ALBUM REVIEW: EXILE- EXILE LOVE
I’ve recently got into EXILE after hearing their Toki no Kakera single last year. I never listened to EXILE before because I judged them by the way they looked (I’m a bad person), and assumed they rapped. I was partially right, but mostly wrong. EXILE actually sings some pretty decent pop. I honestly prefer their ballads and upbeat songs because of how unique they sound, but their pop isn’t bad, though it is a bit generic sounding. EXILE can really stand up to the plate when necessary, and they certainly are not talentless. I thought this album was a best because of the name, but I guess I was wrong. I actually haven’t listened to an EXILE album before, so I guess EXILE love is about to deflower me and a few of you… yeah… Here we go.
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The first track is a very interesting ethereal and gently mid-tempo song that uses unique music, violin and fleeting synthetic sounds, to shed the poppy-ness that would infect it without them. I actually really like What Is Love because of the vocal composition and the way that they matched it up with the music. It’s pretty upbeat, and it really shows me an interesting side of the group. I thought that the whole spelling out love thing was a bit stupid, but I can’t blame them really since they’re foreign (actually I can, but I won’t because I like the way it sounds). I’ve noticed that EXILE is good at not singing from their noses. They do however have two distinctly different vocal forms, which are their chest voices and their throat voices. Both work incredibly well. The higher they get, the more they drift to the latter of their vocal styles, and I really don’t mind. As long is they don’t go nasally, they really manage to execute every note quite well.
Vocal Performance Grade: A+ — Musical Performance Grade: A+ — Composition Grade: A+ — Harmonization Grade: A+
Next up is EXILE’s latest single I Believe. This song is obviously meant to usher in the Christmas season, and it serves that purpose very well. The constant percussion combined with bells and chimes worked out well, and overall the song is entertaining, though a tad bit uninteresting in the long run. EXILE’s two lead singers give an outstanding performance, and I like the background vocals because they really complete the song and give it a feeling of fullness. The song has a nice consistency to it, though there is a bit of repetitiveness. I like the fact that the lead singer (I can never remember their names) wrote the lyrics to and composed the song by himself. It gives me another level to respect him on.
Vocal Performance Grade: A — Musical Performance Grade: A- — Composition Grade:B+ — Harmonization Grade: A
Overall Grade: A
Beautiful is really just a generic pop song that kind of feels like a last ditch effort to fill empty space in the album. The song starts off with percussion and faint, occasional chimes. The tune of the verses and chorus might change a little bit, but everything really sounds the same, and the song just kind of trudges along at a middle pace. The performances by both vocalists and instrumentalists are fine, but the composition is boring to the point of no return. The song has some redeeming qualities, such as the bridge, but other than that there isn’t anything particularly engaging about it. If this song wasn’t on the album, I wouldn’t miss it.
Vocal Performance Grade: A — Musical Performance Grade: A — Composition Grade: C — Harmonization Grade: A
Overall Grade: C+
The next song is a very attractive ballad called Hibiki~HIBIKI~. Uhh, the name is a bit odd, though I suppose you wouldn’t know that if you didn’t speak both Japanese and English. EXILE once again invokes the great range granted by their throat voices and delivers a great performance. I love the way they sing 「星に願う」/’Hoshi ni Negau’ (I guess in English that’s ‘Wish Upon a Star’ or literally ‘Request at Stars’) because of how fantastic the high note is. EXILE’s vocals, when put with the right composition, are really impressive among all-male groups, and I have to say that they have, vocally, become one of my favorites. Musically, this song is composed of a percussion (someone listen to this and tell me if it’s a click track. I don’t really know what that is, but people keep telling me about it. I think it’s just pre-recorded percussion that repeats itself throughout the song. Not sure) track that continues constantly, and some other various sounds. I really like how this song turned out.
