5 posts tagged “last alliance”

Finished all their albums~

Tears Library
UNDERGROUND BLUE
Me and Your Borderline
the sum

I prefer not to do singles : )

So I started reviewing LAST ALLIANCE and then put off their latest album, the sum being slightly disappointed after hearing it (I didn't download before I bought it- just pre-ordered it. I love LAST ALLIANCE this much :D ).  This is LAST ALLIANCE's 4th album released in June 25th.  This album has alot of new material and for some reason ALWAYS ON MY HEART didn't make it o_0 Which is bad as that makes another single I'll have to buy caus' I kinda like the song!! Alot of people complain about lack of new material on albums, but I like it when there's all the A-sides and B-sides- means less money I spend!! Anyway, the album does include each single from "Signal004" through "Drag On," the track "Katahiza no Yogore" from "Always in My Heart," and more for 12 songs total.

The sum Cover

The album opens with the fast and gritty Change by 1. As you can expect from LAST ALLIANCE there's good intrumentation, and vocals. The song has some very interesting rythmns to it too and I like all the different variation that goes on in the song. A good opening.

Next is Proud of Scar. The opening with just the guitar really sets the pace, fast and frantic before breaking out into the full instrumentation to be a very dark and gritty number. The chorus is realy wierd how he uses his voice, and he pronounces "proud of scar" a little wierd but overall it's pretty cool. The song has a really good feeling to it, and of course it's technically brilliant.  

Then it's Mujuuryoku ONEWAY SHUTTLE. This has a very quirky opening with some very interesting rythmns throughout the song. Halfway through the song that instrumentation totally changes too, which is very startling almost like a new song, before it goes back to the norm- this is quite an interesting effect. The has a much more upbeat feeling compared to Change by 1 and Proud of Scar but not without a bit of en edge. I love the verses where the vocalist takes on that really  good tone adding a good feeling to the song. I love the use of the voice distortion too, and how they overlay two vocal parts at times. The backing vocals are slightly annoying, but not out of place. This is a fast and upbeat song with a bit of an edge to it.  Really fantastic techinically and brilliant to listen to.

Track 4 is Sabaku to Gensou, a very dark and moody song. The opening is quiet before it builds up becoming very angry and loud.  I love the dark  feel to the song. There's a fantastic instrumentantal near the end too, and the bridge that follows where the vocalist is smothered is pretty cool. The bridge I don't like how loud his breathing is, sounds like he's gasping desperatly for breath but I guess that's what makes the atmosphere in a way.  Good thing it's short with that ending  because it would definitly become boring if longer and withpout that much needed variation.  

Katahiza no Yogore follows, starting with some really quiet and atmosphereic instrumental quickly, franticly building up to be very loud and strong with that angry edge to it. The guitar part is so damn awesome- I love how the one guitar  sounds so delictate compared to the rest of the song-  and the song is so in your face after such a peaceful opening- really grabs your attention and holds it. The vocalist sounds so angry too. I love how much he puts into it, his ad-libbing at the end is pretty cool to.  Ah...this song has so much attitude to it. Really awesome.  Loud, angry and fast with a slight softer edge to it- like the reverse of so many of their songs which have a sort of angrier edge but are really soft.

Then comes PERFECT GAME. A pretty upbeat song with a rather rebelious feel to it. Despite being technically brilliant, can't help but feel the song really drags on at times. 

Yureta Byoushin is next. the song opens with quiet guitar and vocals only. The song has a pretty messy, but in a good way, opening before it all comes together and the song really begins. It's still got that odd disjointed feeling to it, gives it an interesting feeling. A pretty sweet and relaxing song. Got such a beautiful, laid-back feeling to it and I love all the different dynamics to it. The song is very soft with a much sadder feel compared to alot of the songs presented so far. I love this side of LAST ALLIANCE though. Their songs like these are always very emotional and with a very subtle power to them. 

