Disco de L'Arc~en~Ciel: “Smile”

When L'arc~en~Ciel, one of the sustaining rock pioneers of Japan's early alternative rock scene in the 90s, released the obscure and very underrated "Real" in 2000, (whose only real financial support came from the hit singles "Neo Universe" and "Stay Away"), the band seemed all but together. Every member was distracted with a side project of sorts, and the otherwise supremely loyal fan base seemed divided with needless accusations of what direction they wanted L'arc to take their music. L'arc then, probably weary of 10+ years of innovation and individualism, seemingly broke apart.

So it was with great elevation that, 4 years after the fact, that they got back together, made a album in the period of only a few months, and then appeared at the last minute in Baltimore for the first US show in the history of their career, coinciding the concert with the first official US release of a L'arc album. "Smile" is that album, and while it's quite obviously not the epic or masterpiece that several previous L'arc releases are, it IS exactly what it should be: a return to the business of invention for a band that had a 4 year break from each other's influences.

The album opens with the thick, slow Zepplin-esque crunch of "Kiss"; a dirty, grungy little track that rocks with a familiar hard rock flame that L'arc sometimes seems to be forgotten for. An interesting and textured opener that highlights each of the bands merits fairly well, especially Hyde's ear for melody.

Not too far afterwards is the album's energetic highpoint in "Ready Steady GO", an obvious single choice and already well known track for being the opening of the TV show "Full Metal Alchemist". Much like the show, it's fast, child like, and uplifting, a masterpiece of pop campyness and L'arc's typical theatrics. Tetsu, one of the world's finest bassists, particularly shines here during his pre-verse gymnastics.

"Lover Boy" keeps the flow going from the previous track, a sex and blood covered rocker that throws back to L'arc's early days of straight-forward, thick garage rock.

Breaking the consistency, the album explodes with a pop-hook throwback of it's "Heavenly" and "Heart" days with "Feeling Fine", an infectious, sappy track with more candy coated hooks then you can shake a stick at. A sure reminder that L'arc's taste for quick, pop jabs has never waned.

Quick on it's heels is the mellow "Time Goes On", which is at first a slow guitar introspection, then becomes a thick U2-like coffee shop jive, with it's prefect honey-sweet chorus and carefully layered studio tweaks.

Out of place and unwelcome immediately afterwards is the almost entirely English sung "Coming Closer", an absolutely ridiculous throwback to 80s over-the-top schlock. The chorus is laughably bad and the hook itself is about as painfully cheesy as Hyde's uncharacteristically bad lyrics. This is the weakest spot on the album, and it's the only clear-cut indication that the band really was on a 4-year hiatus.

"Forever" follows afterwards, a quirky, angular rock piece that throws backwards to "Ark" and "Ray"'s experimentation. An interesting track that follows in the footsteps of noisers Sonic Youth, which can either serve as a means of alienating or attracting certain listeners.

"REVELATION" is the only track written by drummer Yuhriko, and it shows: it bounces with a NIN/Skinny Puppy industrial skin, but it gets over coated in the L'arc desire for detail and description. It's core gets lost in the poor over production of the guitar, an effect that is brought out much better in their live show. Regardless, it's an excellent track, and an excellent reminder of why "Real"'s opening, "Get Out From The Shell", was so good in the first place.

Near the end of the album now, "Living In Your Eyes" is a soft, classical guitar adult contemporary pop song, littered with sparse orchestration and Hyde's beautiful croon. This track is a flex of L'arc's muscles- Hyde puts his vocal talents into a range few others can hope to achieve, Tetsu straps on his notorious six string bass, and Guitarist Ken trades his electric riffs for well precision classical plucking. A new, obvious single, it's a track that may not be instantly appealing at first amongst the thick rock on this album, but repeated listening allows the track to reveal itself and reward the listener with a beautiful pop piece. The only detraction from the song is the bridge- Ken's guitar gets significantly lost behind a wall of orchestration, when careful listening shows which was more impressive.

The last track is already 3 years old, and was a terribly intelligent inclusion; "Spirit Dreams Inside" is one of L'arc's finest songcrafts, and any inconsistencies are laid to rest in this arguably perfect rock piece. Hyde's English lyrics can be a bit campy, but the message gets through regardless, and really, only serves to help the song in it's power. A wise inclusion and a perfect wrap up to "Smile".

The "Hydeless" version of "Ready Steady Go" at the end of the track is an American only track, a bonus version for those wanting to karaoke.

