CHAIN: I have opinions
Mar. 2nd, 2012 16:04![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soloI didn't really have time to listen to CHAIN properly until... well, today, once I'd sent off that batch of assignments. I'd sampled the songs just briefly when it came out, stuck two on my 'current' playlist, and decided closer inspection and appreciation of the rest had to wait.
Lock on - I don't think I like this one as much as most other people do. It's okay, I don't usually feel like I want to fast-forward it when it comes on, but it doesn't really do anything for me, either. It feels strangely static to me, does anybody else get that?
One Day - cute little poppy thing. That one definitely goes somewhere. A little too poppy for my taste, but the beat makes me forgive a lot.
Birth - gets on my nerves. I like the start, actually, but then it gets so awfully disjointed. It's like somebody threw three different songs together.
Ultimate Wheels - easily my favourite KAT-TUN song of the last year and a half. I love everything about it. EVERYTHING. The start, the beat that goes through it, the voices, the lyrics, the build-up, the instrumentation... yeah. This is the song which convinced me that I wanted to see KAT-TUN in concert after all, after 2010.
Finale - best solo on the album (sorry, Kame). It's got some oomph, Junno's voice actually sounds good in it, and I like it musically. In fact, IMO it sounds like something that could be on Pi's 'Superbad', which also has quite a bit of stuff I like.
Step by step - unoffensive, but kind of boring? That style just does nothing for me, it's one step (ha, pun) up from lounge music.
Run for you - another favourite. I don't love it as dearly as Ultimate Wheels, but the tense verse parts really work for me (okay, so the chorus made me crack up for first few times, for being so incongruous after that, but it's amazing what one can get used to). The verses are hot, somehow.
あの日のように - I find the first two thirds of this pretty but boring and faintly reminiscent of stuff I knew in the late 70s. But I really like the way the texture builds up after 4:00, how their voices interact, how the quiet rap fits in... it's very soothing, in a way the more boring start actually wasn't.
ずっと - Oh, Kame, you are so sweet. Also, you sing well. And I listen to this song because it's you and you're cute and you sing well and the song tinkles along nicely, but oh, Kame.
Smile for you - this is the song on this album which I cannot bear for more than 20 seconds. The end.
儚い指先 - this reminds me of something they've done before, I just haven't been able to pin it down yet. Something in 2007? More lounge music, anyway. Not my thing.
~again - This song is okay. Actually, I could see that growing on me with time. I haven't liked Ueda's solos all that much in recent years, but this is a welcome development.
Change ur world - I still remember how glad I was when that came out, because after I only liked two of the Jin-less songs on NMP and hated everything on Going! with a passion, I was really starting to think KAT-TUN was over for me. So to that extent, this song changed my world. /lame It was the start of the up-curve again, and just for that I love it.
Dangerous Cat - LOLOL. Just... lol. LOLOL. MIAOW! Oh, Koki. Yami is giving you LOOKS, Koki. And I could live without the squeaky-squawky. Actually, I wish Koki would sing something with a melody for a solo some time. He's got a nice, husky voice when he does that.
歩道橋 - My very first thought was 'oh, so that's the on-yomi for hashi'. But my next thought was, 'this is quite a nice song'. I like it better than 'あの日のように', though it won't ever win prizes for originality. I like how they sing together in this.
White - Okay, so 2/4 beat just tends to work for me in principle. So this is fun. It doesn't blow me away like UW does because music and beat don't work together quite the same way, but... yeah. I can listen to this.
Soldier - wins points just for being unusual. Very interesting start, fascinating dissonances, interesting verses; the harmonics are very dense and controlled. The last bars of the chorus remind me of Fall Down in a way I find very unfortunate, but apart from that, intriguing song and I'm looking forward to what they'll do with that in concert.
Chain of Love - oh hello thar, Arashi! #nuffsaid
What did the rest of you think? What's your favourite? Is there one you hate?
