Let’s talk JOURNEY!
Posted on: June 14, 2009
- In: fandom
- 12 Comments
So, what did you guys think about the album? Please be constructive no bashing kthx :D Oh btw they’re officially on tour now! The first one was yesterday, and the next concert will be on Wednesday…Ilmari’s birthday!
Intro – Nothing to say about this, except I’m sure that that’s Nami Miyahara saying “Journey”, since it sounds like her and she’s fluent in english.
Good Day – It’s a brand new day! I still don’t know who’s singing that, not sure if it’s Hirotaka Mori anymore since he didn’t mention anything on his blog or site. Anyway, it’s a good song, and the dancing in the music video was superb. I love Fumiya’s scratch at the beginning.
Taiyou to Bikini – I still love this song. Fumiya has said in various interviews last year that they’re emulating the Beach Boys here. I think this is what they said of their summer songs: Rakuen Baby is the afternoon, Taiyou to Bikini is around the end of the day/sunset, and Nettaiya is nighttime. The chorus and Ilmari’s outro are my favorite. Actually, RS5 is pretty good with outros; Today and UNPLUGGED, anyone?
Rock’n’ Roll Radio – This song is okay for me. I only listen to it when it’s in my head to be honest, haha. It reminds me very much of I-N-G. The chorus is fun to sing along to.
Do it ! – The chorus is kinda catchy, but in general, I’m rather indifferent to it. :/ Pes is really cute in the chorus though. Maybe it’ll take awhile for me to get into it. I’m actually listening to it right now, and I think I’ll eventually like it more later.
Journey – This song is doing pretty good on itunes right now. When I first heard it on Rip Locks, I thought, “auto-tune? really?” but I don’t mind so much anymore. They didn’t overdo it and they used it right! Pes knocked it out of the park with his rap, and the chorus is really pretty. I still don’t think the auto-tune was necessary as I believe that Ilmari could’ve sung it fine, but I think they used it to continue the whole “60s-present” theme of the album, and auto-tune is all the rage right now. I’m not listening to it as much as I thought I would though, which I used to think it was because of the auto-tune, but I just realized it’s because I’ve been leaving another certain song on repeat…
love & hate – Look, I really like this song. Ilmari and Ryo-Z were so great with their verses, and the chorus is catchy. HOWEVER, did they really have to repeat the chorus so many times afterwards? Let’s count…FOUR TIMES. During all of that extra time, they could’ve stuck in Su, who would’ve fit in perfectly with the song! They already opened the song with it too! Ignoring all of that, it’s a cute song. :p I love the lyrics, especially Ilmari’s “Hollaback!” and Ryo-Z’s “I’m gonna knock you out! Mama say knock you out!” lol. The digital single version ended with the chorus fading out, the b-side version ended with a drumroll, and the album version fades out after the chorus has finished. Make up your mind! love you~
Watch out ! feat. JUNGLIST YOUTHS – When I heard that there were going to be more collaborations, I was worried. I’ve enjoyed Hirotaka Mori and Verbal among others, but I couldn’t stand the song they did with SchaDaraParr on the EPOCH album. I know that’s not exactly constructive, but it’s literally the only song in my RS5 library that I don’t like. Well, I like the speaking part, I’ll give them that. It also took me months to start liking the collaborations on the FUNFAIR album. But this is JOURNEY we’re talking about, and MAN do I LOVE this song! Pes’s chorus is so samba-esque, and I’m loving Ilmari’s singing in here too! Junglist Youths did a pretty good job in it too! I think I might actually like this more than Party People. This song gets me pumped up right from the beginning, with the music elevating in the background while JY is doing their introduction or whatever. I don’t see how you can’t dance to this. :)
Here comes the Hero feat. Tortoise Matsumoto – I didn’t think I’d like this song as much as I do now after hearing the sample on itunes, since I’m not a very blues-person. Ryo-Z and Pes were so fantastic in it! This is one of those songs you kick back with when you’re chilling. I especially like Pes’s verse. Pes has come such a long way from RS5’s early days; if you didn’t notice, which you should’ve, Pes’s voice used to be a lot higher back in the day. He didn’t start rapping/singing the way he does now until around their collaboration with Quruli. I’m glad he relaxed/lowered his voice because it sounds a LOT better.
Hitchhike Girl – It’s not a favorite, but I do enjoy the 60s/beach theme to it, it’s something I can dance to. :D I love Su and Ilmari’s dialogue and their delivery, even though I don’t know what they’re saying. Su wrote this song with someone else, which is interesting because most of his songs have an oriental feel to it, while this doesn’t. I also like how soft Ilmari’s voice is in such an upbeat song hahaha.
SPLASH – Hey baby, kirakira no lady?! I like this song, but one b-side is enough to be quite honest. I guess they had to stick it on here though, since they made a pv for it. I love how “sensual” Su and Pes sound, it’s like they’re hitting on someone!
