Surprised to see a KOTOKO single review on a Mami Kawada fanblog? While KOTOKO may seem to be Mami's greatest competitor within I've Sound back in the days, and that it'll be awkward to blog about her here, this site's administrator decided to serve side dishes from time to time.
Light my fire is KOTOKO's 17th single as an artist and her debut single under Warner Home Video. It was released on November 16, 2011 and was used as the first opening theme for Shakugan no Shana III (Final). Was her breakaway from IVE a good idea? And was her shift to a different recording label made her career any better?
Tracklist:
01. Light my fire
02. Candy or Chocolate?
03. Light my fire (instrumental)
04. Candy or Chocolate? (instrumental)
Light my fire
Vocals: KOTOKOLyrics, Composition, and Arrangement: ryo (supercell)
With this single, yes. Though her 5th album Hiraku Uchuu Pocket, which was her first release under WHV, was basically a mediocre one, Light my fire redeemed her career and showed us that her independence from IVE was not too much of a bad idea after all.
Light my fire was a surprise. A rock song with lots of strong points featuring how powerful and strong KOTOKO's vocals can be. A few parts employing autotune were very much welcome too. Ryo's arrangement was outstanding and devoid of too many synth layers characteristic of KOTOKO's past songs with IVE, thus making this song a nice addition to her already extensive discography. The beat was catchy, the lyrics memorable, and the energy high enough to hook someone even upon the first listen. A pretty addictive song, indeed.
Furthermore, the track serves to be a great and suiting opening theme to the biggest and final installment of the Shakugan no Shana series. Sets the mood for those epic and action-packed battle scenes.
Furthermore, the track serves to be a great and suiting opening theme to the biggest and final installment of the Shakugan no Shana series. Sets the mood for those epic and action-packed battle scenes.
While there are strong points, there are weak points too. The refrain part of the song was a bit unnecessary. KOTOKO's Engrish was far from great, and the tune was plain ridiculous. The last part was a bit over the top, the vocals being ear-blasting or grating.
However, such points were masked by the good ones. Light my fire is probably one of those songs where you could ignore the not-so-good parts because the whole song in general was awesome in itself.
Rating: 9.3/10
Music and Arrangement: Dixie Flatline
The B-side though was such a drag down track for this single. A denpa song that may have been a good genre to support the rock-ish A-side, bringing more flavor to the single, but it seems the song fell short and wasn't able to live up to the awesomeness there is in the A-side.
Yes, the track's danceable while you're at it but the arrangement by Dixie Flatline is just so generic for a Vocaloid song, as he specializes in that field. Plus, KOTOKO's vocals very much resemble that of a Vocaloid: monotone. The climax of the song isn't promising either, leveling up the monotonal vocals by a tiny bit.
However, such points were masked by the good ones. Light my fire is probably one of those songs where you could ignore the not-so-good parts because the whole song in general was awesome in itself.
Rating: 9.3/10
Candy or Chocolate?
Vocals: KOTOKOMusic and Arrangement: Dixie Flatline
The B-side though was such a drag down track for this single. A denpa song that may have been a good genre to support the rock-ish A-side, bringing more flavor to the single, but it seems the song fell short and wasn't able to live up to the awesomeness there is in the A-side.
Yes, the track's danceable while you're at it but the arrangement by Dixie Flatline is just so generic for a Vocaloid song, as he specializes in that field. Plus, KOTOKO's vocals very much resemble that of a Vocaloid: monotone. The climax of the song isn't promising either, leveling up the monotonal vocals by a tiny bit.
Having a time span of 5:04, one would think Candy or Chocolate? was made to last that long since the A-side only lasts for 3:48. Unfortunately, it was not a good move, especially if the song just continues on and fades out without leaving any significant mark on your memory. Totally forgettable and generic.
Rating: 5.7/10
In general, the single would have been one of the best KOTOKO has come up with in the past few years if not for its lame B-side. However, I must say Light my fire is a nice debut single under a different label. KOTOKO wouldn't have started her post-IVE career in any better way than releasing this single.
With her leaning more towards Vocaloid song producers, I can't be so sure if her career in the future would top her past involvements with IVE, most especially because we've seen such fruits of her labor in her newest album and in Candy or Chocolate? alike, which were pretty much mediocre.
This single having its debut at #15 on the Oricon daily charts may have been a bad omen. Despite putting up such a striking song, Light My Fire failed to beat (sales-wise and rank-wise) her previous Shana themes being and Blaze, which I think were far more inferior than the former. This could mean that KOTOKO should put more effort into her future singles, or rather, work with better producers.
On a side note, I personally think Light my fire is not as good as Mami's Shana themes Hishoku no Sora and JOINT.
Rating: 5.7/10
In general, the single would have been one of the best KOTOKO has come up with in the past few years if not for its lame B-side. However, I must say Light my fire is a nice debut single under a different label. KOTOKO wouldn't have started her post-IVE career in any better way than releasing this single.
With her leaning more towards Vocaloid song producers, I can't be so sure if her career in the future would top her past involvements with IVE, most especially because we've seen such fruits of her labor in her newest album and in Candy or Chocolate? alike, which were pretty much mediocre.
This single having its debut at #15 on the Oricon daily charts may have been a bad omen. Despite putting up such a striking song, Light My Fire failed to beat (sales-wise and rank-wise) her previous Shana themes being and Blaze, which I think were far more inferior than the former. This could mean that KOTOKO should put more effort into her future singles, or rather, work with better producers.
On a side note, I personally think Light my fire is not as good as Mami's Shana themes Hishoku no Sora and JOINT.
I pretty much agree with you about the single. Light My Fire was Awesome with a capital A but Candy or Chocolate? was horrendous. I didn't mind the Engrish part in the A-side though, it made for a nice bridge. I also wish KOTOKO gets involved with other people than just Vocaloid producers, working with just them might not do her musical output good (... though I would be completely fine with her working with kz again and again).
ReplyDeletePs. Wtf Hiraku Uchuu Pocket was epic. :<
Pps. Nice work you've been doing with this blog, keep it up. C:
Hi Kacku from the I've Sound Forum!! Thanks for the visit and the comment :)
ReplyDeleteYour opinion is pretty much appreciated. Hiraku Uchuu Pocket wasn't bad, it was good actually. I just think it's plainly good/mediocre.
Anyway, with a new single coming up for KOTOKO, I'll be sure to review that one too.
Thanks BTW for the compliment on my blog (^_^)/