CD
CD + DVD
1) intro
2) Curtain Call Feat ONE OK ROCK's Taka
3) Koi Uta
4) Homie
5) Lazy Feat ASOBOiSM & Kouichi Arakawa
6) Tokyo Night
7) Side Dish
8) Prologue Feat Aimer
9) Cherish
10) outro
11) Hanataba no Kawari ni Melody wo From THE FIRST TAKE (Bonus Track)
Shota's last studio album release was 2018's WHITE .
Just 1 digital released song ie. Koi Uta is included in HOPE & a live version of Shota's 19th single Hanataba no Kawari ni Melody wo is included as a bonus track .
Out of the 7 new album tracks , 3 of them are duet no.s .
The 1st duet no. Curtain Call features ONE OK ROCK's vocalist TAKA & before HOPE's physical release , the song was 1st released digitally on 7th July .
A video was made for Curtain Call . Both Shota & Taka got to know each other better through the [re:] project they worked together on last year with several other prominent J-pop artists .
The 2nd duet no. Lazy features ASOBOiSM & Kouichi Arakawa . Their participation was decided as a result of a project that Shota launched back in April in a search for artists to collaborate with .
The 3rd / last duet no. Prologue feature Aimer . A video was also made for Prologue but unlike Curtain Call , both Aimer and Shota are not featured in it + it's not included in the DVD of HOPE .
With the release of HOPE , Shota Shimizu enters Chapter 3 of his artist activities .
It's no secret that I haven't been impressed with Shota's music for the last few years & I feel that his last 3 studio albums were downright really bad as I feel that they weren't able to match up to how great his older studio albums were .
However surprisingly I did not have the same dislike towards HOPE even though auto tune is still present in the songs but something about the way they sound is quite different from what Shota done previously .
Duets wise , this's the most Shota has included in a studio album of his & I thought they're all pretty good but my favourite is definitely Prologue as it's the only duet that's a ballad and Aimer's voice compliments Shota's extremely well .
Even the standalone Shota songs in HOPE , they're not bad also & I like Cherish a lot as just like Koi Uta , both songs showcase how good vocally Shota is and he really does not need to hide his voice underneath so much autotune as he already sounds good to begin with .
I guess Shota could have excluded the intro & outro parts as they're quite reductant and HOPE probably might turn out to be yet another mini album release after last Nov's period EP but other than that , this's definitely Shota's most well thought out put together album since 2014's ENCORE .
Koda's latest new song offering comes in after last month's We'll Be OK & Doo-Bee-Doo-Bop is described as a sexy dance no. .
And same with We'll Be OK , a music video was also made for Doo-Bee-Doo-Bop too .
Before listening to Doo-Bee-Doo-Bop , I was a bit worried what type of song it might be as the song title did not help matters .
However when I 1st heard Doo-Bee-Doo-Bop , it's basically a mixture of Koda's past songs ie. Bon Voyage's Let's Show Tonight & Wicked Girls so if it happens that you like both songs , then that's great .
The other surprise on Doo-Bee-Doo-Bop is that it's under 3 mins but a song doesn't need to be long to grab someone's attention .
Koda's next digital release song will be something titled to be free that will be released next Wed on 8th Sept .
2 CDs + DVD & 2 CDs + Blu-ray
3 CDs + 2 DVDs A & 3 CDs + 2 Blu-ray A
3 CDs + DVD B & 3 CDs + Blu-ray B
The release of BEST of Kis-My-Ft2 happened on the same day as their 2011 music debut .
Out of the covers used in BEST of Kis-My-Ft2 , the 3 CDs + DVD A & 3 CDs + Blu-ray A cover is a recreation of the group's debut single , Everybody Go .
A10TION is included in all versions of the best album . Pronounced as Attention , a video was made for the song .
Ashioto is only found in the 2nd disc of the 2 CDs + DVD & 2 CDs + Blu-ray version(s) while Good-bye, Thank you 2021 is exclusively available in the 3rd disc of the 3 CDs + DVD B & 3 CDs + Blu-ray B version(s) .
For Good-bye, Thank you 2021 , fans voted that song for Kis-My-Ft2 to re-record .
1st of all , happy 10th anniversary to Kis-My-Ft2 & unlike their 1st best album HIT! HIT! HIT! which felt like a rushed reluctant release , BEST of Kis-My-Ft2 is a worthy release that summarises their musical journey from til until current .
Both A10TION & Ashioto contrast each other well . While Ashioto is a mid tempo song , A10TION is a really catchy & fun upbeat no. and the accompanied video has plenty of Easter eggs included as the props used in it were mostly recycled from their past music videos which make things even more entertaining .
If there's 1 thing about BEST of Kis-My-Ft2 I dislike is that they shouldn't have excluded the Rock version of Ai no Beat be it audio or video as it's still part of Ai no Beat release wise although the Dance version of the song is still the best overall .
That said , there's no stopping Kis-My-Ft2 & their next release ie. their 28th single Fear / SO BLUE will be out on 15th Sept .
CD
CD + Blu-ray A and CD + VR
CD + Blu-ray B (BLUE PROTOCOL Version)
Tracklist for all 4 versions
1) Mirai
2) Mirai (hydeless version)
This is L'Arc~en~Ciel's 1st new song release since 2016's Don't be Afraid & this year also marks the group's 30th anniversary since the band formation in 1991 .