"Smile" does exactly what it set out to do: it introduces a new audience to select time periods in a straight forward, easy to digest manner. (The album is almost disappointingly short, even for L'arc: it clocks in at just under 45 minutes, not counting the "bonus" track) Nothing more, nothing less. With this approach, it gives L'arc the opportunity to, if they should desire, to push a US tour and give the opportunity to a new audience to explore their past, and superior, achievements, and then snag them with a later release. Which, of course, gives them time to reacquaint themselves with each other.

Either way, it looks like L'arc has a lot to "Smile" about, so long as they stay focused.

After being an anime fan for a few years, it was natural for me to get into the music as well. Question was: how do I start? Thinking of the songs I knew from my favorite shows, I ended up picking SMILE by L'Arc~en~Ciel because it featured "READY STEADY GO" from Fullmetal Alchemist. After listening to the entire album the first time, I realized I had made the best possible choice. Now I am a huge Laruku fan and have even bought the concert DVD! Any fan of true rock music will be able to appreciate this album as the treasure it is.

1) Kuchizuke (Kiss): The opening track is a fine example of what's to come. Ken's excellent guitar work starts us off before Hyde comes in to demonstrate the incredible range of his voice.

2) READY STEADY GO: With a fast and furious pace, you can't help jumping around to this song! The instruments and vocals work together to make READY STEADY GO as addictive as the show it's used for.

3) Lover Boy: Here we have another great fast rock song. In Ken's big contribution to the album, Tetsu gets to show off his skills with a brief but very cool bass solo. It's another song that just makes you feel like dancing.

4) Feeling Fine: It's almost impossible to resist singing along with this one. Even if you only know the English parts ("Are you feeling fine?" and "She said, 'Loving you made me happy every day'"), you're going to want to belt it out. Very, very catchy.

5) Time Goes On: This Tetsu-penned song is considerably more mellow than any of the previous ones. The softer sound offers a nice break from the high-energy tunes you've just listened to, and it's really quite pretty.

6) Coming Closer: Going back to a heavier tone, this one sounds a little bit angsty, but in a good way. And I really like the drums in this one. Yay, Yukihiro!

7) Eien (Forever): This is probably my favorite song of all time. Even if you don't know Japanese, you can tell by the way it's done that it's romantic. One of the slower songs on SMILE, Hyde does an amazing job of bringing the emotion to this track. The addition of church bells in the background really adds to the sound as well.

8) REVELATION: If "Eien" is my favorite, than this is my second favorite. The combination of powerful bass and drums with a cool guitar line makes it absolutely infectious. This is the only track on the album that Yukihiro wrote the music for, and it has a definite edge to it. One might call it a rock anthem, and wonder why he doesn't write more often.

9) Hitomi no Jyunin (Living in Your Eyes): Slowing it down again, Laruku pulls you in with another love song. It's a bit softer than "Eien" with violins playing in the background. Again, Hyde gets to show off his amazing voice with vocals that range from soft to strident in a matter of seconds.

10) Spirit Dreams Inside: This track, written by Hyde, is completely in English and gives equal importance to each member. No one instrument takes precedence here.

11) READY STEADY GO (hydeless version): Basically, this is the karaoke version of READY STEADY GO. Without Hyde's vocals, you can really hear Tetsu singing backup in an incredibly high voice. It's really fun to listen to and get a feel for the instrumental (and vocal!) intricacies you may not have noticed before.

All in all, this album is amazing! Yukihiro's drums and Tetsu's bass provide a solid foundation throughout, while Ken's blistering guitar and Hyde's versatile vocals are a source of amazement. L'Arc~en~Ciel is an astoundingly talented group, and SMILE is a prime example of that.

What a thrill to me to write some thoughts on a new release by one of the greatest pop-rock bands in the world (mark my word--IN THE WORLD, not only in Japan).

Here's the deal.

If you're merely a quality pop band or even a J rock pop culture student, yet HAVE NEVER COME ACROSS this edgy, provocative, notorious yet sophisticated and genuinely seasoned pop rock band, then you've not been there done that. Well, here's your sigh!

SMILE not only serves as another step taken by L'Arc-en-Ciel (The Rainbow), but also renders both hard-core fans/quality pop music aficionados and fair-weathered fans who just want to try something UNfamiliar (L'Arc-en-Ciel's music, to the Western European and North American ears, IMHO, should be considered as UNCANNY; that is, something both STRANGE and FAMILIAR at the same time)a perfect dose of cool tunes throughout.

