Arashi - The Digitalian Review

I guess before I start this review I should say I'm not a huge fan of like.. digitalized sounding music? Things like autotune, dubstep, techno etc. so even when I first heard the title of the album I guess I wasn't all that excited. It's not like I dislike it - it's just not my preferred genre. Although - as with the usual case I may grow to eventually really love the album like what happened with LOVE - or it could just fade in to the background and be "alright" like Beautiful World. We'll only be able to see that within the next half year. 

For this review though, tis is going to be more like a live review - I'm literally just gonna be typing as I listen, and then when I'm done I'll add some concluding thoughts at the end of each song, and then obviously a sum up of the whole album.

So - without further ado… Arashi's 13th Album: The Digitalian - let's go

1. Zero-G: 

So.. The opening kind of reminds me of an FFX song before they actually start singing, but not super hooked on or excited about the song… until they hit the chorus which is undeniably catchy. Actually my impression of the song improves the farther we get in - ironically the most "Arashi" part of the song just before the chorus I find really awkward. I guess it's kind of needed though to sort of calm things down before the super up-beat chorus? I don't know, I'm not a music major. What else can I say? I like the bass in the back? And the wibblings noises at the end, that's interesting. This is pretty much what I had in mind when I thought of "digital" and "arashi" blending and I think it was a great album opener - probably because none of the other songs are even half as catchy. 

(REVIEW OF PV + MAKING OFF FOR ZERO-G IS [HERE])

2. Wonderful: 

Uh… are they supposed to harmonize in the beginning cause it just… doesn't sound very nice to my ears when they say Wonderful. >.< But then the song actually starts up and I actually kind of really like this? It sounds really weird coming after Zero-G though, but this song makes me excited. I absolutely love how fast-paced this song. If I need a song to get my energy up - this is it. I can also imagine a super cracky performance being done for this (hopefully)? So despite how apprehensive I felt at the opening - I kind of love this song simply because of energetic it is. Second listen through to sum up my thoughts: yep - definitely like this song. I like the echoing they do, and how they sort of go up into falsettos (mostly Ohno probably) when they say the lines "take your hand" throughout the song. The trumpet kind of reminds me of the song Happy by Pharell Williams.

3. Tell me why:

Uh, super slow song after Wonderful. Ok. I'm not sure why but… I feel like if this was sung by like the Backstreet Boys in the 90s I would've been all over this song. Like, that's the feel I get with this song. It also just seems like it should be sung in English for some reason. Something about the sound of chorus just sounds like a Backstreet Boys songs. Overall though, because it's Arashi and 2014, it just does not pique my interest whatsoever. Image in my mind when I hear this song is dark, rain, and men wearing leather jackets looking angsty. Not Arashi though. Like I said this song just makes me feel like it should've been a BBS song in the 90s. I have no idea why. Third listen - I think this song is growing on me actually. Once I got over the initial "wait, is this a BBS song?" - even as an Arashi song I actually think they did pretty good with it actually.

4. Asterisk:

Just seeing the title for some reason I was expecting something like Asterisk by Orange Range - do not ask why. But like Zero-G this is kind of the type of song I imagined when I heard the title of the album was "The Digitalian". Is this supposed to be a part 2 of Intergalactic, because that's kind of what it sounds like actually. Maybe it's cause both of these songs have a lot more of the autotune in the boys voices than the other songs I've heard so far (and I'm only 4 songs in so…) - but just hearing the chorus, how they are singing very much with the beat - it really reminds me of intergalactic. This doesn’t really have much bearing on how I like the song though - if anything I'm a fan of Intergalactic a lot more and that's only thanks to the LOVE concert. Second listen through... it's pretty good actually. I'm still a bigger fan of Intergalactic, but if we get another fantastic performance of this song during the concert songs this song could potentially get bumped up on the list (we'd have to wait for a DVD to come out first though :P). For now though - Asterisk will be just be Intergalactic part 2 for me. That's what the song should have been called.

5. Imaging Crazy （大野智）: Not going to be a favourite Ohno solo but I'm already imagining an amazing performance for this song. I love the snapping, and the kind of… R&B feel? I'm just imagining something very slick and very smooth, preferably Ohno wearing a tie and bowler hat. Uh. Wait. The song just turned kind of weird in the chorus. Hm. Oh, now it's normal again. Like I said, not an Ohno favourite, and I am kind of hoping  the other solos will do better - I like it but that's more because I'm already thinking ahead to how he'll dance to this. As a song… mmm… I'm much more a fan of Ohno singing very powerful but slower songs like Two, or those really fast-paced songs like Hit the Floor/Top Secret. For once I guess Ohno's solo won't be a favourite for me - I guess a 2 album streak is too long anyway though :P. Second time sum up - I do really like this solo a lot, don't get me wrong, but it just doesn't really flow my mind. I really do like the R&B feel to it, and I think it's great but... I guess in an album like this is does seem a bit off? Now if the entire album had a whole R&B feel to it I think I would be all over the album, and especially this song as a solo.

GUTS: I think I talked about GUTS so you can see my thoughts [here], but overall I've always liked GUTS. How does it fit in the album? Um. Well. It doesn't. Haha. Sounds okay after Ohno's solo but Aiba's solo coming right after it is just hella jarring.

