Arashi - Popcorn Review [album]

I realize that the Popcorn album came out way back in October (on Halloween no less!) but I have written a review for each album since Boku no Miteiru Fuukei and I feel like it'd be a shame to just stop. Also at the time that the album was first leaked online I had 3 midterms coming up so I really didn't have time to type up a review and I think I just spazzed. But, now I do have time and what better way to start up this blog than with a review of their latest (although now kind of old...) album, Popcorn!

Also - as a note when I used to write these on my vox/typepad (which I have now abandoned and subsequently moved all the posts to another blogger of mine HERE) I used to take out the singles because I had probably already talked about them before (when they were released) but due to the fact that I've taken an entire year off from "fangirl blogging" I will include the singles in this one. 



1 - Welcome to Our Party
I really like this song. It's up-beat, it's catchy, and it's a great way to open up the album. I love the opening with all of them rapping and the "yeah, yeah, yeah" song. The first time I heard it by energy just shot way up and I was bopping and bouncing to the song and I could feel the level of my excitement rising and by the time the chorus hits I'm just singing along to it and feeling like I'm smack in the middle of a concert. A great album opener and really gets you excited for the next song coming up!

2 - 駆け抜けろ
I don't like this one as much as the first song but it's got it's catchy bits. Apparently it was the song for JAL? I don't remember. It's definitely a nice break from the high excitement of Welcome to Our Party, which I like and I really enjoy the chorus overall. It's a pretty standard song lyric wise. I'd say it's generally pretty average as pop songs go (and I like pop so that's good) but nothing really stands out too much (which is probably why I don't remember that it's from JAL).

3 -ワイルドアットハート
I love this song. I loved it the first time I heard it (which I think was for Lucky Seven) and I fell in love with it even more when I saw the PV and then when they performed it. I absolutely adore the part where MatsuJun kicks the mic stand (I replayed that part multiple times laughing hysterically when I first saw it). It's definitely a fun song and it really brought me back to Kitto Daijoubu, Happiness days. The boys look like they have a blast performing it and they have a reason to! It's a fun song, with a fun dance, a fun chorus, a fun everything! As far as singles go, 2012 was a great year. 

4 - Face Down
Face Down is probably my most favourite Arashi song of all time (up there with Tokei Jikake no Umbrella and that's where I got the name of this blog from!). Funnily enough, I actually wasn't very impressed when I first heard the preview of it, and later when I heard it for KagiHeya. Then there first Music Station performance for it happened and I fell in love. I love the performance for it, absolutely, 100%. I think it is the best performance ever and every time I hear the short opening notes to the song my excitement level rises. I love the strong base playing in the background and the use of the autotune and just the entire arrangement of the song is just absolute love. As with all songs I absolutely love though Sho's rap is always a bit of a jarring wake up but I have since then began to get past it by laughing at his little line "It's like a supernova next to the door". Although I do wish that his rap just didn't exist but that is my personal preference. It's the only song where I actually watch every time it's performed and it's almost impossible for me not to reply it at least twice before I move on to the next song. 

5 - We Wanna Funk, We Needa Funk (Matsumoto Jun)
I found it a bit weird the first time when I heard Jun's solo come after Face Down, both because it's Jun's solo and also because Face Down sounds so smooth, and dark, almost club-music and then we move onto Jun and this Funk song. With that being said - surprise, surprise (or maybe not as I've enjoyed all of Jun's solo's since BnMF) - I actually enjoy this song a lot. I can tell you now though that the first time I heard this song I laughed so hard I nearly cried. Every time Jun says "you're so funkin body" all I hear is "you're so fuckin' body". At least when he says "You wanna funk, we needa a funk" it sounds like funk but that line just honestly sounds like he's saying "fuck" and it makes me snort. Move away from Jun's voice though (which I've gotten used to and for this type of song I don't think is bad) the arrangement of the song is awesome. It's a really well put together song and it's fun, and catchy and something I can dance and move to. And I think that's the point - Jun isn't Ohno, I'm not expecting him to belt out a musical masterpiece that sounds like angels singing into my ears. Jun can't do that (and that's OK!), instead Jun picks out the fun songs. The catchy ones. The ones people can dance to and just party with. The ones that, although not strong vocally and very strong instrumentally. I've heard about his solo performance in Popcorn and must say I am eagerly awaiting a DVD version of it. Jun never fails to give an amazing performance and definitely for this song as well, he did not disappoint.