No B-sides are included in Mirai .
Promo wise , Mirai was chosen to use as the opening theme song to promote the online action RPG , BLUE PROTOCOL .
Regarding the promo tie-up , vocalist hyde commented , "After reading the story & watching the footages of BLUE PROTOCOL , I felt that this song had a fantastic compatibility . I think the lyrics nicely link fans , who looked forward to our 30th year amid the current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the RPG's story."
It's hard to believe it has been quite long since L'Arc~en~Ciel put out something new & for Mirai , some like it while some feel it doesn't justified the long wait of new group material as it sounded like something that they've already put out before .
With this year's marking L'Arc~en~Ciel's 30th anniversary in the business , at least a new song is better than nothing to celebrate this momentum milestone , even though I'm still hoping a new studio album will eventually surface from them as next year will mark a decade since their last album release ie. BUTTERFLY .
That said , L'Arc~en~Ciel's next release ie. their 44th single FOREVER will be released next month on 29th Sept .
2 CDs
2 CDs + DVD
3 CDs
BEST OF THE BEST was released on 11th Aug ie. on the same day as SPYAIR's debut date alongside with BEST OF THE BEST CLIPS DVD + Blu-ray .
The 3rd CD in the 3 CDs version of the release is titled alive & it's SPYAIR's only self produced album before they made their major debut with Sony Japan in 2010 .
All the songs in alive have been remastered .
Just like All I Need , I was also surprised when I heard Born To Be Loud as it's a bit different from the usual music style that SPYAIR is known for .
With a title like Born To Be Loud , I thought it was going to be a really hard rock song but turns out it's not the case but it's still an overall nice listen after a few listens .
This's GLAY's 3rd back to back digital release of new material after FRIED GREEN TOMATOES & Seishun wa Zankokuda .
To hype up the release of their upcoming 16th studio album FREEDOM ONLY that will be released on 6th Oct , GLAY will be releasing a total of 5 digital release songs for 5 consecutive months starting from May onwards .
Unlike FRIED GREEN TOMATOES & Seishun wa Zankokuda , what makes BETTY BLUE stands out from the other 2 is that the song features Awesome City Club's PORIN as a guest vocalist which gives it a nice touch / edge .
Even if PORIN is not featured in the song , BETTY BLUE is still pretty good by itself .
FREEDOM ONLY will include BETTY BLUE as track 1 in the upcoming new album .
Starting from last month until Sept , Koda will be releasing 3 back to back new songs digitally .
Written by Koda herself , We'll Be OK delivers a positive message to push the backs of people who carry burdens .
Summer is in & what's Summer without Koda and here she brings her latest Summer inspired no. in the form of We'll Be OK .
We'll Be OK has some of the best music elements of Koda's past Summer inspired songs & with what's still happening worldwide , it's more or less the type of song that's currently needed & is most welcome .
Koda's next 2 digital releaed songs :
- Doo-Bee-Doo-Bop ; 18th Aug
- to be free ; 8th Sept
CD
CD + DVD A & CD + Blu-ray A
CD + DVD B & CD + Blu-ray B
The duo's last release was last June's KANZAI BOYA .
The release date of Un/Pair happens to be KinKi Kids' debut date when their debut album A album & debut single Glass no Shounen were released together on the same date 24 years ago .
This's also KinKi Kids' 2nd single to get a Blu-ray option after KANZAI BOYA .
Un/Pair is described as a solid & powerful song with a sad melody & lyrics that describe the emptiness of not being able to connect .
Dojima Kohei who wrote & composed Un/Pair commented , "I wrote & composed Un/Pair and recorded the 2 of them singing . However , that is simply Kinki Kids in sound form . I really feel that KinKi Kids is complete when you see the 2 of them line up & dance ."
The following 4 songs serve as B-sides in Un/Pair :
- Dandelion (CD Only Track)
- Gunjou no Hibi (CD Only Track)
- Un/Pair (Summer Sounds Remix) (CD + DVD & CD + Blu-ray A Track)
- SQUALL (CD + DVD & CD + Blu-ray B Track)
Enter a new era of KinKi Kids with the duo's latest single offering , Un/Pair ! Co-produced with Kohei Dojima , the poetic song is wrapped in a rich , powerful & speedy digital sound .
After releasing the amusing gag worthy KANZAI BOYA , KinKi Kids are back to do what they do best in the form of Un/Pair .
Un/Pair reminds me of Mada Namida ni Naranai Kanashimi ga / Koi wa Nioeto Chirinuruwo which both songs are upbeat sounding but they have sad lyrics but in this case , this has been switched around for Un/Pair .
Out of all the 4 B-sides made available , I like Gunjou no Hibi the most . I thought it was going to be a full on ballad but I was surprised it was not the case . The other 2 B-sides are not bad & I only find the Summer Sounds remix of the A-side ok for my liking .
In recent years KinKi Kids have not been that musically active as each member also has solo music & non music related stuff to do so I will not be surprised if Un/Pair will be the duo's only new music release for the year .
But with next year being their 25th anniversary , hopefully they will be a lot more active with their releases .
