D'espairs Ray - Mirror

By Ikusenmaru


Artist: D'espairs Ray
Title: Mirror
Type: Album
US Release Date: 03/18/2008

My Rating

Songs - 7.5/10
Length - 9/10
Sound Quality - 8/10
Overall - 8/10

Review

"Mirror" is an album by D'espairs Ray with a very weird release date. First released in Japan on April 11th 2007, it was soon after released in Europe on June 22th 2007. Why it wasn't released in America during that time I could only guess in my wildest dreams, but it's finally released in the USA on March 18th 2008. Be proud, America!

The album starts with "Damned", a song that ackwardly resembles a song by Dir en Grey, and for a song length of 4:48 I expected a bit more of it, so I was a bit dissapointed, even though it did sound good.

After "Damned" comes "TrickSter", a song that wasn't really anything special, though it was still nice to listen to. I wouldn't quickly put it in my playlist. It's basically a lot of lead guitar playing, very little bass to listen to, and a bit of screaming, grunting, and of course, singing. The activity in this song is very nice to listen to, but somehow it just wasn't that appealing to me.

"MIRROR" was an unexpectedly nice attribute to the album. I guess that's why they called the album "Mirror". It starts with a what seems a synthesizer and a little guitar play, but soon Hizumi comes in and everything starts getting pumped up. It's really not a bad song, and I liked the rhythm it had. It did sound western-like, though.

I enjoyed "SIXty NINe" more than any of the songs due to the beat that was put in it. The combined singing of Karyu and Hizumi did a lot of good to this song, and it's definitely worth its numbers. Literally.

"Kogoeru Yoru ni Saita Hana" was a really nice song to listen to as well. It starts out rather much like Muse, really. But after Hizumi starts singing you'll soon notice it's actually D'espairs Ray. The church bells made it all pretty smooth and a lot nicer to listen to. The guitar solo that starts playing after about half of the song really did catch a tune and I liked it almost best of all. This songs deserves to be added to this album; it's really worth listening to, and I'm pretty sure most of you will like it.

Next up is "SCREEN". I myself am not really sure what to think of this song; it wasn't too bad to listen to, but I didn't like it much, either. I guess this one sounded a bit too much like 'everyone else'. You'll know what I'm talking about when you listen to it.

"Lost Scene" is actually like the name applies. The song feels like a lost scene from a movie. Imagine yourself being in a new action thriller, and you're shooting the intro. This song would be perfect for that. Imagine that, and you'll find out how "Lost Scene" sounds. It's pretty darn decent.

"Hollow" was a very nice addition to the album, and I would really suggest listening to it. It's really a nice combination of sweet and devilish. I find the best lyrics of this song to be "La la la la la la", oddly. I was really happy the song was this long, because I enjoyed listening to it a lot. With the help of Shinobu Narita, it really did turn into something. Great suggestion here!

Number nine of this album is "Closer to Ideal", a 6 minute and 2 second song. The Guitars did their job, the singing was good, and I wouldn't be able to press the stop button even if I wanted to for this song. It's really worth it.

"Angeldust" was a really fun song with lots of echoing and lots of high-pitched singing. I can't say much about it other than the greatness of the song. The slighty techno-ish background sounds finished it overall.

"Squall" is a song that was originally on the self titled single "Squall". It's a great song with some ensemble in the background, and some climatic parts in the song. It's really a great song, and it's worth listening to.

"Kaleidoscope" sounded a bit depressing, in a good sense, even though my skill in Japanese is still really basic. I loved the song a lot, and I would also suggest this song to everyone that even remotely like D'espairs Ray.

There is one slight letdown for the American fans; there was an extra song named "Desert" on the European version of the album. Too bad.

I'd say overall the album deserves to be listened to. It's a great adition to the band. They have my blessings for this, and I'm rather sure they'll make it even bigger if they keep making albums like this. Good job, D'espairs Ray. Your fans will be happy.

Track Listing

1. Damned 4:48
2. TrickSter 4:17
3. MIRROR 4:10
4. SIXty NINe 4:34
5. Kogoeru Yoru ni Saita Hana 5:07
6. SCREEN 4:50
7. Lost Scene 4:28
8. Hollow 4:11
9. Closer to ideal 6:02
10. Angeldust 4:19
11. Squall 4:57
12. Kaleidoscope 7:25

Where Can You Buy the CD?

JrockRevolution.com
FYE
Hot Topic
Best Buy
Borders
Newbury Comics

JMIgnited.com is not affiliated with the artists presented on this website or their representatives. All images are the property of their respective copyright owners. Images are displayed for educational and decorative purposes only under the "fair use" clause.

All music samples are property of their respective owners. All music featured are samples only! If you enjoy a particular band, please help endorse them and buy their music! No copyright infringement is intended.