Album Review: エロ by 山下智久
★ 愛、テキサス (Ai, Texas)
A weird experiment that should never be tried again.
The live perfs were quite hot, though (^_^;)
To be honest, the moment I popped the CD into the player, I skipped this track immediately.
It's not an awful song, it's just a genre that's not my type. And the lyrics aren't very meaningful to me--they don't make sense right away, but it gives off that somber vibe, that "life sucks, sh*t happens, but we live on." vibe. Something like that.
Kind of memorable too, since it brings back memories of Ending Planner, which I like for so many reasons--the cryfest, the "you only live once" message, and the huge improvement in P's acting.
★ ERO - 2012 Version-
A sad, beautiful and erotic song--like a romanticized one-night stand.
Another song which I didn't like very much at first, since I'm not a big fan of Latin-flared, flamenco-ish music.
But I loved it so hard after listening to it the second time, and that wasn't even the full, studio-version of the song yet. I ripped the audio off its first HQ perf and put it on repeat in my iPod, the whole day. Not kidding.
I like that beneath the Spanish guitar strings you can hear a bit of music box, and the drum beats in the chorus is quite catchy.
These are one of the songs that make me love JPop all the more--they can be so beautiful and addictive without repetitive verses. And they're the kind that you don't immediately love the first time, but then get tired after listening so many times. Some of the best Jpop songs are the ones that tug at your heart, grow to love, and before you know it, they're one of your timeless favorites.
YamaP's voice fits this song perfectly, and the obscene lyrics make me go /(///A///)/
My favorite parts, as translated by yarukizero@LJ:
Despite that, we're drenched in sweat, like our skin is crying
Hold me even tighter If I'm not told anything at all...
Over and over, so intense, so deep That's right Until the morning comes
And of course, that "here's my broken heart, take it and rip it into a thousand million pieces" part towards the end:
Just for tonight Harder Over and over Bury me in a feeling of dizziness
Close in on me Take me higher, to my limit Then let me die
Let me die So hot
... and I secretly... No, I really love the way he sounds so forlorn as he belts out "So hot~~~" asfhiwgkoghgjng YamaP let me die with you , please /(///A///)/
★ カリーナ (Carina)
I wanna get lost in Rio and dance the tango with YamaP all. night. long.
Not gonna lie, this is one damn sexy song that isn't some sad attempt to be erotic. The pace at which I write song remarks is extremely slow, as I fumble for words, and try to recollect my thoughts the first time I listened to these songs. So for every song, for say, ERO, I had to loop it about 4-5 times, so I can process his voice really well now.
We all know that YamaP's singing prowess isn't as golden as Tegoshi's or Nino's, or those Korean idol belters. If anything, it's a bit nasal and somewhat hard to digest when he hits the high notes the wrong way. But one thing I can proudly say about his voice is that it sounds very boyishly cute, kind of youthful, soulful, and that he conveys his emotions quite effectively. He can make it deep and sexy, make his voice smile like in Flavor Favor For You, make it smooth and seductive, just like in this song.
But the way YamaP sings is just. so. It's like he really wants you, he wants to close in every bit of distance between you, breathe your sweat and just dance the night away. Plus the breathing sounds are a turn on for me. ^^;;
The instrumentals are really good, complete with trumpet, saxophone, trombone, the works. It really feels like you're in a romantic Latin place where there's live music and a lively atmostphere.
La - la - lullaby~
★ ロマンチック (Romantic)
After getting hot and heavy in Brazil, it's time to breathe in the summer breeze and get lovey-dovey in a grown up way with P ^^*
I say grown up because the smooth intsrumentals reminds me of lightly sweet and easy-going songs like KoyaShige's "Alibi" and Tego-nyan's "Kesenai". They're not cheesy and sappy love songs, but they imply feelings of being in love without going overboard.
The meaning of the song also reminds me of one of YamaP's older songs, "Himawari".
The sunflowers invite us with the scent of early summer
It passes over the beach
The sun shines almost too bright
Memories that float in the vast ocean
On the other side of the sea we both saw
I wonder if we’ll go over to that side someday?
From share @ dreamwidth
If we fell in love during this romantic summer
I'll discover that your heart is beating hard too
When my eyes are overflowing with images of you
I have a feeling that a story only for the two of us is just bursting to begin
From yarukizero @ livejournal
Ah~ summer love ♥
★ Shiver
Ero rockstar YamaP for the f*cking win
Easily one of my two favorite songs in the album. Of course, I never expected P to experiment with rock, like he's always been a swoony lovelorn romantic dance-dance kind of idol, but, no. He jumps out of his comfort zone and goes bam! I'm gonna do an erotic rock song for you, and you're gonna fall for it. Ha!
Plus I always thought all the rockin' belonged to Ryo-chan lololol ^^;;
The intro sounds a little like an old rock song called Soundcheck. I love that it's a real rock song, like how fast the drum rolls, how hard the bass is, how raw the electric guitar riffs, and how intense YamaP's voice is, like when he screams "Yeaaaahhh! We should be alone!! I wanna take you closer to pleasure baby!".
