Review: Gackt - Journey through the Decade

I was hesitant about this single before it was released, and I guess that was because it was going to be used as a theme to something just like Ghost so I wondered if Gackt would somehow jump the shark and create something bland. My fears weren't that far off, but Gackt didn't go bland. He just elected not to do much....

01. Journey Through the Decade
02. J.t.D. Re-Mix RIDE ''Distort''
03 J.t.D. Re-Mix RIDE ''Symphony''
04 Journey through the Decade (instrumental)

Journey through the Decade is the Gackt single that Gackt didn't write, and to me the weakest after Ghost and Jesus. It tries to emulate Jesus but doesn’t carry the same energy that that track had, so it ends up just being a regular song. At least it’s a good theme for Kamen Rider Decade.

The second track sounds like it was inspired by Ghost and I think it would have been a better addition if Gackt had used his vocals instead of leaving it as an instrumental. Interesting but ultimately not repeatable.

The same can be said for the third. It falls more in line with Gackt's usual style than the title track itself, but it goes voiceless and therefore doesn't pack as much of a punch. The last two tracks have proved to be real disappointments because they miss the one element that would make them superb remixes and instead sit on the single as lazy additions.

The last track is just an instrumental of the first track and is the weakest on the entire single. I wasn't too fond of the single and Gackt's voice made the song listenable so omitting him from this track lessens the impact even more.

If you like instrumentals then this single is great but it doesn't measure up to the standard that Gackt has set for himself in the past, which is a real disappointment.

3/5