CD
CD + DVD A / CD + Blu-ray A
CD
Tracklist for all 4 versions
1) Ame
2) blue
3) Best Choice
4) Sweet Days
5) Tobira
6) Suteki na Yoru
7) Wakaranaidarake
8) Let Me
9) Kazoku
CD only :
10) High Hopes (Coming Century)
11) Good Luck Baby (20th Century)
V6's last studio album release was 2017's The ONES and no singles are included in STEP .
STEP comprised entirely of brand new songs produced by the members themselves and Ame is the only song that had a video made .
2 tracks from the 2 sub unit groups within V6 are included as bonus tracks in the CD only version of STEP .
Suteki na Yoru was used to promote NHK's Minna no Uta last month & this month .
When it was announced back in March that V6 will disband this year on their debut anniversary date ie. 1st Nov after almost 26 years in the business , it was saddening but at the same time not surprising to me as they've been around for a very long time .
Despite this , for V6 to put out 1 final studio album before their disbandment is still a bit of a surprise as I thought their final release would be a definite best album .
That said , STEP is overall quite good & it reminds me of The ONES to some extent as it's a very diverse album but for me I personally do not like the 1st & last song in the tracklist .
And I do not think that Ame should have a video made as there were other songs that deserve to have video(s) made such as blue & Let Me .
With the release of STEP , V6 became 1 of the few artistes that had no.1 releases in late 90s , early 2000s , 2010s & now 2020s .
V6's final release Very6 BEST will be released on 26th Oct .
This is Koda's 3rd back to back release digital songs after July's We'll Be OK & last month's Doo-Bee-Doo-Bop .
After 2 back to back upbeat no.s , it's quite nice for Koda to slow things down quite considerably with to be free & even though all 3 songs were released digitally , the fact that she was able to make videos for all of them , that's quite amazing .
Koda will release a new best album on 6th Dec , on the same date as her debut anniversary . For now , it's not known if her recent 3 digital released songs will be included in the release .
CD + DVD Rai Cho e version
1) Rai Cho e (UVERworld Feat Yamada Takayuki & Tokugawa eq's Aiemu)
2) SOUL (UVERworld Feat Aoyama Thelma & Tokugawa eq's Aiemu)
3) Rai Cho e (UVERworld ver.)
4) Rai Cho e (instrumental)
5) SOUL (instrumental)
CD + DVD SOUL version
1) Rai Cho e (UVERworld Feat Yamada Takayuki & Tokugawa eq's Aiemu)
2) SOUL (UVERworld Feat Aoyama Thelma & Tokugawa eq's Aiemu)
3) SOUL (UVERworld ver.)
4) Rai Cho e (instrumental)
5) SOUL (instrumental)
UVERworld's latest single offering comes in about 3 months+ since their previous single NAMELY while their last double A-side single release was 2018's GOOD and EVIL / EDEN e .
Unlike UVERworld's past double A-side single releases , what makes Rai Cho e / SOUL unique is both songs are collaboration no.s . Also , no CD only version were made available & both songs have videos made as well .
Both A-sides feature Tokugawa eq's Aiemu whom UVERworld has been friends with for 2 decades .
Other than Aiemu , each A-side features a different artiste that collaborated with UVERworld . For Rai Cho e , it's Yamada Takayuki while for SOUL , it's Aoyama Thelma .
After being in the business for almost 2 decades , it's quite something that UVERworld is still able to come up with surprises from time to time like this .
Between Rai Cho e & SOUL , I prefer Rai Cho e a bit more over SOUL as I feel the 1st A-side is more memorable .
I probably would have like SOUL a bit more as I feel it's a bit underwhelming if not quite short & prior to this , I never really thought Aoyama Thelma would be suited to do Rock music & vocally she didn't really shine that much in SOUL .
With 2021 coming to an end soon , I think UVERworld might release a new studio album before year end or they could bring it to an early 2022 release . We'll see .
CD
CD + DVD A & CD + Blu-ray A
CD + DVD B & CD + Blu-ray B
The group's latest single offering comes in 3 months+ since their previous single Negative Fighter & it's their 2nd back to back single release to have Blu-ray version(s) .