Track 8 is Lonesome World- a laid-back meloncholic song. Nothing new presented nor for me to say but still very nice. Gotta love the title ; )

Drag On follows. I love the use of the voice distortion on the verses, and how the vocalist is kind smothered by the loud instrumental- before the instrumentation drops and his voice becomes stronger and clearer. The voice and the instrumentation really blend well- both strong and loud in their own right. A fast and  meloncholic song with a bit of an angrier edge. The song has a really great feel to it. Awesomenes :)

Next up is WORLD IS MINE, another fast and edgy song. Got a really cool instrumental. I hate it when they shout "world is mine" though. The rest of the song is kinda cool but those loud shouty vocals let the whole thing down.

the album is nearly over with Ameagari ni Graffiti. This opens with such a beautiful guitar part, really gentle. The song builds up to incoporate the rest of the instruments, and it's still quite soft and laid-back. The song has very pretty instrumenation, some very interesting rythmns and I also love the vocals. Both come together for a wonderful laid-back meloncholic number with a bittersweet feeling to it. A very pretty song with alot of emotion in it.  

Lastly it's Gunjou Kurage, a very gentle guitar part and soft vocals start the song, slowly building up to be a bit of a fast and grittier number. The song has a great hopeful feeling, appropriate to end the album. 

So my thoughts. This will be long : D  I pre-ordered the album and the packagaing is absolutly  gorgeous. Like Epik High pieces part one- all cardboard and fold out. I love the cg art. Rather nice. I was disappointed ALWAYS IN MY HEART wasn't on here though. Furthermore, Tears Library and Me and your borderline both had a very sad feeling to them, very soft. Compared to Underground blue which had a very angry sound to it. the sum has the same angry sound that Underground blue did. Which sorta bad because I prefer their softer, some may say slightly more powerful and emotional stuff but nvm. The album started loud and angry, toning down at points for more meloncholic numbers at points.   I think technically it's brilliant as always though some of the songs were more the sort you put on and relax to, they don't really hold the attention well enough to be able to listen to them on their own. I don't like how some of the songs seem to follow the same formula, just tweaked a bit and presenting new emotions etc. I really don't like how on this album a few of the songs seem to sound the same so it gets a little boring. There wasn't really stand out numbers, like on Me and your borderline there were Akai Hana and Gray end- just for example. There were some great songs though, like oneway shuttle. Also, I do like the use of silence and dynamics on the album. Alot of the tracks had really quiet or silent moments, often halfway through the song- creating an interesting effect. And some of the songs had other interesting effects like odd synth I think, and a bit of voice distortion. As I said technically it's fantastic stuf and it's not bad to listen to (apart from WORLD IS MINE) but compare it to some of their more powerful albums like Tears library and Me and your bordelrine and it pales.  Slightly dissapointing personally, but still a pretty good album. It pains me to have to rate a LAST ALLIANCE album so low, but really....this album was pretty boring at points : (  

Here is LAST ALLIANCE's third album, Me and Your Borderline, released on 2006.12.06.

LAST_ALLIANCE_Me_and_Your_Borderline_001

The album opens with Break a mirror, a very grungy and fast paced track to start the album off. It's a very dark piece, with very long (very good) instrumental sections. When the vocals come in, it retains the grungy, dark feel to it. It's a great track, and I love the title too. Despite the dark feel, there is also a slighlty hopeful feel to it. A great start to the album.

Next track is KONOYUBITOMARE. the song starts quietly with only guitar and voice, before breaking into the rest of it. Like Shissou after it, it's quite pop-rock and happy, hopeful. The instrumentation is quite good, and the vocalist sounds good though. Not the strongest track but the instrumentation is quite nice and it's good  to listen to.

Third is Shissou, made popular by being the ending theme to Ouran high School Host club anime. It's one of my first LAST ALLIANCE songs, and I liked it then but not so much now. It's OK. It's very fast and almost got a pop-rock feel to it. It's quite cheery and hopeful. I'm not a fan of the chorus. The rest of it is pretty decent though.

