11/8/2007 - [CD Review] Arashic

Release: July 5, 2006
Album: #6
Review: Going in reverse order I guess. This album had some solo songs just as the previous one and the one to follow, but it was not listed as solos. You could just tell from listening that it was. It's their best selling album to date (sans their debut album and possibly Time now) so I want to see if it is deserving of that. There's a lot of things going for this album to begin with. So many of my all time favorite songs are on this album alone that it kind of sways me to believe it is great without thinking about it.
    To start off, there is the title track Wish that is used in Matsujun's dorama "Hana Yori Dango." It's a really upbeat but at the same time mellow song. I remember listening to it nonstop after watching the dorama. It's also one of the few songs where they really put good use to singing altogether because usually it doesn't sound as good as it does on this track. It's a good start to the album.
    From there we step into kind of uncharted waters.. of course there is Kitto Daijoubu, which we are already familiar with, but most of the tracks were not used in promotion for anything so it was up in the air. Kitto Daijoubu is what I like to think of as "pure Arashi" and at the same time "pure J-POP". It's a really happy sounding song that just makes you want to dance in the most childlike way possible. Just jumping around kind of. One funny thing about the song though.. Sho's rap was shockingly provocative for an Arashi song (well, for me anyway). It was surprising at first, but then I grew to accept it and actually come to like it since it seems to show that yes, Arashi is a group made up of men who have grown up, not merely just the boys we knew years ago. Besides that song though, there were some great songs that I hold very dear to me now. I love COOL & SOUL because it really is just what the title says.. soo cool! Most of it is rapping but I like the way it was arranged and the steady build up to the end. It's an amazing concert song and I just like the way all the members rapped in it. Another song very dear to me is Caramel Song, which is Nino's solo. I'll talk more about that later, but it is lovely.
    Of course, I wasn't thrilled about every track. After all, sometimes it can feel like there are some fillers. On most of the songs I was neutral--I liked them, but they didn't really stand out to me as amazing songs. Good examples of this were I Want Somebody and Raise Your Hands, which were both nice songs but I feel like they didn't have much oomph to them. I Want Somebody was a little too blah and Raise Your Hands a little too repetitive. Other songs in the album didn't stand out much, but I liked them enough.
    In all, Arashic was a really good listen. I feel like the power of the great tracks kind of makes up for the weaknesses of some of the others. At the same time though, I can't let a couple tracks win a whole album a great rating.. I mean, if I like just one song, that's singles are for, ne? (=

Recommended Tracks:
01. Wish
06. キャラメルソング (Caramel Song)
07. COOL & SOUL

01. This is pretty mellow for one of their songs and stands out because of that. It's happy and so catchy but pretty low key.. complex! But it doesn't seem complex when you are listening to it! Weird, ne? Anyway, if you haven't heard it yet.. NOW is the time! This is really an excellent song.
06. Wow. This is one of my favorite Arashi songs, really! Nino's solos are always freaking amazing and this is pretty much the epitome of that. It starts off soft and slow but then a couple beats break in through background noise and then we are rewarded with Nino's beautiful voice right after it. Ahh, it's only uphill from there! His soft and sweet vocals are what make the song, especially during the verses, which I actually like more than the chorus. It's like he's actually singing to you.. hahah! ^^
07. One of the coolest songs ever! I think watching the video of them performing it in concert may have swayed me to believe this, but really, it's pretty unique. We never get to hear all the members rapping so that's a plus. I don't know exactly why I like it so much, it just so.. well.. COOL. Give it a shot! (=
Rating: /5