Tohoshinki – Jumon -MIROTIC-

Jumon -MIROTIC- was TOHOSHINKI’s 24th single. It was released October 15th, 2008. It sold 53,543 copies in it’s first week and reached #1 on the charts.

Tracklist

1. Jumon -MIROTIC-
2. Doushite Kimi wo Suki ni Natte Shimattandarou? -THE LEVEL remix-
3. Jumon -MIROTIC- (Less Vocal)

Goodness this song is sexy. Jumon -MIROTIC- is the Japanese version of the title track that appeared on their Korean “MIROTIC” album. The song begins with some muffled beats before the first synth and beat heavy begins with the group’s ever fantastic vocals, which in my experience, have yet to not impress me. The chorus is absolutely great as the sexiness gets kicked up a notch and the overall impact to the listener is increased. It should be noted that even though the song is pretty heavy, during the verses it’s more mellow and quiet, but either way it get’s made up for in the chorus. I didn’t enjoy the rap in this song as it sounded kind of obnoxious and high pitched.

I was more than excited when I saw the my favorite TOHOSHINKI song was gonna have a remix. Don’t be too anxious for Doushite Kimi wo Suki ni Natte Shimattandarou? -THE LEVEL remix- however, it’s more or less the vocals form the original song added on top of a mediocre instrumental that includes some dirty sounding synth, out of place chime sounds and boring beats. I was really let down as the song doesn’t sound good trying to give it a more mainstream TOHOSHINKI style.

Admit it. This single was way rushed and and for sales purpose only. I preferred the original Korean version of MIROTIC as it flowed better and the remix of Doushite totally turned me off. Either way, MIROTIC is a fantastic track that you can’t miss, just try to get the Korean version.

♥Single Rating♥

Tohoshinki – Doushite Kimi Wo Suki Ni Natte Shimattandarou?

Doushite Kimi Wo Suki Ni Natte Shimattandarou? was TOHOSHINKI’s 23rd Japanese single. It was released July 16, 2008. It sold 68,417 copies in it it’s first week, 85,046 overall and reached #1 on the charts.

Tracklist

1. Doushite Kimi Wo Suki Ni Natte Shimattandarou?

2. Box in the ship

3. Doushite Kimi Wo Suki Ni Natte Shimattandarou? (A Capella ver.)

4. Doushite Kimi Wo Suki Ni Natte Shimattandarou? (Less Vocal)

5. Box in the Ship (Less Vocal)

Doushite Kimi Wo Suki Ni Natte Shimattandarou? begins off with a very relaxing harp that maintains throughout the entire song. Let me say now, this song is especially beautiful. I think the whole idea of not having confessed your ideas to a loved one is portrayed excellently both lyrically and musically. There’s only about one verse and chorus in the song, with the verse dragging out for most of the song(which is absolutely no problem because it’s absolutely amazing). I just wish the song was a bit longer as it’s only 3:20 long and has a very abrupt ending, leaving one wanting more.

Box in the ship can’t compare to the a-side at all. This is more of an island sounding pop song. In it’s beginning you might think it’s going to be an R&B song but that’s quickly forgotten once you hear the first verse. There’s nothing particularly good about the song, though it isn’t bad, it’s just not my type of song.

Doushite Kimi Wo Suki Ni Natte Shimattandarou? (A Capella ver.) isn’t quite as good as the original but makes for an interesting listen. You can really hear the boys amazing harmonization and vocal skills. The only other sound than the vocals is some finger snapping.

What an amazing a-side. I really recommend it to anyone even if your not a TOHOSHINKI fan. Doushite Kimi Wo Suki Ni Natte Shimattandarou? really left me wanting more after it’s quick ending and Box in the ship just didn’t manage to impress me much but that’s just my dislike of island sounding songs speaking. A highly recommended single.

♠Single Rating♠

Tohoshinki – Beautiful You / Sennen Koi Uta

Beautiful You / Sennen Koi Uta was TOHOSHINKI’s 22nd Japanese single. It was released April 23, 2008. It sold 62,139 copies in it it’s first week, 90,045 overall and reached #1 on the charts. Sennen Koi Uta was the theme song for the Korean drama(which aired in Japan), “The Legend“.

