Kiyoharu – MEDLEY (a J!-ENT World Groove Album Review)

ARTIST:  Kiyoharu

ALBUM:  MEDLEY

LABEL: avex trax

CATALOG #: AVCD-23812/B

DURATION: 53:08

RELEASE DATE: January 28, 2009

1. FOR DEAR
2. ICE MY LIFE
3. 優しい悲劇
4. MISS MOONLIGHT
5. HAPPY BIRTHDAY
6. BEAMS
7. ピストル
8. LIKE A ANGEL
9. NIGHT & DAY
10. 少年
11. MARIA

DVD: Region 2, 16×9, Duration: 4 minutes

1. MARIA -Video Clip-

Kiyoharu, the well-known vocalist and guitarist of rock band Kuroyume and SADS but since 2004, Kiyoharu has been currently focusing on his solo career. In January 2009, Kiyoharu decided to pay homage to his former band Kuroyume by releasing “MEDLEY”, a Kuroyume cover album.

Kuroyume was among the earlier, popular visual kei rock bands during the early 90′s. The group consisted of vocalist Kiyoharu, guitarist Shin and bassist Hitoki. The group were a very visual group when it first started but over the years, they started to become more mainstream and toned down their image. The group won the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards for their single “Pistol” and in 1999, went on a suspended hiatus as bassist Hitoki had health problems. And the day after this album was released in Japan (Jan. 29, 2009), Kiyoharu made the official announcement that Kuroyume had officially disbanded.

With Kuroyume not having had any sort of release since “Maria” back in 1998, all that had been released from that point are best compilations and singles collections.

So, perhaps this album was created in foresight by Kiyoharu knowing he would be disbanding Kuroyume and with no official new release of those classic J-rock hits, he went ahead and did his own cover album which was released on the same day that all Kuroyume albums (and concerts on DVD) were re-released by the band’s old label Toshiba EMI.

“MEDLEY” features covers of nearly every CD single released by Kuroyume. From their second CD single “For Dear” (Feb. 1994) through their 13th CD single “MARIA” (April 1998) with the exceptions of their first CD single “Chuuzetsu”, “SEE YOU” and “Spray” but makes it up with the non-single track “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”.

I grew up listening to Kuroyume and one of my first early purchases was their first CD single “FOR DEAR”. Back in 1994, the rock music that was dominating Japan at the time were pop rock bands such as LINDBERG, Mr. Children and the Southern All Stars. X Japan and BUCK TICK were on the forefront of visual rock but there were bands starting to emerge to mainstream such as LUNA SEA, L’Arc~en~Ciel and GLAY but a band that did get airplay on the music shows at the time was Kuroyume.

Known for their cool rock music but also balanced with Kiyoharu’s low, charismatic vocals which definitely got them quite a bit of airplay. And as it was back then, the same goes for Kiyoharu’s covers. Cool rock music and retaining the same charismatic voice that he exhibited over 15 years ago.

Nearly each track showcases bulging chord progressions with a numerous dash of killer guitar filigree with a nice balance of cool bass and awesome dynamic percussion. If anything, Kiyoharu does remain faithful by featuring the bands dedication to goth/punk style of music. As much as I enjoyed Kuroyume’s original works, I think that I’m going to be quite partial towards their later tracks that were released on their 1996 album “FAKE STAR – I’M JUST A JAPANESE FAKE ROCKER” and their 1997 album “Drug treatment” and their 1998 track “MARIA” which I have also felt was excellent.

When it comes to cover albums, it’s typically hit or miss but in this case, when the original lead singer and band leader Kiyoharu is covering songs that he sung back in the 90′s, it’s not much of a cover but possibly a modern reinterpretation. Songs such as “Pistol” in my opinion sound much better musically than the original and classic hit like “BEAMS” where you wonder if Kiyoharu would retain the beautiful bass playing does make the bass come alive in this track as well. But tracks like “MARIA” is one of those tracks where Kiyoharu goes for a slight different vocal stylistic change. As evident on his music video and for the track itself, he goes for smooth vocals while the original featured a experimental style of vocals. Personally, I enjoy Kiyoharu’s cover of “MARIA” much more.

The DVD features a music video of “MARIA” and features Kiyoharu performing with his band in a room while he sings and smokes a cigarette. Very different music video where he’s just cool and suave in his cover version, while his original Kuroyume version felt frantic and experimental.

The 24-page CD insert booklet features lyrics to the songs and the production credits. But also creative artwork and photos of Kiyoharu. Inside the booklet is a flier promoting Kiyoharu’s live CD and DVD and upcoming releases.

There are a total of four different releases of “MEDLEY”. This version that comes with a DVD, a second version which is a regular edition of the album and two premium box set releases that comes with a second disc that features the karaoke tracks of all the songs on the main album. The main difference with the box sets is that one comes with a size Small T-Shirt and the other with a size Medium.