‘Sup people? Here’s another review for you all. If you like UVERworld, and I know many of my readers do, then you’ll be glad that I decided to review their new single. The A-side is used as the opening song for Gundam 00 Season Two. When I heard it for the first time, I thought that I needed the song. UVERworld has such a distinct style that you can recognize out of any rock band. Hanakaku mo Towa no Kanashi marks UVERworld’s 12th single according to Wikipedia (as wiki.theppn.org is down) and was released on November 19, 2008.

UVERworld - Hanakaku mo Towa no Kanashi coverart

Stylistically, UVERworld is still sticking with their typical formula. Nothing much has changed besides a few chords. The melody even sounds very similar to many of their other music. I could probably say that UVERworld probably needs to take a bit of a break and explore the world a bit. Bring back some new sounds and rhythms while they are at it.

Good single overall. Great quality in sound with deep basses. I don’t think I’ve encountered any crackling in the sound during my first listening. Every rhythm and part can be heard in each song.

Instrumentals: 9.0

The arrangement is good in the first two songs, but “Halzion” is just weird. I’m sorry, but I was going to give a ten until that song came around.

Vocals: 9.7

The enthusiasm in the music is great. Great strong vocals, but melody sounds very similar to most of UVERworld’s previous works. There are moments where the singing sounds whiny, though.

01 Hanakaku mo Towa no Kanashi

Nice effects for the vocals in the beginning. It starts off soft with a low bass sound as well as background vocals to complement the main melody. A pretty standard UVERworld song, with a soft beginning and typical verse into a strong chorus. Great use of background vocal parts. The instrumentals are nice with plenty of intricacies to make this song interesting. The key change is incorporated well, rather than louder, they opted for a softer sound into a louder section that leads straight back into the chorus. This song ends rather nicely with the same soft “explosive” bass as in the beginning. Good song and worth a listen if you don’t mind the rather uncreative arrangement.

02 Taion

A slower song that combines some acoustic elements with their usual rock song. There’s some nice effects used in the song especially in the drums. The vocals are nice and strong. Good song and a bit more inspired than “Hanakaku mo Towa no Kanashi”.

03 Halzion

Deep acoustic guitar sound in the beginning and a soft intro into the heavier main sections of the song. It has a weird melody and rhythm section that is awefully mixed, I felt the transition was a bit off. The rest of the song is not as heavy as the transition from the soft intro. I did enjoy the chorus as it had a bit of a different twist on their usual choruses. Decent song, but I felt the transition could have been better.

04 Hanakaku mo Towa no Kanashi (TV version)

Much of it sounds the same as the non-TV version. Nothing more to say, really.

Overall:

Good single, but it’s still uninspiring. I wish I heard UVERworld mix things up a bit more like in “Shaka Beach”. It’s been a rough ride with UVERworld for me lately. I hope I don’t get tired of them before they actually put out some music I find interesting.

Ratings:

Instrumentals: 9.0
Vocals: 9.7
Replay Value: 7.0
Quality: 8.2
Overall: 8.5 (Great)