STAIRS – Wise and a couple of other guys made an appearance in the big chorus. I really like the opening guitar. The pv was sweet but boring to be honest, but I guess that was all they could muster up in the middle of Ryo-Z and Ilmari’s TB tour schedule. Didn’t I already say I love this song? At first I was very “oh” towards it, but I couldn’t stop listening to it. I LOVED the arrangement of the big chorus on Music Fair with the guitar and just RS5, I swear they should rerecord the song just to include that.
Beauty Focus – I am so glad that I didn’t hear this song until I got the album, it was absolutely worth the wait. It’s my favorite new song off of the album. If you miss old school RS5 (I’m talking 2001-2003, not SUPER old school lol), then this is the song for you. Think TOKYO CLASSIC. Interestingly enough, TC is not my favorite album and I don’t listen to it that much. Again, I believe that’s Nami Miyahara singing with Ilmari. I love the chorus so much! It’s very romantic and charming. See? Ilmari doesn’t need an auto-tuner! I love how they incorporated a duet within every verse. I also really like the way they say “afureru kimochi omowazu”, and “nanto demo again again again.” This song has been on repeat ever since I got the album. :)~
I thought I’d be listening to the album alot more, but I have heard alot of the songs before and overplayed them. :p Overall, I really like this album. I just wish it were longer. For once, there are no instrumentals in it besides the introduction.
12 Responses to "Let’s talk JOURNEY!"
June 16, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Nothing wrong with Here Comes the Hero, but I’d already written a lot and didn’t want it to become the longest comment anyone’s ever written ever :-D It’s an alright song but it doesn’t stand out on the album so really have much to say about it. I will say however that it reminds me of Remember, not sure why. Maybe because of the guitariness and because it’s got a guest artist on it…
And speaking of things that remind me of things, the start of Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio reminds me of BLUE BE-BOP…
Oh yeah, and I was disappointed that there were no Fumiya-tastic instrumentals on this album. I must’ve been one of the few people who liked Break Beats ERA ;-)
June 16, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Yaii (:
Intro: Well, I don’t like the Intro and I think, that I will never like it, because it’s very strange and not my taste :p like you both said: the Funfair one was way better (:
Good Day: This is one of my favorite songs on the album. I really like the arrangement and Pes part is the best :D And the dance in the PV is funny (:
Taiyou to Bikini: Hmm.. I don’t know what I could say about this song (: … Well I still like this song. The ending and this Su/Ilmari parts are the best :D
Rock’n’ Roll Radio: Haha.. Here comes my favorite track on the album :DD. Really. I love the chorous and this son makes me always dane.. yeahh :))
Do it!: A good song. Not their best, but it’s good, and I can listen to it. In the beginning this song reminds me a bit of Rock It! idk why…
Journey: I don’t mind them the autotune.. I think that suits the song in any sort… :D I like this songs :)
love & hate: To be honest.. I don’t like Ryo-Z part.. That means I never listen the song till the end… When the chorous after Ilmari’s part has ended, the song is done for me.. (The should have put Supreme on the album not this one T^T)
Watch out ! feat. JUNGLIST YOUTHS: Ouuhhh this song :)). When I heard the beggining the first time, I was weard, because that sounds ‘interesting’ or something like that xD. But then the chorous starts and I felt in Love :)
Here comes the Hero feat. Tortoise Matsumoto: It’s not bad, but defenetly not one of my favorites, I like Pes in this, but thats everything… :D
SPLASH: I always wonder, why the compose and why the put this on the album? whyy?? Well I like SPLASH, but instead of this song they could put a better song on the album or whatever… I don’t think that this song deserve to be there, although it’s not that bad, but urgh.. Not their best choose…
STAIRS: A good song to wake up :) When I’m tired in the mornings this is a good song to listen to. It’s relaxed ~o~
Beauty Focus: Ouuhh, another great song on the album.. I didn’t knew what I had to expect when I read the title, but the song suprised me.. Ilmari makes a great job in the chorous. yaiii :)
Okey, now it’s time for my résumé:
I already said that i love the album <3.. But I would love the album more, If Supreme was on the album instead of love & hate.. -.-* And I also missed a "Great Song" which is totally perfekt for me. The songs are good, really good, but as not great as JOINT (In my opinion JOINT is a 'Great Song'). (Y)
This might be a bit late, but you said (and some others) they could hear Su in the chorous of love & hate, but he wasn't credited or something like that. Maybe that was because, the just credit people who wrote the lyrics, and maybe he did not write anything, just singing ~.. :)
xoxo Karuu ~~ ^-^
yeah that’s what I figured about Su in love & hate. I stop listening to it after the brief instrumental following Ryo-Z’s verse.
I’ve gotten used to the autotune in Journey now, I should state that soon :p
It seems as if everyone feels the same way about SPLASH. Decent song, but shouldn’t have been on the album. It doesn’t matter that it has a summery feel to it, it’s just not good enough for the album.