Disco Star （相葉雅紀）: What. Aiba. What is this?! XD This feels very Aiba for sure, I don't think any of the other members could have pulled off a song like this. Actually I think as an Aiba solo this is one of his better ones so far. I'm actually quite excited cause Aiba's solo usually turn out kind of lackluster for me, but I'm finding myself REALLY enjoying this solo and I'm not even sure why. I just do. I think Aiba sounds great for once and his voice isn't being lost in the music. Between this and Rakuen and his solo from LOVE Aiba has been getting a string of pretty great solos. Hell this actually is my most favourite song I've heard so far on the album so good job Aiba. Second-round conclusion: I think this is my most favourite solo in the album, and I'm surprised about this because I've never really given Aiba rave reviews on his solos. This is good though, I am thoroughly impressed and happy for once that I love an Aiba solo so much. It dampens my disappointment on Jun's incredibly lackluster solo.

誰も知らない　（Daremo Shiranai）: same deal with guts - see thoughts [here].

TRAP: 

What the fuck. Okay the opening was not cool, but the song gets better as you keep going on I... guess.... Beneath all the digital sounds it does seem like a very Arashi song, which is good I guess but I just… cannot stand the whole "wee-wee-wee" dubstep opening and just the noise in general going on in the background. It's just really grating. In fact this entire song is just so LOUD. Like I don't even know if I should all the extra sounds music or just…. Noise. Like, the song sounds fine when it's just the bass and instrumental without all the extra "whee-woo-whee" noises and what-not… but with those noises the song just sounds like.. Well, it sounds like such a mess. The thing is I could potentially really have liked this song if it just weren't for the weird distracting dubstep thing they insist on putting in this song. When there is no dubstep I actually think the song sounds pretty great but... :| blegh. 

STAY GOLD　（松本潤）: We're definitely going to get a story with this song, is this come back to me ver2? Oh. Nope. o_o  Uh……. Okay, we are probably going to get one hell of an opening performance with this song at least. I do not like the backing track behind Jun's singing in the opening though where he just repeats "Flash, Spark, Bounce" and stuff, it's jarring and gets in the way. Actually overall…. Not a fan of this song in general. I'm kind of disappointed actually after Dance in the Dark. This song just sounds… surprisingly boring. Like, normally Jun's solos are easy to spot and remember because they are so out there and catchy and fun (even if they don't sound so great) - they're made to be dance/party songs, but this song just… sounds so generic. I honestly can't even paint out a tune to this song it's that boring sounding to me. Ouch Jun - you're my favourite member but you kind of missed the ball on this solo I think. Actually, you know what, the opening and beginning of this song had so much potential but it is completely ruined by a ridiculous generic chorus that... sounds like it could be part of an anime opening. *sigh* the thing is.. because it's Jun I really want to like the song but... this is kind of how I always felt about Aiba's songs. It's .. just like you can't really "hear" Jun above the rest of the noise the song makes.

Bittersweet: 

Still loving this song thanks to the super cute music station performance - thoughts are [here]. I realized that all the singles sound so freakin weird in this album.. Especially something as poppy as Bittersweet, when you compare it to something like Zero-G or TRAP. What the hell o_O. And especially coming after Jun's solo... although I guess it's an okay lead in to Nino's solo...?

メリークリスマス（Merry Christmas）（二宮和也）: 

Christmas in October. Okay. Maybe it's cause I've been reading too many of other people's reviews but I can see why people think this song is very Aiba. The feel of this song does remind  me of Aiba - just the sound of it. I guess I'm just not used to Nino singing such loud, poppy and upbeat songs. I mean, normally when Nino has done up-beat songs (Himitsu) they've been instrumentally quite simple, but this song has a lot of layers to it so it's just surprising for a guy who normally sings much simpler softer solos. Do I like it? Hmm…. Well it's not bad. I might be giving out the super unpopular opinion of... it just barely beats out Jun's solo? The thing is, this song is cute - for sure, very cute - but it's just so random. It's like an attempt at rock and roll Christmas but totally missing the mark... and yet it doesn't sound enough like an actual Christmas song that I would even want to listen to during Christmas, so I don't really know what this song is. I hope Nino plays guitar during his solo though, I'd want to see that - something similar to his Kotoba performance from 5x10 would be nice. That's the only way I ever feel myself really getting in to this song.

君の夢を見ていた（Kimi no Yume wo Mite Ita）:

Ooh, just from the opening I think I'm going to like this song. For once, considering most of the openings of each song have been kind of blargh. I guess this is like… the super generic Arashi song they had to fit in? Haha. I think I must've accidentally listened to a part of this on my tumblr because when I heard the chorus it sounded familiar… sounds like such an uplifting songs (I'm not really listening to the lyrics by the way - lyrics never really do much for me when it comes to music anyway unless it's a ballad). Final thoughts - yeah this is such a generic Arashi song I can't even like it. I think at first I was just happy to hear an opening that wasn't initially shocking but now that I've gotten used to the new songs this song just.. becomes that much more boring than I had originally thought. I feel like this should have been a single b-side, totally forgettable.

