Thoughts on LOVE
I thought of doing a movie review post today until I saw... LOVE is everywhere today! Off course the first instinct is to listen to it right away. As everybody knows, LOVE is Arashi 12th album, yes they've come a long way and this album adds on to the already huge pool of Arashi songs. Yesterday I complained to my friend that no matter how much I shuffle my playlist, it's always Arashi song, and no, I have other songs too, V6, NEWS, Kat-tun, K8, Yamapi, SMAP, Kinki, T&T (yeah, all Johnny's, but still, they're other than Arashi, right?), so what happen the those other songs? Then I realize that I just keep on adding Arashi songs (they're productive too!) that they ends up to be 70% of the total song list, and this album is going to increase that 70% to probably 75%. So, how this album fares? Regardless, this album will make #1 anyway, come on, it's Arashi, Johnny's #1 cash cow. They have to churn out 1 album per year, else probably Johnny's P&L will look slightly less desirable than the forecast.
Firstly, the cover cannot be cheaper looking than this. When it comes to Arashi, somehow their cover is getting more and more... Off course if we're looking from the concept, it tries to show the more mature Arashi, no more pastel cheery happy Potato, Myojo idol style covers. Nobody smiles, all try their best to look cool and suave and the graphic designer just need to paste the word Love on top of it (different color and slightly different pose for the other version). And Johnny's will make another tons of side money from the shop photos because of this. Then? If I make so much noise over the cover (I don't hate the cover, the boys definitely look good, heck Aiba-chan looks so pretty here, and definitely the shot is done professionally, but still, considering the effort, it's just so cheap, that's all), how about the content?
On the contrary to the cover, with this LOVE, Arashi reminds me to always expect the best from them. I've mentioned so many times in my other posts (I think), when listening to Arashi or Johnny's in general, never expect originality, but expect that they're here to make you happy and satisfied as fans aka customers. I LOVE every single songs (and that includes Sho-chan's solo!). They really thought through and arranged the songs neatly this time. I guess this time they have better planning, scheduling and probably a better song pool to select from. You have to listen the tracks in order, no shuffle, then you can already see an Arashi concert. The tracks show a very different side of Arashi, the mature Arashi, a bit bittersweet when I think about it again, ah, they're graduating from their pastel color idol image, but I do look forward to what mature Arashi will produce in the future. So many different expressions and emotions are displayed from 1 track to another that it feels like you're riding a roller coaster of LOVE (not so much different from watching their concert, I'd think). So imagine that you're in Tokyo Dome with your uchiwa and penlight, only there's nobody else, only you're sitting in that coveted arena seat, the lights are dimmed and bang...
Overall, this album just shot up to #2 in my list. My #1 is still TIME. To me, TIME is the epitome of Arashi. But LOVE shows me a grown up Arashi, the mark of adulthood and I look forward to the concert... in DVD T__T... I can almost see that this will be a REALLY GREAT CONCERT! Damn! I'll book a flight straight away to jet myself to Japan if I get a ticket (a fan girl can always dream!)... T__T