As for Supreme, while it has become one of my favorite songs (Ilmari is to DIE for in here! :DDD), I don’t think it belongs on the album because it’s clearly winter/Christmas-themed, and the album screams out summer.
speaking of JOINT, I’ll try to upload the JOINT DFMII live from my dvd today or tomorrow…it’s one of my favorite videos of them ever!
June 16, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Ahhh I wrote my opinion to the album, but it wasn’t saved.. T^T.. (This shi tooked me an hour.. -.-**)
I’m gonna write a new one, the next days.. T-T
lol I just checked my spam comments and it turns out wordpress sent your comment there and idk why. I’m gonna go approve it now! :)
spam?? Haha, okey.. xD. I’m glad, that I don’t have to write a new one (: yaii puhh
ok I really don’t know why wordpress keeps saying that your comments are spam all of a sudden! I just approved it but it won’t show up! I swear I didn’t accidentally delete it. It did come up in my email afterwards though, so I got it, but idk where it went here :(
Ouh man..
am I such a big spamer??
well this one went through and so did the other one you just made…:p wordpress is just being stupid.
RIP SLYME Vibes ♥ 
June 15, 2009 at 7:50 pm
OK, here goes then…
First of all, what’s up with the intro? Very weird-sounding. FUNFAIR’s one was way better :-)
Anyway, on to the actual songs… and I’ll get my negative stuff out of the way first… don’t worry, there’s only one… it’s about SPLASH. I have to say I was worried when I first heard it on youtube; I was afraid that more of the album was going to be in a similar style. Sorry, I’m not just randomly bashing, but between the silly cheesy talking bits and the noisy “ooooooooooohhhh”s of the chorus, I just don’t enjoy SPLASH at all. But I suppose 11 out of 12 ain’t bad! Doesn’t matter, I’ll just miss this one out like I did with EVOLUTION…
Anyway, sorry. Now that that’s out of the way, I’ll say that my overall verdict is “excellent”. I listened to it twice in the first few hours, which is something I don’t do very often with albums, so that must be a good sign! :-D My current faves are:
Good Day – great to see a no-nonsense bit of poppy happiness so early on in the album. It’s a lot like Blow and Galaxy, and the equal of either of them.
Journey – the perfect track to come straight after the heaviness of Do it!, and has a great chilled-out relaxy summery sort of feel to it. I don’t mind the autotune at all; I see it as just a feature of the style. (Besides, we know they can sing – just look at Tasogare Surround…)
Hitchhike Girl – love the bass riff, the timpani-type thing when they do the “hitchhike…” bit, the slidy synth thing, the hammond organ, the guitar solo…
STAIRS – I know you already said this, but similar in style to One, which is a great thing… this is another great chilled-out summery piece of awesomeness :-D
Beauty Focus – this has the perfect feel for an “end of album” song, in a similar way that “Nagare no naka de” did. Fantastic stuff.
Random comments on the others:
Taiyou to Bikini is growing on me since I’ve heard the high-quality non-youtube version in its proper context in the album. I still don’t like it as much as you clearly do, but I enjoy it and it fits well where it is.
The bit at about 1:40 of “Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio” is like NP from FUNFAIR, but better :-)
“Do it!” is surprisingly “heavy” for RS, but that’s not a bad thing at all. Yay for new styles!
Finally, I’m having trouble trying to associate “Love & Hate” with summer now, after I spent so much time listening to it back at Christmas!
I suppose if I had to choose a second-least favourite, it’d be “Watch out!”. When I first heard the intro, I was worried that it was going to turn into another EVOLUTION. But it turned out to get a lot better though, and it’s actually not bad once I got used to it.
So there you have it. Looks like it’s going to stay as my exclusive “commuting music” for at least the coming week :-D
June 15, 2009 at 9:08 pm
I know, I liked FUNFAIR’s intro too! it was so exciting to hear on the FUNFAIR dvd! haha that’s okay about SPLASH. I don’t understand why they included it aside from the fact that it has a pv…from what I’ve read, not too many fans liked the song very much. I like it, but I could’ve done without it on the album, just leave it as a b-side.
I’ll clarify about the autotune in Journey: I don’t hate it, I guess I’m just a little sick of it because I hear it all the time on the radio. :p It fits in with the song very well though, and they didn’t over do it; they could’ve during the chorus, but they didnt. I did leave it on repeat for a good hour or so today though! It’s probably my one of my favorite new songs from the album.
heh, that does sound like NP in Rock’n’Roll Radio. :p I like EVOLUTION, but it took me several months before I gave it a second chance, and I still think it’s overrated. :/ I warming up to Do it !, it’s starting to stick in my head at random moments…such as right now. I enjoyed reading your review! :)~ And heeeey what about Here comes the Hero? :>