The album everyone has been waiting for ... Hey! Say! JUMP's 'S3ART' album review!
(Gif Credit: Me~ Look at Daiki, what a happy dancing penguin.)
So this is it, the album everyone has been waiting for ... for the past couple months - Hey! Say! JUMP's third album 'S3ART' (Smart). So they finally released their third album ... Hmm ... I'm pretty neutral about this one.
First of all, when trying to download this album, I learn that it is essential for a JE fan to learn Chinese. It is because (from what I see) it seems that Chinese fans always get their CDs and albums first and they would always post on Weibo and upload it onto Chinese download sites. I tried to download the album ahead of time on kuai.xunlei and it failed ... terribly.
And so I decided to be a good fan and waited until after the 18th to download the album and the MVS. Although, previews of the MVs were already uploaded onto Instagram ... spoilerssssssss. Okay, now on with the review!
Warning: Possible Rambling in this Review.
「 FOREVER 」
"BOOM! HERE COMES THE BOYS! EVERYBODY MAKE SOME NOISE!" This is the song that literally everyone loves. /EVERYONE/ I don't see a single person that doesn't like this song at all. I remember seeing some people describing this song as fierce, just like Ride with Me. Now feel free to hate me but I do not like this song. It's an okay song, but I don't really like it that much. I honestly feel that this is a pretty overrated JUMP song and that it's good that they're promoting "Ready Go" more than this song.
When I first listened to the concert rip for the song, I hated it. Everyone sounded like they were screaming and screeching into their microphones.
... /GASSSSSSSP; Now that I think about, they're just like LoVendoЯ. No matter how much they try to sound cool and tough, they will always fail and will always sound too idol-like. Too happy. They're trying too hard and it will just make it worse.
JUMP is trying too hard in this song to sound cool and tough. They're trying too hard. These types of songs (these pop-rock songs) don't suit them that much. Are they trying to change their image? I think that with this song, they're trying to do a bad boy image. They can do a bad boy image visually, but not vocally. The only catchy part of this song would be "Say OH OH OOOOOH~" and that's it. That's the only thing I find catchy about this song. Again, I didn't really like this song that much.
Lyric-wise, this is a pretty good song by the way. I enjoyed reading the translation of the lyrics. Now to be honest, I was disappointed with the MV for this. Apparently, they went Hello! Project on us did a concert MV (typical.) I really wanted them to create a real MV for this song, not give us concert footage of it. /now i know how you guys felt when morning musume did a concert mv for what is love/ I do commend them on using different camera angles and adding those random light leak textures onto the videos. It made the boys look good. However, because of that, it kinda makes it harder to gif this video. (Gifing live performances is haaaaaaard.)
Final Verdict: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
「 Ready Go 」
"ARE YOU READY FOR LOVE?" This song reminds me of "School Girl" off the get-go. It has that happy-go-lucky feel to it. Unlike "School Girl," I actually did enjoy this song. This seriously sounds like a very happy song. I'm actually pretty happy that they're promoting this song and performing it on music shows instead of FOREVER. Whoever in the management decided to promote this song over FOREVER, I love you now. Thank you for making the right choice!
The intro for this song was really, really adorable. It reminded me of video games! It would've been nice though if they kept that intro consistent throughout the entire song. It would've been nice ... /sigh; Oh wells, it can't be helped. At first, I didn't really like this song at all. I listened to a 30 second (?? Was it 30 seconds?) preview of it on the official website (Johnny's maybe? I don't remember! I found the link via Tumblr) and it didn't really appeal to me. However, now that I listened to the entire song, I absolutely love this song.
I like these kinds of songs for JUMP. It's very ... idol-like. It's a very fun and preppy song and suits their image more than FOREVER. Lyrics-wise, this is an ultra cute song! SERIOUSLY. IT'S SO CUTE; IT GIVES ANOTHER REASON TO LOVE IT MORE THAN ... that other song. I loved the reading the translation; it's so cute. Reading the lyrics, it gives me the image that this is about a first date. Like the guy can't wait to go on his first date with the girl he likes~ OMG, it's like Shoujo manga-material. This is song is seriously so cute, I can't hate this song at all. omg.
