L’Arc~en~Ciel’s 8th Album: REAL

We finally reached to Laruku’s last album…well, at least that was what people thought at that time. Real was released in August 30, 2000. After they have done their tour, they went quiet for about 3 years. Each member has their own personal projects (I will write about their personal projects before Smile). They released 4 best albums and people started thinking that they have broken up. Thank God they were wrong it was just the beginning of their first long break.

In my opinion (others might think differently), Real sounds darker then the other albums in Yukihiro’s era. The songs are not easy to grip, only a couple of songs can easily be liked by non-Laruku fans.

There are 4 PVs from this album; Love Flies, Neo Universe, Finale and Stay Away (see the PV on the second page).

Now, let’s talk about the songs:

Get Out From The Shell

Lyric by Hyde, Music by Yukihiro

Get Out From The Shell sounds a bit unusual for Laruku, almost all Yuki’s songs are different with Laruku’s other songs. This song might not easy to accept by non-Laruku fans, but for me this song is very interesting. I love the beat, especially in the refrain part, but I wouldn’t say this song as my favorite Yukihiro’s song. There are 2 versions of this song, the Japanese and the English ones.

My favorite line:

get rid of your notions
haven’t you realized yet? [do it]
get feel of your passion
haven’t you realized yet? [go for it]
you get out from the shell

L’Arc~en~Ciel 7th Album: Ray

Last month, I have already explained that Ark and Ray were released at the same date, however I didn’t want to review both albums in the same month. I chose to write about Ark first then Ray, the reason is simply based on alphabetical order.

Ark and Ray are the only twin albums released by L’Arc~en~Ciel, I hope they will make another twin albums somewhere in the future. Both albums were released in July 1, 1999. For me, Ark and Ray sounds different but similar, there is something that connected these 2 albums. I can’t choose which one I like more, each has its own special songs.

As part of their 15th anniversary, Laruku re-released Ark and Ray in 2006. There was one extra DVD in each album. Because I have already bought Ark, I didn’t feel like buying the new one, but I have not yet owned Ray, so I jumped right away toward this opportunity and spent 1/3 of my salary to by the Expanded Edition of Ray. I love the expanded edition’s cover more than the old ones. Their faces look like star constellations.

There are 4 PVs (which also means that there are 4 singles) from this album (I search them in youtube), Honey, Snow Drop, Kasou and Shinshoku. My favorite is without a doubt Shinsoku.

Here is what I think about the songs:

Shi no Hai (死 の 灰)

Lyric by Hyde, Music by Tetsu
This song is not an easy song to listen to. The beat is just not up to everyone taste. I admit that I myself need time to adjust to this song. The first time I heard it, it was in Grand Cross Conclusion Tour VCD, I found it a bit odd, but as time goes I grow to like this song more and more.

My favorite line:

Yume no yoni kimi o michibiku
kagayaki ga ori soso gebaiikedo
Shi no hai ka nani ka?
Unmei no toki ni suku ware ruka kakeyouze

L’Arc~en~Ciel 6th Album: Ark

Although the title said L’Arc~en~Ciel 6th album: Ark, but in truth Laruku’s 6th albums were Ark and Ray. These two albums were released at the same time, which is on July 1, 1999…however, if I wrote both album in one post, this post will be a very long post, therefore I decided to write about Ark this month and Ray for next month. Ark will be their 6th album and Ray will their 7th album.

I love both Ray and Ark equally. Just like Heart, Ark consists of 11 songs with different style. None of the song sounds similar with another. There are 5 PVs/Singles from this album. Forbidden Lover, Heaven’s drive, Driver’s High, Dive to Blue, and Pieces. Pieces can be considered as one of their best video.

Now, let’s talk about the songs.

Forbidden Lover

Lyric by Hyde, Music by Ken
Forbidden Lover is an addictive song, I can’t really tell you what it is about the song that makes it addictive but I can tell you that there was time when all I want to listen is nothing but Forbidden Lover. I love the way Yuki hit his drum, sounds simple but it gives deep meaning to the song. I admit that at first I don’t find this song interesting but it grew stronger on me little by little.

