Music Review: アリス九號. / 絶景色 (alice nine. / Zekkeishoku)
1. 光環 (Koukan)
2. ヴェルヴェット (Velvet) [watch]
3. FANTASY [watch]
4. 3.2.1.REAL -SE-
5. 春、さくらの頃 (Haru, Sakura no Koro)
6. DEAD SCHOOL SCREAMING
7. 黒海の海月 -Instrumental- (Kokkai no Kurage -Instrumental-)
8. jelly fish
9. ワールドエンドアンソロジー (World End Anthology)
10. Q.
11. 九龍 -NINE HEADS RODEO SHOW- (Kowloon -NINE HEADS RODEO SHOW-) [watch]
12. ARMOR RING
1. 光環 / What a fantastic opening song! I was instantly grabbed by Shou's clear, pure voice. The song utilizes Shou's vocals very well. The melodious music is thrilling and pure enjoyment to the ears. Bloody brilliant. ♥
2. ヴェルヴェット/ Excellent music, excellent singing. Velvet is a "rockier" song compared to Koukan, but it still manages to delight me because it's so fun. This song has really grown on me after a few listens. ♥
3. FANTASY / This song very definitely belongs to the popular rock genre. The opening showcases Shou's great vocals, for he dives straight into singing full voice. This was alice nine.'s most recent single (along with Akatsuki/Ikuoku no Chandelier) and I was very pleased to see the tremendous improvement in Shou's singing, definitely one of my favorite alice nine. songs. ♥
4. 3.2.1.REAL -SE- / This track is a short instrumental, with interesting sound effects. It sounds like an experimental track, just for the band to try out arranging the different effects. It works very well to link FANTASY to the next song... which is
5. 春、さくらの頃 / This sounds like a down-to-earth song that descibes everyday life. Just like the life of a person, it may not be dramatic, but it is fun nevertheless. A quite decent track.
6. DEAD SCHOOL SCREAMING / DEAD SCHOOL SCREAMING has an unusual melody and contrary to the image evoked by the title, the song itself is not as heavy and aggressive as I first thought. An okay song.
7. 黒海の海月 -Instrumental- / Another short instrumental piece, it has an ethereal quality. Since the title is about the jelly fish of the Black Sea, I think it makes sense that this track has that floating, pulsing feeling. It serves to bridge this track to the next, which is
8. jelly fish / Track 7 is "jelly fish of the Black Sea", we get "jelly fish" for track 8. This song uses acoustic guitar instead of the usual electric, a decent piece.
9. ワールドエンドアンソロジー / This song evokes a similar mood as tracks 5 and 8. Decent, but the songs are starting to become dull because they're so similar. I want to emphasize though, that this song stands well on its own. However, because I was listening to the tracks on this album in order and in one setting, I became weary at this point.
10. Q. / Ah, just as I was thinking I have enough of merely "decent" songs, alice nine. breaks the pattern and gives us another kick-ass track. Hehe, surely I'm not the only one who's reminded of Linkin Park by this song? Shou starts off with a strong voice and is joined by Saga (of all people!) in the chorus/harmonizing sections. I'm very pleased with the Shou and Saga combination because it sounds so good. I'd like to see more singing from Saga in the future. ♥
11. 九龍 -NINE HEADS RODEO SHOW- / This is the heaviest song on the entire album with much more aggressive guiltar and chorus. The entire band joins in with the chanting. I can already imagine this song driving the crowd wild at lives because it rocks so hard. It really gets the adrenaline pumping.
12. ARMOR RING / The final track is a nice and mellow ballad, again utilizing Shou's voice to maximum effect. It wraps up the album and leaves the listener with a feeling of contentment.
With this album, I gained a lot of respect for Shou and Hiroto (not to mention I was delighted to discover that Saga can sing). It's apparent that Shou's vocal trainings had paid off and he now sings fantastically. Why Hiroto though? Most of my favorite tracks on this album were written by Hiroto (tracks 1, 2, 3; the 4th favorite, Q., was written by Tora) ! The music he writes really speak to me. I now pay a lot more attention to Hiroto because he's a musician after my own heart. One problem I noticed with this album was the track order. There was a string of mellow songs that caused my attention to wander. I wish the order was mixed up a bit to spice things up.
