Review: Gackt - Faraway ～Hoshi ni Negai wo～

01. Faraway ～Hoshi ni Negai wo～
02. Oblivious～Kao ni Nai Tenshi～
03. Faraway ～Hoshi ni Negai wo～ (Instrumental)
04. Oblivious～Kao ni Nai Tenshi～ (Instrumental)

After the heart attack that was Koakuma Heaven, Gackt's second serving won't send you running in terror, but it's also not as interesting. In what sounds like a ballad-to-be, the song instead is a pop rock tune that just makes one wonder how this is an A-side and not a forgettable B-side. I honestly don't remember how this song sounds and after listening to it Gackt didn't give me any incentive to go back and listen again. It's not bad, but it's not good either. It lacks the emotion and energy that he usually puts into his music, and it ends off coming up flat upon the first listens, and at a runtime of just over five minutes it meanders off in one direction for too long without expanding upon itself in order to justify a "good" title. It's decent and a good reminder of his earlier works so if you're in a nostalgic mood for some Rebirth you'll find that this track is more than satisfying.

That clap-clap-WOO! pattern is going to kill me one day gackt

Oblivious is a half-acoustic ballad, with a great passage in the middle that at least has you remembering the song after it's done. In an age where many artists struggle to produce ballads, it's a memorable B-side that deserves more than one listen. That pattern I mentioned earlier rears it's ugly head, as the composition reminds me too much of "Last Song" and the chorus from "Kimi ga Matteiru Kara". Geh...

And then we have the obligatory instrumental tracks which really do nothing for me but add more playing time to the single. There's never a down-side to having these included but I always feel that a single from Gackt could always benefit from another song.

"Faraway" isn't as out there as "Koakuma Heaven" and I guess it's more tailored towards the fans that prefer his older works to his newer ones. It's a more accessible tune but it plays it too safe in order for me to give it a high score. It gets a 3.5 out of 5 from me, and that's mostly because the B-side overwhelms the A-side in terms of quality.