Beyond the Sea ~ The Style. Edition

Tracklisting
1. glitter “original mix”
2. fated “original mix”
3. Secret “original mix”
4. glitter “original mix -Instrumental-”
5. fated “original mix -Instrumental-”

This is Ayumi Hamasaki’s 41st single and it was released on July 18, 2007. The single reached #1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 166,203 copies. The 2nd track was used as the theme song for the Hideo Nakata movie Kaidan.

glitter is typical Ayumi Hamsaki, pure and simple. I can’t stress it enough. The song is basically a mish-mash of past ’summer’ type songs like fairyland and BLUE BIRD but not as good. You’d think that Hamasaki would try something new since this is the beginning of her ‘third chapter’ but noooooo. Despite all of this, the formula still works and the song is catchy and very upbeat.

fated is by far the more interesting of the 2 A-sides. The song is slower but it has dazzling electric guitar chords and strong percussion. The chorus is great and definitely the best part of this very dramatic song. If only the single was called ‘fated / glitter’ instead. XD

Track 3 is Secret, the ending track from the studio album of the same name. This song was included on the single because it was used as the theme song for the Japanese release of the Chinese movie Confession of Pain. It’s still a great song and if you haven’t listened to the album yet, this track might interest you.

Overall Rating 

3½ stars