Review load again
All kinds of stuff. For starters, I woke up this morning with a very furry problem...
I have my abscess all cleared up now. Makes me quite happy. I also hate how Microsoft/
Square-Enix/tri-Ace decided to package Star Ocean: The Last Hope. The second disc
ended up with an awful scratch and was unreadable! Luckily it didn't happen any later,
as it was day 30. TT; Was pissed. And my great-uncle's finally back from Mexico, so
yay for visits up to his mountain home~. Seriously looking forward to that. I also found
several of my old magazines from 2003-2005, Newtype USA, Shonen Jump, Play, PSM,
and OPM. It's really a shame Newtype isn't published anymore. It was such a quality magazine,
but ohmigawd, $10-$12 a issue was way too steep. Play is also a quality magazine. If only
Wal-Mart would carry it. Shonen Jump sucked. According to many sources, it still sucks.
I mean, I'm paying for a magazine, not a bunch of manga with a couple of half-assed anime
and video game reviews thrown in. (Had I gone by Shonen Jump's review of Star Ocean:
Till the End of Time, I'd have never bothered with the damn game. Newtype's review sucked
too.) Two magazines I KNOW why I have them: OPM had a spotlight on KH2 and one of
the PSMs had a huge layout on DMC3. Also-- 2003/2004 were good years for games. Now
onto the good stuff.
Everyone knows who Ayumi Hamasaki is, right? If you don't, go back to your hole under a
rock in your anti-Asian community. Anyway, she just released her tenth studio album. Now,
I love Ayu very much, but her albums tend to be sorta...meh. Sometimes the singles don't even
shine out with the exception of a couple. GUILTY was quite good, though. However...
NEXT LEVEL has impressed me. She's changed styles yet again and most of the albums
sounds like a really good remix album. It's starts off with an electronic intro song with this neat
echo-y effect going on that really gives a good feel to start off the album. Then this positive
electronic energy mellows out into the softer-toned title track, which is still vibrant and fast-paced.
Then we have interlude 1, "Disco-munication..." She uses a lot of 8-bit samplers on this album,
to a good effect. This song of bleeps and vocalizing is actually pretty fun. Now we have the
aptly-named "EnergizE," which uses more 8-bit samplers and heavy synth with perky vocals
and a clapping effect. Very bouncy and full of well, energy. And that refrain is so goddamn
catchy. "Sparkle" sounds like it came straight off an ayu-mix disc. Very heavy trance. It didn't
impress me on the Rule/Sparkle single, but it's grown on me quite a bit. It's easily one of my
favorite songs off this album. "rollin'" is kinda mediocre. The ending sounds like a Pacman death,
which is its most redeeming feature for the lulz. And then we have GREEN. The video was gorgeous.
Ayu was gorgeous. Tuxchick was gorgeous. The men were gorgeous. The song is equally gorgeous.
A very stunning song with a traditional Asian feel that makes me think of a Chinese New Year
parade...but that could be because of the video. Youtube it and become a Tuxchick fanperson too.
Either way. BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM AND MY MOST FAVORITE AYUMI SINGLE
EVAR. >w< Then we have a second interlude, "Load of the SHUGYO" which starts as a driving
electronic track then to a driving rock track with Ayu...panting? in the background, which signals the
change in the album's feel. "identity" also gets a special place in my heart. It's a very hard rockin' track
which is catchy. Kinda like a rock version of "EnergizE" in groovy catchiness. I still don't like "Rule"
as much as I should. It's a great song with an awesome video, but I suppose I'm suffering from epic-
single-backlash. "GREEN" was so good that "Rule" disappointed me. The same thing happened
with alan's "Sora Uta" and "Kaze no Tegami." Anyway, the song is very rocky with some traditional
Asian instruments thrown in around the chorus. "LOVE 'n' HATE" is really different from the rest of
the album. It starts off like a hip-hop track then gets a little rockish then finally throws in some electronica
when the vocals start. It's a really good song full of grooving capabilities. I love it very, very much.
The third interlude "Pieces of SEVEN" starts off, making me think of the underwater levels in Donkey
Kong Country. Very similar sound. The soothing electronic sound is very pretty. The name makes me
wanna think of pirates, too. : / About halfway through, it becomes a very driving track, signifying the
end of the hardcore groovy part of the album. "Days" I don't really like. I didn't like the video much.
It's a pretty winter ballad, but ehhh... It sounds like nearly every other ballad Ayumi's released. It's
not a bad song, I just don't like it. Also a victim of epic-single-backlash-- It was released with GREEN.
At long last, we come to "Curtain Call." Very cute title for the last track on an album. It's a gorgeous
acoustic piano ballad that pulls a choir in towards the end. One of those songs you air-piano to. There's
a second disc to the album, but it's just a series of live tracks, so it doesn't garner a review-- though as
live collections go, it's pretty decent.
I really suck at trying to summarize and review songs. Oh well. It's fun.
The star/box breakdown.