Final Verdict: ★★★★★★★★☆☆
「 切なさ、ひきかえに 」
Ahh, another JUMP/BEST song that starts with the letter 'S.' How many songs started with 'S' now? There's School Days, Spicy, Snap, Scramble, Score .. /goes onto iPod to find more song; Uhh ... Screw and Su • Ri • Ru (Thrill). Damn, so many songs that start with the letter 'S'. Anyways ... BLESS YOU YABU. BLESS YOU FOR WRITING A BEAUTIFUL SONG! BLESS YOU. T-T
Okay, why wasn't this song given a real MV? Why was this given a concert MV? Why is that the concert MV for 'FOREVER' is better than the concert MV for 'Setsunasa, Hikkikae ni'? THIS IS NOT RIGHT PEOPLE. THIS IS NOT RIGHT. The song deserves more than this! It deserves a real MV! But then again ... I don't trust JE and the creativity for MVs that much anymore. I feel like they went Hello! Project/AKB48 on us ... errrrr-
Their harmonies are okay for this song and I love how they just gave almost all the solo lines to Yabu~ And Yamada only received like ... 15-20% of it? Yes, it's kinda sad that the rest of the members were given only 20% of the solo lines to share but that's not the point! YABU RECEIVED LIKE 60% OF THE SOLO LINES. THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE. From now on, Yamada should only received 20% of the solo lines, give the rest of the lines to the better vocalists like Yabu and Daiki and Hikaru and Yuto! Basically everyone but him. :D /no offense, yamada/
Ehem, moving on. Lyrics-wise, this is really beautiful song and I admire Yabu's work as a song writer. ' Its sepia color increases the color of my darkened heart, that powerful, gentle, momentarily fragile gaze ' .... ' You are my light. Deeply in love with each shape that you show, one by one. So you are my light. In exchange for this sadness, I’ll reach out and grasp these hands ' So many adjectives, omg. But seriously, this is a really touching song. He's wishing for his happiness. Oh Yabu ... </3
Final Verdict: ★★★★★★★★★☆
「 Candle 」
My first impression of this was that ... I hated it. I really hated it. When I listened to the song the first time ... I was only 30 seconds into the song and I ultimately dropped it. I skipped to the next song, which was Pastel. I had literally had to just sit down, get myself tied to a chair, and force myself to try to listen to the entire song. Okay, I didn't tie myself to a chair but you get my point, right? Actually, right now, I'm forcing myself to listen to the song again so that I can write a proper review for this song. /whacked;
The instrumentals to this song did not appeal to me that much, which is the main reason why I don't really like this song. For me to like the song, I need a catchy hook. Even in ballads just like this, I try to look for those tiny catchy hooks that I like. However, there really wasn't anything catchy in this ballad. It's really, really forgettable. After listening to the song, I instantly forget what it sounds like it. Sorry guys ... orz.
Also, I feel like this a pretty Yamada-centric song. Even those song of the member did get some solos in this song - they only got to sing either a few words, or only one life. As usual, Yamada got a majority of the solos. Well he wrote this song, so him getting all the solos should be guarantee. However, it would've been nice if the the line distribution can become more equal. Yamada can have his solo lines, but it would've been nice to hear more from Yuto and Daiki and Yabu. Sometimes, I feel that this should've been a solo song for Yamada instead. Just a solo song for him.
I will commend Yamada on his song-writing, which is a BIG plus for this song. The song seems so long yet the translation seems really, really short. So short, so short ... orz. The story behind this song is so touching, he was inspired by a fire on the candle to write a pretty beautiful ballad. (I'm starting to fall in love with him again ... ) From the lyrics, the song gives off a personal, heartbreaking aura to it. The guy is wishing happiness for the girl he loves ... This is so romance drama like. It touches your heartstrings. ' Even if we never meet again, in order to forever preserve that smiling face, I will wish for that fire that holds my feelings for you to disappear. ' You can hear my heart shattering into pieces, oh Ryosuke ... </3
Final Verdict: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ (the lyrics was a BIG plus for this song)
「 パステル 」
Another cutesy, happy-go-lucky song like Ready Go~ The song title is so cute, omg. Pastel~ However, unlike Ready Go, this song is pretty forgettable at times as well. It's almost as forgettable as Candle. Actually .. it's a little bit more memorable than Candle but still .. it's pretty forgettable as well. Sorry ... orz. Also, off the get-go, this song really reminds me of Dream5.
The line distribution of the song is pretty even, but it's focusing a little more on Chinen which it's pretty cool~ I think this type of song suits Chinen's vocals the best. I wished that Inoo could've had more solo lines since the song also really suited his vocals, in my opinion. Hmm ... what else ... Oh, this song sounds like it could be an anime opening theme. As I was listening to it, the first thing that would come to my mind is "Is this going to be an opening theme for an anime?"
