SOARA and GROWTH bring their hidden guns for this X Lied volume. Do you want to know why we’ve labeled this as the best release in the ALIVE X Lied series? Read our review below!
Title: ALIVE X Lied Vol 3. Label: Tsukino-Pro Release date: 30/06/2017 Genre: J-Pop/Rock
Tracklist:
1. BUZZER BEATER (Makoto Furukawa) 2. 甘き風のプリムラ (Daiki Yamashita) 3. BUZZER BEATER -off vocal- 4. 甘き風のプリムラ -off vocal-
Track by track analysis:
1. BUZZER BEATER
BUZZER BEATER is a pop-rock song that takes pride in its jazz influences, easily noticeable with the playful jazzy piano melody and the funky guitar riffs complimenting it. To top it all, the song is fueled by a memorable bassline that not only keeps the song entertaining, but gives the necessary depth to the instrumental. On the vocal department, Makoto Furukawa shows everyone that he isn’t here to stride casually, deciding to go all out as soon as the song kicks off. Between his stunning falsetto in the chorus and his powerful vibrato in the verses, there’s nothing he can’t do. His tone actually fits the jazzy vibe better than we expected and those flowery parts – mainly his stunning falsetto in the chorus and his powerful vibrato in the verses – all enriched the song. BUZZER BEATER is one of those songs we want to listen on repeat during this summer due to its laidback and classy vibe alongside quality vocals. 5/5
2. 甘き風のプリムラ
It’s not often that a haunting harp melody is in charge of being the instrumental’s main weapon. Although the idea behind Daiki Yamashita and an harp alone is actually genius – just listen to the first verse and notice how his vocals and the harp blend -, soon, a dramatic piano melody joins the song alongside a minimalistic bass drum. Contrary to the previous song, 甘き風のプリムラ prides itself in its beautiful simplicity. If we look closely at Yamashita‘s performance, we notice that he was on his element for this song. He brought to the table GROWTH‘s trademark lyrical approach to the lyrics and delivered a melodic performance that left us in awe. A real treat for those that love the idea behind a simple, yet powerful sound with a performance to match it. 5/5
Final rating:
SOARA and GROWTH brought their hidden gems for this match up. Makoto Furukawa and Daiki Yamashita lived up to the hype, delivering powerful performances. Furukawa unleashed both his vibrato and falsetto in BUZZER BEATER while Yamashita went all out with his technical singing, representing GROWTH in a better way that we could have expected.
This time around we have a volume in the X Lied series in which all the instrumentals are of even quality. BUZZER BEATER went towards a jazz route, bringing to the table a mesmerizing bassline and the classy rhodes piano, elements that quickly left a feel good vibe in the air; on the other side 甘き風のプリムラ caught us off guard with its simplicity – bonus points for the harp -, something that actually benefited the song as a whole.
We can’t confidently say who was the best performer or what was the best song, especially when both were so different and impressive in their own ways. But we can proudly say that both exceeded our expectations with this memorable release. This volume is, by far, the best of the of the ALIVE X Lied series.
ALIVE “X Lied” vol.3 is available for purchase on CDJAPAN for all overseas fans.
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