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 😉

Farewell

Lyric by Hyde, Music by Ken
This is a very beautiful song. They use this song as an opening in Shibuya 7 days, at that time they were playing behind a semi transparent curtain…the scene is so unforgettable. This song touches my heart so deeply. Love and nothing but love for this song. I love how Hyde raises his voice in this song and ken’s solo is also beautiful. The piano intro is so well-known (for Larc’s fans). Tetsu’s bass also felt dominant in this song.

My favorite line:

この　風　の　よう　に　優しかった　なら　（Kono kaze no you ni yasashikatta nara）
果てない　切なさ　に　凍えた　貴方　を　（Hatenai setsunasa ni kogoeta anata wo）
守って　上げられた　の　に　（Mamotte agerareta no ni）

Caress of Venus

Lyric by Hyde, Music by Ken
A very cheerful song. This song is still being played in their recent concert. It’s a timeless song. Caress of Venus is so fun to dance with. We can hear percussion that sounds like a disco kinda song. The last lines of this song, the ones that start with ‘kimi…’ are the perfect lines to sing together.

My favorite line:

君　の　すべて　が　。。。　（Kimi no subete ga …）
君　を　誰　に　も　。。。　（Kimi o dare ni mo …）
君　の　ため　なら　。。。　（Kimi no tame nara …）
君　の　上げよう　。。。　（Kimi no ageyou …）
君　に　瞳　は　浚われて。　（Kimi ni hitomi wa sarawarete.）

Round and Round

Lyric and Music by Hyde
I love this song!! When they started singing it in P’unk~en~Ciel version, I was a bit disappointed because it wasn’t as good as the original…but as time goes by, I start liking the PeC Version as well. I don’t know what it is about this song that makes me crazy about it. Maybe the guitar, maybe the melody…I simply don’t know! It’s like falling in love with someone and we just can’t explain it. In reincarnation Live, Hyde used voice effect to sing this song. It’s the shortest song in this album.

My favorite line:

Itami wo shiranai kodomo wa kirai
Atama o butsukeru made kizutsukeru kara
Ima made ittai nani o osewattekita no
Jibun no chi o miru made chikayoranaide

Flower

Lyric and Music by Hyde.

This is a legendary song. So cheerful and never made me bored. It is both beautiful and cheerful. I can’t stop moving my body whenever I heard this song. We can see in its PV that Hyde is also moving all the time hehehe. Hyde’s voice is really high in this song, when he sings ‘like flower’. As he grows older, they lower they lower it a bit.

My favorite line:

Itsudemo kimi no egao ni yurete
Taiyou no you ni tsuyoku saiteitai
Mune ga itakute itakute kowaresou dakara
Kanawanu omoi nara semete karetai

Good Morning Hide

Lyric by Sakura, Music by Hyde
Hehehe I can’t stop smiling if I remember how silly this song is. The 1st time I heard it, I was so sure that it is sung in Japanese and half English, as usual, but when I say the lyric, I was shocked…it was full English. I love you Hyde but… anata no Eigo no hatsuon wa hontou ni kowai desu yo! This song takes longer time to sip into my brain and my heart but I’m not gonna say that it’s a bad song. Once I like it, I really like it. the beat is fun to listen to. There’s something interesting about this song that makes me listen to it again and again. I like the last part the most.

My favorite line:

The scene you accept and you see
It’s easy for me to understand
It must be the same as mine

The Fourth Avenue Café

Lyric by Hyde, Music by Ken
I don’t think I need to say anything about this song!! This song lingers in my head for years. There is nothing but love toward this song. It’s beautiful, lovely and cheerful. I will never get bored listening to this song no matter how many time I listen to it. It starts with a slower tune and then the tempo become faster. This song is rich with many kind of music instrument.

My favorite line:

Kisetsu wa odayaka ni owari o tsugeta ne
Irodarareta kioku ni yosete
Sayonara…ai o kureta ano hito wa
Kono hitomi ni yurameiteita

Lies and Truth

Lyric by Hyde, Music by Ken
Just like Farewell, this song is so beautiful. I love how the song flows naturally. I always enjoy seeing Hyde singing this song in their live performance, Hyde looks so absorb into the song. The string makes this song more beautiful.I also love the PV for this song.

My favorite line:

Kimi ga meinakute mienakute
Nando mo yobikakeru yo
Kono yoru ni Mayotte shimau

風 に 消えないで

Lyric by Hyde, Music by Tetsu
Another cheerful song 🙂 I like the way it makes me move my body following every beat of this song. Seeing its PV is really fun, tho Hyde looks more like a woman than a man…but I like the color a lot. I think what makes this song so nice to dance with is Sakura’s drum, the beat is perfect.

My favorite line:

Lookin’ for you
Doko mademo tsuzuku sekai kara tsuretasetanara
Kissin’ your mind
Awaku yurare sora no hate made tadoritsukesou

I Wish

Lyric by Hyde, Music by Tetsu
Let’s sing together!! It’s a fun song that makes people want to sing along. It reminds me of an old western song but I could never put my head together and remember what that song is. I wish they would play this song more often. It’s so perfect to make the audience sing together. PeC had turned this song into a more powerful song and it is one of my favorite PeC songs.

My favorite line:

Kimi wa dare yori mo taisetsu na hito dakara
Donna ni saigetsu ga nagaretemo warateite hoshii

Dearest Love

Lyric by Hyde, Music by Tetsu
I looooove this soooong *singing this line in the same tune as Dearest Love*. Dearest Love is my dearest song of this album. This is the slowest song of this album but it touches my heart so deep. I like the way it the vocal changes, from a soothing voice to a more pressing voice and then become a beautiful falsetto. When I see it in Reincarnation Live I was so touched by it, I almost cry. Tetsu’s high voice is a valuable bonus for this song

My favorite line:

Dearest love dakishimeteru
Toki ni kaze ni michibikarete
Anata o mitsumeteita
Kono sebute wa maboroshi na no

Here are 30 seconds preview of the album:

This is part of my tribute series