Gaki N Me If you love to talk about the world, love Asian idols, this is the place.

Alright!!! I got my albumS today!! Both versions. AAARRRGGGHHHH!!! It's so good!  First I spent the first 8 hours of the day stewing and waiting for the mailman...couldn't get focused in translations at all, and the moment I heard a thump of a packet, I ran out and got it in. I hurried to my hi fi and slotted it in.

  

OMG, I had to switch it off after the first half of a song because the base was so heavy that it was going to blow my electro magnetic speakers...my husband wouldn't appreciate Koichi if I did. I hurried downstairs to listen to it with full base and it's so good!!! So incredibly good. Here's my review of the album without reading any other reviews by others prior to this.

1. 愛の十字架～Promise 2U～
I love track 1 all along from the short clip on the radio. Very Koichi!!! Very lively and energizing.

2. Deep in the your heart
This song is a charm. It works every time to give me that edginess to living. Great great song.  

3. One More XXX

OMG, when I heard this song, it sounded like Moonlight words / Tsukiyo no monogatari/月夜物语 and every time it came to the refrain, I expected him to sing a high note. But no, he kept it calm...OMG...do you know how difficult it is to compose a song that sounded like a previous one and still make it refreshing and exciting to listen to.  Jay Chou does that with his songs. 

It was like listening to the companion song to Tsukyo no monogatari, that now with the two, it completes his longing process. And gosh, I could imagine the way he dances for this song, all the graceful arms with a few pelvic thrust.

4. SNAKE
This song is fine. I think his musical cells was taking a break while writing this song.  Or perhaps he was going to lull us with a less perky one so as to prepare us for the next one.  But the lyrics are definitely a lot more fun than the melody but again, at the slow parts, I could see Koichi with his deadly expressions while dancing.

5. 下弦の月
This got to be the finest slow song in the album. Listening on the big system makes all the difference. After watching the PV, when I close my eye and listen to this song, I could see him vividly with all his hesitation and suffering.  If there is one representative song in this album, it got to be this song and if one has to choose one signature song of Koichi from his works so far, this got to be the song that IS KOICHI.

The climax and the interplay of crescendo in the musical instruments work so well that you are lulled into the grandness of dying as a samurai with or without love.

If this song mirrors his heart, then it is that he has to work on with or without love because there is only one way.

Beautiful song! Beautifully sung and beautifully composed.

6. Take me to...
This song shouts loudly, " Koichi is Kinki Kids and Kinki Kids is Koichi."  This is a Kinki Kids style song and Tsuyoshi could sing with him in a Kinki Kids album.  Thank you, Koichi, for writing this song to remind us that there is still Kinki Kids around and that one day, we may get to listen to their album again.  :lol:  For now, while Tsuyoshi is Keri, we will breathe Kinki air through this song of yours. I'm very touched by Koichi's consideration for Kinki Kids fans.

7. Spica
Sigh...a slow song finally....and with less instruments so I could hear his beautiful nasal toned voice.  So romantic!!! Sigh...I could imagine him on stage singing this seriously, his visible neck muscles flexiing to give the perfect tones to not to be overwhelmed by the music in the refrains...It's a song to savor slowly and quietly and slowly realize that Koichi wrote this himself, that he is capable of writing love ballads.

8. Shadows on the Floor
Oh, god...is this the mirror play on stage? Yes!!! I love the base, love the typical Koichi voice of tightness and tension. And yes, he could dance to this one as mechanically as he want...I want to see it on the concert DVD. It got to be very exciting.

9. ヴェルヴェット?レイン
Great beginning, and a surprising mix of 80's feel and electronic buzz Gackt style. Extremely interesting song. I suppose this is the song he plays guitar in. I have to say there is not a single dull moment in this song. I could switch off with SNAKE but this song, I'm all perked just like whenever I listen to Gackt.  Great combo of light rock and pop,  Koichi!!

10. Addicted
Hahahah...this song is very addictive! It's so visual the moment he sang, I'm addicted, I'm addicted. Cute cute song!!! This song would go very well with many girls around him!

11. 追憶の雨
What a beginning! A mix of suspense and tenderness...and his voice!!! tension interplay with tenderness...he is playing with my emotions...and then finally he satisfies me with a full refrain...I thought I was going to be teased to the end...thank goodness...so it is a song about a lost love...no wonder...sigh...Koichi's voice excels in translating lost love and this song is a great example of it.  By the end of the song, my energy feels so spent because he used it all up for me like he did in the story of the song.

12. + MILLION  but - LOVE
I still like this song very much. It's very Koichi style for show dancing. Great tempo! Nope, Tsuyoshi cannot do one of these songs. This got to be a Koichi show and dance solo.

Bonus: So young blues 2006
Interesting mix. I think he sped it up. If he actually sings a couple of notes higher at some end points in some phrases to match the music, it would be better. But Koichi doesn't have the voice for these low toned songs. It's like him trying to sing Deki Logic of Tsuyoshi's at his 1/2 concert but he couldn't put the oomph in it because his voice is not low enough. Yet, he loves this song and performed it in film concert, winter concert, popjam, Shock Digest, 1/2 concert tour.  This is the fifth song he wrote himself. Perhaps this is the style he really likes very much.

In the meantime, good news on this album. It achieved no. 1 ranking in Oricon charts for the week and the sales is 121, 000 copies.  His single Deep in the Heart  released on July 24, 2006 has the same position but sold 221,000 copies in the first week. Endless Shock OST  released January 10, 2006 topped the rankings too with 92,000 copies.
Source: 1 , 2  , 3