After Shissou is the beautiful Akai Hana, the itsuwari no orange of the album. This song is very very beautiful, carrying alot of emotion. There is also slight use of synth or something, and a wonderful guitar part. The vocalist sings with alot of feeling, and the "namida" is heartbreaking simply for the emotion it carries, like the moment where the instruments fall away and it's almost just the voice and the vocalist sounds on the verge of tears. A powerful and emotional track, one of the highlights of the album. I really love this one :) 

Track five is Eimii Syndrome. It starts with a very lazy sounding guitar part, before starting up the expected guitar, drum etc part.  It carries alot of the same emotion as Akai Hana before it, perhaps more hopeful sounding though. It's nice song. I think it's got alot of power in it, like EQUAL REASON. 

Next up is Oto no Nai Sekai, the song starts off softly and gently building up quietly to something a little more bitter, more angry. I like how it does this. The song is quite powerful with lots of emotion. The vocal part is very pretty, especially when the vocalist reaches up to higher notes. I like the variation, the use of build up and build down and dynamics. 

The next track is SPIRAL WORLD. The beginning of this song sounds quite familiar, to more western rock. It's a very dark and angry song. I like the chorus. i think he's saying "like a spiral world" or "what a spiral world" or something. It's got nice rythmn and feel to it. I really like this song, especially the chorus. I like how the backing vocals are layered in there too. A fantastic song. 

After SPIRAL WORLD comes Zenmai. It starts with some strange instrumentation, building up into the usual powerful guitar, drum etc part. The vocalist, and the slight distortion in the song is really good. Overall, a very good song. Fast paced with alot of emotion.  

The album then moves to gray end, a very sorrowful song that fits in perfectly after Zenmai. The emotion is to me is one of being lost, hurt and confused. It's a beautiful, slow song with powerful vocals and amazing instrumentals. The song starts of slowly, building up to the chorus. Another powerful song. Fantastic vocals and amazing instrumentation. Not to mention great variation  throughout the song. The ending to this one is quite something too.   

FANTASIA is track number 10. The song has a fantasy touch, with the high pitched, echoey synth (or keyboard?) bit. The "la" bits are really nice too. I like the way the different parts are layered over each other, including the backing vocals. It's a good song. 

Lie of eternity, paint it blue. The song has a really nice introduction, and dark sounding verses with really good rythmn to it. However I'm not a fan once it reaches the chorus. The badly pronounced english is quite standout. The "yeahs" are a nice touch though. And the way the vocalist reaches the high notes is admirable! I like the rythmns of the song and most of it is pretty good.  

Next is Prometheus, much the same vain as Lie of Eternity it's got good introduction. It's a slighlty darker song though. The chorus is pretty good too. It's not a standout track, but it's a great listen. 

After Prometheus it's Sharing Sky a very upbeat, poppy song. The vocal part is great as is the guitar part. It's a nice fast paced, happy little song.  

The last track is Joueika. The song has quite grungy instrumentation part but is still pretty upbeat. The vocalist comes in and the instrumentation tones down building up the chorus. It's a pretty good track to the end the album, a hopeful feel with a dark, sadder edge. Quite a relaxed song with good instrumentation and vocal part. I like the use of varied dynamics.

Overall this is yet another fantastic album from LAST ALLIANCE. This is actually my second favourite album of theirs, and it's the one I will own in a few weeks. As usual the instrumentation is amazing, and the vocalist carries alot of power and emotion in his voice. The addition of synth (or keyboard or those extra bits) was quite good. The album also flows quite well from one track to the next. There are some beautiful, powerful tracks on this album. It's absolutly beautiful.

Their latest album came out yesterday- but I'm not listening until my copy arrives. Haha. I'll see how much that one lasts :P Anyway, time to use Caps-lock again- here is LAST ALLIANCE'S second album released 2004.11.08.

The album opens with the highly memorable South Wind Knows, which I have practicaly memorised the tune of despite even listening to the song all that much (it is that insanely catchy). I guess a year of sporadic listening to does that too you. Anyway, this must have been my second or third last alliance song. It's a good one. The song opens with very fast mesh of instruments in the insanely catchy riff, before enthuastic vocals. The vocalist makes good use of his voice, reaching up to the higher notes in the pre-chorus bit and the bridge too. It's cool how the instruments accent the vocal part. It's got a great, insanely catchy, arrangement and is a nice, fast opening to the album.