Gunjou Runaway describes the frustration of an unrequited love & the A-side was chosen to promote Tokai TV & WOWOW's co-produced drama Junkyouju Takatsuki Akira no Suisatsu starring member Inoo Kei and King & Prince's Jinguji Yuta .
A total of 4 B-sides are made available in the single :
- Lovely Dance (CD Only Track)
- Shutter Chance (CD Only Track)
- Dramatic (CD Only Track)
- Love Your Life (CD + DVD B & CD + Blu-ray B Track)
Love Your Life has a video made & is described as a medium-tempo rock number .
Hey! Say! JUMP's 30th single Gunjou Runaway is the theme song for the TV drama Junkyouju Takatsuki Akira no Suisatsu . Featuring an edgy melody & impassioned lyrics , the song expresses the feelings of frustration in an unrequited love .
Reaching the 30th single milestone with Gunjou Runaway is no mean feat but Hey ! Say ! JUMP's latest single offering is overall quite good & the A-side is quite different from Negative Fighter but in a good way .
Unlike Negative Fighter which took me a while to decide if I like it or not , I didn't have that for Gunjou Runaway as I like it on 1st listen & I thought that the song's on whole is real edgey and serious sounding which fits promoting Junkyouju Takatsuki Akira no Suisatsu well .
B-sides wise , I think it's quite evident on why Love Your Life is the 1 that has a video made as compared to the other B-sides . The other 3 are only ok if not a bit too cutesy for my liking but something about Love Your Life , it has a great chilled out laidback feeling that I really enjoy & it definitely deserved to get a video .
Based on the group's recent release pattern , I will not be surprised if another new single would get released followed by another studio album but we'll see .
ayaka's latest new song release was picked to be used as the theme song for the new RPG Tales of ARISE which's the latest installment of the popular RPG series Tales of .
Other than Blue Moon , ayaka also provided another song to be used as an insert no. for Tales of ARISE & for that , it's a cover of My Little Lover's Hello Again ~Mukashi Kara Aru Basho~ .
Blue Moon has a great grand sweeping melody & I think it fits perfectly well in promoting Tales of ARISE & for this to be the 1st song ayaka has provided to promote a RPG , I think that says a lot .
Hopefully ayaka's next release will be a new studio album as including Blue Moon , she has already released 5 songs digitally but with this year being her 15th anniversary , maybe a different type of release will surface ? Only time will tell .
CD
CD + DVD
1) WITH YOU
2) LOVE STAGE
3) Blue Moon
4) I lost
5) Yamiyo ni Mau Aoi Tori
6) BARABARA
7) Judgement
8) UNDER THE MASK
9) I love my daughter
10) End Roll
The guys' last studio album release was 2015's Ø-ZERO- & the new album's title derives from the guys never forgeting to connect with fans , even in the midst of the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic .
WITH YOU is described as an ambitious work that the guys want to deliver to fans (= YOU) .
In WITH YOU , it includes 3 singles ; 1 double A-side & 2 standalone singles (their 18th single D×D×D / GREAT AMBITIOUS -Single Version- is not included) & 6 new album tracks .
Kicking off the album is the 1st album track that shares the same name as the album . Written & composed by vocalist DAIGO , WITH YOU (the song) is their most mellow album opening no. to date .
LOVE STAGE is the 2nd A-side of BREAKERZ's 21st single BARABARA / LOVE STAGE & the song was used to promote the live action movie of the same name .
The 2nd album track Blue Moon was written & composed by guitarist AKIHIDE and this song bears musical resemblances of FIGHTERZ's SECRET GIRL & Ø-ZERO-'s My Sweet Rose .
The next new no. I lost was also written & composed by DAIGO and for I lost , it features Kuraki Mai , making this their 1st studio album to feature a guest vocalist & the 2nd time Kuraki collaborated with the guys after 2017's Hirari Mai Chiru Hana no Youni .
Even though I lost is the only collaboration in WITH YOU , Kuraki's vocals amplifies the sadness of the song & just like Hirari Mai Chiru Hana no Youni , her vocals compliment DAIGO's really well .
The next 2 no.s are single songs the guys released prior to WITH YOU .
