angela - PRHYTHM 2005   Geneon Anime Music Official Website Buy It Now

Most anime and J-pop fans by now should be familiar with angela, the duo of atusko (Atsuko Yamashita) and KATSU (Katsunori Hirasato), and the tremendous success that the pair have found in Japan and elsewhere in Asia has managed to find its way to the United States. Previously their CD I/O was released here in North America and that has now been followed up by their latest offering PRHYTHM.

J-pop still remains one of those limited musical genres that appeals to a select group of individuals, but it seems that it’s slowly becoming more and more accepted by some. Unlike some artists however, angela tends to follow their own musical path, not necessarily fitting into the general definition of “J-pop” and definitely taking a more eclectic approach when it comes to song writing. PRHYTHM definitely covers quite a few different musical styles pushing angela away from being just another synth-pop Japanese group.

The CD opens with a rather fast paced and catchy track, “Yell for You,” but upbeat tempos aren’t necessarily on the agenda for the entirety. You’ll find some cuts with a more jazzy feeling to them, even something of a 70’s style influence to an extent, though definitely not some cheap replication of the disco era. “Younger Unknown HD in the Head” and “Love Rendezvous” both showcase this style wonderfully.

One of the best tracks is “Decide,” which not only features atsuko’s fantastic vocals, but some great layering with her voice which is accented perfectly with some light electronic piano. “EMOTION” is another fantastic piece of work that has a pseudo-trance style and has some elements that are quite similar to what you might hear from another J-pop act, Globe, though angela isn’t quite as heavy with the dance beats. There are two ballads towards the end of the disc that seem a little misplaced, and quite honestly, they would have been better spread out in other parts of the CD, not directly following one another.

Though there are some good tracks on the disc, none of them are really outstanding like I have heard from angela in the past. The experimentation with different styles certainly is a plus, but it really feels like it’s almost too much of a good thing. The songs don’t really have any good hooks, neither with the music itself nor with the lyrics, that make the songs stick in your head long after they are finished.

Like many of the Japanese CD’s that we have seen released through Geneon, the North American release includes the same artwork seen in the original releases, the Japanese lyrics as well as the translated text.

PRYTHM is a decent release, but again, not memorable and unfortunately, that is something that I think really hurts the release. Make no mistake though, angela with the combined efforts of atsuko and KATSU are more than talented and have a quite unique approach to song writing, but their skills have been displayed much better in the past, and hopefully their next release is a return back to some of the great song writing they have done previously.

-mike-
 

angela is: Katsumori Hirasato Atsuko Yamashita

Track Listing: 01 - Yell for you 02 - The Answer Called the Future 03 - Wings 04 - Love Rendezvous 05 - DEAD SET 06 - Decide 07 - Forget everything 08 - EMOTION 09 - Younger Unknown HD in the Head 10 - Endless Monologue 11 - Peace of mind 12 - fly me to the sky Running Time: 56 Minutes