Tracklist

1. Beautiful You

2. Sennen Koi Uta

3. Sennen Koi Uta -Korean ver.-

4. Sennen Koi Uta (Japanese karaoke)

5. Sennen Koi Uta (Korean karaoke)

6. Beautiful You (Less Vocal)

7. Sennen Koi Uta (Less Vocal)

Beautiful You begins with some basic acoustic guitar instruments along with some light drums and electric guitar. It’s a pretty relaxed song and can be considered a slow/mid-tempo pop song. The instrumental wasn’t particularly great but it did help set the mood of the song. What stood out, however, were the groups fantastic vocals, you can really make them out is this song. It’s a pretty simple song and quite enjoyable, especially during the later half.

The second a-side is the piano driven, slightly R&B ballad Sennen Koi Uta. The piano is just about all you hear during the verses, along with some string instruments and finger snapping(which isn’t at all annoying due to it’s low frequency). The verse, after having dragged on a bit, get stronger in the instruments section. It’s a nice listen and a pretty song, but not one of the best ballads I’ve heard from the group. The Korean version of this song is the same, expect being sung in the boy’s native language.

Beautiful You / Sennen Koi Uta was my first TOHOSHINKI single and my second full listen, only after their “T” album. I quite enjoyed the difference between the two songs, an acoustic, light pop song and a piano driven R&B ballad. While the first song lit from it’s great vocals, the second song lit for it’s great instrumental. This is a nice, straight forward and easy to listen to single from the group.

♥Single Rating♥

Tohoshinki – T

T is TOHOSHINKI’s third Japanese album. It was released January 23, 2008, sold 52,273 copies in it’s first week, 98,459 overall and reached #4 on the charts.

Tracklist

1. TRICK
2. NO?
3. Purple Line
4. Forever Love
5. Summer Dream
6. Ride on
7. DARKNESS EYES
8. Lovin’ you
9. Rainbow
10. SHINE
11. LAST ANGEL -Tohoshinki ver.-
12. CLAP!
13. Love in the Ice
14. Forever Love -a cappella version- (CD Only)
15. Lovin’ you -Haru’s “deep water” mix- (CD Only)
16. Together (Bonus Track)
    

CD Two

1. Song for you
2. Day Moon ~Harudal~
3. Beautiful Life
4. You’re my miracle
5. Kiss Shita Mama, Sayonara

Starting up the album is the mash-up song TRICK. By mash-up, I mean that it combines parts of each of the member’s solo songs on the five singles that followed the album release. It’s a synth inspired R&B/Pop sounding song with rapping that I actually(kinda) liked. The song does sound a bit disorganized but does a great job starting off the album with it’s high octane, non stop energy and great instrumental.

Up next is the relaxing, laid back R&B song NO?. It felt a bit out of place this early in the album and especially after TRICK. This song really makes you feel like your in your comfort zone and reminds me of a Sunday night(don’t ask). The chorus is really great due to the great sounding vocals. A stand out song, just out of place.Starting with some talking lines, Purple Line has REALLY strong beats and synth in it’s instrumental. This is an extremely aggressive R&B/Pop song with some strange lyrics(“I really wanna touch myself”) and an even stronger chorus. A catchy, powerful song but it felt weird after NO?, giving the album a semi-weird start.

Forever Love continues with the unorganized album order as it this song is a full blown ballad. There’s finger snapping in the background, giving it an R&B twist while maintaining the typical pop ballad sound found from the orchestra instruments. The chorus is especially strong and the group’s vocals are great in this song.

Once again, another track not flowing to the next, especially with Summer Dream as it’s instrumental starts right away at full force but than quickly changes to a standard summer sounding pop song. There’s a REALLY great hook after the chorus that just traps you into the song. The chorus is actually pretty nice, but I just wanted it to be over to get to hear the hook again, it’s amazing!

Finally, a normal transition now. Ride on is an acoustic guitar driven track with R&B roots with simple instruments but manage to maintain a high energy. The chorus sounded a tad bit disorganized but was nice either way. An okay song.