Next up is CLONE. It opens with distortion, notably they don't use extra synth but their instruments, then introduces the gritty sounding guitar part. The verses have a slighty echo, adding a dark edge to the song. There's also a bit of screamo type bits, where the vocalist speaks the lyrics quite forcefully more than screams. Adds a bit of atmosphere and doesn't ruin the song or sound of place thankfully.  The lyrics are in english, but unfortunatly not really understandable unless you look at the booklet scans. It's a dark, almost angry,  song that I'm sure carries a great message too. The song has a nice feel to it, and ain't boring. Not stand-out either.

Track 3 is Solitude. It has a very relaxed, laid-back opening- more meloncholic. The feeling of meloncholy is backed by the verses where the vocalist sings quietly and draws out notes, building up to a rythmic instrumental and another similiar verse- slighlty louder, building up even more at the end to the bitter pre-chorus where the vocalist voice takes a strange but emotional tone. The chrous is good with the "yeahs" at the end. It's  a bitter sounding tune with great vocals and instrumentation, as you'd expect from the band. I like how even though the verses sound quite laid back, they still retain that edge. The song has a great feel and brilliant use of dynamics and subtle variations. Amazing ending too.   

After Solitude comes Filter- a slighlty less angry, more upbeat song than the previous.  It's a powerful track, that is hard to review. I don't know what to right without repeating myself. It's got great varation throughout the song, amazing feel to it, great instrumentation and great vocals too. I'll point out the awesome chorus where the vocalist belts out the notes to create the "awesome" feel to the song. Love the slight distortion/electronic effect on the vocal part- though not sure how much that's down to the quality of the song (192). The guitar part at the beginning and end are cool too.    

Then it's One Hot Second. The song, like CLONE might just have english lyrics which are lost to me. The layering of the vocals in the chorus is real cool though, and the guitar part is love too. Like CLONE their is also the half speak, half sing belt it out thing. The song is short, upbeat with a grittier edge. Nice.   

Track 6 is Musou Jidai, a very grungy song with a heavy feeling. Another great track, I love the rythmn of the chorus and the distortion in the bridge. It's fast paced with a darker edge.  

Next is urge. The song starts off quietly and the vocalist sings high, before introducing a very rythmnic guitar/drum part. The song is upbeat with nice fast pace to it,  and again distortion is used for a bridge of sorts. It's an OK track, but quite bland and nothing extra-ordinary. Thankfully, it's not dragged out at just 3 and a half minutes. 

Then it's GREENS SUNLIGHT. The song has a very quiet opening, introducing a ELLEGARDEN like guitar part before going to the more LAST ALLIANCE guitar part, but still remaining the ELLEGARDEN feel to the instrumentation (freak- look at that capitalisation!). The song has very nice rythmn to it, don't really like the chorus with the dragged out notes and almost whiny feel to it. This is an OK track but personally I don't like. It's stupid because it's really catchy too >_>

Track 9 is Jikuu TRIP. The song opens with almost speaker-killer distortion before slowly introducing the instruments. The song has a very tech feel, with the introduction of some synth to give it a spacey feel. Strange. It's a slow and laid back, almost chilled out song in the verses. Building up to something darker in the chorus, yet still remaining upbeat. It's quite a good track. Not sure about the synthy spacey bit. A little cheesy neh?  

After Jikuu TRIP is Okizari ace. The song opens very quietly and simply, just the vocals over guitar before building up to be a powerful and emotional track. The singer makes the most of his voice, singing quiet and low in the verses to give across a feeling of raw emotion. The song builds up into the chorus, which has alot of drawn out notes- feeling very powerful and giving a sad feel to it. This is a powerful and emotional track. Raw emotion. Heavy, but rythmic instrumentation. Lots of variation and great vocals. I like.   

