REVIEWS

Favorite Track: HALO

Rating: 8/10

Review: I think Blue Limbo is the most harrowingly beautiful album of Hirasawa's entire discography. Which makes sense, considering how it touches on topics like the Cambodian genocide and the Iraq war. There's a lot of tragedy being conveyed, yet it still feels otherworldly, almost like a dream. The more slow-paced songs like HALO and I think help sell that feeling. But then you're hit with High Minded Castle, which screams at you to realize this is reality. The progression of ideas throughout the album is just so well executed. The only reason this isn't a 10/10 album is because some of the songs are more or less just there, and don't add too much to the overarching story.

Favorite Track: Mirror Gate

Rating: 10/10

Review: This is the perfect album. Both musically and lyrically there is a motif going on throughout the entire album, and each song fits so well together to tell a very compelling story. Yet, each song can stand extremely well on its own too. And oh my, there is no other album in his discography where Hirasawa's voice sounds so expressive. How he reflects the exhaustion of a burnt-out man in Planet Roll Call. How his anger builds up in the verses and finally explodes in the chorus of Royal Road, Paradise. How there is a hint of sadness in his voice, even when trying to be reassuring, in Visible Sea. How, despite everything, pathetically desperate he sounds for even a sliver of hope in Astro-Ho! Homing. As the last of the Dystopian trilogy, he really honed in on the balance between prayer and despair. I always come back to this album because it feels so real, like a genuine plea for someone to listen. And the banger songs. I love you Mirror Gate.

Favorite Track: LANDING

Rating: 2/10

Review: Bro. What. Almost everything about this album feels... uninspired. Probably because it is. I actually listened to the entire album for the first time in a while to write this review and it sure was painful. It's an album that was made as a knee-jerk reaction to COVID and you can really feel it in how rushed the lyrics feel. At some points Ranks of Burning Flowers there are pauses in words that just don't make any damn sense, which is sad because his lyrics are some of my favorite parts of his other music. Also BEACON of Memory is one of the worst songs I have had the displeasure of listening to. I'm giving it 2 points only because LANDING is actually a really solid song and Ghost Train is acceptable.

Favorite Track: Power to Dream

Rating: 7/10

Review: Is this... genuine happiness and hope I am hearing? I swear it's Konishi's influence lol.This album really captures the joys and whimsy of the early internet so well. Especially Power to Dream, it's such a good song even though it's treated as a meme in the community because of the music video. BIG flashing lights warning if you're curious to watch it yourself. Now, I have the +3 version which means I got Rocket Shoot, http, and The Day of Beginning as extra tracks, and all three of those are pretty solid songs too. I especially like listening to The Day of Beginning while out on my morning walks. With all of that said, I'm giving it a 7/10 because while the good songs are really good, there are also some forgettable ones dragging the album down. Rarely am I feeling up to listening to the album as a whole...

Favorite Track: ENOLA

Rating: 9/10

Review: Every time I listen to the album as a whole, I keep thinking "I forgot how good this album is!". It's not that I don't listen to songs that aren't ENOLA, it's just that ENOLA is too good of a song that I get stuck repeating it instead of moving on and listening to the other tracks. There are 100% other masterpieces on this album though, like LAYER-GREEN and Black in White! I will say this album is where Fukuma's talents shine the most. ASHURA CLOCK is an absolute banger, and Satellite ALONE is a really beautiful track. The only thing keeping this from being a 10/10 album is ENN and SPIRITUS being weak in comparison to the other tracks sorry Konishi , but that's less and issue with those songs and more an issue of the other tracks just being THAT good.

Favorite Track: Para-Uniphs

Rating: 8/10

Review: Starting off the Kaku legacy strong! You've got the dark and grimy sounds of Para-Uniphs and Adore Me, I am TV. Then you also have the airy, frutiger-aero esque clearness of Space Hook and Cruise Psyclaon.And you absolutely cannot forget about the classic absolute BANGER that Big Brother is. Almost every song stands so well on its own and has so much personality, which is ironically the source of my only real gripe with the album. I never really have the urge to listen to the album as a whole because the whiplash from song to song is so strong. You're telling me Anti-Vistoron and Antimonesia are from the same album??? Get outta here. Also sorry, docking an extra point off bc I really, really don't care for Dual Perspective 3.

Favorite Track: Dμ34=Immortality

Rating: 10/10

Review: Banger after banger, what an awesome album to listen to. All the songs do a great job at hyping you up, and I think Hirasawa put all of his knowledge on making electronic music into making the most powerful-sounding album. It's like e took everything good from the Vistoron album and made it BETTTER. Every song just has SO much going on... Personally a massive fan of the vocal effects going on in Dμ34=Immortality and the ominous intro of Time-eliminating Light. I tend to not be that huge of a fan of instrumental tracks but something about Parallel Kozak makes me go crazy; the slightly off-beat heart monitor sounds are such a fantastic addition. Each individual song has so much personality, but they also share enough commonality to work amazingly as an album. The ONE gripe I have (that I'm not gonna take off points for because its so petty) is... could they not have thought of a better English title than White and Huge? The title sounds so grand in Japanese (白く巨大で), but that does NOT convey in the English ver.

Favorite Track: TRAVELATOR

Rating: 8/10

Review: Kai=Kai takes a pretty different approach from the previous two albums, where the composition and vocals of the songs feel more controlled. I sense a lot more calmness, although that may be because of the slower paced songs like Another Breathing Yuria and Echo-233. There's still definitely that Kaku funkiness in songs like TRAVELATOR and Ghost Aeroplane, which I appreciate because that's exactly what I'm looking for. And Shagan Daishi is an absolute bop, definitely THE hype song of the album. Overall, the songs are good, listening to the album as a whole sounds nice, but as a personal taste I wish there was just a little more chaos.

Favorite Track: TBD

Rating: TBD

Review: TBD

Favorite Track: Rotating between DUSToid, LEAK, CHEVRON, and ANOTHER DAY

Rating: 10/10

Review: Ah yes, one of the two Kangen albums, where he remakes his older works in a more orchestral style. A.k.a, PEAK. I'm already more of a sucker for hrsw's solo stuff more than his P-MODEL stuff so to have an album where he remakes his P stuff in his solo style is damn near perfection to me. The amount of depth he added to his older works is really apparent in tracks like ART BLIND. The only track where I prefer the original is ASHURA CLOCK, but that's probably because I like how fast-paced the original is. Overall the songs fit so well together that I can't help but come back and listen to the album as a whole.

Favorite Track: Pacific Rim Imitation Network

Rating: 7/10

Review: With how much I love Totsu-Gen-Hen-I, you'd think Hen-Gen-Ji-Zai would also be very high up my favorite albums list. And... yes, I like the album. This arrange of Pacific Rim Imitation Network is one of my favorite songs ever, but I loved the original just as much too. I feel that unlike w the P-MODEL songs, rearranging Solo songs to be more orchestral just doesn't provide that experience of "wow this is a completely different arrange that gives these songs a new perspective!". They're still great songs though, and I definitely listen to the full album from time to time so there's that.