浜崎あゆみ (Ayumi Hamasaki) - NEXT LEVEL
01) Bridge to the Sky ★★★★
02) NEXT LEVEL ★★★★
03) Disco-munication ★★★
04) EnergizE ★★★★★
05) Sparkle ★★★★★
06) rollin' ★★
07) GREEN ★★★★★
08) Load of the SHUGYO ★★★
09) identity ★★★★
10) Rule ★★★★
11) LOVE 'n' HATE ★★★★★
12) Pieces of SEVEN ★★★★
13) Days ★★★
14) Curtain Call ★★★
I have my abscess all cleared up now. Makes me quite happy. I also hate how Microsoft/
Square-Enix/tri-Ace decided to package Star Ocean: The Last Hope. The second disc
ended up with an awful scratch and was unreadable! Luckily it didn't happen any later,
as it was day 30. TT; Was pissed. And my great-uncle's finally back from Mexico, so
yay for visits up to his mountain home~. Seriously looking forward to that. I also found
several of my old magazines from 2003-2005, Newtype USA, Shonen Jump, Play, PSM,
and OPM. It's really a shame Newtype isn't published anymore. It was such a quality magazine,
but ohmigawd, $10-$12 a issue was way too steep. Play is also a quality magazine. If only
Wal-Mart would carry it. Shonen Jump sucked. According to many sources, it still sucks.
I mean, I'm paying for a magazine, not a bunch of manga with a couple of half-assed anime
and video game reviews thrown in. (Had I gone by Shonen Jump's review of Star Ocean:
Till the End of Time, I'd have never bothered with the damn game. Newtype's review sucked
too.) Two magazines I KNOW why I have them: OPM had a spotlight on KH2 and one of
the PSMs had a huge layout on DMC3. Also-- 2003/2004 were good years for games. Now
onto the good stuff.
Everyone knows who Ayumi Hamasaki is, right? If you don't, go back to your hole under a
rock in your anti-Asian community. Anyway, she just released her tenth studio album. Now,
I love Ayu very much, but her albums tend to be sorta...meh. Sometimes the singles don't even
shine out with the exception of a couple. GUILTY was quite good, though. However...
NEXT LEVEL has impressed me. She's changed styles yet again and most of the albums
sounds like a really good remix album. It's starts off with an electronic intro song with this neat
echo-y effect going on that really gives a good feel to start off the album. Then this positive
electronic energy mellows out into the softer-toned title track, which is still vibrant and fast-paced.
Then we have interlude 1, "Disco-munication..." She uses a lot of 8-bit samplers on this album,
to a good effect. This song of bleeps and vocalizing is actually pretty fun. Now we have the
aptly-named "EnergizE," which uses more 8-bit samplers and heavy synth with perky vocals
and a clapping effect. Very bouncy and full of well, energy. And that refrain is so goddamn
catchy. "Sparkle" sounds like it came straight off an ayu-mix disc. Very heavy trance. It didn't
impress me on the Rule/Sparkle single, but it's grown on me quite a bit. It's easily one of my
favorite songs off this album. "rollin'" is kinda mediocre. The ending sounds like a Pacman death,
which is its most redeeming feature for the lulz. And then we have GREEN. The video was gorgeous.
Ayu was gorgeous. Tuxchick was gorgeous. The men were gorgeous. The song is equally gorgeous.
A very stunning song with a traditional Asian feel that makes me think of a Chinese New Year
parade...but that could be because of the video. Youtube it and become a Tuxchick fanperson too.
Either way. BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM AND MY MOST FAVORITE AYUMI SINGLE
EVAR. >w< Then we have a second interlude, "Load of the SHUGYO" which starts as a driving
electronic track then to a driving rock track with Ayu...panting? in the background, which signals the
change in the album's feel. "identity" also gets a special place in my heart. It's a very hard rockin' track
which is catchy. Kinda like a rock version of "EnergizE" in groovy catchiness. I still don't like "Rule"
as much as I should. It's a great song with an awesome video, but I suppose I'm suffering from epic-
single-backlash. "GREEN" was so good that "Rule" disappointed me. The same thing happened
with alan's "Sora Uta" and "Kaze no Tegami." Anyway, the song is very rocky with some traditional
Asian instruments thrown in around the chorus. "LOVE 'n' HATE" is really different from the rest of
the album. It starts off like a hip-hop track then gets a little rockish then finally throws in some electronica
when the vocals start. It's a really good song full of grooving capabilities. I love it very, very much.
The third interlude "Pieces of SEVEN" starts off, making me think of the underwater levels in Donkey
Kong Country. Very similar sound. The soothing electronic sound is very pretty. The name makes me
wanna think of pirates, too. : / About halfway through, it becomes a very driving track, signifying the
end of the hardcore groovy part of the album. "Days" I don't really like. I didn't like the video much.
It's a pretty winter ballad, but ehhh... It sounds like nearly every other ballad Ayumi's released. It's
not a bad song, I just don't like it. Also a victim of epic-single-backlash-- It was released with GREEN.
At long last, we come to "Curtain Call." Very cute title for the last track on an album. It's a gorgeous
acoustic piano ballad that pulls a choir in towards the end. One of those songs you air-piano to. There's
a second disc to the album, but it's just a series of live tracks, so it doesn't garner a review-- though as
live collections go, it's pretty decent.
I really suck at trying to summarize and review songs. Oh well. It's fun.
The star/box breakdown.
浜崎あゆみ (Ayumi Hamasaki) - NEXT LEVEL
01) Bridge to the Sky ★★★★
02) NEXT LEVEL ★★★★
03) Disco-munication ★★★
04) EnergizE ★★★★★
05) Sparkle ★★★★★
06) rollin' ★★
07) GREEN ★★★★★
08) Load of the SHUGYO ★★★
09) identity ★★★★
10) Rule ★★★★
11) LOVE 'n' HATE ★★★★★
12) Pieces of SEVEN ★★★★
13) Days ★★★
14) Curtain Call ★★★