My favorite line:

moeagaru honoo ni torikakomare kuzureyuku fune ni inochi tsukamare
obieta hitomi wa ten wo aoide sakebu kami no na wo

L’Arc~en~Ciel 5th Album – HEART

This month’s tribute to one of the best bands in the world, L’Arc~en~Ciel, is running a little late because I have to write about their recent bet collection album, Quadrinity with its awesome packaging. I have written all albums in Sakura’s era…now, it’s time to walk along a better era than before, Yukihiro era. Yukihiro’s reigning era began from HEART.

Heart was released in February 25, 1998. The album consists of 10 songs with different sounds and styles. I find this album as their most complex album, each song has their own style. I really like how Yukihiro’s drumming style changes the sound of this band.

Even though Heart is full of great songs, but Laruku only released 2 PV/ singles from this album, Winter Fall and Niji. Winter Fall became their first song that can reach number 1 in Oricon List. Niji remains as one of their best PVs ever…in fact, for me, Niji is their first creative PV. Before Niji, all their PVs are just too standard and not very interesting.

Now, lets talk about the songs

Loreley

Lyric by Hyde, Music by …
Loreley is the first song where we can hear Hyde playing saxophone and he always play that instrument during their LIVE performance. The song has a mysterious feel which I can’t explain what it is. This first song of Heart gives us a glimpse of how different Heart is compare to their previous 4 albums. The sounds that really caught my attention are Tetsu’s Bass and Yuki’s drum.

My Favorite lines:

Hatenai nagareni wa setsuna no oto
Yurarete mori e yama e to tadayoo
Aisenai arasoisae nami ni nomare
Yudaneta uta wa anata e to shizumu

Quadrinity

Just like last month, I have to postpone my review of Laruku’s album (Heart) till 2 weeks from now (or maybe faster than 2 weeks) because I have other thing to write. I’ve just bought Quadrinity, Member’s Best Selections, L’Arc~en~Ciel.

Honestly, I don’t like buying collection of the best songs by Laruku because I already owned all their albums, buying their collections is a bit useless. The only collection I bought was the best c/w collections. However, Quadrinity is a special best collection and has special package with extra DVD, so I was tempted to buy it. And when I received it…whoa!! Awesome package!! It worth every cent I spent on it.

The CD case is made of glossy hard paper inside a transparent plastic case. The front cover’s image is an old wooden house with 4 windows and 4 mailboxes, the back cover’s image is an old tree with 4 bird houses.

When I open the case, the first one is Hyde Best. The CD has a blue bird on it and the image on the right is the front door of the old wooden house. Next come Tetsuya Best with an image of a pink bird. The image on the case becomes a close up look of the bird houses. Next is Ken Best with yellow bird on the CD. The image on the case is a close up on the 4 windows. The DVD is placed in the middle with the picture same picture as the back cover. Below the DVD we can see pictures of 4 birds. Below that picture lies Yukihiro Best with green bird on the CD. Each CD is connected with tree branches.

The fascination does not stop there!!!

L’Arc~en~Ciel 4th Album – TRUE

It’s time for another tribute for the best band in the world, L’Arc~en~Ciel. As usual, I always review Laruku’s album in the beginning of each month, however something happened early this month so TRUE has to be delayed till today. The delay was because of my review on Are You Ready? Mata Haato ni Hi o Tsukeru.

TRUE is the best album in Sakura’s era and one of the best throughout Laruku’s history. Too bad that this great album has to be shadowed by an incident that almost tear L’Arc~en~Ciel apart. Thank God they could recover from that incident. Sakura was caught by the police, he was using drug. In Japan, if the celebrity is using drug their popularity will decrease as if falling through a landslide. Because of Sakura’s irresponsible act, Laruku’s newest single at that time, 4th Avenue Café, was taken off the shelf and taken of Samurai X soundtrack. The band was left in confusion.

Fortunately they could come back from that unfortunate event. They have new drummer by the name Yukihiro Awaji…and I can’t stop thanking Sakura for his bad past, if he didn’t use drug, Yukihiro will never be in this great band and that would be a shame. Yukihiro is a better drummer than Sakura. L’Arc~en~Ciel music becomes more colorful once Yukihiro joined in.

