fitear1590 2414 Posted October 21, 2013 美空結び (misora musubi)2013.10.09 美空結び (misora musubi) is UNiTE's latest release, compiling the three songs from this summer's "serial story CDs" and adding one new track. On to the review!1. small world order (composer: guitarist Shiina Mio)The CD opens up with some "mysterious" riffs and then leads into the bright pop-rock mode that UNiTE is known for. The tempo of the song is dynamic, with slow chuggy-riffed verses and a catchy, upbeat chorus. After a quick, simple solo, it's back to a final chorus and Yui sings a soft outro, as the main guitar riffs play. This is a very "nice" track with solid songwriting, but nothing about it particularly grabs the listener's attention and it doesn't bring much new to the table for long-time UNiTE listeners.7/102. 色即是空 -イロスナワチコレソラナリ- (composer: guitarist LiN)This song brings a fairly oldschool VK energy and a dark, yet playful atmosphere that's completely different for UNiTE, no doubt thanks to UNiTE's less productive, but (dare I say) more creative guitarist/composer, LiN. The whimsical/wacky lead guitar riffs lead into a verse featuring some distorted vocals. Meanwhile, the guitar screeches along with some occasional pinch harmonic action. After a catchy chorus, we're treated to some good ol' gang vocals/growls, before proceeding to the solo. During the second part of said solo, there's some muffled "fast talking" by Yui (something I strongly associate with oldschool VK). Afterwards, the song takes a very different turn, slowing down the pace; this shake up in composition is exactly what "small world order" was lacking, imo. After building back up to the second/final chorus, the song begins to fade out and a "countdown"-like synth beeps along, until a fuzzy bass lick closes out the track.9/10 3. ハートレス クラシックメモリー (composers: vocalist Yui, guitarist Mio) This song also marks the treading of some pretty uncharted territory for UNiTE: super mellow (synthless) ballady rock. The extremely "natural" (okay, natural for VK!) look is mirrored in the music; for this song, it's a very welcome change. The song begins with Yui singing softly over some riffs, before exploding into delicious mellow-dic riffs. On the chorus, Yui sings his heart out and I love it! Afterwards, an all-too-short dreamy guitar interlude brings us to drum-tastic bridge, leading us into a slightly more amped up verse. We get one more awesome extended chorus (I love that extra melody from 2:43 to 2:50), before the beautiful outro. I really enjoy this track and UNiTE performs quite well in the "stripped down" quality (if you can call it that) of the song. Plus, this is Yui's best vocal performance on the release. 9.25/104. 美空結び (composer: guitarist Shiina Mio)The new song 美空結び begins very delicately with Yui singing a slow/soft version of the chorus. Afterwards, some plucky synth piano plays some very Mio chords, haha. Yui starts the verse off with a slightly awkward holding of a note (the "NAAAA-nimo" etc), but the speedy stacatto-y rhythm of this verse is fun. The distorted vocals of the "pray for you" part are also interesting. The following chorus is bombastic with a semi "Japanese" synth arrangement propelling it along (not as obviously "Japanese" as Kiryu or Kagraa, though). The only thing I dislike is the synth ends the chorus (1:37-1:39 and its repeats 2:35-2:37, etc). I don't know why, but something about this little section sounds very "generic anime theme song." After that second chorus, there's a simple, but powerful guitar solo. It follows with a slow, slightly more "Japanese" synth section. With a final chorus, the song finishes by reintroducing the piano and a few strums of the acoustic guitar; shame this guitar wasn't a bit more audible throughout the song (though that's what the "off vocal" version is for)! 8/10__________________________________________________ Overall, 美空結び is a catchy compilation that lets listeners hear four fairly diverse sides of UNiTE's "single" songs. The fact that all four are singles of a pop band is reflected in the structure, I think (which may be to its detriment). The songs are all about the same length (right at about 4 minutes) and besides guitarist LiN's track 色即是空 -イロスナワチコレソラナリ-, there's not much of a departure from standard song structure; everything is pretty "single-ready". So why do I still enjoy it so much? Because Yui is a killer vocalist (imo) and guitarists Shiina Mio/LiN are extremely talented. I don't think I've heard so much technical "riffing" from a pop-rock group before. They take great melodies and enhance them! Constantly, they're layering sound onto the melody, rather than simple playing power chords or something. I'm very much looking forward to the band's third full album, which will feature rerecordings of the first three tracks of this release.OVERALL: 1 CaRaN reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
