long time no see here.. around this start of the year, the new album from YUI, titled I LOVED YESTERDAY is now out. i’d like to personally review this album from my point of view. though it might be a little biased cos i’m unmistakably a very big fan of her. hahaha..

let’s first take a look at the song list :

1. Laugh Away
2. My Generation
3. Find me
4. No way
5. Namidairo
6. Daydreamer
7. Love is all
8. I will love you
9. We will go
10. OH YEAH
11. My friend
12. LOVE & TRUTH
13. Am I wrong?

if you look carefully, most of the song title were in english (except for Namidairo), but NONE of them were actually english-languaged song. and some of them you might have heard before, such as My Generation, Namidairo, and LOVE & TRUTH. none of them were any different with the earlier release of the songs. i guess YUI’s pretty much ran out of idea for new songs, hahaha.. maybe i should suggest her a song?

ok. 1st song. Laugh Away. the song had a nice intro with strings, and the beat is somehow rather similar to the song CHE.R.RY. YUI put a rather unusual style of singing here, as she sings VERY FAST on the chorus. the best part is where the music fades out and the usual YUI style of guitar-and-vocal-only comes in.

2nd song. My Generation. this is one of my favorite songs that i usually listen to while driving my car. i’m sure some of you had listened to this song. the story behind this song, is when YUI was 16 years old, and is confronted by 2 options : stay at school and throw her dream of singing, forever. OR, leave school and pursue her singing career. and yet, she chose the latter.

3rd song. Find me. another usual YUI style song here. not much to tell about this song. some part of the chorus is somehow similar with My Generation, only this song have slower tempo.

4th song. No way. now THIS, is a VERY-UNUSUAL-YUI-SONG. with only 1:17 of run time, this song is a fast-paced, hard-hitting, head-banging song. the intro starts with 8 beats of solo guitar, a beat of split second pause, then the drum came rushing in, followed by the rest of the instruments. the vocal also have a unique tune. then again, it was too damn short for a song. i wonder if it was deliberately made this way. but i really love how the combination of YUI’s lead and backing vocal tone played throughout the song. no way!!

5th song. Namidairo. this is also taken from a single. it’s a rather slow song. it has a nice orchestral fusion on the intro and chorus. since it has a lot of minor tones, i somehow felt this song was kinda sad though. and again, this song also have a part where the music fades out and left the guitar, vocal and orchestra playing. nice one.

6th song. Daydreamer. MY FAVORITE SONG OF THE ALBUM. the intro was something like : i-dont-know-what-she-did-with-her-guitar-but-it-sounded-very-cool!. this is also a high bpm song, like Rolling Star or My Generation, but less punk-y, and more rock-y. the great part is this song have a half-tempo bridge before the chorus kicks in. but it successfully made me head-banging throughout the whole song. especially on minute 2:50 – 2:54, yeah baby~~!! (personal note : this song is kinda similar with Mika Nakashima’s Glamorous Sky.)

7th song. Love is all. the most interesting part of this song is undoubtedly the chorus, well, probably count the bridge also. cos the verses were quite boring, i must say. (sorry, dear.) there is a part on the chorus where she sing high notes, and it incredibly pitch-perfect. the rest of the song was kinda boring though.

8th song. I will love you. this one starts a bit lazy (and continues to be lazy throughout the song) but still has the usual YUI’s catchy tunes, especially on the chorus, where she likes to play with the verses and minor tunes. interesting point there on the bridge, after the 2nd chorus.

9th song. We will go. now this song’s got a punching beat. the intro starts with an edgy drum roll, and you can hear some guitar picking in the background which makes the song quite a flavour. the drums played too much cymbals in my opinion, nice back vocals though. again, there goes the bridge after the 2nd chorus.

10th song. OH YEAH. now this is really an “OH YEAH!!” song. it’s got a cheerful-like feeling. the “baby.. baby..” part was also very catchy. and i love the chorus! with the combination of YUI’s main vocal and back vocal, and the “woo-hoo..” part afterwards. “yaay!!” and not to mention great lead guitar there before the end of the song.

11th song. My friend. hmmh.. another lazy-kinda-song. you almost can’t feel YUI’s emotion on this song. well.. not much to say for this song, cos i don’t find any interesting point anywhere.

12th song. LOVE & TRUTH. back then, this song was quite a hit. and believe me, this song should’ve been the last song. it would be a great encore to the album. but no. there was another song following this one. and that 13th song was (in my opinion) more likely better to be put on the beginning of the album, like.. for the 1st song, maybe?

13th song. Am I wrong?. nice intro, and i really love it when the vocal kicks in, the drums change tempo into half, and then after that comes the bridge, and the chorus. after the chorus, here comes the verse again, with the half-tempo drum rolls. and the greatest part in this song was undoubtedly after the 2nd chorus, where the drums back into half-tempo, and then the lead guitar takes place. then the song ended after another chorus, and fades out. hell, this would be a great opening song for the album, right before Laugh Away.

So that was my review for this album. overall, i still consider this album is a great one. can’t hardly wait for the next release.. =P