tsubaki – 覚醒ワールド Revisited

1. 覚めた生活
2. 悲しみの中からはじめよう
3. 亡霊ﾀﾞﾝｽ
4. 青い月
5. さよなら､嘘つきな二人
6. ﾎﾞｰﾀﾞﾚｽ
7. money & honey
8. coffee
9. ﾀﾌﾞﾚｯﾄ
10. 羽の在処

This is a first. Normally I rely on my first instinct for songs — which is usually right — but for tsubaki’s latest album, I just had to give it another chance. Partly because I’m a tsubaki stan and partly because I feel my hasty review did not do the album justice.

After listening to the album almost daily over the past month, a few tracks have really grown on me. And those are “悲しみの中からはじめよう”,“coffee”, “覚めた生活”, and “ﾀﾌﾞﾚｯﾄ”. Granted, there are still some I absolutely can’t stand – “ﾎﾞｰﾀﾞﾚｽ”, “money & honey” — but for the most part the songs are rather catchy. But the latter two of my list are definitely my absolute favourites. The reason? Well, simply great songwriting, a real strength of the band. But the second reason is the lead vocalist, Isshiki Noriyasu. For me, he embodies the qualities of a real rock star. As previously mentioned, his voice isn’t exactly fantastic — in fact, it’s nasally and at times downright grating — but to paraphrase Gene Simmons loosely, “It’s not how well you sing, but how you sing.” That couldn’t be more true for Isshiki. Although his voice has improved drastically over the years, and particular from the last album, it’s still by no means a Grammy winner. But his attitude is really what seals the deal, his delivery and tone infusing personality into the songs and making them his — and the band’s — own.

But is the album worth buying? As much as I’d love to convince everyone to support the band, I’d have to say a reluctant no. Firstly, I still stand by my original statement that this, overall, is not the band’s best. And secondly, for the reason given beforehand, it’s probably not the best way for new fans to get into them. However, if you are a tsubaki band, then it’s a must-buy, if only for “覚めた生活” and “ﾀﾌﾞﾚｯﾄ” which are among the best songs in their discography (speaking of this, Portrait+, and their best compilation).

CD Japan
YesAsia
HMV JP