Yamiyo ni Mau Aoi Tori is BREAKERZ's 20th single & it was used as the ending theme for TV Tokyo's Takeshi no Nippon no Mikata! while for BARABARA , it's the 1st A-side of the guys' 21st single BARABARA / LOVE STAGE which was used to promote the Youkai Ningen Bela movie .
Judgement & UNDER THE MASK are 2 of my favourite WITH YOU album tracks and they couldn't be any different from each other .
Written by DAIGO & composed by AKIHIDE , the melody of Judgement is a fusion of Arabic & Rock and the song was created based on the excitement of a live house concert & twin guitars are present in the melody , just like CLIMBER x CLIMBER .
For UNDER THE MASK , it's the 3rd WITH YOU album track that DAIGO wrote & composed . This song sees DAIGO singing it in the highest vocal range ever & he was inspired by Mötley Crüe after he watched Netflix's The Dirt last year .
I love my daughter is BREAKERZ's 22nd single & it was used to promote the ABC TV drama Miyako ga Kyoto ni Yattekita! .
Concluding WITH YOU is the album's last new no. End Roll .
Written by DAIGO & composed by guitarist SHINPEI , the guys 1st performed End Roll during BREAKERZ Fan Club Live 2018 & at its coare , it's a simple & nostalgic sounding song .
The saying less is more can definitely used to summarise BREAKERZ's latest album offering WITH YOU . Even though it's their shortest sounding studio album to date , most if not the whole album is really good .
I personally do not really like Ø-ZERO- as I felt quite disconnected from it but luckily I do not have the same feeling towards WITH YOU and in it , the old & new musical elements of the guys can be felt and there's frankly something for everyone to enjoy in their latest new album .
The 1 thing I'm surprised about WITH YOU is the exclusion of both D×D×D & GREAT AMBITIOUS -Single Version- . I can understand why the guys chose to exclude GREAT AMBITIOUS -Single Version- since there's not much musical difference between GREAT AMBITIOUS & GREAT AMBITIOUS -Single Version- but for them not to include DxDxD , it's a real pity as it's 1 of their most recent but fun catchy single songs to date .
BREAKERZ wanted to release a new studio album last year but they decided to hold off until this year as they felt the timing then wasn't right & I think they did the correct thing and it's evident with what they bring in WITH YOU .
And I'm already looking forward to see what they have in store for their impending 15th anniversary debut when next year rolls by .
Aoyama's last new material release was 2019's Iki Teru Dake de go Houbi .
This duet collaboration came about when Aoyama fell in love with Aisho Nakajima's talent through Instagram .
Yours Forever is described as an R&B song containing English lyrics about ultimate love .
Aoyama is bilingual in both English & Japanese so in a way it's surprising that she doesn't have that much original English songs in her discography (not counting her cover album My Covers) even though she has been in the business for almost 15 years .
And for once other than a bit of Japanese lyrics , Yours Forever is sung almost entirely in English & I thought that Aisho Nakajima's vocals compliment Aoyama's quite nicely .
Aoyama's 7th album Scorpion Moon will be relesed on 27th Oct , on the same day as Aoyama's birthday & Yours Forever will be included in it .
Cover for both CD & CD + DVD
1) BAD APPLE
2) SHINING MAN
3) Shoegaze (Gray Crow Mix)
4) Mosou Collector (HSMS Reconstruct Ver.)
5) Angelus (3Xdecade Boost Mix)
GLAY's last physical single release was last Aug's G4･2020 .
Before the arrival of GLAY's 16th album FREEDOM ONLY that will happen next month on 6th Oct , the band 1st drops their 59th single BAD APPLE which the A-side was arranged by musician Tomi Yo .
Honestly I wasn't sure what to think about BAD APPLE when I 1st heard it as on 1st listen it's unusually mellow but after a while , BAD APPLE has grown on me .
SHINING MAN is 1 of the 4 B-sides included in BAD APPLE & this's a song that GLAY has performed on TV prior to the announcement of BAD APPLE .
Just like BAD APPLE , I also was not sure what to think about SHINING MAN either when I 1st saw GLAY performed this on TV & even up to now I'm still not 100% sold on the song either .
That said , BAD APPLE will be included in GLAY's upcoming new album FREEDOM ONLY as track 7 .
