alice nine. - ALPHA

[Frae 2]

Here's my personal thoughts of Alpha

ZERO - at some parts in the verses, Shou sounds like Hyde from L'arc en Ciel. But this is a great start to this album! And the solo is pretty damn cool too.

Cosmic World - I skip this song everytime! Not to mention it's kind of a downer and very misleading song to hear after ZERO.

Aoi Tori - I love this song! The chorus is very strong and catchy! This is the sound that I like from alice nine.

JEWELS - I think it is an ok song. I probably wouldn't have gotten into it as much if I didn't see the video. I love the video.

9th Revolver - At first, it was "Nothing special to me". But the more I listen, the more I love it. It's a perfect serene song and the chorus is beautiful.

-Dice- The heaviest song on the album. At first it seems out of place until the chorus hits. This song seems to be a tribute to the older sound of alice nine. I'm thinking part Kowloon mixed with Yami ni Chiru Sakura. I like this song more and more as I listen to it.

Number Six - I loved this song from jump! I love everything about it. Saga plays his bass awesomely! It's catchy and fun to listen to. I'm not a too big on poppy rock, but this is really an interesting song.

Kousai - Not a fan at all. Another song that I started falling asleep to

White Prayer - By far the best single from this album! THIS SONG IS JUST AMAZING! I can't get enough of it!

Eraser - Feels like I'm listening to Cosmic World again sort of....don't like it.

Blue Planet - Nothing too special about this song. Didn't like it when I first heard it and don't really care that much for it now.

cradle to [alpha] - Hmmm..I would love to hear the whole album sound similar to this instrumental. I'm digging it.

Overall 3.5/5 - I think alice nine. did ok. The problem I have with this is that I've felt like I've heard a lot of these songs before. 5 out of 12 are already released. The other songs seem like alternate versions of songs they did in the past. The ballads on this album seem to be lacking. I mean I was excited when I heard Ruri no Ame (in my opinion the best song on the TSUBASA single. AND TSUBASA the song itself seems like a reworking of White Prayer (listen to the verses) but anyway I'm off subject). I thought that was how good the ballads were going to be here, but they lack the "umph" factor and power of prior ballads. This is to me is not up to parr with Zekkei Iro. That album I just popped in and listened from beginning to end.

[doaseternity6 93]

*sigh* i can't sleep =/

My take!

01) ZERO: erm pretty much screams awesomeness. yea the rythem section owned this song hard and of course i was loving shou's voice on this one. Greatness.

02) cosmic world: I really like this song. It's so up-beat and nice and i love the double solo. Also i have to say i like the lyrics alot they make my heart melt.

03) aoi tori: This song makes me hella happy xD It makes me want ot jump in circles and break something lol actually whenever i hear this song it makes me think of UVERworld - ZERO no kotae PV and i can imagine them all playing all energetic like and the camera going round and round in circles lol

04) JEWELS - this song was always just okay for me. I think it sounds more interesting in the context of the album though and serves as the great gateway between aoi tori and 9th revolver

05) 9th revolver: my favorite song on the album. I just love the was shou sing's this song and the lyrics get me all emoey in inside~ and then the guitars and the things *gushes* yea when i love a song this much i can't make proper sense or can explain the ways in which i love thee.

06) -DICE-: this song is just pretty dayum cool. I admit i didn't want to like it as much as i did...only because i was tired of people bitchin about how they should do more songs like yami ni chiru sakura... but i'm weak and the song is cool as fecking hell.

07) Number six: at first i wasn't extremely excited about this song when it came out but in the mix with the songs on the album it just sounds awesome. It's almost like a new song even though it's not xD it's weird but i guess i felt that same way with DEG's ASOM.

08)Kousai - I love this song...it's over 7 mins but i don't even notice. In fact i would go as far as to say it reminds me of DAI ... and that is a hard thing to say from me...but it does....the music is beautiful and shou sings pretty passionately even though he strains at certain parts

09)White prayer: My favorite single coming in =] Still awesome as hell.

10) eraser: is pretty simple but there is something about it strangely i like. I think because it's so calm and i've always had a thing for calming music. It's the type of song i would play while i'm drawing or writting because i can kind of get lost in it.

11) blue planet: loved the song from the beggining. I like the original version more than the re-recorded version but hell it really doesn't matter at all.

12) cradle to [alpha]: cool beans. If they decide to change their style again i'd tell them to go that way. i love instrumentals and i have to say this has become one of my favs.

4.9/5: as far as ALPHA versus. Zekkeishoku goes. I like them both ALMOST equally for different reasons. The feelings for the 2 albums are very different. zekkeishoku had more of a dream-like, story book feel ... ALPHA wants to rock you. I think Zekkeishoku does a better job with the flow of songs than alpha does which is why it get's the .1 advantage from me. I can play zekkeishoku striaght through but ALPHA i like to listen to it on shuffle and get the same experience. I think on alpha they've come more together as a band and are working more together as a well oiled machine and shou's vocals have gotten cleaner (though i've loved them from the beginning). There are high's and lows to both albums but in the end when it comes to both albums there really aren't any songs i dislike. so my conclusion is they are equal but for different reasons.