One step: 

Aw, this song sounds so cute. What happened to all the digital sounds though? This album is such a mess and is so jarring. Nothing flows together at all. One of the reasons I enjoyed Popcorn and LOVE so much was speciically because of how they flowed. Actually this sounds like a leftover to like.. Popcorn or something honestly. What is this. I mean, I like it in a cute sort of way but it's just… it doesn't fit. I'm literally sitting here thinking "what the fuck am I even listening to right now?" I feel like this should be an opening to some cutsey kids show set in like.. Victorian times with ballroom dancing and lots of bright pastel colours everywhere. I don't even know - what the hell is this song. Even after a second listen through I'm still just like.. "aw so cute but... DOES NOT FIT ALBUM". It's such a random song. I think if it had been in another album I would've enjoyed it a lot but because it's in this album... it just becomes really weird? 

Hey Yeah!!　（櫻井翔）: 

AND HOW DO YOU PUT A SONG LIKE THIS AFTER ONE STEP? Although I love the shredding guitar sounds in the back. See - these are the types of solos I like from Sho. Upbeat, ones where he isn't trying to rap the entire time (no offense, I like sakurap as much as the next person but… not when it's the whole song). I feel like I might be the only person who really likes Sho's solo cause I haven't seen anyone else talking about it - they've all been talking about Nino's solo. But to be honest, I think this is my second favourite after Aiba's. :D This song is so nice and cute. I think it fits Sho too, so yay. I realized I just find Sho's voice very comforting and nice to listen to in songs like these and that's partly why I enjoy his more musical non-rap solos. There's something about his voice that is soothing to me. Good solo Sho. Yay.

Hope in the Darkness: 

Oooh, another song that sounds alright right from the get go. Good beat… I'm liking this slow build up… and…. Singing? So I guess this was supposed to be the original album closer (it was only the RE that had Take Off right)? I approve. It's slower, but not boring like… Tell Me Why, and I think part of the reason I like it is because it sounds like the end. This song is also a good show of what Digital blended with Arashi can produce, and I'm so glad this is the closer. This is definitely one of the more solid songs to the album. It hits all the marks for me - it's still got the digital feel so as not to sound odd (like One Step) but nothing too jarring so I struggle to like it (like TRAP). This is the other side of the coin to digital-Arashi I think - I mean you can have the fast paced Zero-G or you can have something a bit calmer and it'll still sound good. Again, I really need to stress that I am really glad this is the closer. I think it works great to sort of sum up the album and put it to the end.

Take Off: 

Ah, now this is definitely an Arashi song. This was also a song definitely added in with concerts in mind as well - but I don’t mind. I like it. I like up-beat songs like this where all the members are rapping. I'm not sure why since in general I'm not a fan of rap (re: about Sho's solos) but it's just so catchy. Actually this song reminds me of something you would find from the Popcorn album - the rapping is really reminiscent of the beginning to "Welcome to Our Party". The chorus of this song though sounds like such an anime song. I could easily seeing the chorus fit in to the opener of like.. One of those "ganbatte" sports animes. Oh my god this is such an Arashi concert song, they even spell out their name *snorts*. 

Overall Conclusion:

This album is a mess. Haha. I mean, I'm saying this half jokingly, but also quite seriously. The thing I enjoyed about Popcorn and LOVE was that there was some semblance of flow - and the same with BNMF and even Beautiful World although that one was a bit more toned-down in terms of a distinct style. This one though is just... it goes all over the place. How you can put a song like One Step in with the same album that contains a song like TRAP just boggles the mind. The thing is you get your incredibly digital sings and then you get your entirely non-digital songs and I think there should have been a way to organize the songs in a way where you get a nice transition from non-digital to digital, or digital to non-digital instead of just throwing things helter-skelter everywhere. 

The thing is not even the solos fit in to this album - they're as out of place as the singles are... I think I mentioned in a few songs that I would have liked them more if they were in another album and it's true. Ohno's solo especially, because the more I listen to it the more I think that it would've sounded so much nicer in a full-on R&B album filled with songs of the same sound and genre. 

Everyone in fandom seems to be going nuts about this album though (and I know tumblr is not a great representation) but... honestly? I'm glad I didn't buy this album, and I don't really feel inclined to ever buy it. Overall, it's really not my cup of tea - I'm playing it on repeat again even now typing up my final thoughts and yeah... part of me is like "I want to switch to another album instead". Are these songs particularly high quality? I can't really tell - I think they could've done better. The opening of the album is fine I think, it's just towards the latter half when all the songs just start... not meshing together at all that the album really kind of falls apart for me. Like, I start questioning what I'm listening to and why it's coming after this song and it kind of feels like I just set the album on shuffle after a bit.

overall rating: 3/5. It's a very random album in some ways, and this time around there really is nothing that stands out. Not even a sense of like.. as a "whole" the album is OK so... 

Am I disappointed? Not really. Haha. I mean, I've never really been in to Arashi for their music anyway and I think when I hear some of these songs in concert my opinion will end up changing anyway. One thing for sure though is that this definitely does not make it anywhere near the top of my preferred Arashi albums.