Vocal Performance Grade: A+ — Musical Performance Grade: A — Composition Grade: A — Harmonization Grade: A+
Overall Grade: A+
Following the previous impressive ballad is a song of similar nature called Kimi ga Iru kara. This song first appeared on their I Believe single, and I loved it then. I still find it very powerful, and I love the calm backing piano and percussion. This song has a certain quality of strength that some of EXILE’s ballads lack, which really keeps it from being too generic. The final note of this song is gorgeous thanks to a lot of control, and I was impressed from the beginning because of how well they managed to execute their vocals. EXILE has grown on me, and they’re really doing quite fantastically thus far. The flow of the album is working out really well, despite a dip of weakness.
Vocal Performance Grade: A+ — Musical Performance Grade: A — Composition Grade: A — Harmonization Grade: A
Overall Grade: A+
Make Love is an incredibly interesting song, and easily my favorite song off the album yet, right up there with What is Love. The very middle eastern vocal effects combined with amazing execution make the song unique and engaging. This is the first upbeat song on the album, and I’m really glad that it has finally come. The background vocals by both the men and women are great, and I really just can’t find anything about this song I don’t like. The music is fantastic and really pulls you in. The song is a bit blatantly sexual, but I’m no conservative, so it doesn’t bother me. The synthetic music, percussion and electronic beats, really complimented the feel of the song well and this song really seems to have everything going for it.
Vocal Performance Grade: A+ — Musical Performance Grade: A+ — Composition Grade: A+ — Harmonization Grade: A+
Although I didn’t want to move on, I had to get to SUMMER TIME LOVE. The song really takes it’s name to heart and not only starts out with those exact lyrics, but maintains a summery pop feel throughout. The brass and piano saves this song from being generic EXILE pop, which is I’m glad about. It’s hard to create diverse pop music since it all has similar styles, but EXILE does a great job by shifting over to the other side of the pop spectrum, musically. I don’t have much to say about EXILE’s vocals. As usual they are fantastically executed. They are one of those groups that (thank the lord) settles for nothing less than perfect vocals, and it shows.
Vocal Performance Grade: A — Musical Performance Grade: A — Composition Grade: A — Harmonization Grade: A
Overall Grade: A
Yet another pop song appears in the form of Sora kara Ochite kuru JAZZ. I was really confused by the name because there is definitely not a hint of jazz in the song. I liked the beginning of the song, but I can’t say I liked the percussion that appeared after a short while. It sounded like a galloping horse, and I was turned off by the atmosphere it created. It sounded like something more island-ish, not at all jazzy. This song’s main problem is boring composition which pretty much ruins my ability to enjoy it. There were no powerful notes to be hit and no musical build up. Performance-wise it was up to par with other excellent EXILE songs, but everything was just so boring.
Vocal Performance Grade: A- — Musical Performance Grade: A- — Composition Grade: C+ — Harmonization Grade: B+
Overall Grade: B
I liked the use of guitar in love combined with the R&B-ish synthetic beats. The pace of this song is pretty slow, but it is a bit upbeat to be a ballad. I have to say that this is another fairly uneventful song. Vocally it’s decent, musically it’s okay, but the composition is uninteresting and nothing really happens in the song except EXILE makes some noise. EXILE does well with their vocals, but there just isn’t enough for them to do. The song really isn’t bad, just pretty draggy and lacking in direction.
Vocal Performance Grade: A- — Musical Performance Grade: B+ — Composition Grade:B- — Harmonization Grade: B
Overall Grade: B
I much prefer the following track, sayonara. This song also features guitar, but has a more heartfelt composition and attractive tune. Even though it’s pretty quiet, the ambient background effects and slowly building percussion work out really well. EXILE, once again, delivers flawless vocals and executes everything very well. The flow of this song is definitely what makes it a good listen, because if it didn’t all run together so smoothly then it would be another bore-fest. I like the strength behind EXILE’s vocals in this song; they’re really what keep the song in the realm of listenability. This isn’t an astounding song, and lined up with their other ballads not even that impressive, but it’s not bad.
