harmony: "JOINT" by Mami Kawada
At last!! I'm early as usual... I already have the JOINT single early. xD Well now, I have to thank minglong for posting it into her nipponsei website. ^_^ you rock! xD Now getting into the review proper, JOINT is Mami Kawada's 5th maxi single under Geneon Entertainment and produced by I've Sound. The title track was used as the opening theme to the *ehem* anime series used here in my current blog layout, Shakugan no Shana II (Shana of the Burning Eyes) while the B-side triangle is the ending theme. Here's the tracklisting:
- JOINT (4:01)
- triangle (4:50)
- JOINT -instrumental- (4:01)
JOINT, as we all know, is an electronic-rock style. Yes, it's rock indeed but there are still hints of techno in it which is the nature of the songs produced by I've Sound. It's actually cooler and more rocking taste compared to Get my way! which is also rock but has "summery" taste on it. Since it's scheduled to release on halloween, they made the single cover resemble a "gothic" taste (not pure but you can tell on Kawada's clothes). This song was composed by none other than the great Tomoyuki Nakazawa and arranged by him (as well) together with Takeshi Ozaki. If you'll notice in the instrumental parts, there are also some parts there that you'll be familiarized since you heard that specific "sound effect" in one of her songs. Yes, it's from Beehive that's why I specified who did the arrangement since the two (Tomoyuki and Takeshi) were the ones who arranged the Beehive song. Not as "creepy" as they wanted to be (since it's halloween) but the song's pretty cool and I can't wait to see full PV since I think that will be the one who has the connection to the halloween. If you must know, Tomoyuki has a knack for composing great theme songs for horror-genre animes specifically Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (Trivia: Tomoyuki was the one who composed Eiko Shimamiya's Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Naraku no Hana which are both sheer masterpiece, IMO). And one thing I'm glad with this song is that it is longer than her previous songs... I was kind of disappointed in the lengths of her songs because I missed listening to 5:00-6:00 songs. xD
triangle is great as well. When I heard the long version, I noticed it has an "inviting" tune which makes the song great. This "inviting" tune that I am saying is heard in the first part of the full version song which is not heard in the TV size that's why I tagged it as "great" now. If you notice, my impression for triangle before was "good" or "not bad" but it changed eventually after hearing the long/full version. xD But the fact that it's "inviting" tune is similar to the first tune that you'll hear from MELL's kicks! song. And the overall tune is still similar to KOTOKO's Sekka no Shinwa which I really like as well. Another thing, I think this song is like, one of Kazuya Takase's greatest composed song of the year. After the turndown (not actually failure) of the views of his current composed songs, I think this one is much more greater compared to Get my way! (since Kazuya was the one who composed this) and to her latest eroge song For our days which will be released next week. I think after hearing this song, my likeness to Kazuya Takase's composition went back to normal.
Overall, I think this single will do just great since her vocals, as usual, is powerful. And I never seen Mami as a gothic performer before and I think she can pull the string and perform very well. Another thing is that, Tomoyuki Nakazawa is still the best composer for Mami Kawada's songs (but I'm not saying that Kazuya Takase is not great) since I think they're much closer and majority of Kawada's songs in her SEED album was composed by Tomoyuki. And another point, I think this is one of her best singles ever released after Hishoku no Sora. Well, Akai Namida/Beehive and Get my way! singles are still great but they didn't sold pretty well... I hope this JOINT single will be able to equal or even surpass Hishoku no Sora's Oricon position and become more epic win for all die-hard I've Sound fans!
Well to be fair, JOINT was my first Mami Kawada song, so it's one of my favorite. In my opinion, it's her greatest song. However, triangle is my all-time favorite Mami song. Don't know why, I just seem to have sentimental feelings for it. In fact, it was triangle which lead me to listen to more of Mami's music. I always listen to it on special occasions.
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