Whether you’re a long-time fan of the franchise or new to it, IDOLiSH7 franchise’s “BEYOND THE PERiOD” is sure to please you while boasting excellent storytelling through its lyrics and instrumentals.
Title: IDOLiSH7 LIVE 4bit Compilation Album BEYOND THE PERiOD Release date: 24/05/2023 Label: Lantis Genre: Pop/EDM/Rock/Disco/Ballad
Tracklist:
DISC 1
1 - Road to Pieces (Instrumental)
2 - MONSTER GENERATiON (Movie Size) / IDOLiSH7
3 - RESTART POiNTER (Movie Size) / IDOLiSH7
4 - ZONE OF OVERLAP (Movie Size) / ŹOOĻ
5 - Bang!Bang!Bang! (Movie Size) / ŹOOĻ
6 - DAYBREAK INTERLUDE (Movie Size) / TRIGGER
7 - Last Dimension (Symphonic Edition) / TRIGGER
8 - NO DOUBT (Movie Size) / Re:vale
9 - Re-raise (Movie Size) / Re:vale
10 - Re-boot (Instrumental)
11 - NiGHTFALL / IDOLiSH7
12 - STRONGER & STRONGER / ŹOOĻ
13 - Journey / Re:vale
14 - BEAUTIFUL PRAYER / TRIGGER
15 - Incomplete Ruler (Movie Size) / Riku Nanase (CV.Kensho Ono)、Tenn Kujo (CV.Soma Saito)
16 - TOMORROW EViDENCE / IDOLiSH7 & TRIGGER & Re:vale & ŹOOĻ
17 - Pieces of The World / IDOLiSH7 & TRIGGER & Re:vale & ŹOOĻ
18 - Welcome, Future World!!! / IDOLiSH7 & TRIGGER & Re:vale & ŹOOĻ
19 - Pieces of The World ーIn your heartー (Instrumental)
DISC 2
1 - Road to Pieces (Instrumental) 2 - MONSTER GENERATiON (Movie Size) / IDOLiSH7 3 - PARTY TIME TOGETHER (Movie Size) / IDOLiSH7 4 - ササゲロ ーYou Are Mineー (Movie Size) / ŹOOĻ 5 - Bang!Bang!Bang! (Movie Size) / ŹOOĻ 6 - DAYBREAK INTERLUDE (Movie Size) / TRIGGER 7 - Crescent rise (Movie Size) / TRIGGER 8 - 激情 (Movie Size) / Re:vale 9 - Re-raise (Movie Size) / Re:vale 10 - Re-boot (Instrumental) 11 - NiGHTFALL / IDOLiSH7 12 - STRONGER & STRONGER / ŹOOĻ 13 - Journey / Re:vale 14 - BEAUTIFUL PRAYER / TRIGGER 15 - Incomplete Ruler (Movie Size) / Riku Nanase (CV.Kensho Ono)、Tenn Kujo (CV.Soma Saito) 16 - TOMORROW EViDENCE / IDOLiSH7 & TRIGGER & Re:vale & ŹOOĻ 17 - Pieces of The World / IDOLiSH7 & TRIGGER & Re:vale & ŹOOĻ 18 - Welcome, Future World!!! / IDOLiSH7 & TRIGGER & Re:vale & ŹOOĻ 19 - Pieces of The World ーIn your heartー (Instrumental)
Track by track analysis (only new songs reviewed):
11 – NiGHTFALL
A beautiful piano melody softly opens the curtains to the “NiGHTFALL”. Slowly, strings and a slow-paced bassy beat join the song, building up excitement to the gentle pre-chorus.
The pre-chorus is stripped down to its piano melody alone as the vocals emotionally leave their mark on the chorus.
And speaking of the chorus, it goes by in a flash. I felt like the pre-chorus was much longer than the chorus itself.
In the chorus, you will find a bouncy beat alongside the strings in the background and piano melodies, creating a wide, crystal-clear soundscape.
When you listen to this song, I feel like the focus is really on taking the listener to this beautiful soundscape and making sure we are all comfortable.
The performance is warm and hopeful, making you want to sing along. Despite its danceable beat, the song never breaks into full-blown dance territory so you get to vibe to the song in the comfortable soundscape.
As far as the vocals go, “NiGHTFALL” is all about teamwork in performing a ballad-style of song. You need the vocals to be gentle, warm, and full of emotion and what you get in this performance is exactly that.
It’s been a long time since IDOLiSH7 released such a sweet song.
5/5
12 – STRONGER & STRONGER
ŹOOĻ arrives with a surprisingly gentle sound with “STRONGER & STRONGER”. The soundscape is dreamy and wide as the atmospheric synths fill in every space around you.
The piano and slow-paced hip-hop-inspired beat make their entrance to create a fancy R&B sound that fits the group’s vocals like a glove.
This slower-paced, bassier and, at the same time, atmospheric sound follows up the group’s shift towards a more mature, unique approach to their sound, something noticeable in their EP “Źenit”.
