Gackt: GHOST

1. GHOST

2. Blue Lagoon – Shinkai -

GHOST is Gackt’s twenty-seventh single, released on January 21st. It reached #6 on Oricon. It is the opening theme for the Japanese release of The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

This is so completely out of the blue… When I first heard the title “GHOST”, I though it would be a song in the direction of his previous single, Jesus. But guess what, GHOST in fact a techno-based rock song. I heard some Gackt fans on JpopAsia complaining about how they didn’t like it. And I can see why they wouldn’t. This song is rather un-Gackt-like. But I adore this song. It may be no Returner, but it’s better than Jesus, that’s for sure. The vocal effects are quite nice and give the feeling that Gackt indeed is a robot, and the music, with the techno-inspired repetition, is insanely catchy. For both rock and techno lovers, but perhaps not for Gackt addicts.

Blue Lagoon – Shinkai - (blue lagoon – deep sea -) isn’t all that different from the A-Side. It’s a lot more Gackt-like that GHOST since it contains no techno beats, and has this very epic feel. The vocals sort of irk me, but after a few listens, it didn’t bother me that much. Beside the actual song, we have reason to party! It’s the first original B-Side by Gackt in… over two years! And considering it’s A-Side material, it’s even a reason to trash all the other parties in town! This one probably pleased the Gackt fans a lot more. Now where’s that album?!

Gackt: Jesus

1. Jesus

2. Sayonara - ЯR II version -

Jesus is Gackt’s twenty-eight single, released on December 3rd, 2008. It was released on November 26th, 2008, to his fanclub. It reached #7 on Oricon.

Jesus is by all means a great song, but the shouting is hardly the best part of it, as many have felt the need to express. But first let me retrace what Gackt has released since Love Letter and Diabolos: the completely boring and un-rock-like No ni Saku Hana no You ni, then the hard-rock song mixed with the traditional shakuhachi, Returner – Yami no Shuuen -, and now we have a song not only on a deadly mix of cocaine, heroin and marijuana, but also infused with nitrogen to make it go really quickly. This song may be almost seven minutes long, it still passes in a flash. But to the actual song; it opens with some down-tuned riffs which allow you to fully predict what comes next: an aggressive guitar riff and shouts. Then come in the actual vocals, which allows this song to double in quality, because from this point on, it’s incredibly catchy. Gackt actually sounds like Gackt, for the first time since the release of Diabolos, which is nice. The song itself is about suicide, and the PV depicts a frantic Hitler attempting to commit suicide, but unable to until the song has ended. The lyrics are repetitive but deep enough, with Gackt shouting to the Virgin Mary take me up (see what I mean about suicide). The song is obviously very grave, and doesn’t do anything to hide it.

The B-Side, Sayonara - ЯR II version - (goodbye), takes us way back to almost two years ago with No ni Saku Hana no You ni. It’s a seven-minute-long song which features Gackt and a piano. To my link with his previous single: it’s a boring song with barely any instrumentals. All those who listened to this song and liked it will now write a comment about how they hate me, but I haven’t gotten to the end, so stick with me. Now; when I say this song is a slow burner, I mean it is really slow. The aggressive Irish-style violins only come in at three minutes, and then leave after a beautiful instrumental section. After that, the song slowly fades away, but the song sounds so much better after those violins that I really, really like it.

Gackt: Retuner – Yami no Shuuen -

1. Returner – Yami no Shuuen -

2. Cube (live)

3. Birdcage (live)

Returner – Yami no Shuuen - is Gackt’s twenty-eigth single, released on June 20th, 2007. It reached #1 on Oricon. It is his first single to reach that rank. The title track is has a tie-in with the series Fuurinkazan, in which he plays the warlord Uesugi Kenshin.

Not only does Gackt sound like Hyde, but in that cover he even looks like him! Returner – Yami no Shuuen - (returner – demise in the darkness) is a massive step up from the previous single, the boring and over-extended No ni Saku Hana no You ni. The mix of hard rock and a shakuhachi playing in the back is… well, hundreds of times more fantastic than I would’ve thought. The middle part is sort of weird, but otherwise, the chorus which takes up almost all of the song is pretty awesome.

Next are two live versions of pre-recorded songs. The first is a very 90s-reminiscent song, Cube. Although it reminds me a lot of B’z and some of L’Arc-en-Ciel’s earlier work, I really liked this song. I just really find the crowd obnoxious, but the excitement is understandable.

Birdcage, on the other hand, is somewhat like No ni Saku Hana no You ni. I don’t like Gackt’s speaking voice, so the opening act was bizarre, but the rest of the song is absolutely fantastic. Take No ni Saku Hana no You ni, give it some depth and emotion, give it an awesome chorus, and you have this really great song.

Gackt: No ni Saku Hana no You ni

1. No ni Saku Hana no You ni

2. No ni Saku Hana no You ni (Minna no Uta)

3. No ni Saku Hana no You ni (pf. style)

No ni Saku Hana no You ni is Gackt’s twenty-seventh single, released on February 7th, 2007.

Eesh… Gackt is one of the few musical geniuses that are popular, but No ni Saku Hana no You ni (like the flower that blooms in the field) is one of his few missteps. If it took him one year to make this single, it should’ve been much better. The song is seven minutes long and is just plain boring, because there’s no exciting or heartfelt, beautiful chorus. His voice sounds like the singer from B’z, another really famous band I hate, which isn’t all that bad, but does get annoying after a while. Toward the end, the song gets even worse, with what I’d like to call a pseudo-chorus. A completely uninteresting song.

The Minna no Uta version is merely a shortened version, clocking in a five minutes and a half. No ni Saku Hana no You ni (pf. style) adds a piano which does make the song sound a lot better. And the song is half the original length. So we have two of three problems resolved. But the main problem remains: the chorus is virtually inexistent.