Then it's Lucky Luciano ni Utareru Mae Ni. A very quirky, upbeat song. The verses are very fast, giving it said quirky feel alongst the instrumentation. Still retains an edge to it. Not a bad song, and not bad to listen to.    

Track 12 is TRUTH IN MY ARMS. The song kills me speakers with the distortion at the beginning, cotinuing to be pain with a shouted out call and response thing for the verses. This carries on throughout the song and if you don't mind I'm gonna skip. I'm not alone at home right now..  

After TRUTH IN MY ARMS  comes another long titled song, Tadayou Yuugure ni, Kiete Yuku Hibi. The song opens with wavering guitar part, the song feels slow and the notes in the first verse are drawn, compared to the shorter rythmns of the rest of the song (the majority, the slow part returns!). It has a nice rythmn and a sad, yet hopeful undertone to it. There's alot of emotion in it, and the song has great instrumentation (gah. repeating myself...) Love how it builds up and down- and the way the vocal part and other instruments work together. The overriding feel is of hope and moving on- me thinks. Rather nice to listen to. The guitarist gets a chance to shine at the end too ^_^   

Last up is the beautiful Letter. The song opens with a sad sounding mix of gritty guitar chords and a more plucked ryhtmn before introducing the full shebang. The song has great rythmn and a very sad feel to it. When the vocalist comes in he sounds regretful, his voice is beautiful though at the pitch he sings at and has a great level of emotion. The song quietens down, before blasting out for the bitter, regretful sounding chorus. It's a wonderful song, with stunning instrumentation and lots of good emotion to it. A brilliant end to a good album.   

This isn't quite the standard as their other albums, but it's still freakin' good. It was hard to review, and I probably repeated myself alot, simply because all their songs are the same yet different. Dude, that makes no sense. Those who listen to them will understand. I enjoyed this album. I love how LAST ALLIANCE make the most of the instruments, often using their instruments to create distortion effects instead of relying on synth. I also think that they are exteremly talented, I really love how the vocalist uses his voice (epecially in this album) and the guitar parts were all love. Also they tend to end their tracks properly instead of relying on fade-outs and the like- giving their songs a very complete feel (most of the time, every artist uses fade-out at some point...). Their songs have great atmosphere, and feeling to them. This album in particular seemed quite angry in many ways compared to their other ones. Either way, It's highly enjoyable to listen to, and often the tunes stick in your brain quite a bit. This album basically continues the high standard of Tears Library. I don't think it's on the same level as Tears library and me and your borderline though, there are a few weaker or "meh" tracks on here.

To prepare and celebrate LAST ALLIANCE's new album (I've already pre-ordered!) I will be doing a review of all their current albums!

I'm not sure if you know this but LAST ALLIANCE is one of my favourite bands, right up there with SADS and 12012.  Their music is amazing. It conveys such alot of emotion. Very powerful stuff.  The singer has a...different voice but he uses it well. And the guitar and drum etc are just WOW. Everything about LAST ALLIANCE is awesome and talented. One of the most seriously underrated bands. If you like ELLEGARDEN or Asian kung fu generation you are sure to like LAST ALLIANCE, though even if you don't I'm sure LAST ALLIANCE will impress you.  (Gosh writing their name in capitals all the time is tiring!) Their name is kinda cool too, almost rebelious like "last alliance".

300px-LAST_ALLIANCE_TEARS_LIBRARY

Tears library is their first album, released 2003.07.19.

The album opens with Boys don't cry. It starts with a call and response on the guitar before the rest of the instrumentation comes in. The song is fast paced with amazing instrumentation. It has a slight upbeat feel to it in the chorus' too. The vocals are beautiful in their own way, the vocalist lifting his voice up to higher pitch sometimes and also using dynamics to his advantage. It's an amazing opening, and straight away you know the album is going to be good.

