ONE; Arashi experimental album?

even the title confusing, to me at least. does it refer to something they're doing right now? although come to think of it, their cd title never really make sense does it? i mean most artist would titled their cd according to some things, like a period in their life or according to one of the song in the album that they see fit. not Arashi though, they just name the cd as it is. i'm not even sure they actually named the cd themself. or maybe they see 'ONE' as the first of the second stage in their carreer? y'know since they've just passed 5 years of being an "Arashi" and they did wonder what the next 5 years gonna be. or maybe coz in ONE there's a solo song that each members sang? it is the first in 5 years. hmm...

i said its an experimental album coz, well... not only each members has a solo song but the songs choice also different than we usually see from their solo performances in past concerts. except Ohno i think. his song [Rain] is the song that more or less the same as his solo in HIG & Iza Now! concerts. I want to hear Leader sing a powerful ballad! Nino's solo was also a surprise [himitsu]. Maybe because he didn't write it himself? I kinda hoping he'll sing one of his signature ballad, but in ONE, his song was kinda cheerful and catchy and has a youthful feeling about it even though its supposed to be a secret relationship [i think]. Isn't something that i hope he'll do more in the future but i guess its still ok. very catchy happy little song. [i do hope he's going ahead with releasing his own solo album! hmmm, maybe he's talking about it with Tsuyo Domoto over that dinner? hehe one can only hope ^__^ ]

MJ's song [with me] is ok too i guess, kinda reminded me of his solo in HIG concert, but better, and hopefully he won't dance in a plasticy leathery shiny outfit to this song ^___^ the experimental bit also come to my mind again when i heard Aiba's solo song. it's the reggae type of song, and the first in any Arashi albums. not the best choice i think. although its good to do variety of song type but i much much prefer Aiba to sing a pop-rock song. it suits his voice well. like in the last album, he lead vocal in "yasashikute sugoshi baka" it sounded great! reminded me of his duet with Nino in Suppin. Still one of my fave performance of them. Now... Sho solo [yume de ii kara] so far is my fave [of the solo songs], coz it fits his character and his voice, and this time also not so much rely on in his rapping skill. He still has to sing and I guess those singing & voice lesson do him good... hehehe I just like the feeling of this song, maybe because the song itself or maybe because its Sho..? hmm.. both i think. although it does reminds me of Rip Slyme or Kick The Can Crew a bit.

And what's with that british techno influenced song "Yes? No?" its my personal arashi related nightmare! and its very scarry how the song stuck in my head!

All in all, its a very different album and if they didn't put "Sakura Sake" in it, i might find it a bit hard to like the cd [as a whole album]. As i said its very different from the usual Arashi albums, and although its good to change things once in a while, i just think they changes things so much in just one album. maybe coz the "solo songs" factor. i don't know. i'm still getting use to it. i didn't say i hate the album, but it just gonna take me longer to get all those songs in my system ^___^ hopefully next album they're back with their style songs like Sakura Sake, Jam, Right Back to You...

Congrats on the new album guys... now, go make your fans happy and record your current concert into a dvd!! ^___*

speaking of dvd... the DVD bonus was great! short but still sweet. i love behind the scene stuff. just wish Nino is back to his genki ol' self [Sho..! take care of your little brother!] in his commentary part Nino said that Sho will always repeating his 'take' until he's satisfied with it [i love this perfectionist side of Sho ^__^] and I just love seeing Sho in his black tee and he wore the hip hugging pants/trousers/jeans again!! kyaaaaaaaaa me happy! me happy! me can see Sho ass-et! *my personal major drool factor* ^______________^ and isn't it sweet of him to bring some snacks to the people in the studio.. [i told him to do that.. hihihiihihi] oh yeah, one more thing that make me happy... he still wears his ring! don't ask me why, i have a 'thing' with him wearing that ring ^__^ Just wish he loose that bracelet! and btw, did anyone notice Nino's bag? i think i've seen him wearing it before, back in his Jr days!! whoaa...

So.. my top 5 songs [so far] from Arashi's ONE CD:
[not including "sakura sake" of course]
1. yume de ii kara [Sho solo]
2. days
3. natsu no namae [just realized that it has the same feeling as "tochuu geccha".. don't u think?]
4. himitsu [Nino solo]
5. subarashiki sekai