serious sparking
Apparently, I do keep my word sometimes. (I’m still searching for that last document.)
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I often take small victories when I manage to get my mother to enjoy a musical composition that is either not classical by nature or is related to video game music. When she listened to one of Kazunari Ninomiya’s solo songs (see [previous post]) and said she liked it, I knew I had stumbled on something rare (She also admitted that he was cute - I don’t disagree). The world of [Arashi] is deceptively gentle, but always ridiculous. In its early stages, when they were but twee boys, Arashi was marketed as yet another energetic (hyperactive) perky group of young boys with flexibilities not granted to many, vocals that were difficult to differentiate from those of a girl’s, and many a happy song.
Not too much has changed.
For anyone familiar with [Johnny's Entertainment], the way that Arashi evolved under the company is nothing new. But as the young men of Arashi grew up in this new modern world and took on some serious popularity above all the other Jimusho groups, Johnny’s Entertainment had to adjust in ways outside of their previous blockbuster groups [SMAP] and [Tackey & Tsubasa] - to name but two. Like many groups before them, individual members took on solo projects in many mediums of the entertainment world, from acting to newscasting. But they continued to visually entertain as a group offstage by hosting some brilliantly executed and considerably hilarious (though relatively indecipherable if you aren’t familiar with band members) variety shows with good celebrity following. One of the greatest of appeals of Arashi is the relationships between the members, and they are famous as not only a band but also a great group of friends.
Today, Arashi continues to maintain an image of young men looking for love and loving life in this happy happy world, but the image has become sleeker and for the most part, matured. Their songs have evolved to some more serious topics, their production values have greatly risen, and somewhere along the way, they’ve learned to really work a mean suit. They still gyrate enough on dance floors for easy speculations about sexuality, and Johnny’s producers still like to plunk them in some [outrageous outfits]. But no matter what, these guys still remain the happiest boy band ever.
Personally, I do enjoy their later work much more. They’re not as garish and the music is composed better. Here are a few samples, with the music videos (thanks, YouTube) in case you want to experience the dancing and spectacle for yourself. Sorry, too lazy to do that whole embedding thing at the moment.
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All files uploaded onto savefile.com. All music is respective property of the artists’ and their company. I don’t any of these. Don’t sue me, please… Buy their CDs and support them!!
+ [Love So Sweet] [video]
- This song was my own introduction to Arashi’s music after I saw a screenshot of its respective video. The video is appropriately executed for the mild and standard material, but accentuates its endearing qualities enough to keep you hooked and feeling all squishy inside afterwards. It was used as the opening song for one of the seasons of drama [Hana Yori Dango], which member Matsumoto Jun starred in.
+ [Truth] [video]
- One of their latest songs which displays a drastic change from the usual Arashi music above and a noticeable step in their evolution. The passionate and dark melody currently serves as the opening song for the thriller drama [Maou], which Arashi member (and bandleader) Satoshi Ohno currently stars in. The music video is a very impressive production, and I am quite biased towards it for the string orchestra in the background. In fact, if you listen carefully to the vocal layerings and background score, you may notice that aside from the throwaway dance number section, “Truth” is actually one excellently composed song so far as pop music goes.
+ [Kaze no Mukou e] [video]
- A stark contrast to “Truth” and the other of their two latest releases, the optimistic and encouraging “Kaze no Mukou e” is currently being used as Japan’s song for the Beijing Olympics. If that’s not evidence enough of how influential Arashi has become in the Japanese entertainment world, Sakurai Sho, the “rapper” of the group and a Keio University graduate, is in Beijing covering the Olympics as a newscaster. The video is bright, fun, and features the usual questionable wardrobe.
VIDEO ONLY:
+ [Sakura Sake] (live performance)
- This performance is one of the main reasons I enjoy Arashi: they are some amazing performers. From the band members making faces at the audience through the transparent (moving!) Tokyo Dome stage to the crowd finishing up Sakurai Sho’s lyrics, the energy of both crowd and band is infectious. This is one incredibly inspiring performance…terrible vocals (excepting the fantastic Ohno) and all.
+ [Kitto Daijobu]
- You don’t get more standard Arashi than this video. Rainbows, sparkles, goofing off to a very perky tune. BEWARE: HIGHLY SPARKLING and gratuitous amounts of “member-ai.”
August 17 2008 | music | 1 Comment »