As a result, the verses are smooth – focusing on creating a perfect atmosphere – while the vocals are full of emotion in the verses (in a mix of rapping and clean singing), building up the tension to the fancy chorus.
The chorus is quite simplistic in its presentation but the power the performance carries will most certainly make an impact. You will find yourself wanting to sing along to this song in no time.
When it comes to the vocals, I love this shift that ŹOOĻ has undergone, bringing Yuya Hirose performing in an R&B style – tapping more into his talents -, smooth singing by Koutaro Nishiyama and the fancy, slow-paced rapping by Subaru Kimura and Takashi Kondo.
And when the time comes for the group to perform as one – as they do in the chorus – you can clearly tell every member apart in that chorus, such is the clarity in each member’s performances.
“STRONGER & STRONGER” arrives to break the mold and show you yet another new side to a group that is growing and changing before our eyes and ears.
13 – Journey
Timpani and a Chinese gong kick off “Journey”, song that has a gentle, adventurous tone to itself.
The drums have a gentle marching band style going on, setting the tone to this semi-acoustic tune. Acoustic guitars and a slow bassline add the final touches to the verses.
As the song progresses, Re:vale introduces accordion and strings to the instrumental, giving the instrumental an indie-rock vibe. Without a doubt, “Journey” captures exactly the feeling of setting out on an adventure and feeling like everything is going to work out well in the end.
The chorus is the culmination of those feelings. The excitement, wonder, and passion are felt in the way the instrumental opens, bringing in timpani yet again alongside the vocals that get increasingly passionate as the song goes on.
When the song wraps up, you can’t help but have a massive smile plastered on your face.
14 – BEAUTIFUL PRAYER
TRIGGER goes yet again all out and this time around it is with “BEAUTIFUL PRAYER”.
Strings and fancy guitar work open the curtains for this groovy nu-disco tune. The verses have a crafty mix of disco and EDM elements that go beyond nu-disco. You can feel the intensity in the bassy synth-heavy first part of the verses but things start changing towards something more retro and elegant when the 2nd part of the verses kicks in, leading up to the pre-chorus.
As strings and funky riffs make their entrance, you know you will be in for a great time when the chorus arrives.
Confidently, the chorus goes all out on the punchy bassline and elegant vibes with the strings, trumpets, and bassline taking over the stage.
Listening to this chorus feels like all lights are off and only a mirror ball in there, at center stage, illuminating TRIGGER as they perform.
You can feel how exclusive and elegant this soundscape feels from its chorus alone. And honestly, I am all in for it.
The bridge introduces 2 things I love a whole lot: a harp and an analog bass synth run – creating an crazy arpeggio just before the last chorus.
As far as the harp goes, it arrives as an accent in the instrumental, a way to add a different contrast in the middle of a bass-heavy song. The bridge is the best place to have that element that renews your focus on the performance and into the vocals.
The analog bass synth run – which, mind you, can’t be played on a live bass as it has an unreal speed and number of notes in it – is a fancy addition that brings back the joy of disco and even citypop’s fancy synth work. This is more of a geeky detail I love that adds that “retro” vibe to this song.
When it comes to the vocals, expect more grooviness coming from Wataru Hatano, Soma Saito, and Takuya Sato.
There are a lot of disco and R&B influences in their performance but, to me, it feels like the vocals aren’t necessarily on as big a spotlight as in previous performances by TRIGGER. This one feels like a song made for a live show – to give a show to appeal to all your senses – and it is rightfully so as it is featured in a live show movie.
Still, there are plenty of awesome parts on the vocal end that captured my attention. First off, there is a big focus on having everyone involved at all times. No one really has a lot of time to take a breather, pitching in their vocals almost in a canon fashion. At the same time, their teamwork continues to impress as they perform the chorus in unison and then harmonize in between sections in the two-parter chorus.
Then you have the soft rapping by Wataru Hatano and Takuya Sato in the bridge, leaving Soma Saito to the clean singing and pitch vocals/harmonies in the background. Although this may go unnoticed, in the last chorus, Soma Saito changes the key to his part and goes slightly high, standing out in the song. This arrives as yet another new element in a song filled with surprises and makes it so that TENN (voiced by Soma Saito) gets to stand out for one last time before the song wraps up, serving as a climax on the vocal end.
All in all, TRIGGER seems to be further embracing nu-disco and neo-funk music and this is leading to fun, engaging, and insanely groovy performances that will have you keep coming for more and more.
17 – Pieces of The World
“Pieces of The World” arrives to wrap up this album in a beautiful way. Slowly, the beat sets a dramatic tone to this song, welcoming the vocals in almost acapella fashion.
However, as the song progresses, strings and a piano join in, creating a wide, pure white soundscape filled with hope, gratefulness, and excitement.
This is a fancy take on the whole “ensemble/all star” style of song, especially for the IDOLiSH7 franchise. In a way, you can feel the influence of all groups in the instrumental.
When MEZZO is in, you get strings going ballistic in the background, the instrumental blends ZOOL’s rock vibes, TRIGGER’s groovy sound, and IDOLiSH7’s mature take on pop music.