DARKNESS EYES begins with some sad sounding muffled piano chords but those quickly get replaced with nice string instruments playing the same melody. It’s a slow R&B based song that’s just not quite a ballad. That same melody comes back in during the chorus, which is really nice, especially with the vocals and the entire dark atmosphere the song has. A nice listen

Right after, we hear some light, happy sounding instrumentals that completely contrast the last song. Lovin’ you is driven by it’s acoustic guitar during the verses, along with some high pitched piano tunes. The part right before the chorus sounds especially nice but doesn’t compare in quality to the great chorus. This soft ballad manages to shine out real well.

Rainbow is a fresh, easy pop song but doesn’t stand out too much against the other tracks on the album. It just kinda passed by…

SHINE starts off with it’s nice chorus and leads to some upbeat, bright instrumentals that give this pop song it’s needed boost to keep it above the R&B genre, which is present in various instruments and vocals found throughout the song. It had interesting sounding vocals but the chorus wasn’t all too catchy.

I much preferred the original version with Koda Kumi of LAST ANGEL, but the Tohoshinki manages to sound a lot like the original. Maybe it’s because I’m already used to having Kumi singing in her parts that it sounds awkward hearing someone else sing them. I still highly recommend this song.

CLAP!, as the name implies, starts with a lot of hand clapping and some semi-annoying “No-oh” vocals. That finished after 20 seconds into the first verse. There’s lots of drums and heavy synth in this song. It has a bit of an oriental song with a lot of energy. The chorus sounds really, really good and is followed by the same hand clapping segment and than a rap. This was a very good pop sounding song.

Awkwardly placed after the last track, the beautiful ballad, Love in the Ice, which is also the last track of the first disk in the album does a great job of acting as finishing material. This truly is an amazing piano and orchestra inspired ballad that maintains it’s pop sound and doesn’t roam toward the R&B world. A highly recommended track.

Forever Love -a cappella version-, as the name states, is a cappella version of the same track on the album. It’s completely free of instruments and is about half as long.

Lovin’ you -Haru’s “deep water” mix- adds a different arrangement to the original and places it’s main instrument as the acoustic guitar. It has a more R&B sound than the original and an annoying constant water drop sound that I was hoping wasn’t gonna be present upon reading the track’s name. Not really the best mix for a song.

The first track of the second CD is Song for you, a fresh pop song with easy verses and an okay chorus. It’s very pop but the song itself isn’t too special.

Day Moon ~Harudal~ stats with the sound of a rain storm and some nice sounding guitar chords. The orchestra kicks in, as long as the vocals in the first verse. It’s a relaxing slow tempo R&B/Pop song that sounds really nice overall.

The songs found in the second CD tend to feature lots of acoustic guitar, and Beautiful Life is no exception. At the beginning it has a strange array of instruments, but the guitar takes center stage. It’s a relaxed song with an R&B twist but isn’t really that memorable.

You’re my miracle starts off with orchestra and vocals that make you think this song would be a ballad, but soon enough, R&B sounds kick in, along with a higher paced sound and stronger vocals. The verses are catchier than the chorus, making this one of the better tracks on the second CD.

Completely finishing the CD only version of the album is Kiss Shita Mama, Sayonara. It begins with tender piano chords and talking lines of one of the members. This part actually made my spine tingle a bit due to the actual lyrics and the way it all sounded. It’s definitely a sad song with a great instrumental and terrific vocals from the boys. It’s an excellent way to end the album and one of the better ballads I’ve heard.

T was my first ever Tohoshinki full listen only after their collaboration with Koda Kumi on LAST ANGEL. I was most definitely impressed with this album and found little to no flaws in it. The only possible problem would be the lack of flow from one song to the next during the beginning of the first CD and the less memorable songs on the second CD. Either way, the new songs and singles did an excellent job of making me appreciate this group a lot more than I did before. If your looking for somewhere to start with Tohoshinki, this is your album, it definitely helped me into expanding my J-Pop horizons onto boy groups.

♥Album Rating♥