NOTE: Sorry for the late review, I hope this won’t happen again! ><
Onto the 11th album review, and we have a new contender! Sort of, it’s one of those artists you may or may not hear of again. Ryuryu (or binyu P), one of my favorite composers as well. I’ll review Homeland, one of my first albums from him.
Album: Homeland
Genre: Electronica / Calm
Link: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/homeland/id402648573
Tracks: 10
Song Highlight: All songs except Lost (Track 6), Two of us (Track 8) and Blue Bird (Track 9)
The intro feels like entering Disneyland. Seriously, with those sound effects and ambience, it makes you feel like you’re entering somewhere magical. Don’t believe me? Listen for yourself.
What I like
Counterclockwise (Track 1) sounds like a song you’d hear when someone’s performing a beautiful show. Well, that’s how it felt. Based on the meaning of the song, it’s highly related to time, thus counterclockwise. The song is very beautiful, but the PV looks a little sad to me. Here, to save your troubles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao8sA8xQErE
Anyway, I have a feeling the song is about not being able to turn back time as it does not stop, which is painfully true. Overall, the song makes my heart warm.
Journey (Track 2) is exactly how the song name states, it feels like a journey. In search for warmth or light, that’s pretty much how I interpreted it. This is one of those songs where I can understand Miku’s English. Here, another PV, sort of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJFYnmwFLLA
P.S. It’s “Light to guide you home, you home” not what you see in the video. I trust my ears.
Well, you’d probably say the same when you hear her sing. It’s good if you ask me, proper usage of Miku’s voice in English!
Trees In Our Homeland (Track 3) does really fit the theme even if you didn’t know the meaning. It has that rich sound which makes you feel like you are right next to a waterfall full of wildlife. It’s more of a chase for your dreams kind of song. Though, I can’t really see why the title Trees In Our Homeland until I realize that it could be a metaphor. It felt as if someone was waiting in the homeland and that homeland keeps everything about the person on his/her journey, saying that he/she can always come back. It’s a little hard to interpret, so go ahead and share your thoughts. Once again, for your troubles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vdMgrQrzuY
Aurora (Track 4) feels very, floaty. How do I call it, you’re like floating in the sky, yeah. Auroras are beautiful things you can see in the Arctic (Correct me if I’m wrong…) and based on the song metaphor, it does feel like the song does resemble the Aurora a lot. The song is a about a message that wants to be delivered to a certain person. Auroras seem to be there due to light reflections (I think) so it sort of metaphors it to the mind. Well, here are the lyrics, be the judge and tell me what you can conclude: http://www.animelyrics.com/doujin/vocaloid/aurora.htm
Tachycardia (Track 7) is quite a mouthful, I mean the title. Anyway about the song, at first I was curious on what it meant. After some research, Tachycardia is related to an abnormal heart rate, which makes sense because of the ‘cardia’ in the word. Anyway, enough biology, but the song title does fit how it feels like to have Tachycardia. Here, look: http://www.animelyrics.com/doujin/vocaloid/tachycardia.htm
Anyway, the song does have quite a faster pace compared to some of the songs in the album, and the pace changes from time to time, which makes sense. I have a feeling someone is dying here, I don’t want to say who. Anyway, the song feels very atmospheric and you can feel it, like, it has so many emotions in it. I love it.
Named After You (Track 10) is a beautiful song, somehow. In personal opinions, I usually won’t mention about if there’s not much that makes it unappealing to me. This one just has enough. Best of all, it continues from the music box with that same melody in blue bird (Track 9). The chorus almost obliterated me… (After 2:34) The song meaning itself is also brutal to me, like, as if it understands how I feel about the world. Being lonely, at the same time, you aren’t lonely. Yeah, the song hit me hard, literally punched a wall because I needed to calm down. Songs don’t get me this worked up, not every time! This one killed me… Anyway, the song is pretty much like those enjoyable camps or homestays. You loved them for a week and you’re leaving. It’s that time where you are crying, yeah, that time is what the song is screaming at you. Play this song when it’s that day and you’ll cry all day all night. What kind of ruined everything was the song didn’t end at 0:35. It continued with the melody which made me, okay thank you for ruining the 5 stars you could have got… If you watched the video however:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s33_sFVxnrs
There was a reason why the melody continued at the end, but it still killed my mood, so, yeah.
What I don’t like
Nothing insulting to my ears in this album, so all is good here.
Personal Opinions
Lost (Track 6) for some reason, didn’t hit me. I’m lost on what to imagine here. (See what I did there? No? Okay…) So I couldn’t really enjoy it, so maybe some of you may like this. It’s not bad, but I can’t feel it :<
Two of us (Track 8) also did not make me yay because compared to other songs, there are not many instruments in this one, and well it didn’t really impact me too much, especially when the other songs have so much going on. This one just removes everything except ambience and piano. I didn’t really enjoy this song a lot but I don’t hate it either, but some may enjoy it, thus a personal opinion.
Blue bird (Track 9) is just okay to me. Not too great or too bad. It’s good though if it’s for sleepy time. It’s really calm and soothing, but didn’t get me all excited. What gets me excited is what gets in what I like section. When it’s here, it’s in between, simple. You may like it if you like ambience a lot and not too much happening. BUT!!! After 5:10, you have this music box part. This part really got me giddy. Oh man if this was the intro or ending, I’d praise the hell out of it. Yes, this proves I don’t slack when I review everyone. The song feels quite touching, I could cry if I’m watching a sad scene. Don’t even try, you have been warned. Remember when you lost someone important? Crap, now I’m feeling it… GET OUT, NOW!!! PUNCH A WALL, BACK TO THE REVIEW.
Conclusion
This album is focused on ambient and calm tunes. If you are a rock or a hyped electronica fan, you’d probably not like this. This one’s a little slower and calm.
Should you buy this album? : Yes
Will Deathspark buy this album? : Yes
Reason: The song has enough respect from me, therefore, yes.
4 stars, would recommend this album to people without a second thought.