As you dive into detail into the instrumental, you notice that there is so much going on in there and so many references that only 1 listen is not enough to fully appreciate and find them all.
When the chorus arrives, you just want to raise your hands in the air and sing along for as long as it takes. This chorus feels cathartic and if you listen to the full CD or watch the full movie, this will be where you’ll start bawling your eyes out.
With a dramatic, grandiose instrumental as the backdrop to the vocals, each of the 16 members – encompassing IDOLiSH7 & TRIGGER & Re:vale & ŹOOĻ – performs in clusters/groups that feel right.
You have contrasting vocals teaming up and thus, within the same part, you have the spotlight being properly shared.
Worth mentioning that it was the intention – and honestly, a nice touch – to have Riku (CV: Kensho Ono) and TENN (CV: Soma Saito) leading the way in the bridge, taking the spotlight to themselves leading up to the last chorus and then the call and response in the outro.
And yes, while I am not fond of “woah woah” type of filler parts in songs, in this song, that part arrives as cathartic, it makes the audience want to join in – as they are also part of the journey of these 4 groups – and share the happiness and excitement for the future.
When this song wraps up, you’ll look at the IDOLiSH7 franchise with a lot of pride and nostalgia as well as hope for what the future may have in store for everyone.
That is the feeling of this song: not an end but a turn of the page towards a new adventure. And it feels as epic and special as this song does.
Final considerations
Growth. This is the defining feature of all the new songs in “IDOLiSH7 LIVE 4bit Compilation Album BEYOND THE PERiOD”.
This album – or two albums should you choose to check both – plays out exactly like a live show. They bring out intros, and intermissions to introduce the following artists to perform as well as wrap up with an “all-star” type of song that ties everything up neatly.
Most of the previously released songs are only available in this CD as short versions without one of their choruses so, if this is your first time coming across those songs, I fully recommend you to check the full versions. You can search for their titles here on the website to find their reviews and check their full versions.
As far as the new songs go, all groups raised the bar and impressed – at least, most of them did.
Out of all new songs Re:vale’s “Journey” while inspiring, felt underwhelming in comparison to the quality of the music the group has been releasing in the past couple of years – especially in its stellar album “Re:flect In”.
I was expecting much more from the duo, especially as their song completely breaks the rhythm and momentum of the whole album. Still, this is a sweet, adventurous song that will certainly spark your interest.
IDOLiSH7, TRIGGER, and ŹOOĻ managed to be equally impressive in this CD.
“NiGHTFALL” creates a warm, comfortable vibe and showcases IDOLiSH7’s strong teamwork.
ŹOOĻ surprises with a gentle, dreamy soundscape in “STRONGER & STRONGER” blending hip-hop with R&B music.
Re:vale takes you on an adventurous “Journey”, all while TRIGGER goes all out with an addictive and stylish nu-disco sound in “BEAUTIFUL PRAYER”.
And, of course, “Pieces of the World” perfectly shows what an “all star” type of song should be like.
Clean, uncluttered composition.
Stellar voice mixing that makes all voices clear.
Little focus on a “unison” chorus, instead spreading out the vocals in small groups within the lineup.
A song that has the perfect tone, especially in this CD in which it serves as an ending but also a new beginning.
I found myself with chills all over me, something I never expected to say about a song like this one. The grandiose tone of the instrumental, alongside the emotional performances and vocal matchups, had me on the edge of my seat.
Excited about its soaring strings. The tension rising on the vocals and seeing that iconic storytelling that the IDOLiSH7 franchise is well known for unveiling in front of me.
This is a song that you can safely categorize as “epic” and it’ll still be an understatement.
All in all, “IDOLiSH7 LIVE 4bit Compilation Album BEYOND THE PERiOD” is an album that feels like fanservice for longtime fans and will spark an interest in newcomers to the franchise, shining a light over the amazing storytelling present in the lyrics even down to the instrumentals.
As a reference:
IDOLiSH7 consists of Yamato (CV: Yusuke Shirai), Iori (CV: Toshiki Masuda), Mitsuki (CV: Tsubasa Yonaga), Tamaki (CV: KENN), Sogo (CV: Atsushi Abe), Nagi (CV: Takuya Eguchi), and Riku (CV: Kensho Ono).
TRIGGER consists of Gaku (CV: Wataru Hatano), Tenn (CV: Soma Saito), and Ryunnosuke (CV: Takuya Sato).
Re:vale consists of Yuki (CV: Shinnosuke Tachibana) and Momo (CV: Soichiro Hoshi).
ŹOOĻ consists of Touma (CV: Subaru Kimura), Haruka (CV: Yuya Hirose), Torao (CV: Takashi Kondo) and Minami (CV: Koutaro Nishiyama).
“IDOLiSH7 LIVE 4bit Compilation Album BEYOND THE PERiOD” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.
“IDOLiSH7 LIVE 4bit Compilation Album BEYOND THE PERiOD” is available for streaming on Spotify.
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