DIV - Taste of Life

[ShanethVarosa 1209]

Who else has heard the single and thinks it's fantastic?!

 

I don't know what it is about Div, exactly, that I love so much, but I think it's the fact that Chisa's voice is really really wonderful. He's an incredible singer with and without the aid from autotune and he can actually scream pretty well too. Something that I think a lot of VK bands think they can do, but they really cannot. This single, for me, is a huge step up from Sotsugyou which wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. It was just a lot of unmemorable stuff compared to the (imho) masterpiece that was Natsu no Yukue.

 

Taste of Life is a pretty awesome pop/rock song that offers an adorable music video with catchy lyrics and not necessarily much substance. It's just a fun song to listen to when in a good mood. I'd have to say the same thing about Aozora ni Parachute, it's another song that seems pretty uplifting and a song that you can hit the repeat button to a few times. RxR is a bit heavier which not all bands that go the pop/rock route can do. Div pulls it off well in this song mixing between clean and screamed vocals. 

 

Shinsekai no Mokushiroku is a kind of song you have to be in the mood for... When I get my hands on some Kanji I can take the time to translate it and see if it is actually as preachy as I think it is. If it is, it's not a bad thing at all. Hotarubi definitely had a point to make and for that reason it's still my favorite Div song. SNM is far too long, though, which a 3/3.5 minute intro of what is essentially static/white noise... It definitely could have used some trimming. I think it might have been a large part of the theme of the song, but 3 minutes is too long an intro for a song that's only about 7.5 minutes. Once the actual song starts off with lyrics and melody, though, the song cannot be beat. It's a really great tune.

 

Overall, 5/5

[fitear1590 2414]

SO! Let's review something that's not Dir en Grey.

 

First things first; as much as I am a UNiTE fanboy (label mates of DIV), I've been struggling with liking DIV.  I didn't particularly like their mini-album. Then, the Natsu no Yukue single was pretty good (I love Hotarubi and really like Milky Latte), despite the colossal fuck up of the title track and Hotarubi's choruses sounding VERY similar.  Then came Sotsugyou... The title track came off as too "clean" and boring. Didn't like I HATE YOU and the third track seemed like a less-good version of the electronic sound in Milky Latte... THEN, came TASTE OF LIFE.

TASTE OF LIFE

An upbeat, catchy pop-rock track.  Chisa's non-cutesy vocals keep this song grounded for the most part and it doesn't devolve into "nyappy" rainbow diarrhea.  There are some cheesy parts (the slower parts), but overall, I was impressed with this track.  Not my usual cup of tea, but really fun!  The main "wtf" moment is at 2:50ish; there is a very abrupt, awkward transition which just wreaked of "hmm, not sure what to do here. Let's wing it and go back to the chorus!"  I think they had a similar problem in Natsu no Yukue and ANSWER.  But that was just one minor setback.  On top of that, the PV is quite fun.

RxR

The song I was least excited for after hearing the iTunes previews.  BUT, it actually turned out quite nicely.  Nothing particularly WOWS me about this track, but then again, nothing really irks me about it either, so that's a plus! It's a solid "heavy" alternative song.  I liked the random "dial tone" and "gunshot" sound effects thrown in towards the end, haha.  Seems like this track will continue to grow on me with more listens.

 

青空にパラシュート

From the previews, it was going to be my favorite song.  It starts off heavier than you'd think, but once it gets to the core of the song, it's one of those slower, "heartfelt" sounding tracks.  Chisa's voice is really good in this one.  The chorus is beautiful.  The only thing that I don't really like is that it just ends abruptly.  It sounds like it's building up for one final chorus and it just ends.  Oh well, still my favorite track!

 

新世界の黙示録

Over 7 minutes long!  But yeah, as Shaneth mentioned, there's a very long intro.  Hearing ABOUT the intro, it seems like a bad idea.  But after listening to the song a few times, it's growing on me.  The fact that the intro goes through a number of "phases" kind of mirrors the actual song portion, which goes through a few different sounds as well.  Maybe not ideal for a track on a 4 song single, I think this wouldn't have been too much of an issue as an album track.  Anyway, once the song proper begins, it's pretty damn awesome.  Probably their best attempt at the "heavy" stuff.

Overall, TASTE OF LIFE is without a doubt my favorite DIV release so far, which is something I didn't expect I'd be saying.  Somehow, they delivered.  A note about the single as a whole; Chisa sounds really good and I'm starting to appreciate their use of synth/ background electronic arrangements a lot more.  The synth usage was one of the "meh" aspects on, say, their mini-album. Glad to see improvement.  I hope they keep up the good work and remain consistent.  So far, their track record for me is half pretty good, half meh, so if they can cut out the "meh" portion, I'll gladly start counting myself a DIV fan.

 

TASTE OF LIFE, you are worth