:: Reviews :: Rants ::

Hyde is a popular japanese singer from the well known band, L'Arc~en~Ciel, I decided to write this review on his first solo album, Roentegen, which shows the soft compositions Hyde can write as a solo artist. His other album, 666, is the complete opposite of this song, with all harder composed songs. And did I mention Hyde sings this all in English?

Unexpected isn't a horrible song. It's calming, most tranquil songs wish to achieve emotion rather than show off their musical skills. It is somewhat repetitive, while Hyde sings, "Unexpected, Promises woven" many times through out the song. The song gradually adds different instruments, a light muted trumpet, guitar arpeggios, which really just make the song lovely in itself.

This song tends to have a classical element which is really brought out by the orchestra in the beginning of the song. At around 1:30 of the song, Hyde pulls off a gentle falsetto which he then brings the orchestra into a sforzando, a quick decrease in volume, and immediately back up to the original tempo and sound markings. It then breaks with a basic rudiment drum pattern and a somewhat spanish style guitar playing in the background. This song is purely classical itself, and kind of has a heartwarming touch when listening to it.

The chords for this song are to die for. Hyde plays the guitar here, and I love all the chord work he's done for the arpeggios that fit just beautifully with not only to match his pitch, but fit wonderfully with the verses. Again, you can hear a faint trumpet, and a piano which kinda bounce back and forth between chords for some musical contrast within the song.

This song also has another good acoustic arrangement. The beginning of the song is pretty dry, but it is intended Oasis, and as intended, I believe Hyde composed the song to be that way, gradually picking up as if in a story. Think of it as someone walking in the desolate desert, seeking land or something as such. The chorus picks up in catchy, well thought out phrases, and it breaks out into a few measures of synthesizers which makes the song interesting.

This is probably one of my favorites off of this album. This song has a light jazzy feel to it, which is given off by not only Hyde's vocals, but expressed through the bass line. The drums are also well composed, and in between verses, an orchestra plays a soft chord for some interest. During the higher points of the song, a piano is heard in the background accenting various parts of the rhythm which sounds very beautiful. At another break, a trumpet comes playing a slow solo, the solo is easy, with a few runs here and there, but what really makes it lovely is the player's use of their scales in this song. And if you listen to this song, the title really does fit for the song as it has just a drop of everything represented in it.

Most people who want to hear what Hyde is all about, usually end up hearing this song for the first time. The song begins with some quick arpeggios, and then changes into some distinct chords and then eventually varies between the two. The song isn't composed to be very difficult, but Hyde does a good job of adding dynamic contrast, and changing up the chords for a variety of sound in this one.

This is certainly one of the darker songs from this album. The rest of them have had a upbeat composition, or a laid back one, but this song is written in minor chords which allows for a darker feeling. It starts out with some weird effects, and the guitar and cellos play an aggressive chord for awhile, and then the guitar changes to somewhat of a bad evil western theme shoot off. The cellos shine in this song I think, they have some lovely chords, and have a pretty soli. A trumpet again plays a soft solo, with a somewhat bluesy feel to it, which kind of makes the song even darker than it already is.

This song is similar to Evergreen, although it's a bit slower. The tempo is carried out carefully by the guitar in 6. This song reminds me of a soft breeze, very easy going. The song climaxes a little, with the orchestra, but only for a split second. Eventually, the orchestra takes over the song for a short soli. Overall, not a bad song.

This is the original Cape of Storms. I think I like the piano arrangement more, but this isn't a bad version either. The orchestra plays some slurred measures, along with synthesizers, and then breaks out into somewhat of a more upbeat style, but not too upbeat. At around 3:00, there is a beautiful violin solo, which gradually breaks back into Hyde's vocals. At around 4:00, Hyde sings the chorus again, almost nearly acapella, only with a faint sound effects, and a light keys. He performs a sforzando, and quickly goes into a falsetto that is completely genius, with the violin playing scales up to a high C. This arrangement has so many different elements in it, it's very hard describe, but it's a beautiful song, and I recommend you give it a listen.

Many people are attracted to this song, but it took me longer to develop such an attachment to it. It sounds like a romantic song taken place in Italy. And you might perceive it that way, and but the song is actually quite depressing. In the music video, I believe this guy turned a little mentally traumatized by the loss of a loved one. It has a pretty spanish guitar plucking chords in the background, along with a accordion?? And it also has a shaker which I think kind of completes the song itself.