1. Rocket Sneaker
2. One x Time
Rocket Sneaker/One x Time is Ai Otsuka’s seventeenth single, released on May 21st, 2008. It reached #2 on Oricon and has sold 44 428 copies.
As I said in my review of Pocket, Ai shouldn’t venture into rock, and even though Rocket Sneaker doesn’t go into rock fully, it puts one foot into the genre, and that’s its main problem. Alright, the song is fun and uplifting, and the very name of the song evokes all that, but this song is just so… off. Ai Otsuka’s area is definitely ballads, and she should, kindly enough, please stay there. A massive step down from Pocket.
One x Time features a more attractive ensemble of instruments, notably strings, but stays as uplifting as the first A-Side. The vocals and the flat music during the verses was a big mistake, and the chorus isn’t enough to make up for it, because it isn’t much more outgoing. Too bad, actually.
Sora to Kujira (sky and space) was sooooo boring. I mean, fine, it’s a ballad-type song with pretty much nothing more than an acoustic guitar for the first half, but come on; after two really bad A-Sides can’t you produce a decent B-Side?!
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