I’m a little surprised with how much TAKUYA just feels like appears in the 2 tracks alone for some reason. I’m kind of enjoying the laidback and slower pace of the song, I mean “EN” was like that but it lacked the speaking parts going on. Getting into new songs, One stroke for freedom starts off interestingly with TAKUYA under some electro filters which kind of surprised me a bit. Though what is good is the lyrical content of just being your own self and making choices on your own terms…it’s a really hard-hitting song, I just am not sure if I’m down with TAKUYA screaming it at me xD. I don’t think I’m here for the verses at all…it’s just kind of annoying to me. Though once the chorus comes in, I kind of enjoy it and works with the melody/arrangement. EN does start off promising though and I really liked TAKUYA’s vocal performance at that point, but once the band kicks in, the song just sounds unusual and kind of aggressive in a weird way I suppose? Like the minor chords are unusual and then TAKUYA’s spoken rap in the verse is beyond strange to my ears and doesn’t connect with me very much (he’s just yelling). I hope this was just a fluke and future singles won’t end up like this…Īs the opening track and promotional track for the album EN kicks things off with a wild banger of a song. BVCK is better, but treading familiar grounds too.
Pygmalion is just kind of rough and the whole singing+talkbox effect is already starting to be annoying especially using it for a ballad-type of song is just not gonna work with me here. Kicking off a new era and after releasing an instrumental best album (wht?), UVERworld kind of starts off on a weak single IMO. I mean it’s a good track, even better than “Pygmalion” but it’s still something I kind of wish UVER would move away from before it becomes stale. Even to the point where the final chorus actually has all the members playing.
I was hoping more of the band would show up, though BVCK is heavy on the electronics (something that’s kind of like “EDEN e”).
Giving me some slight 2000’s pop/punk vibes, BVCK just has a brighter energy. This one just doesn’t do it for me since UVER ballads aren’t exactly my cup of tea.Īt least the single’s B-side is a little more active and interesting to listen to. I do feel like these verses drag on quite a bit and I lose interest very fast even before the band actually jumps in and does something and it’s kind of a messy song even with them playing IMO. Besides their adventurous approach to rock, UVERworld have also won attention for Takuya∞’s dramatic scream-singing style, which adds an extra intensity to songs like “Core Pride.” As the 2010s progressed, UVERworld continued to push themselves musically, adding huge saxophone blurts to arena-ready bangers (“Touch Off”) and experimenting with vocal filters (“Odd Future”).As the leading A-side, the opening reminds me a lot of the songs they released through the “30” era (their last album) with the quiet opening with TAKUYA and some vocal filters to make it sound kind of mysterious and such. They’ve also become a constant presence on Japan’s music charts and have held concerts in venues both historic and humongous, including Nippon Budokan and Tokyo Dome. Emerging from Shiga Prefecture in 2002, the group-consisting of vocalist Takuya∞, guitarists Katsuya and Akira, bassist Nobuto, drummer Shintaro, and saxophonist Seika-introduced their fusion of techno and guitars with their debut single “D-TecnoLife.” The band’s novel take on Japanese rock helped them stand out and earned them spots on the soundtracks of some of the biggest anime in the country in the 2000s, including Mobile Suit Gundam 00, My Hero Academia, and Blue Exorcist. Six-member rock outfit UVERworld defies the familiar tropes of Japanese rock, mixing elements of electronic music and even saxophone notes into uptempo cuts centered around full-speed-ahead guitar playing.