Vocal Performance: A — Musical Performance Grade: A — Composition Grade: A- — Harmonization Grade: A
Overall Grade: A-
Up next is a more R&B influenced song featuring fluctuating synthetic beats and that snap track that often appears in EXILE songs called Kawaranai mono. This song has a better composition than both of the previous songs combined, and is basically all around more interesting. This kind of ballad is more suited to EXILE in my opinion because of the non-traditional sound and atmosphere it has about it. The vocals are also stronger than the previous tracks, and the overlapping effects, occasional background vocals, etc. make everything sound so much more thought out. The song isn’t quite a ballad, but features a somewhat slow tempo and a relaxed feeling about it. Overall, this is a good rise from the quality of the previous couple songs, which is a relief.
Vocal Performance Grade: A+ — Musical Performance Grade: A+ — Composition Grade: A — Harmonization Grade: A
Overall Grade: A
Up next is a pure pop track, and also the single before EXILE’s latest, Toki no Kakera~Toki no Kakera~. I still don’t understand the entrance since it doesn’t have anything to do with the rest of the song, but I’m going to let it go. EXILE’s vocal performance and the unique mixed beats really save this song from mediocrity and bring it into the realm of decent pop music, which thankfully lets it escape manufactured status. With a definite up-tempo musical aspect, I’m glad EXILE chose to feature such a variety of sounds that it makes it interesting to listen to. Even if you get bored of the vocals, sitting there and trying to pick out all the instruments and sounds in the background is actually oddly satisfactory. Their vocal performance is top notch too, and this song has definitely grown on me since I listened to it as a single.
Vocal Performance Grade: A — Musical Performance Grade: A — Composition Grade: A — Harmonization Grade: A
Overall Grade: A
Next up, the second to last song on the album, is Touch The Sky, which features a person/band I’m not familiar with called Bach Logic. I’m so glad that we’ve finally reached this stage in the album, because I’ve basically been waiting for it since Sora Kara Uchite Kuru JAZZ. EXILE finally brings in some upbeat dance music and I love it. EXILE is good at fast paced vocals, which makes this song enjoyable. They fluctuate notes quite a lot in one breath, which I’ve always found a bit more impressive than it really is. I guess Bach Logic appears in the form of a rap placed towards the beginning of the third of three sections of the song. I didn’t mind the rap because it was well done, though I didn’t think it was all that necessary. However, I will admit that it brought a little bit of flavor to the song and actually made it a bit better. It kept repetitiveness to a minimal.
Vocal Performance Grade: A+ — Musical Performance Grade: A+ — Composition Grade: A+ — Harmonization Grade: A
Overall Grade: A+
The final track on the album is one of my favorites from EXILE, which was originally a three-way collaboration between EXILE, Sowelu, and Doberman Inc.: 24karats -type EX-. This song is stronger than the previous because the rap is better and the vocals are edgier to match the pace of the song. I found it interesting that they said ‘Touch the Sky‘ in English in this song, for obvious reasons. I like the beats in this song more as well; they seem to compliment their voices more consistently. As i’ve grown into a fan of EXILE, I find their old songs more pleasing than I did when I first listened to them. This is the strongest track of the hardcore dance songs on the track, though Make Love‘s unique perspective makes it unforgettable.
Vocal Performance Grade: A+ — Musical Performance Grade: A+ — Composition Grade: A+ — Harmonization Grade: A+
Overall Grade: A+
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It’s no wonder that this album has sold more than a million copies, because it’s very strong. It certainly surpassed all expectations I had of it, and then some. Although most of the songs has a similar EXILE-esque perspective, they managed to sound diverse in their own ways. The number of weak tracks was thankfully small, and the number of strong ones were wonderfully plentiful. Thought it isn’t perfect, it deserves all the praise it’s getting.
ALBUM GRADE: A
OMG “what is love” was just about the most fantabulously unique…song… well, it definitely woke my roommate one with a “wtf is this…” in a good way.
Don’t feel bad abou making assumptions and judgments based on their album covers…i mean…it’s hard not too…
their voices did sound like a generic “boy band” in some songs (like Beautiful and love and maybe even sayonara).
Summer LOVE was a bit on the flair-y drama-y side for us to handle over here…but we agree that it is a fun album…and we feel very unfortunate that we can’t understand it =[ thanks for posting it!