As said before, regrettably, this song is also pretty forgettable like Candle - compared to Ready Go. But it has such as cute song title though ... ;o; I think the only catchy part of the song that I would sometimes remember would be the chorus and that's it. Again, it's a pretty forgettable song. What a shame, this song has potential. I wish that there was more that I could about this song ..
Final Verdict: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
「 ゆーと叩いてみた。 」
OOOOOOH. YUTO'S DRUM SOLO. This works best as an interlude, it's like "You're halfway there! Halfway done with the album!" I don't think a lot of people really appreciate Yuto's drumming skills that much ...WELL AT LEAST I LOVE THE DRUM SOLO. This is something different that hasn't really been done before ... it makes the album a bit more unique. Also, I wonder if anyone noticed this but his drum solo transitions into Compass Rose very well. Don't put your songs on repeat, turn it off. Listen to Yuto's drum solo and see how it transitions into Compass Rose very well~ This is pretty brilliant. Yuto. ♥
Final Verdict: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
「 コンパスローズ 」
Compass Rose is also another pretty song-title, omg~ This is also another pretty fun song, similar to Ready Go and Pastel. Compared to Pastel, I enjoyed listening to this song more and is a little bit more memorable. However, like Candle and Pastel, Compass Rose is also a pretty forgettable song in general. I like to think of Compass Rose as the hidden gem of this album~ I really like this song. It's like a remastered version of Dash!! (Yuto wrote the song and it was featured on their first album~)
This is a JUMP band song, at least .. I think it is ... At this point .. I'm pretty used to it by now. At first, I didn't really JUMP band when they were first featured in the second album. But then again, I didn't really like the second album at all. Yuto's drum playing served as a main base for the instrumentals, which is a plus for me~ This song is a really nice song yet no one really likes this song because of how forgettable it can be ... /cries;
I feel like this is a very Hikaru-centric song. This song really suits Hikaru's vocals the best! The line distribution for Compass Rose is pretty okay in general. What else ... I feel like I should talk more about this song. Again, this is the hidden gem of the album. If you all actually take the effort to listen to this song, I think you'll really like this song as well. At first, I didn't really bother to listen to it since I just assumed that it was just like Pastel. I WAS DEAD WRONG.
I honestly wish that this song is promoted; this song really has potential. JE, you should give me the album mp3s ahead of time. I'll tell you what songs to promote, I'll even tell you how to make good proper MVs for the album as well. Seriously. This song deserves to be as popular as FOREVER. FOREVER, you need to step down and let Compass Rose take over. I cannot hate this song, I really liked it. I enjoyed listening to this song~
Final Verdict: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
「 Come back...? 」
BLESS YOU YAOTOME HIKARU, BLESS YOU. GOD DXMN IT.
THIS IS MAH JAM~♪ As you can tell, I really really love this song. Bless you, Hikaru, seriously. Thank you for writing such a nice song that helped regained some faith into Hey! Say! JUMP. I fell in love with this song the minute I heard. It's that good of a song! Out of all the tracks in the album, this is probably the most played song. Why is this song not as popular as FOREVER? Seriously! This song is pretty freakin' fabulous.
I honestly think that this shouldn't be on the album. In my own personal opinion, this song should've been its own single. It's way too good! This song needs to be its own single. I'm honestly looking forward to seeing how they'll perform this song live. I'm imagining that they'll do this pretty cool dance formation but then again ... JE dances tend to be very lackluster. /sigh; Again, this song is way too good. It has so much potential.
This song feels really really short, I think it only has two verses and that's it? 60% of the time, the song mostly consists of rap lyrics by Hikaru~ I really don't like JUMP rapping at all. They failed at rapping in Ride with Me, and AinoArika. So now I'm a bit weary when I hear a member of JUMP rapping. But this is Hikaru's song~ He's mostly doing all the rapping~ So it's all okay now~
I really want to pointt out the chorus, it's super catchy ... omg.