Lock on - I don't think I like this one as much as most other people do. It's okay, I don't usually feel like I want to fast-forward it when it comes on, but it doesn't really do anything for me, either. It feels strangely static to me, does anybody else get that?
One Day - cute little poppy thing. That one definitely goes somewhere. A little too poppy for my taste, but the beat makes me forgive a lot.
Birth - gets on my nerves. I like the start, actually, but then it gets so awfully disjointed. It's like somebody threw three different songs together.
Ultimate Wheels - easily my favourite KAT-TUN song of the last year and a half. I love everything about it. EVERYTHING. The start, the beat that goes through it, the voices, the lyrics, the build-up, the instrumentation... yeah. This is the song which convinced me that I wanted to see KAT-TUN in concert after all, after 2010.
Finale - best solo on the album (sorry, Kame). It's got some oomph, Junno's voice actually sounds good in it, and I like it musically. In fact, IMO it sounds like something that could be on Pi's 'Superbad', which also has quite a bit of stuff I like.
Step by step - unoffensive, but kind of boring? That style just does nothing for me, it's one step (ha, pun) up from lounge music.
Run for you - another favourite. I don't love it as dearly as Ultimate Wheels, but the tense verse parts really work for me (okay, so the chorus made me crack up for first few times, for being so incongruous after that, but it's amazing what one can get used to). The verses are hot, somehow.
あの日のように - I find the first two thirds of this pretty but boring and faintly reminiscent of stuff I knew in the late 70s. But I really like the way the texture builds up after 4:00, how their voices interact, how the quiet rap fits in... it's very soothing, in a way the more boring start actually wasn't.
ずっと - Oh, Kame, you are so sweet. Also, you sing well. And I listen to this song because it's you and you're cute and you sing well and the song tinkles along nicely, but oh, Kame.
Smile for you - this is the song on this album which I cannot bear for more than 20 seconds. The end.
儚い指先 - this reminds me of something they've done before, I just haven't been able to pin it down yet. Something in 2007? More lounge music, anyway. Not my thing.
~again - This song is okay. Actually, I could see that growing on me with time. I haven't liked Ueda's solos all that much in recent years, but this is a welcome development.
Change ur world - I still remember how glad I was when that came out, because after I only liked two of the Jin-less songs on NMP and hated everything on Going! with a passion, I was really starting to think KAT-TUN was over for me. So to that extent, this song changed my world. /lame It was the start of the up-curve again, and just for that I love it.
Dangerous Cat - LOLOL. Just... lol. LOLOL. MIAOW! Oh, Koki. Yami is giving you LOOKS, Koki. And I could live without the squeaky-squawky. Actually, I wish Koki would sing something with a melody for a solo some time. He's got a nice, husky voice when he does that.
歩道橋 - My very first thought was 'oh, so that's the on-yomi for hashi'. But my next thought was, 'this is quite a nice song'. I like it better than 'あの日のように', though it won't ever win prizes for originality. I like how they sing together in this.
White - Okay, so 2/4 beat just tends to work for me in principle. So this is fun. It doesn't blow me away like UW does because music and beat don't work together quite the same way, but... yeah. I can listen to this.
Soldier - wins points just for being unusual. Very interesting start, fascinating dissonances, interesting verses; the harmonics are very dense and controlled. The last bars of the chorus remind me of Fall Down in a way I find very unfortunate, but apart from that, intriguing song and I'm looking forward to what they'll do with that in concert.
Chain of Love - oh hello thar, Arashi! #nuffsaid
What did the rest of you think? What's your favourite? Is there one you hate?
no subject
Date: 2012-03-02 17:54 (UTC)Lock on My love from the first preview! I love everything about this song! the melody, the way they sing, this is just my style, what I love the most in KAT-TUN
One Day Nice and agree with you, i can listen sometimes to this song.
Birth This song took some time for me. and I think I start loving it after I saw the PV and I love the moment, when Kame is singing solo near the end! I just love it a lot.