6 - Two (Ohno Satoshi)
And we've hit it. My most absolute favourite solo of any Arashi member, and obviously my most favourite song of this album. The first time I heard this I repeated it over, and over, and over, I didn't even listen to the rest of the album. I was just so enamoured with Ohno and his voice in this song. I remember reading various comments where people said it sounded like a "generic" Ohno ballad and I went back and listened, to his only real two ballads, Take me Faraway and Shizuka na Yoru Ni and Two doesn't sound like either of them! Ohno's voice is so moving and powerful, and mixed in with a much faster pace than Shizuka na Yoru Ni, it creates such a beautiful song. When I listen to it I can imagine the most beautiful, smooth, yet precise dance - specifically due to the clear beats of this song that occur throughout and then Ohno's voice just breaking through the silence near the end when he sings the "furureru hodo-OOOOOOOO" part. I absolutely love this song. I think it's gorgeous. Lyrics wise pretty standard love song but I just love the added English into the chorus and just... ugh. Everything about this song. And the way he ends it just makes me want to click "play" again and start all over from the beginning because it's just so beautiful. 

7 - Waiting For You
Pretty much the entire first half of the album is pure love. I really enjoy Waiting for You. I love the steady drum, the slow build up with all the members and their solo lines and then the lead up to the chorus with all of them that just has the most amazing flow of ups and downs and makes me want to sing along with them every single time. It's a steady song with a beautiful rhythm and I just love how all their voices blend together in this in their pairs of two's and three's and how it's used amazingly well as a build up to the chorus in which all 5 song. In this song it just stands out so much more to be - probably because their solo/paired lines are so much softer and steadier and then suddenly you just get this rise up in the tempo and bam! The chorus starts and it just flows, up and down, yet still in that continuous steady rhythm.

8 - 楽園 (Aiba Masaki)
People say it sounds like anime song and they like it a lot, I think it sounds like an Aiba solo. And by that I mean it's nice, it's cute, it's catchy, but as all Aiba Solo's are for me - I'm not all that interested. It's his voice. I always think Aiba lacks the punch that really makes his song shine to me. Every time Aiba sings I'm always left waiting for more. I keep wanting to hear his voice more. As if it's always drowned out by the music and in this song it's so much more evident. Definitely one of his better solos as it is fun and catchy like the rest of hte album but still, just an Aiba solo. (Sorry Aiba fans!)


9 - 旅は続くよ
It's a cute song. That's about all I can say. It's not really my style. It's just... it's very cute. Kind of sounds like a kid song - something you'd sing in a cute kid movie. Pretty much, when I hear this song, all I can think about is that little Popcorn picture book story that they put into the LE version of the album. That's all I think about it. Song-wise, I only listen to it within the context of the album but I would never listen to it alone. I feel in concert it would be a very fun song to bop to though.

10 - それはやっぱり君でした (Ninomiya Kazunari)
And this is a generic Nino solo! What do I mean by that? I mean I thought Nino could do better. I absolutely loved Niji, it's my most favourite solo of Nino ever but I feel this song just pales in comparison. The melody sounds very lackluster and the lyrics are... well, they're pretty generic honestly. I mean - OK, yay, companion piece to Niji but it's pretty boring when you think about it. Even now, how many months later, I'm still disappointed. I listen to Niji and I'm absolutely in love with the song, the lyrics, the melody, his voice, and in this song I'm like.. it sounds nice... The only consolation I can give it is that it's better than Doko ni Demo Aru Uta (which is too quiet) - but if you asked me which song I'd sing in karaoke I'd pick the latter.