“ 脳ある君は爪を隠すＣａｔ 胸を引っ掻くようなＳｍｉｌｅ
Ｙｏｕ‘ｒｅ ａ ｌｉａｒ 何回巻き戻されてるのか… また君を愛してしまう
「鈍」「廃」「奇」「美」「乱」どうした？ 君の散乱する愛
Ｙｏｕ‘ｒｅ ａ ｌｉａｒ 後悔の理論 後退の意図 Ｃｏｍｅ ｂａｃｋ．．．？ 何が？ ”
I seriously commend Hikaru. /claps; This song is freakin' flawless. I love how he played with the words like that. This is probably my most favorite song from the current JUMP by far. Ugh, I don't know what else to say about this song. It's just freakin' perfect. I have yet to read the English translation; however, I'm really looking forward to~ I really want to read it~
Final Verdict: ★★★★★★★★★★
「 RELOAD 」
OH~ OH~ OH~ This is also mah jam~♪ When the radio rip for RELOAD came out, I instantly loved it~ It's pretty catchy and different from what JUMP has released so far. Also, Daiki wrote this song~ Yea! Go Daiki! Whoo! lol As expected, this is a really Daiki-centric song. I feel like this song suits his vocals the best and I really want to hear more JUMP songs like this. Like a majority of the other songs on this album, it has potential but sadly FOREVER outshined it.
Despite how great this song sounds, I was pretty disappointed with the lyrics when I read the translation. The lyrics feel like it's all over the place and the English of the song didn't really help at all. I don't understand what the point of this song is ... For songs like 'Setsunasa, Hikkikae ni' and 'Candle' - the lyrics transitioned well with each other and was able to tell a story. I was able to understanding the meaning of the song. But for RELOAD, everything feels broken and all over the place.
I honestly do wonder how they'll perform this song live ... /GASSSSSSSSSP; Maybe Keito will be playing the guitar. The guitar was used as the main base for the instrumental. Keito plays the guitar. Back to the point, I really do want to see how they'll perform this song. I don't think they can do a proper dance for this song. It doesn't sound like a dance song. Hmm ....
Final Verdict: ★★★★★★★★☆☆
「 はじまりのメロディ 」
To be honest, I don't really like this song that much. I think they were trying to go for a remastered version of 'Thank You ~Bokutachi Kara Kimi e~'. This is a very predictable ballad; it's way too predictable. I'm getting kind of sick of ballads now. I was secretly hoping for this song be a happy-go-lucky song~ I was wrong. It's growing onto me at a very, very slow pace. However, to me, it's still a very forgettable song. I do love the harmonies and the lyrics are beautiful. But its way too predictable, forgettable ... /sigh;
Final Verdict: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ (This is me, being nice)
「 My World 」
BONUS SONGS~! If you buy the first press of the regular edition, you'll get a bonus disk that has five extra songs~ 'My World' is the first of five~ Hmm ... The song really gives off a very jazzy, groovy feel to it~ It makes it really unique~ Okay, now that I compare this song to Compass Rose - this is the JUMP band song. It's not bad actually. As said before, I have gotten used to hearing JUMP band songs now. It's going to be a continuous thing, might as well get used to it.
HIKARU'S BASS~ I can clearly hear Hikaru playing his bass, ouo. I think all the members did very good in this song, they didn't really out-shine each other. This is just one of those songs that everyone is equal, no one out-shines each other. This is one good thing about the song. Also, when listening to this song, it reminded me of ˚C-ute's 'Tokai no Hitorigurashi.' It just reminds me of Tokai no Hitorigurashi. 'My World' gives off that similar aura and (I assume) a similar message as well.
"You know what? It's my life, this is my world! I'll do whatever I want~!"
Final Verdict: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
「 ともだちだよ 」
'Tomodachi da yo~!' The first thing that came to my mind was 'Is this a Friend-zone song? Omg~' Just like Ready Go and all those other songs, this is also another very cutesy and happy song from JUMP~ Unless, the English translation comes out and actually shows it to be a very sad friend-zoned song ... Ooooh. I honestly enjoyed listening to this song more than My World~ It's a bit more catchier plus the song title is cute. 'Tomodachi da yo~!' Friends~
Just like Pastel, this song reminded me of Dream5 off the get-go. Specially, it reminded me of 'Minna de Te wo Tsunagou.' In some parts of the song, it really reminded me of the song. Now, I really love 'Minna de Te wo Tsunagou'~ And I love Dream5 btw~ Also, I really did hearing the boys' vocals in this song. Similar to 'My World,' they don't really outshine each other~ The line distribution is pretty much okay and equal for this song~
I really do want to see them perform this song live~ I can imagine this song to be an encore song~ This would be the last song that they would since in a concert, everyone's smiling and holding hands, confetti would be falling from the ceiling .. I can imagine this to be a very happy performance. That is unless, I find out that this song is actually a sad friend-zone song later on. /whacked;
Final Verdict: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
「 Yes！ / 怪盗y-ELLOW-voice 」
People under the ages of 15, you should not be listening to this song or reading the translation! This is a warning! I was really surprised when I read the translation for this song. I honestly did not expect it at all ... I didn't expect the song to be so .... Uhhh ... Again, warning - people under the ages of 15 should not listen to the song or read the translation. I don't care if your bias is Yamada, Hikaru, or Takaki - don't you dare do it. Oh hey, I finally mention Takaki for the first time in this post~ /whacked;
Okay, so for this album, they're doing this sub-unit songs thingy. In this sub-unit, we have Yamada and Hikaru and Takaki~ Not a bad trio~ They're pretty decent vocalists~ But what is with that sub-unit name? Seriously? I can make up better sub-unit names than that! And I thought Hello! Project had pretty bad sub-unit names ... but hey, this is Johnny's! Their unit names don't makes sense ... they have a boy band named Sexy Zone and their members is only fourteen years-old. /sorry sexy zone, forgive meeeeeee/
This is a rated PG-15 song. The song itself is pretty decent, the vocals don't really stand out and the instrumentals are pretty okay. At first, I didn't really know that this was a PG-15 song. I was a bit suspicious about the sound of the faucet turning in the beginning ... but I didn't realize it until I read the translation. Wow .... we finally got 'that' kind of song from JUMP. ' I don’t want to give it to anyone else, that sweet teasing breath that gives my chest that vibration when I touch you…“Tell me how you want it done” ' Uhhhh ...
