CD
CD + DVD A / CD + Blu-ray A
CD + DVD B / CD + Blu-ray B
Disc 1 (NEWS EXPO)
1) NEWS EXPO -Interlude-
2) Entertainment
3) Stranger
4) PAVILION -Interlude-
5) Alien
6) Chewing Gum
7) Different Lives
8) MONUMENT -Interlude-
9) 100 Nen Mae Kara
10) Nimaijita o Konya Karamaseru
11) Haqqy
12) We are Team NEWS
13) SECRET CODE -Interlude-
14) Gekiban
Disc 2 (NEWS BEST)
1) U R not alone
2) 「Ikiro」
3) Full Swing
4) Endless Summer
5) Sakura Girl
6) weeeek
7) Chankapana
8) Cherish
9) Beautiful
10) Yoru yo Odore
11) KMK the boys rock you all!
12) I・ZA・NA・I・ZU・KI
13) SNOW EXPRESS
14) Smile Maker
15) Mirai e
The previous studio album NEWS released was last Aug's Ongaku .
No prior released singles are included in NEWS EXPO .
NEWS EXPO is dubbed Anniversary Special Best to celebrate NEWS' 20th anniversary in the business .
The 2nd CD in NEWS EXPO is titled NEWS BEST . In it , the included songs were chosen by fans in an online voting poll that was conducted last year .
The old songs chosen/included in NEWS BEST prior to the release of Beautiful / Chincha Umakka / Kanariya have been re-recorded by the current trio .
Welcome to the NEWS EXPO ! The Johnny's group celebrates their 20th anniversary with the release of their 13th album compromising of both new and best songs . Disc 1 NEWS EXPO shares new stories with new songs while disc 2 NEWS BEST features newly recorded versions of past songs selected from fan-voting rankings .
NEWS is 1 of the groups that been through a lot over the years , for better or for worst .
To see them still in the music business despite the highest highs & lowest of lows thrown at them , it's something cos others would have just stop what they're doing but not them .
It's interesting that NEWS EXPO is not a typical release as it has both new & old musical elements of NEWS . I guess instead of a typical 20th anniversary release , they decided to do something a bit different which I don't mind .
For the 1st CD NEWS EXPO , the songs have numerous callbacks & nods to their previous album releases which I think for the most part , they've done this aspect well .
My favourite songs in NEWS EXPO are the ballads . Different Lives & 100 Nen Mae Kara are 2 of the standout tracks which really showcase just how well NEWS harmonise together .
For the 2nd CD NEWS BEST , I'm really pleased with majority of the old songs that're included even though I wish some were in it such as NEWS Nippon , Kibou ~Yell~ & Share .
It's a surprise that the old songs prior to the release of Beautiful / Chincha Umakka / Kanariya were re-recorded even though some might be on divided on this .
Considering NEWS already released a best compilation of the same name , it feels a bit odd for them to name the 2nd CD NEWS BEST again . I rather they choose another name like NEWS 20 .
That said , all in all for NEWS to reach a milestone of being in the music business for 20 years , that's not an easy thing for any artiste . And for what they've gone through , it makes things even worth it for them .
Happy 20th anniversary NEWS !
This's Koda's 2nd new song that she released digitally this year after she released BLACK WINGS digitally on 31st July .
Promo wise , Let's fight for love! was chosen to promote the mobile game Ikemen Series internationally .
Unlike BLACK WINGS , Let's fight for love! had no video made (for now) .
BLACK WINGS & Let's fight for love! are like chalk and cheese in which both songs sound completely different from each other .
With the way how Let's fight for love! sounds , it's quite evident it's used to promote a game which fits the promo tie in well in this case .
Some were divided on BLACK WINGS in that they felt it should have stayed as an interlude & the same thing probably will apply to Let's fight for love! too because the usage of EDM can be a bit gratting for some .
With 2023 coming to an end soon , I will not be surprised if Koda will not release anymore new songs this year digitally but never say never ?
CD
CD Anime Version
CD + Blu-ray
1) Tetsu no Ori
2) Don't worry be happy
3) Dokoka de Shitta Guzen to
4) Tetsu no Ori (OFF VOCAL)
5) Don't worry be happy (OFF VOCAL)
6) Dokoka de Shitta Guzen to (OFF VOCAL)
The 2nd new GRANRODEO release this year , Tetsu no Ori comes in about 5 months+ since the release of collaboration single Zero Step that featured voice actor Ono Kensho .
Promo wise , Tetsu no Ori was chosen to be used as the opening theme song for the 5th season of the Bungo Stray Dogs anime .
This's the 3rd time GRANRODEO provided their song to be used for Bungo Stray Dogs , after 2018's Deadly Drive & 2019's Setsuna no Ai .
Before its physical CD single release , the A-side was 1st released digitally on 13th July .
2 B-sides are included in Tetsu no Ori :
Don't worry be happy - an uptempo number
Dokoka de Shitta Guzen to - ballad
This's 1 of the rare occasions that I actually like the B-side(s) more than the A-side .
Despite listening numerous times , I find it difficult to like Tetsu no Ori & I find it a bit of a shame that I do like Deadly Drive and Setsuna no Ai .
Luckily the 2 B-sides to me are way better than Tetsu no Ori & Dokoka de Shitta Guzen to is proof that GRANRODEO really should release more ballads as singles & not just Shounen no Hate alone .
With 2023 coming to an end soon , I will not be surprised if Tetsu no Ori will be the last release from GRANRODEO this year & if they chose to release a new album next year , I hope it will be better than Question as I find the album underwhelming .
And considering GRANRODEO's next album release will be their 10th , hopefully they will make a statement of the good kind .
CD
1) Cross
2) Cross (Original Karaoke)
CD + DVD / CD + Blu-ray
1) Cross
2) That is that
Kamenashi's last solo release was 2019's Rain .
Promo wise , Cross serves as the image song for NTV's pro baseball live coverage programme DRAMATIC BASEBALL 2023 & the theme song for NTV's sports news programme Going! Sports & News .
Credits wise , Kamenashi wrote the lyrics for Cross & the melody was composed by BOØWY / Complex's guitarist Hotei Tomoyasu .
As someone who has over 10 years of experience covering sports , Kamenashi sings about feelings of athletes as well as their friendships & bonds in Cross . Kamenashi drew from his experience in sports coverage when comes to writing Cross' lyrics that expresses the feelings of athletes .
That is that serves as the B-side in Cross & just like the A-side , a video was also made for That is that .
Kamenashi Kazuya finally releases his long-awaited 2nd solo single ! Cross is the image song for NTV's professional baseball broadcast DRAMATIC BASEBALL 2023 and the theme song for the Going! Sports & News programme .
It was a nice surprise when it was announced that Kamenashi was releasing another new solo single . Compared to Rain which was a ballad , Cross is an upbeat Rock song which Hotei Tomoyasu did a great job composing it .
Cross is relatively short but despite this , it's surprising that there's also a small inclusion of rapping that Kamenashi did in the song .
As for That is that , it contrasts Cross well with it being an upbeat pop song that's quite Summer inspired .
It reminds to be seen if Kamenashi would ever release a debut solo album which I feel it most definitely can happen especially since over the years before KAT-TUN made their official music debut , a lot of old songs they did before their pre debut up to now have not been included in a CD yet .
Only time will tell if this will ever happen in the near future .