I'm a bad KAT-TUN fan because I mostly always ignore solos and always listen only to Kame and Jin solo. the exception was Rabbit and Wolf, but I think all NMP album was exception for me. Because I love almost every song in NMP album, but I still hate Going, I just don't like this song at all, can't listen to it and I hate Kame hair in PV :| . But I love Fall Down and Smile.
Change U World is amazing song and I agree with you about it, I loved it from th first time I listened to this song.
Run For you is a funny song, just really very cute and funny XDXDXD LANLANLANLANLAN for you XDXD
あの日のように it reminds me little bit about Yuki no Hana and it is nice I like this song.
Soldier is not bad, chain of love is ordinary and smile for you,I haven't finish it either.
I also like Make you Wet series XDXD I remember watching very pervy KAT-TUN fanvid with this song, but it was deleted :(
Kame's solo. I find it unusual and I listen to it, because it's Kame and it's unusual and I'm looking for too much sense in this song. But I can't say, that I love this song just very much. Maybe after 200 times of listening I will. I loved a lot Kame's Aishteru Kara, I love it a lot. Zutto makes me think about aliens.
Star Rider- there is no here BUT I LOVE IT.
White is nice, but not's my fav. I can listen to this.
儚い指先- maybe like Loving you? I like this song. soothing and nice.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-02 18:51 (UTC)I try everyone's solo once, maybe twice, because you never know, there might be nice music there. But most of the time I don't like them much. My favourite Ueda solo is still his 2005 one (Love in Snow) and the only Junno solo I found bearable before now was Samurai Love Attack. >_> I'm really glad I tried Finale anyway. It's a cool song. I tend to like Koki's solos quite a bit, both his noisy ones like Pierrot and Parasite and ones like Make U Wet. Haven't liked a single one of Nakamaru's enough yet to put it on any playlist, but I adore One On One, the Koki/Maru collab.
Aishiteru Kara was special. *g* That really grew on me, I still listen to it a lot. I think I know what you mean about aliens in ずっと too, it's got a weird spacey mood to it.
I LOVE STAR RIDER TOO!
Hm, no, not Loving You. Maybe 'You'? IDK.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-02 18:41 (UTC)The only one I hate on this is Smile For You. I don't think *any* of us made it more than twenty seconds in.
I figured you wouldn't like Birth, what with it being jazzy and all. ;-) I do, though, and that's my favourite of the singles on here. I would love to be able to like White, now that I know one of my favourite guitarists (Nuno Bettencourt) played on it, but it's still a little too bland for me. Ultimate Wheels fares a bit better, but still reminds me of One Drop, and Change Your World is lacking something for me.
I like Run For You a lot better after Dream Boys. If I could just get rid of the chorus somehow...
Zutto is sweet, but...um...not something I'm going to listen to much. Not enough going on.
Still laughing at Koki's solo. Will not be playing it in public!
And the rest, I probably have to listen to some more to form an opinion.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-02 19:04 (UTC)It's funny how songs remind us of different songs... or not. Like, Soldier doesn't remind me of Seven Days Battle at all... there's much more melody in Seven Days Battle. I do think you have a point about the relationship with Lock On, it's like Lock On was maybe the dress rehearsal for Soldier... Soldier takes whatever Lock On does a step further and makes it edgier.
And UW totally doesn't remind me of One Drop... to me, they're like day and night. I think it's a matter of listening to/for different things in a song, maybe. I don't even like One Drop, except for the Akame part. Now that you're saying it's a bit like UW, maybe I should give it another chance. (Talk about doing this backwards.)
Yeah, Birth, jazzy. So's Step by Step, and 儚い指先, and to some extent even ずっと, if you're like me and allergic to the slightest hint of jazz harmonies. I'm still trying to find ずっと appealing, because it would be a nicely quiet song to listen to for writing. Only some of the turns it takes make me feel funny. That may disappear with familiarity, once I know exactly what to expect.
Looking forward to your opinions about the rest, when you get around to them.