Long gone are the days where C-ute was my least favorite Hello! Project group. I think I love each group equally now to be honest. It's actually crazy to know that C-ute is now the older group and there are THREE new groups in the project. I remember when C-ute was selling really poorly and I remember thinking that they would be gone within the next couple years. It's pretty amazing how strong they're going now. Even though I'm sure that C-ute's days in H!P are numbered (I'm predicting 2016 announcement with 2017 graduation), I also have a strong feeling that C-ute will continue as a girl group outside of idoldom. I don't see in any of them the desire to quit like I saw in Berryz.
This is C-ute's current single and first single of 2015.
The main A-side is The Middle Management. I know people are getting tired of EDMProject, but gosh keep them coming for me. H!P is the most interesting thing out there in music at the moment in my opinion. I really love the beginning instrumental of the song. It catches the attention of the listener immediately. I was slightly worried about have western composers/arrangers do the track (not because I dislike Western music, just because I was afraid of it being a really radical departure from the H!P I know), but if you told me that Tsunku composed this track I'd totally believe it. It sounds like something he do. The music video is really great. Proof that to have a quality video you don't have to go all "Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai" (Although I LOVE that video so much...I'll talk about it when the single is released xD) to have something interesting. It's not much different than your typical H!P video, but the shots that acted like they were coworkers having dinner together really made the video. 5/5.
The Middle Management MV:
The second A-side is GamushaLife. I have really mixed feelings on this song. On one hand, it's kind of catchy and has a really feel good mood to it. On the other hand, it sounds like a really generic idol track and C-ute is so far past that that it's annoying they were given it. The only real difference musically between the generic idol tracks and this is that there is a nice bass line. I'm torn on if I like it or not. It's the weakest song of the single. The music video is pretty simple but I love the splash of colors behind them. It's so pretty. 3.5/5.
GamushaLife MV:
The final A-side is Tsugi no Kado wo Magare. This one is done by Takui. When I first heard it, I was really disappointed. I had loved Taiki Bansei and this seemed like such a step down. I had figured that my approval of Takui doing H!P needed retracted, but after I played this in the car, I realized how amazing it is. It's a sing at the top of your lungs kind of song and C-ute's vocals compliment it wonderfully. The music video is probably my least favorite of the three, but the the blue/black colors are so pretty to me. It was an interesting choice to use Kenshuusei in the dance though. As much as I'm glad that they got a chance to do something official, it also felt unnecessary. 5/5.
Tsugi no Kado wo Magare MV:
All in all, this is a pretty good single. Management & Tsugi are outstanding and GamushaLife is...well....it's kind of catchy. I'll give it that. For their next single/album, I'd like to see a mix of Management style [EDM] & Tsugi style [the more mature/sing a long/rock-ish type]. I think the styles fit together perfectly. 4/5.
No comments:
Post a Comment