Beyond the Sea

SINGLE REVIEW
Do As Infinity - TAO

1. TAO
2. aurora
3. TAO (Instrumental)
4. aurora (Instrumental)

This is Do As Infinity’s 20th and final single as a band and it was released on July 27, 2005, about 2 months prior to their official disbandment on September 29th. This single reached #11 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 37,329 copies. The title track was used as the opening theme song for the video game Tales of Legendia.

When TAO was first released, many fans speculated that the disbandment of Do As Infinity was near…and they were right. The lyrics of the song depict 2 friends going their separate ways, but they will never forget each other. The lyrics do reflect the real life actions of Tomiko Van and Ryo Owatari (Van now has a solo career and Owatari is the leader of the band Missle Innovation). The music is pretty standard DAI pop rock with unusually high pitched vocals from Van during the chorus. This is one of my favorite DAI songs of all time, not just because of the lyrics, but it’s also very heart-warming and uplifting as well.

DAI’s final B-side is definitely one to remember. aurora is a very unique song by DAI standards because it combines Spanish guitar and other Latino influences. On an interesting note, this song is an continuation of BREAK OF DAWN, a song from the band’s first album back in 2000. The lyrics can be described as the ending to the story first told in BREAK OF DAWN, when the dawn comes after a night with friends, waiting for the sun to rise while underneath the moonlight.

Overall Rating

4½ stars

ALBUM REVIEW
Do As Infinity - NEED YOUR LOVE

1. For the future *
2. BE FREE
3. Blue
4. Rakuen *
5. Ever…
6. one flesh
7. ROBOT
8. Ultimate G.V
9. Yotaka no Yume
10. Need your love
11. Na no Hanabatake
12. Hiiragi (Acoustic Ver.)

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Note: Songs with a (*) at the end of their titles have already been reviewed. Click on the links to see their reviews.
Songs in bold are new tracks and will be reviewed.

♦ ♦ ♦

This is Do As Infinity’s 6th and final studio album and it was released on February 16, 2005. This album reached #3 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 137,911 copies.

The album opens with the quick riffs of For the future, the band’s 19th single which was released prior to this album. This song acts as great introduction for what’s to come.

Track 2 was originally an exclusive bonus track on the band’s B-side album Do the B-side back in 2004 and it’s a good thing it’s on this album too. BE FREE is a cheerful song with catchy riffs.

Track 3, Blue, is another upbeat song with an excellent chorus. The electric guitar riffs are fast and the solo during the bridge is awesome.

The next track, Rakuen, is probably my favorite song on the album. It’s also the most unique song too because of the low key string arrangement during the verses.

Track 5 is a more slower paced song that features acoustic guitar. Ever… has a nice chorus but I didn’t think the song was anything special.

Track 6, one flesh, is a progressive song with strong percussion. I didn’t really like this song but it still sounds nice and it’s rather short.

I definitely liked the strong riffs of track 7. ROBOT is an incredibly catchy song with a great bridge that features Tomiko Van’s voice being electronically distorted. It fits the theme of the song very well.

Track 8 is another short yet upbeat song that I don’t really like. The music of Ultimate G.V remains consistent except for the riff during the bridge.

Track 9 begins slow paced but the chorus quickly picks things up. I also liked the fast vocals of Yotaka no Yume. The chorus is the high point of the song too because of the use of bass.

Track 10 is definitely one of the better songs on the album. Need your love is uplifting yet it maintains a darker persona. The song also features more unique and different sounds compared to the rest of the songs and I was so glad to hear a string arrangement during the bridge.

Track 11 was another breath of fresh air. Na no Hanabatake is the only song on the album to feature the piano as the main instrument and it’s beautiful. It was really nice to hear just Van’s voice without a vocal track.

The bonus track on the album is an acoustic version of Hiiragi, the band’s 17th single released back in 2003. I loved the fact that there’s only the piano and acoustic guitar in this version and Tomiko’s vocals are top notch. Like most acoustic songs, the music is toned down and does not feature a vocal track.

NEED YOUR LOVE is a great album but at the same time, I also think it’s Do As Infinity’s weakest one. It doesn’t have the flair of their previous albums because the music remains consistent and it doesn’t change. Almost all of the upbeat rock tracks sounded the same to me and I didn’t find any variety between them. I only found tracks 4 and 11 to be the ones with a different and unique sound. This album would have been better if there were more variety in the rock tracks but this is also where the album shines. Do As Infinity has made some of the best pop / rock songs ever and this album is just an extension of what the band excels at.

Overall Rating

3 stars

SINGLE REVIEW
Do As Infinity - For the future

1. For the future
2. For the future (Instrumental)

This is Do As Infinity’s 19th single and it was released on January 19, 2005. This single reached #6 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 39,553 copies.

For the future is one of DAI’s more generic songs. Don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s a good song but it’s too similar to the band’s previous work (Week!, under the sun, Honjitsu wa Seiten Nari are good examples). There’s lots of electric guitar and upbeat percussion with lyrics about the desire to fly and be free. Tomiko Van’s vocals are great as usual and the song never lets up.
All in all, this is an okay single. Just like the Rakuen single, I don’t recommend getting this one as well unless you want the instrumental.

Overall Rating 

3½ stars

SINGLE REVIEW
Do As Infinity - Rakuen

1. Rakuen
2. Rakuen (Instrumental)

This is Do As Infinity’s 18th single and it was released on December 15, 2004. This single reached #2 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 60,580 copies. The title track was used as the ending theme for the 4th Inuyasha movie.

Rakuen is one of my favorite Do As Infinity songs. I love the string arrangement and the powerful chorus. Just like many other DAI songs, the chorus features awesome electric guitar riffs. The bridge also contains one of my favorite electric guitar solos of all time as well. You can’t go wrong with this song. I don’t recommend getting the single now unless you want the instrumental (which is still great). This song can be found on the band’s 6th studio album NEED YOUR LOVE and their single collection Do The A-side.

Overall Rating

5 stars