main CD
1) SHOW TIME
2) Turning Up
3) I Can't Wait For Christmas
4) Whenever You Call
5) Itsuka Byoushin no Au Koro
6) IN THE SUMMER
7) Kite
8) BRAVE
9) Party Starters
10) Do you...?
11) The Music Never Ends
2nd bonus CD (only available in the 2 CDs + DVD & 2 CDs + Blu-ray versions)
1) Turning Up (R3HAB Remix)
2) A-RA-SHI : Reborn
3) a Day in Our Life : Reborn
4) One Love : Reborn
5) Love so sweet : Reborn
6) Face Down : Reborn
ARASHI's last studio album was 2017's [untitled] .
This is ARASHI was released on the same date as their debut single A.RA.SHI .
11 songs are included in the main CD inclusive of 2 physical single releases & 4 original songs that were released digitally prior to This is ARASHI .
The album's lead promo track is titled Do you… ? & it has a video made .
This is ARASHI represents a number of 1st's for ARASHI in that it's their 1st studio :
- to get Blu-ray version
- to include singles' videos in the DVD & Blu-ray
- to include prior digital released material , be it remixes and/or original songs
- since 2004 / 4th album Iza, Now not to include any solo or unit songs
On 3rd Nov , on the same day as their CD debut date , ARASHI brings their long-awaited 17th album . The album's title indicates that it contains songs simply that the group wants to deliver to listeners amid all the changes & challenges during the current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic .
To say This is ARASHI is 1 if not ARASHI's most unique album release to date , that's an understatement .
For starters , I have no issues towards the 2 physical release singles included in This is ARASHI ie. BRAVE & Kite as they're both still really fanastic songs .
I've been an ARASHI fan for a long time & the main issue I had with some of their past studio albums was that I felt they placed emphasis on quantity & not quantity , especially when comes to the album tracks .
I guess for their 'final' album release , for once they probably heeded advise & decided to place quality over quantity when comes to the reminding new songs in This is ARASHI .
The 5 new album tracks in This is ARASHI all have a very Western sound to them , almost in the same music vein as the 4 original songs they released digitally .
Luckily unlike the somewhat dislike I had towards the original songs that they released digitally , I surprisingly did not get the same feeling towards the new material in This is ARASHI .
If there's 1 thing about This is ARASHI is that it starts off & concludes both on positive high notes and my favourite album track is actually the last song The Music Never Ends .
With 2020 coming to an end soon which also signifies the group's impending indefinite hiatus , I guess ARASHI did not want to leave on a sad note but rather on a high positive setting which I think it's the right thing to do .
I don't like everything ARASHI released over the course of their long fulfilling career & let alone , This is ARASHI obviously will not be my most favourite ARASHI's studio album .
Despite this , there's no doubt that ARASHI worked extremely hard to get to where they're at & very few musicians are able to achieve what they've done be it individually or collectively as a group and either way that's not an easy thing to accomplish .
That said , me & alongside with many others awaits ARASHI's return in due time & when that eventually happens , I hope they will make a comeback with an epic bang .
Cover for both CD & CD + DVD versions
1) Princess
2) Breathe Again
3) 416
4) Sorry
5) 30
period is Shota Shimizu's 1st mini album which was released last month on 11th Nov .
This is Shota's 1st physical release since 2018's / 8th album WHITE .
period EP includes a total of 5 songs , inclusive of 3 songs that were already released digitally prior .
Instrumentals for all the songs in the mini album are available digitally for purchase which the physical CD do not include any of them .
Princess serves as period's EP lead track & it's a song about regret & helplessness after separation .
Prior to the physical release of the mini album , Princess was 1st released digitally on 4th Nov .
While the 2nd new song in the mini album ie. 30 , it's a song that reflects on Shota's debut days .
Personally given a choice , I rather Shota do not release period as to me 416 is still the best song from his 1st mini album while the other songs have the usage of auto tune .
But seeing that Shota has not release a mini album until now , I guess he decided to do this instead of waiting to do another full length album after 2018's WHITE .
I have not given up hope that Shota will 1 day stop the over usage of auto tune .
WITH was released last week on 2nd Dec & it compiles songs that have been provided to Mika by other artists over the years as well as collaboration songs .
Mafuyu no Harmony sees Mika singing alongside with Remioromen's vocalist Fujimaki Ryota .
Before WITH's physical release , Mafuyu no Harmony was released digitally last month on 11th Nov .
Credits wise , Fujimaki Ryota wrote & composed Mafuyu no Harmony while lyrically the song is inspired by Mika's Yuki no Hana & Remioromen's Konayuki .
I personally feel Mafuyu no Harmony combines the best elements of both the above mentioned songs while Mika & Fujimaki's vocals compliment each other quite nicely .
With next year being Mika's 20th anniversary in the business , I do hope that she has plans to celebrate this landmark milestone of hers despite the still ongoing challenging times .
This is Matsushita Yuya's 1st release under a new stage name YOUYA .
YOUYA signed a new deal with J.E.T. MUSIC & due to this , he decided to start a new music career path under the name YOUYA .
I've followed & supported Matsushita since the beginning of his music career and I've seen the up's & down's of how he and many others have gone the independent route due to wide variety of reasons .
That said , Ghost is nothing like what Matsushita has done before as it's not only very heavily auto tune driven , it's also sung entirely in English .
I do not know how much more musically different YOUYA's future releases will be but Ghost is already quite a clear indicator of things .
I just hope that YOUYA's future music releases will not be so auto tune driven . Ghost is something I can overlook but more than that , I will be really turned off as Matsushita can sing very well , he does not need auto tune to conceal his vocals for worst .