11 - 迷宮ラブソング
I wasn't too impressed with this song when it first came out, I thought the PV was funny, I thought the performance was alright but overall I was like "Oh yay, sounds like a nice theme song". That still is pretty much what I think of the song. It makes for a nice theme song. It's catchy and overall I like seeing them perform it on stage and I'll sing along to it but that's about it as far as the single goes. All in all it's kind of forgettable (and I often do forget about it >.<)

12 - Your Eyes
Can you tell my review for this album is kind of going down the drain ever since Aiba's solo? Your Eyes isn't really going to fare much better in the grand scheme of things. I forgot Your Eyes even existed, I didn't even remember what it's for (Mikeneko Holmes right? - I'm genuinely not even sure..). When I first saw the PV I was like "boring" and to this date I still have yet to see it. I still kind of like it, I like how soft the overall sound of the song is, and I like the chorus, and if anything I feel like I would take to this song better than Meikyuu if the PV and performances weren't so boring! Honestly  I just like the "kimi no yasashisa ga kikoete kuru yo" part of the chorus, I think it sounds nice :)

13 - Fly on Friday (Sakurai Sho)
Sho's solo's are more often than not like Aiba's solos to me. They're alright but because Sho tends to rap a lot in his songs I'm always kind of "eh". And than Kono Mama Motto came out and I fell absolutely in love with it. And then there is this. I'm pretty mixed with Fly on Friday. When I first heard it I was like "wtf is this" but now I'm OK with. I like the part when he sings, not so much the parts that he raps. The chorus always makes me imagine Sho standing there swinging a towel around his head while skipping (yeah, skipping). It's a fun solo, it comes in 3rd after Ohno and then Jun's and beats Nino's and Aiba's.

14 - Cosmos
This sounds like it should be the theme song to the FIFA World Cup. It honestly makes me feel like I should be watching a soccer game, or playing FIFA on my PS3 or something. Or maybe this should be the song that played for the olympics. Do I like it? Eh. Not really. I don't dislike but I can't say I really like it either. It's probably my most least liked song of the album since it's really just not my style at all and I don't really know how to feel when I hear this song - but it definitely doesn't make me think "Arashi conert"!

15 -証
I can never really remember what this sounds like and I always mix it up with Your Eyes in my head. I just remember the opening strings because it was for the olympics but that was about it. I do like the song when I hear it though, it's just a bit boring. It's like Your Eyes. Nice song, just a tad boring sounding. I like how they sing it at, the "dada da, dada da, dada da" part. It's soothing, and I really like the chorus. But yeah, if only it didn't sound so boring!

16 - Up To You 
This is the best song to close up the album because you know what it does? It makes me want to listen to the whole thing again from beginning to end. I absolutely love this song - not including solos and singles, after Waiting for You this is my second most favourite song on the album. I like the whole "tic-tac toki ha non-stop, knock knock kikoerundarou" and that entire part of the song, and just how they sing it in general. and the falsettos and everything. I think in general I just like songs with a strong base playing in the background and a lot of variation in sound. Up to You just has so many different levels of vocals to it - I mean the difference between the chorus and the other part I mentioned is insane (they're almost like different songs!) but they're not and they blend so well together!.

Overall (album as a whole)
I like pop. I am a pop person. I like up-beat, bouncy songs that sound happy and peppy and fun and this album gives me that so I do enjoy this album but I guess with half the tracks being slightly boring I always find myself pausing after Waiting for You and skipping right to Up to You. In the right mood I can enjoy this album a lot but overall I realize that it is a bit jarring when I'm not in the mood. Earlier I said that it might beat Boku no Miteiru Fuukei and that was actually a thought I had when the album first came out - it actually is not what I think now. In fact BNMF is still my most loved and listened to album. Popcorn overall is nice - I think it fits the theme of.. well, Popcorn. It's kind of a jumbled mess (take that as you will) but it's enjoyable nonetheless.