The bridge is kind of cool too, "I got a ting-uh-ling-uh feeling in my bones (my bones!), this is communication baby when you moan(you moan!)"
So, yeah, I love it! \m/
★ Hit the Wall
My other favorite song owo
A friend of mine doesn't like this very much due to the fact that it starts off like 2NE1, but this is much more than a Kpop wannabe. Far from that, actually.
Sure, you've got the electro-synthesized sound effects, but unlike 2NE1 and/or Big Bang hits, it deviates from being noisy. You can distinctly hear just about 3 or 4 instruments and there's a subtle melodious keyboard that's the same rhythm as the "woooh~" after the chorus.
The fact that it sounds clean is also the reason why YamaP's Blood Diamond pwns the Audio Playground version--it doesn't hurt your ears and it enables you to enjoy the blend of the instruments better.
Lyrics-wise, it's basically about dancing (again) and removing the distance between P and his lady of the night (again). Let's just say it's a club version of Carina which is more in the streets of romantic Brazil (hehe). I don't know how much co-writing YamaP did with this, but so far so good. ^^
What's just a little off is the rap part, in which YamaP sounds a bit ghetto with words like "lay-deh" and "readeh", but meh.
Also, this is by far the danciest, most head-bopping YamaP song for me, since the beat is faster than One in a million and has a bit more depth than Love Chase.
But then again I failed to purchase Love Chase and nobody uploaded it in lossless format. Yes, I am a bit bitter about that Orz
My favorite parts would be the part where he sings "I... Like the way that you move... I... Like the way that you move, you move--" and the electro sound after that, with playful use of surround sound which gives that engulfing, entrancing feeling.
Note: both this and Shiver were co-written by Jeff Miyahara. I think I like him :)
★ BABY BABY
My least favorite song in the album, sorry.
It's like it doesn't belong there, and the cuteness level just doesn't quite match to that of Flavor Favor For You or Candy.
It's a nice, uplifting song, though.
★ Be The ONE
A good transition from Baby Baby ^_^
But I like this better because his English is so coherent, and it's clearly a feel-good straight-up guitar jam song. Baby Baby was just plain confusing lol.
I also fell for this song when he played it in Cross Space and he sings along to it before fading out ^^ I am so sure now that a man who can sing to me or for me is better than the most romantic gestures, whispers and sceneries.
The only sad thing about this is that, I thought YamaP had at least co-written or actually played the guitar for it, since he did mention in his mobile diary that he had been re-learning and practicing it.
★ 僕だけの君に (Boku Dake no Kimi ni)
For some reason, the this song reminds me of "Sleepwalking". Sort of dream-like, melancholic, daze-like atmosphere. I wonder what that style is called, where you isolate heavy drum beats to intensify the mood.
I read in a comment somewhere that it sounds weird, perhaps due to the buzzing sounds. It sounds like a fly lol. But I like this better, much better than Baby Baby (hehe ^^;)
I especially love that piano part starting at the 2:56 mark ^_^
And we can't forget the lyrics. Lovestruck P is at it again, this time fighting hard to protect you and make you his own, while your heart is too hurt to even look at him. Aww.
★ Turn Off The Lights
House-flavored dance track
I have mixed feelings for this song hehe ^^;;
It's somewhat house-y, with a mix of electro-pop and the lyrics are kind of cheeky but not annoying. (Hello, YamaP has every right to put a bit of swag on).
By this time, I've gotten used to YamaP's style of club-dance songs (because I think the very JE-sounding ones like Daite Senorita, etc are considered 'dance' songs too). It's not as hella catchy as Kpop or those like Jin's (too Western for my taste), but he chooses songs that are easy on the ears.
For the nth time I'll mention how precious the dance songs are because the intrsuments aren't overwhelming, and if you're fond of listening really closely, the little details (like sudden booms, music box tinks, echoes) are what makes most of his songs really enjoyable.
Downside? But not really, since it's supposed a house track. Too much autotune.
★ 悩みの森の真ん中で
Not bad, but not as good as his previous emo songs ^^;;;
Another one of my least favorites in the album, but not as much as I hate Baby Baby.
It's a nice, inspirational song with a nice piano piece. A ballad, but not quite.
If I wanted something inspirational, I would go for "World is yours", if I wanted emotional, there's "Gomen Ne", "Saigo no Love Song", "After the Rain" and "Ao".
My point is that it doesn't quite pierce me in the chest as much as his other sad songs did.
★ 踊る夜 (Odoru Yoru)
Baby, let's fly!
This wasn't included in the one I bought, so... :(
The chorus is really good ^_^ I like the melodious parts like the chorus, and that bridge, "Let's fly--- don't you know how to make a beat? Baby, let's fly--- let you know how to make a beat, all right ~ "
Because I love YamaP and he wrote this, I will not say something bad about it owo
Let's just say it's similar to Friday Night, and not as high up there in terms of my preference of his other self-written songs :)
edit: as per the fan report of Cat (yarukizero), the dance number for this is an extremely HOT one, so yep it shoots right up my faves ///