If you've been a loyal fan from day one (like myself), you would recognize the fact that RARUKU (as they're called in abbreviated form in Japanese accent--from the word L'Arc)has for always evolved and developed in some way everytime they released their new albums. Think RADIOHEAD (one of the great bands), for instance. So quite a safe bet, chances are whether you like this album or not, you might be gonna like others.

SMILE showcases Raruku's contribution in neatier, less scattered (not that it's not good)yet still high-quality set of new tunes (except their Billboard smash hit--Spirit Dreams Inside--that also included in the OS Sprit Dreams Inside)that, seems to me, were also intent for AMERICAN market--IMHO, I believe this album was quite formulated and tailor-made in ways to please American ears, in particular.

Hit singles like Spirit Dreams Inside, READY STEADY GO and Asia-oriented Hitomi no Jyuunin (Living In Your Eyes) surely wouldn't let you down. Plus the contagious, beautiful, orchestral ballad Hitomi no Jyuunin (Living In Your Eyes) practically showcases Hyde's dramatic vocal capabilities and pitches an average professional singer wouldn't dare try it at home.

Also check out their other older albums. If I would have to recommend only three of them, I'd go for ARK, RAY and REAL (not counting their 4 BEST's).

Once in a lifetime, we would get so fortunate to have such DREAM-TEAM band as this--HYDE, one of the greatest pop rock vocalists; TETSU, one of the greatest bassists who always come up with some complex, melodic yet unpredictable bass lines; Yukihiro, with his complex and firm rhythms; and last but not least, Ken, with his contagious guitar riffs and rhythms.

If you have never given any listen to any J Rock bands, L'Arc-en-Ciel's music should be a safe bet for you.

Roughly comparing, just to give you some ideas, if you like U2 in 80s and early 90s, RADIOHEAD and such, you should like L'Arc-en-Ciel.

I've listened to this CD at home, at work, in my car and on my portable music player so many times that I've lost count. And I've still got the urge to listen to it right now as I'm writing this review.

I cannot stress enough on how good this CD is - the music is excellent, the vocals are top notch, and there's plenty of variety (while maintaining l'arc's trademark sound at all times) to keep the listener interested.

First-time listeners of J-Rock might get a bit disoriented with the mix of English and Japanese in the lyrics (something that X Japan did frequently as well), but will get used to it after a while and find themselves listening to this album over and over and over, and over again...!

I began getting obsessed with L'arc when I first heard READY STEADY GO from a friend. When she sent me many other L'arc en ciel songs, I became quickly a huge fan. This is the first L'arc CD I have bought, and it is AMAZING. All the songs are catchy, different and awesome to sing along to, whether you know Japanese or not!

L'arc-en-ciel are Hyde, the vocalist (who is amazing and has a very wide range and a lovely voice!), Tetsu, the bassist (and also the leader of the band. He created L'arc), Ken, the guitarist (he writes most of the songs on the CD), and Yukihiro, the drummer (he's a lovely drummer, who is always ignored by fans... which is sad, because he's so cool!!)

KISS - An awesome start up to the CD. I love the range of genres in this song's vocals.

READY STEADY GO - The song that got me obsessed. So incredibly catchy, I could listen to it all day long.

LOVER BOY - I don't like this song all that much, but that's not to say it's bad. It's more rough sounding and rocky than the others.

FEELING FINE - An adorable song I was obsessed with a while ago! It's SO cute and so catchy!

TIME GOES ON - Listening to this song as I write this review. It's really cute, and very peaceful sounding. I really like it.

COMING CLOSER - This song is very nice. I love the vocals in this one. Hyde does a fantastic job in this, and I love the sound. Not one of my faves, but very nice!

FOREVER - I love this song. It's really catchy... I love the tune. It gets stuck in my head so easily!!

REVELATION - This one's very rocky, and one of my faves. It sounds like a rebel anthem, and it's incredibly catchy. Especially the chorus.

LIVING IN YOUR EYES (Hitomi no Jyuunin) - My favourite song on the CD. This song has so much feeling, it's incredible. Hyde's vocals go incredibly high here, and he does an amazing job at this. This song is so amazing, I love it.

SPIRIT DREAMS INSIDE - This song is alright. It's in English, which is always fun, considering Hyde's English is not COMPLETELY bad. It's understandable.

I love this CD, I suggest everyone to buy it.