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[review] Arashi - Popcorn album

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I planned to write this many days ago, but somehow I ended up writing it only today the queen of procrastination is here
There may be a lot of typos, because I didn't check before posting~


Since I've already talked about the singles when they've been released, I won't repeat myself, and I'll only talk about the original songs (but, among the 4 songs... Your Eyes is definitely the best one *_*)
But, first of all, the concept. From the title, you may think that it will be a cheerful album (and it is), but... since the title pas POPcorn, I thought there would be more 'pop'. And there isn't o_o
Also, those popcorn heads are terrible and I hate them, and the photobook is ugly too T_T For once, I don't regret buying the regular version (and I bought the Taiwanese version, 15 euros cheaper than the Japanese one)

Welcome to our party
You love it, or you hate it. Personally, I loved this song since the radio rip version came out, but I've also read about a lot of people who dislike it. It's particular, and surely different from the first songs of the previous albums. I like it because it's happy and have a nice rythm! And I think that it does a good job in 'introducing' a cheerful and 'light' album.

Kakenukero!
The stanzas are terrible T_T While the chorus isn't so bad... but it's still nothing special (not good enough to use some of my music player's memory)

We wanna funk, we need a funk (Jun solo)
A necessary premise: sorry to all Jun's fans who are reading this. I love him, ok?
Then... NO. Just NO. This song is so bad that it's embarassing. There isn't a melody, autotune everywhere, and don't let me start talking about the lyrics! This song definitely goes among the worst songs of Arashi's discography u_u
And... let's face it: Jun is handsome, he's awesome for so many things, but he's the worst singer of the group. But I still recognize that, in these years, he's gotten better: so, maybe... they should give him/he should choose songs ... uhm... I don't know, at least decent? Just saying. There are genres that he can sings nicely (like that performance of Wish he did for 5x10 tour, that was really good), but not the ones he's doing recently.
I don't care if he's experimenting, if he dares to do particular and different things. Trying new things is ok, but then you have to do them well; doing a different kind of song but singing it in a crappy way doesn't make any sense. And NO, things don't get better if, douring the performance, he takes off his shirt, moves his (thin, woman-like) hips, or if he's just being sexy (fandom's opinion, not mine. Shake it! performance was anything but sensual)
(I don't have anything against Jun. I adore him, I swear. It's just that sometimes I'm surprised at the comments about him)

two (Ohno solo)
The song itself is nothing great, but the thing that makes me like it is Ohno's voice and the way he sings this song. It's a perfect song for his voice. Tough... I have the feeling that the live performance will be very similar to the previous ones. Not that this isn't good, because seeing him dancing like he knows how and listening to his voice is always wonderful. I'm perfectly fine with it. But... I'd like to see him trying something different (don't know what, though XD), because he's so talented he can dare do experimenting a bit.

Waiting for you
Mmmmh... there are few parts I really like (the bit before the chorus), the refrain isn't bad... but, once again, it's nothing special to me. Still better than Kakenukero though)

Rakuen (Aiba solo)
I'll try to be as coherent as I can. Because this song is beautiful and I'm madly in love with it. I don't even know what to say because it's perfect, Every single bit of it is perfect. From the melody at the beginning (*______*) to the stanzas, to the refrain. And it suits Aiba a lot *_* And I can't wait to see the live version *_* And it's definitely the best Aiba's solo since Hello Goodbye.

Tabi wa Tsuzukuyo
I don't love it, neither I hate it. It's a genre that I don't like a lot... I mean, it's like a bad Mickey Mouse's March. There's something missing, but I don't know what O_O But it perfectly suits the concept of the album (better: what I think the concept is)

Sore wa Yappari Kimi Deshita (Nino solo)
Nino and his obsession with titles hard to remember...
It's beautyful, it's Nino's genre, it suits him and I like it. Since I don't want to write for the nth time how much I love the lyrics he writes, I'll say that I love whoever composed the melody, because this is the Neen's song with the best melody (do I have to talk about the instrumental bit around 3.20? No, because it's made of pure perfection)

Fly on Friday (Sho solo)
I'll first write the good points: it's 100000000000 better than Kono Mama Motto, and this is a thing that I really appreciate *still traumatized by that thing* Most of it isn't bad, actually it's quite nice. But then we have an abuse of 'oooooh yeaaah' and similar that I can hardly stand. Anyway, it's not bad, but I don't particularly like it. The last Sho's solo I liked was T.A.B.O.O. (and they still managed to ruin it with the life performance...)

Cosmos
WHAT.IT.THIS.SHIT. T____T It's like a damn soccer hymn, full of terrible choruses. Why. My poor ears. There's only one thing I like: Aiba's solo part after the first refrain (I know that Jun has a solo part that is almost the same... but his voice isn't the same, so... *duck stuck in the throat*). I don't even want to talk about the rap, because it's so awful I could cry.

Akashi
I have to confess something. When I first listened to this song (so, this summer) I was really disappointed. I can't find the tumblr post where I reblogged it, but I remember I thought it wasn't particular and it was boring. Like they were playing it 'safe'. I didn't like it at all. I listened to it again after popcorn was released... and this song is actually beautiful. Like, really beautiful O_O

Up to you
Uhm. I like the stanzas... then there's the refrain, wich isn't bad... mmh. Ok, maybe I don't sound enthusiastic about it, but I quite like this one (it's the best one among the 3 'meh' songs)

Generally speaking, this album is strange. Because some of the songs are really, really beautiful. Others are totally uninteresting. And some of them are shit. So, uhm, I don't know O____O


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