COLOR – Blue ~Tears from the Sky~ (a J!-ENT World Groove Album Review)
November 21, 2008 by Dennis Amith
“With the second generation of newer members of the Japanese R&B group Color, their second album ‘Blue ~Tears from the sky~’ manages to showcase the group’s dedication to great vocals, that western R&B flavor and more. Romantic, beautiful and solid!”
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GROUP: Color
ALBUM: Blue ~Tears from the Sky~
LABEL: Rhythm Zone
DURATION: 56:36
RELEASE DATE: January 23, 2008
- You Are
- Blue Sky
- 青い鳥
- Make It Hot
- 君のいない道
- I’m thinkin’ bout U
- Since You Went Away
- End of the Road
- 涙が落ちないように
- For you ~blue tears~
- Baby Girl
- Lost Moments ~置き忘れた時間~
- If I…
DVD: Region 2, DURATION: 25 minutes
- Namida ga Ochinai Yoni (Video Clip)
- Blue Sky (Video Clip)
- Aoi Tori (Video Clip)
- Kimi no Inai Michi (Video Clip)
- Lost Moments ~feat. ATSISHI (from EXILE LOVE TOUR 2007 EXILE EVOLUTION~SUMMER TIME LOVE – 2007)
The Japanese quarter Color has gone through changes within the last two years. Originally a side project group of EXILE’s ATSUSHI, ATSUSHI and several of the members of the group left to pursue other interests.
For ATSUSHI, EXILE had become such a big hit with countless #1 albums and CD singles and the guys were literally busy. So, busy that that he and even others who had their own side projects had to focus on EXILE.
With one of my favorite albums of 2005-2006 being COLOR’s “RED Love is All Around”, I wasn’t sure what to expect when the group reannounced that they would regroup in 2007 and come out with a new CD single.
And sure enough, the new quartet featuring TAKA, YUICHIRO, KEISEI and RYO came out with the romantic but upbeat single “Namida ga Ochinai Yoni” and was quite happy that the newer members continued the smooth R&B vocal style that the original group had.
The album has a good balance of upbeat songs and also plenty of slow jams.
Standouts on the album for me are:
“You are” featuring a collaboration with MICHICO who wrote the lyrics and the music for the track. Quite beautiful with the piano playing through the background, cool beats and beautiful harmonies of the group. Well done!
“Make It Hot” features an upbeat track that focuses on the guy’s harmonies. Well done and really smooth vocals!
“Kimi no Inai Michi” and “Lost Moments” are just lovely ballads written by ATSUSHI and featuring a nice touch of piano and percussion. Both are very beautiful and romantic ballads!
The album also contains its share of all-English tracks such as “Since You Went Away” which features ATSUSHI, an acapella cover of the Boyz II Men hit “End of the Road” and the KSK Music track “If I…” courtesy of Kevin and Sean Kumar.
And of course, the single tracks such as the beautiful mid-tempo ballad “Aoi Tori”, the mentioned “Kimi no Inai Michi” and the upbeat “Namida ga Ochinai Yoni” are also awesome tracks.
The DVD feature the music videos for the four single tracks.
The music video for “Namida ga Ochinai Yoni” features a music ideo of the guys looking like they are going through their separate ways and leaving the group and holding an airline ticket with their names on it and they all end up ripping the ticket.
The music video for “Blue Sky” features a CG video of the guys performing with the sky and sunlight in the background and the group singing.
The music video for “Aoi Tori” features a sad track of saying goodbye. I this case, a husband and family are saying good bye to a love one and are at the church to say their final goodbyes. The family remembers the good time they had together with the whole family and then you see a flashback of the family eating dinner together and then mourning. A lot shot of the wife buried in blue flowers and a last shot of the family taking their final photo together.
The music video for “Kimi no Inai Michi” features the guys singing in a building and positioned behind windows.
The fifth video is a live performance with EXILE’s ATSUSHI and COLOR performing “Lost Moments”. ATSUSHI playing the piano and all his female fans screaming his name. ATSUSHI sings the opening and then is joined by COLOR. A very awesome live performance showcasing the group’s vocals.
There is a sixth unlisted video featuring information on the group, their website and fan club. Also, a short promotion for EXILE.
CD insert booklet features lyrics and pictures of the guys and a flyer promoting Rhythm Zone releases of the month this album was released.
Old group or new group, COLOR is one of the few Japanese boy bands where vocals is what is showcased. The guys are just talented vocalists and their harmonies are just incredible. The fact that ATSUSHI of EXILE is still involved as a producer is great but these four on their own are talented singers.
The group differs with other male bands on the Rhythm Zone label like EXILE and Tohoshinki in that these guys are not dancers, they are vocalists and most of their songs emphasize the harmonies and the unity of the four performers.
Overall, “Blue ~Tears from the Sky~” is a pretty awesome album, not sure if I want to necessarily call it a debut album (since it’s their second overall but with new members) but there is a good balance of upbeat jams and slow ballads that Japanese R&B fans will truly dig.
Overall, a solid album!
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