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Beautiful World
Jul. 3rd, 2011 01:57 pmCountdown to my favourite song in the new album! Didn't include the previously released singles, because it'll be unfair to compare first impressions with overplayed songs. Those not in the list...I shall subject myself to them for the next few days and see if they become more memorable.
9. Morning Light
This nearly never made it to the list because the lyric had not much impact on me, and the melody wasn't very catchy, other than the "Through the night, to the light, to the morning light" part. But I listened to the whole song, the last part after the bridge gripped me. It was like a transformer suddenly got called out from his centuries of sleep and was preparing for war.
8. 「じゃなくて」
The lyrics! So. Cute. The guy sounds so frustrated, I'm amused. Because I can totally imagine a short movie with those scenes being played out.
7. Hung up on
Actually, Ohno's solo is my least favourite among all the solos, surprisingly. The lyric don't make much sense (I am very biased towards meaningful, or at least fun lyrics) at all. And Ohno doesn't get to show off his vocals ass much! But it's here because I repeated it a few times and am starting to like the tune.
6. Joy
I thought I suffered some memory lapse when this song started playing, because it sounded so familiar, yet I was sure that I was listening to the album in sequential order, hence there was no way I would have listened to it before reaching this song! And then I remembered. This was the song Arashi was filmed recording during the Training Camp!! Such a high tension song!
5. negai
The melody is perfect. Makes for a good theme song too. If only the lyric was about life or something instead of what I think is love. Wait, or is it friendship? Ah, I can't tell.
4. Shake It
My Jun, my dear dear Jun. What a great solo! I was blown away and held high expectations for the solo....until I heard Riida's, and decided to be more cautious. =S The rap part sounded a tad awkward, but somehow, something about your voice made it quite quirky. As for the singing parts, gosh, it's addictive! With this, I think you can finally come out of the shadow W/Me casted upon you. =P
3. 虹のカケラ～no rain, no rainbow～
If negai is perfect on the melody front, this one is perfect on both the melody and lyric parts. The "Oh oh oh oh oh oh" part gives it casual, ordinary feel. It's this kind of we-the-same-as-you vibe from Arashi that makes them so endearing for me, so the tone of this song won me over. The back instrumental track was beautiful too.
2. どこにでもある唄。
Nino never fails with his solos. His solo really fit well with the theme of the song, which I felt (perhaps biasedly) was about standing up over and over again, and daring to dream of a future, to work towards that future. So, Nino's solo is a perfect fit, both in terms of lyric and melody. There are so many lines I want to quote, to give encouragement to people I love and to myself.
だから泣いていいんだ 恥ずかしいことじゃない
明日がある人しかできないことだから 明日への合図だから
We are not that weak but we are not strong either
That's why it's ok to cry, it's not something to be embarrassed about
Because it's something only people with a tomorrow can do, because it's a sign that they're heading to tomorrow
泣いて 求めて 転んで また泣いて
君は そうして 大人になって
Crying, pursuing, falling, crying again
That's how you become an adult
傷つくことを恐れて
ずっと泣くのを我慢してたら笑えなくなってた
Afraid of being hurt
I keep holding back my tears, by doing that, I became unable to laugh
いつも見たいに ふざけたこと言い合って
懐かしいなんて言わないで今を そこにある今を握りしめて
Fooling around and bickering like alwas
Don't say how nostalgic that is Tightly hold onto the 'now' that's right here
ほら、息を吸って吐いて 生きている
一歩一歩歩いている ただそれだけでいい
Look, breathing in and out, you are alive
Just taking one step at a time is good enough
When I first heard the song, I hoped that Nino would play the piano during the concerts, but as I listened on, I started painting an image of him just sitting on the edge of a stationary moving stage, singing to everyone. Something like what he did for Kako. Can you imagine?
1. このままもっと
Before I heard this song (because I was listening to the songs in sequential order), Ninos' solo was sitting comfortably at the top of the list. To my very great surprise, Sho's solo rocked. I mean, I'm so used to hearing him rapping about some sizzlying night, or kind of lashing out at people, that this song took me by surprise. It felt like Ohno and Sho sang each other's solo instead.
Except for a short rap, which sounded aburpt given the mood of the first half of the song, it was a ballad. I can't even express how much I love this song. Maybe just: このままもっと 感動させる 唄を 届けてください！ Please send us more touching songs like always!
9 out of 12 new songs. Good enough. Great album. Love them!
