Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Review: Gackt - Lost Angels

By the time Gackt's third single is released everyone's too afraid to go buy it....


  1. Lost Angels
  2. No Reason
  3. Suddenly
  4. Lost Angels (Instrumental)
  5. No Reason (Instrumental)
  6. Suddenly (Instrumental)
I was actually shocked by the length of the title track at first: it's over six and a half minutes long, and in those six minutes it does very little to variate. It seems a ton of Gackt's songs follow a pattern and this isn't an exception. It starts out with some nice piano and violin work and then bursts out into some rock which is a usual Gackt move. If Koakuma Heaven was disco and Faraway was pop-rock, Lost Angels shows more of Gackt's newer rock style. For some reason though, this song strikes me as if Mars and Diabolos had a baby. It sounds nice but it's rather boring and too familiar.

No Reason starts out harder than Lost Angels and moves at an overall faster pace. Even though it's a heavy piece of rock it's different. There aren't any noticeable stylistic changes but it's different from his later pieces of rock which usually are in your face with it's attitude while this song stays more reserved. It reminds me of Black Stone in the way Gackt delivers his vocals, but it's noticeably different so it feels like more of a cousin (yes I know that sounds weird). No Reason isn't as majestic as the title track but it doesn't try to be. It's straightforward and a wonderful track to include that compliments rather than tries to compete with the A-side. Best song here.

Suddenly starts out low like Lost Angels but the drumwork in this song stands out from the minute it first starts. This song is a perfect example of how electronic effects should be used in a song because it's used sparingly in parts but it's noticeable and it works. Gackt doesn't rely on the effects to make the song: he just uses it to accentuate an already great song. The guitar wails in the background remind me a little of the guitarwork in the eccentric Cube but it's minor and it melts into the background and doesn't take over. Suddenly works a lot like No Reason on this single and it works, although the song might be a little too tame for some people to enjoy.

Then of course we get the instrumentals, but this time we get three instead of two. The instrumental for Lost Angels works better than it has for any single since Ghost and it grants more of an appreciation for the instrumentation of the title track. The other two feel like add-on's but I surmise it would be worse if they weren't included to begin with.

This single more than satisfies my Gackt cravings and it's a good effort from a superb artist. The only thing I can hope now is that Flower is just as good as this single. 4 out of 5.

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