DIR EN GREY ANNOUNCE NEW MINI ALBUM

This band just do not stop, do they? They'd already made my year with the announcements of 'Rinkaku' and their ESP signature guitars; I'm not complaining though, and with the announcement of their new mini album, my year is definitely completed. (At this rate they'll probably announce something on New Years Eve) :P


The new mini album will be called 'THE UNRAVELING' and promises to show the 'evolution/depth/genuineness of DIR EN GREY). When I read their description of the mini album, I instantly thought that this could mean either a sort-of-return to their old sound (like Withering to death) or a new sound taking ideas from their whole discography (which is probably more likely given that this is what the band is famous for). Regardless of the final outcome, this is very exciting news. 


It's quite a pricey album, with three different versions on offer: a limited deluxe version, a limited version and a normal version ranging from ￥7,350, ￥3,150, ￥2,625 respectively. I will probably buy the limited 
deluxe version, as it comes with two CDs and one DVD, so I'm guessing the extra CD will be either a live album or bonus tracks, which is always exciting. 

The album is out next year 2013/4/3

BIGBANG Wembley Arena 14/12/12 review

Let me just start off by saying I had high expectations of this gig and I was incredibly excited; I had watched so many PVs and Inkigayos that I felt I had seen them live already... and I was not dissapointed.

I was quite near the front standing, so when 'Alive' blasted out, I had to endure a rush forwards (me  included in the rush). They went on to play 'Tonight', which had the whole audience moving and also gave us our firt glimpse of the members of BIGBANG.

Now, the members of BIGBANG. WOW, FANTASTIC BABY. They are so much hotter and cooler in the flesh, its ridiculous. G Dragon was smaller and thinner than I thought, but along with TOP, the two are literally perfect. Taeyang, Seungri and Daesung were as I imagined, but still hotter than on youtube. By the end of the night two things were clear: they can really sing and they can really dance.

They played a lot of my favourite songs, such as 'Hands Up', 'Stupid Liar' and 'Heaven'. I think with every song they changed their outfits, which was impressive in its own right. The band were incredible, as they added things to the songs that weren't present in the studio versions; for example, during Seungri's verse on 'Fantastic Baby', the drums became slower and were hitting every offbeat, which I liked very much.

The stage talks were fun and a nice break, with Taeyang singing a cover of a Chris Brown song whilst having a tissue up his nose to stop the nosebleed he had suffered earlier on. All the members were good at english and I was reminded just why BIGBANG were so popular globally compared to their other asian counterparts.

But not everything was perfect unfortunately. I thought that there was too much stage time given to the member's solo songs. I am not a great fan of these songs, and I can safely say I am only a fan of Seungri's and Daesung's songs. However, G Dragon's 'One of a Kind' did not fail to get me moving, so I can't really complain a lot about this aspect of the concert.

Overall this was an incredible concert, a truly entertaining concert. It was nice to experience a non-metal/rock concert and as a result I was less tired and in less pain. I kind of wish I had bought tickets to go on the next day as well.

10/10

UVERworld <THE ONE> Review

1. THE ONE (SE)
2. 7th Trigger
3. Don't Think. Feel
4. LIMITLESS
5. 25 Word
6. KINJITO (LIVE intro ver.)
7. THE OVER
8. Koko Kara
9. REVERSI
10. Barbell
11. BABY BORN & GO
12. AWAYOKUBA (LIVE intro ver.)
13. NOWHERE boy

UVERworld are a band that many will simply 'brush over' given their accessible form of rock and anime image. Whilst this description is certainly true of their first few albums, their most recent offerings showcase a mature, modern and yet 'old' sound, which shines throughout on this record. This is a strong record, with UVERworld utilizing (almost overusing) aspects such as rapping and saxophones which have made them such a unique band in the Japanese rock scene.

The album starts off on familiar ground with the opener '7th Trigger', which is a good track listing decision, given the explosive effect of the guitars kicking in followed by one of the catchiest choruses ever composed by UVERworld. This song shows what this album is about: catchy songs and the overall chemistry of the band altogether, which has improved since 'Life 6 Sense'. There is much more emphasis on guitar work on most of these songs, with acoustic solos + riffs galore, as well as nu-metal style chugging riffs. The singles ('7th Trigger', 'THE OVER', 'BABY BORN & GO') definitely show this the most, with the guitars governing the direction of the song and whether the song will go heavy or soft.

Standout tracks for me are 'LIMITLESS', '25 Word' and 'REVERSI' (out of the new songs). 'LIMITLESS' has a oddly satisfying fluidity about the whole song, and Takuya's voice is soothing and he uses a brilliant mix of rapping and singing (I think he also has an effect on but I'm not sure). This song is very modern, taking influence from contemporary rap to contemporary rock (the chorus especially). The saxophone is used to great effect here, with a fast paced solo at the start, followed by a beautiful short acoustic interlude. If this is one of the directions UVERworld could go in, I'm absolutely fine with that!

I heard a leaked version of 'REVERSI' before the album came out, and it caught my attention instantly. It has a 'metal' overtone to the song, and is like 'Just Melody', 'Gekidou' and 'THE OVER' mixed with poison; this is a dark track for UVERworld. The drums on this song are great and you hear the drums being hit with a ferocity not heard before. Don't get me wrong, this is still very much UVERworld, and again there is a catchy chorus and the singing is lighter than the music.

'25 Word' is an interesting song, as it has a flute (or similar) in it, laying down the foundation. It has a 'lounge' feel to the song, like something you would listen to on a plane or somewhere relaxing. I absolutely love the vocal melody on this song, and the phonetic emphasis on certain words, especially in the chorus (TENgoku, etc). The outro caught me completely off guard and is almost jazzy, ending the song on a relaxing note.

'NOWHERE boy' and 'Koko Kara' are two songs that I am not really a fan of. I found them hard to get into and they didn't captivate me from the get-go. I feel bad, as I skip them almost instinctively when they appear on shuffle.

Sorry for this short review, but I'm slowly losing time to do this, as I'm about to leave school and there's a lot of work to do.

8/10