[Empry]

My Review

Spoiler:

1. Bridge to the sky

Nice one. Fresh and spring-like. Good intro to NEXT LEVEL. It somehow reminds me of everlasting dream.

2. NEXT LEVEL

Uplifting and relaxing, a song that reminds me of spring. I like it a lot although I think that DAI's has done better stuff.

3. Disco-munication

FAIL. Reminds me of the greatful days remix from Ayu-mi-x 6. The only track which I dislike.

4. EngergizE

HONEY goes electro-pop. Energetic and poppy. I can already imagine that she will wear some cute and pink outfit for this song at the Tour. Not amazing but fun

5. Sparkle

I loved the chorus snippet when we got the Honda CM but unfortunately I didn't like whole song. But it still is one of the best tracks on the album.

6. rollin'

The first 30 seconds are a bit pointless and the distorted voice is not my thing but then it picks up and turns into a nice electro-pop song. Cut a bit from the beginning and the end then you have a great song.

7. GREEN

My favorite ballad on this album. I really like the arrangement and the oriental feeling it conveys. It is a bit out of place here though.

8. Load of the SHUGYO

Has a bit of James Bond feeling. Nice.

9. identity

Although this song could be also called decision ~episode 2~ I enjoy it more than decision. It still has some flaws (e.g. those annoying yeahs at the beginning) but finally I do not have to listen to "boku wa...." which annoyed the heck out of me when I listened to decision and Marionette.

10. Rule

When I first came out I wasn't quite happy with it but at this position I’m really enjoying it.

11. LOVE'n'HATE

Certainly the most interesting new track on this album for me. I like it although it is kinds hard to describe.

12. Pieces of SEVEN

A great interlude but it doesn’t make to place it between LOVE’n’HATE and Days sind it doesn’t help with the transition

13. Days

A bittersweet winter ballad that I like although I don’t think it as good as Together When. In my opinion, the only song on NEXT LEVEL which has a good PV.

14. Curtain call

Not bad but not great either. I expected a more powerful ballad and the PV didn’t help either.

Conclusion:
I would rather call this album "SAME LEVEL". While GUILTY was a mixture of good and mediocre tracks for me, this album is more balanced in terms of quality but I think it is lacking some highlights. I also have an issue with two interludes: Disco-munication is just a big no and Pieces of SEVEN doesn’t fit as a transition between LOVE’n’HATE between Days. But all in all, I thinjk it is a step up from GUILTY.