I don't want to imagine what the live performance for this song ... Oh god, think of Ryosuke ... I'm just gonna go hide now. Overall, this is a pretty decent-ish song. The most catchy part would be the chorus, in my opinion.
Final Verdict: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
「 Super Super Night / ナイトスタイルピーポー 」
And in this song, we got YabuJimaChii~ Yabu, Yuto, and Chinen~ Out of all three sub-unit songs, I regret to say this but this is most forgettable song. I really tried to this song, I really really tried you guys. This unit consists of three very good vocalists~ Buuuuut ... out of all the three sub-unit, this is still my least favorite. The song is very good; it gives off a very fun, party vibe to it~ The song also sounds like something that Arashi would sing. Well Chinen loves Arashi so .... /shrugs;
I'm sorry, there really isn't anything else I can say about this song. /whacked;
Final Verdict: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
「 Oh! アイドル! / 愛追I隊 」
And finally, last but not least, the most FABULOUS idol song ever! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SONG~ In this sub-unit, we got the remaining three: Arioka Daiki, Inoo Kei, and Okamoto Keito. If JUMP were to bring back the sub-units for future singles and albums, I want this sub-unit to come back! I absolutely love this trio and this song~ This is pretty frekin' fabulous.
Out of all the sub-unit songs, this is my most favorite~ It really gives off a very fun vibe to it and it made me smile and laugh~ The instrumental gave off that bit of a rockabilly feel to it - you know .. those kinds of songs you hear at the beach during the summer. It reminded of the SatoUmi songs from Hello! Project, tbh. ... /GAAAASP; I can put this on my summer jams list!
“If you’re the sun, then I’m the…the laundry. A-I-O Love Chasers” If you did not laugh at the line, I don't know what to say to you~ So leave! Lol, just kidding! Don't me alone guys, seriously. /whacked; Also, I think Keito did a decent job when it came to the rapping~ Good job, Keito! Yea~
I really want to see these four perform this song live~ Really badly~ I'm imagining that this would be a pretty fun, dorky, funny performance~ Like they would try to act cool on stage - wearing black sunglasses and pretty flashy outfits - but during the performance, they would be SO DORKY and CLUMSY~ OMG, THAT WOULD BE SUCH A CUTE PERFORMANCE~!
Why wasn't this song given an MV? Now that I think about it, the songs for the sub-units should've been given MVs. /GAAAAAASP; I can see it now, InooDaiKeito will be at the beach. Like at first, they would be stuck cleaning the beach (Kaigen Seisou Danshi~) but then their song will begin to play on the radio~ They would be wearing sunglasses and trying to act cool~ But in the end, they would just look very dorky and clumsy~ Ahh, I want an MV like that~ Also, now that I think about it (again), the song reminds me of DISH// Saisho no Koi ~Motetakunai~ OUO
Final Verdict: ★★★★★★★★★★
So yea, that's all for this review! Whoooo ... It took me a pretty long time to finish this entry. Overall, this is actually a pretty good album~ It's a pretty decent album and I certainly like this better than their first and second album~ Well, that's all for now~ Until my next post~ Jyaa ne~
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Song: "The Power" by ˚C-ute
Mood: Dorky, Ditzy ((☆＾▽ ＾☆)╭
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