After boys don't cry comes RUN INTO THE FREEDOM. It starts slow and rythmic, almost meloncholic feel to it. Very quiet and quite slow. This builds up into a dark sounding, almost angry verse and more relaxed chorus. It's carries on the amazingness that was Boys don't cry with fantastic instrumentation and vocals. I love all the variations the song goes through. Oh and there's english in there too...which I can actually understand :P 

After RUN INTO FREEDOM is a personal favourite, Itsuwari no orange. This song is SAD. It opens with a gentle and rythmic guitar before the drum and vocals come in: it's a very meloncholic opening. This feeling of sadness and loss continues into the rest of the song. Then the guitar comes in properly and just... it blows me away EVERY TIME (And I've been listening to this song over a year now). The vocalist sounds very sad, his voice rough almost as if holding back tears. He also goes really low at times, which once again adds a great emotion and feeling to the song. the instrumentation is astounding, especially the guitar part. The song goes through constant variation, every bit amazing. The ending really gets me with the repetetion of "namida" (tears). This song is SAD and powerful. Just beautiful really.

Next up is LAST ALLIANCE (album version). Having never heard the single version I cannot compare really. The song  starts with a really awesome, loud and in your face guitar and drum part. It's fast and noisy, but not in the bad way. 

Track 5 is REBEL FIRE.  Typical to the name the song has a rebelious feel to it. Haha. How not to repeat myself. Because like most of the tracks, great vocals and instrumentation (especially the awesome guitar part!). Also liked the use of backing vocals in this one. I think there's english, can't really tell. Love how the song ends, not sure how to describe it but it's a great ending. This song is short but fast with great feeling. The ablum continues to be awesome.  

After REBEL FIRE is beautiful. This is a very fast paced upbeat track. I think it features or is in english, can't really tell. And woa...it's short. Almost like a prelude to the next track....

The next track is Planetarium. Planetarium has a dark sounding opening, then the guitar comes in and makes it pretty upbeat. It sounds alot like some of alot of their upbeat stuff, but is cool in it's own way. The drum part is a little repetetive. This track is good, but not one of the best on the album. It has a similiar feel to beautiful before it.  

Track 8 follows, SEE YOU AGAIN.See you again is quite dark sounding, and very heavy on the guitar distortion thing at the beginning. Thankfully that dies down. It's a very fast song, with an almost rushed feel. It's got alot of attitude, especially when the vocalist says "See you again". A little repetetive, but it's short so that becomes irrelevant.  

Then comes the beautifully titled SKY IS CRYING. This song is loud and gritty. It has a dark feeling, and rough but still fantastic instrumentation. Fast and short without alot of emotion- yet another powerful track. The ending to this one is pretty cool.   

The second to last track is Hidarimuki. The second Japanese titled song on the album, strangely enough. It starts very atmospheric, fast but kinda meloncholic at points. The guitar part is sweet, and the vocalist uses a higher register of his voice. There is also use of overlapping the voice/backing vocals at points which is effective. A very nice, sweet-sounding song. Lots of variation again helps the song to stay interesting. Great emotion too.  

Last up is EQUAL REASON (Album version). The song starts quietly and gently,   before coming in with the rest of the instrumentation- but retaining the gentle, meloncholic feel. The vocalist sings real low, both in pitch and dynamic. Raising his voice up to build up to the chorus. Again the guitar part is noticably awesome.  The Chorus is very powerful, with alot of feeling in it- and much more hopeful than the verses. I also managed to find lyrics to this  , and they too are really awesome- seemingly about despite everything, keep going and be strong sorta thing- "Like clinging on anyone that has already turned around, I don’t want to choose such an escaping way". An amazing, hopeful and powerful ending to a fantastic album.

For a debut album this is amazing. Shockingly good. Excuse me for fangirling over this band so much but this is all I can say. LAST ALLIANCE is awesome. This is a very strong debut album, the highlight for me being every song. Just listen and be amazed. the album flows wonderfully from beginning to end, showcasing just how talented the band is.  Every song is much the same, however they all manage to have a different feel and to differentiate from the others in their own way. It's kinda strange like that. You'd think their music would be boring but it's actually really powerful. Quite awesome...