For the video (30seconds preview of each song), I used their PV and their come back LIVE. In this live, we can hear how upset they were on Sakura. Hyde kept on saying ‘mukashi laruku wa’ or ‘mukasi no hito wa’. We can hear the bitter memory through his talk. Yukihiro was not officially Laruku’s member yet, he was still an additional palyer. After this concert, he became one of the steady members. Yukihiro is my number one L’Arc~en~Ciel member.

Enough with the past…let’s talk about the album. TRUE was released on December 12, 1996. This album is so colorful and beautiful. I never get tired of listening to this album. Compare to the previous albums, TRUE is very rich in sounds and melody. It’s   L’Arc~en~Ciel first masterpiece album. Each song has its own beauty. I love all the song.

There were singles (and therefore there were PVs) from this album. They are Flower, Lies and Truth, and Kaze ni Kienaide. 4th Avenue Café was also a single but it was taken off because of the drug issue.

It’s time to talk about each song. I think I’m going to write quite a lot for this album

Are You Ready? また ハ-ト に火 を つける! In Okinawa

In my series of Tribute to L’Arc~en~Ciel, I always begin each month with Laruku’s album…But for this month, True will be delayed till 2 weeks from now…because I’ve just seen this concert

Are You Ready? Mata Haato ni Hi o Tsukeru! In Okinawa is a Live DVD from the year of 2007, it was before Theater of Kiss. But I bought Theater of Kiss instead of this Live because Theater of Kiss consists of all songs from the album KISS…Now I regret that decision!! I should have bought this DVD too.

The concert starts with a little animation of stars and rainbow. And then their name appears one by one and each name is shot by an arrow to burn the name. It is quite catchy. When their logo for this concert was burnt, we can hear the intro of Seventh Heaven. Ken is wearing a formal shirt, looking like a man who is just coming from work to hang out with his friends. Yuki-Nichan is wearing sleeveless t-shirt and it shows all his muscle from drumming. Nichan’s hair is a bit unusual, it looks like Mohawk but not exactly. Tetchan is wearing his … I don’t know how to say this … wearing his own style . Hyde is following Tetchan, wearing many kinds of clothes thrown into one, a short vest on top of sleeves t-shirt, a tight black pant under his leopard look a-like pant, a long coat *I think* wrap around his hip, it makes him looks like wearing skirt.

Seventh Heaven is a perfect song for dancing and from the beginning of the song till the end, Hyde keeps on moving his body (and his hip – off course). I love seeing him move his body like that…makes me start thinking dirty … hehe. Hyde is really in his high energy throughout this concert, he won’t stop shaking his hip and makes my heart stops from time to time. Yuki is also in his high spirit, even when he isn’t drumming he keeps moving his head ups and downs…and don’t ask about Tetchan!! Who know how he always jumps around while playing bass. I think Ken is the only one with less energy here, I’ve seen him better before.

L’Arc~en~Ciel 3rd Album – Heavenly

It’s time for another post for my tribute to L’Arc~en~Ciel. Let’s talk about Laruku’s 3rd album, Heavenly.

Heavenly was released in September 1, 1995. In my opinion, Heavenly is their 1st cheerful album, the previous two albums (Dune and Tierra) sounds a bit dark and less cheerful. I do believe that this album can be easily accepted by many people.

There are 3 PVs from this album; Vivid Colors, And She Said and Natsu no Yuutsu. I like And She Said PV the most…Hyde looks like a high class and arrogant lady. Heavenly the album is also followed by Heavenly-films. I think this is the 1st official video they ever released.

Now, let’s talk about the songs, one by one…and just like what I’ve done before I’m going to write my favorite part of each song. I almost forgot to tell you that these favorite lines are based on the meaning of he lyric.

Still I’m With You

Lyric by Hyde, Music by Ken
I really like this song, the more I listen to it the more I like it. It’s an enjoyable song, I like the beat on this song

My favorite line:

まだ 見る 風 に 揺られ 身 を 負かせれ(Mada miru kaze ni yurare mi o makasere)
誰 より も うつくしく(Dare yori mo utsukushiku)
約束 の 無い 愛 に 憧れた まま(Yakusoku no nai ai ni akogareta mama)
どこ まで も 高く 舞い上がる (Doko made mo takaku maiagaru)