Band : alice nine.

Album title : Alpha

Label : King Records/ CLJ Records

Distributor : Sure Shot Worx

Release date : Mid December 2007

Release : CD

The people at CLJ Records must've liked my review of the lynch. album I did earlier this year (posted 30/01), because they've just sent us two more releases (the other being Versailles ' Lyrical Sympathy ) off their roster (well, actually their promotor Sure Shot Worx did). Did they get reactions out of Belgium following that review? I don't know...what I dó know is that the Visual Kei & J-Rock genre is getting to be quite popular in Europe. One need only to look at the amount of people that visit Visual Kei and J-Rock related websites, and we know enough.

Getting back to the band at hand...Tokyo based alice nine. was formed in early 2004 with as members singer Shou , guitarists Hiroto and Tora , bassist Saga , and drummer Nao , and they made their live debut on May 11 th of the same year. The band immediately went off on a flying start, having signed to PS Company who instantly sold out both pressings of the August single Namae Ha Mada Nai , and followed that up in Nov. by MCD Gionsyouja No Kane Ga Naru .

In 2005 3 more singles followed (March's Gin No Tsuki Kuroi Hoshi , April's Yami Ni Chiru Sakura , and May's Yuri Ha Aoku Saite ), as well as two MCDs ( Alice In Wonderland still issued on PS Company ; Kasou Musou Shi being their debut on major label King Records (they are currently signed to both). In essence the latter release was a compilation of 4 earlier single tracks, plus 2 unreleased songs and 3 videos). January and February 2006 again saw singles releases ( Kowloon – Nine Heads Rodeo Show in January, Akatsuki/ Ikuoku No Chandelier – which was used for the opening and closing of anime series Meine Liebe Wieder – and Fantasy in February) upfront the band's full-length debut Zekkeishoku , issued late April (the album debuted at #4 on the Oricon D aily Charts ). Followed Number Six single and the on-line only Blue Planet. 2007 sees another slew of singles (by the way, they all had the quircky advantage of containing non-album tracks), starting with Jewels in March, White Prayer in June, and Tsubasa in October (which jumped to #6 on the Oricon Daily Charts ), with new full-length Alpha being released on Nov. 28 th   and a projected release in Europe set to mid December. The band debuted on a "foreign" stage, playing at Los Angeles' J-Rock Revolution on May 25 th , 2007...along with several other Japanese acts.

One thing you gotta know about alice nine. is that, starting off purely as a Visual Kei band, the guys distanciated themselves somewhat from the musical strictness of the genre, trying out various influences in their own musid. As a result the guys have become experts in mood changes...which is certainly something you can hear on Alpha ! Hey, time for a funny anecdote: You see, this album has 4 songs of which the titles were written in Japanese, but as I happen to work at a place where there's a big variety of nationalities, I was able to ask someone for translations. Now, at the moment of asking, I told this guy I am a music journalist and had to review this album in the Visual Kei genre, and he goes, "What is this? Visual K...oh, you mean, they look like girls?"...admittingly that is a very precise, if also funny way to discribe the visual aspect of the genre, wouldn't you say? I mean, I would've said it's a new wave of Romanticism in Japanese Rock music, but the part where men get in touch with their own femininity...well, it's quite to the point, isn't it? Back to the music, which could be categorized as "Alternative Rock" overall. It's in the separate songs that the difference comes through though. Where album opener "Zero" with its (down-tuned?) guitars goes rather for a Nu-touch, follower "Cosmic World" with its synth additions is calmer overall, and more of the clear-cut "Alternative Rock" style. The 3 rd track is the first of the songs with a Japanese title. Read as "Ao I Tori", and translated as "Blue Bird" , the song shows passages of Melodic Punk Rock, but still with a serene calmness overall. "Jewels" is a semi-ballad featuring both orchestrated and piano keyboards as well as great electric guitar. The same goes for the ensuing "9 th Revolver" , which is the first song in which I also clearly understood some English words...oh darn, forgot to tell ya: lyrics are in japanese for the largest part (English words are thrown in occasionally, but often spoken out with sùch an accent you don't immediately recognize it as such). "Dice" stylistically returns to the album opener, but doés have a calmer bit towards the end. "Number Six" is again a Melodic Punky flavoured Pop Rock track, and is followed by the album's only true ballad Iris (the 2 nd of the album's songs of which the title was written in Japanese). "White Player" goes back to Alternative Rock, but more driven than before. More calmer Alternative Rock songs come with tracks 10 and 11 (again Japanese titles, respectively translated as "Eraser" and "Blue Planet" ). The album is closed off with the last stylistic variant of the band, seeing "Cradle To (Alpha)" turned into an almost instrumental Dance/ Rock Pop song.

For your personal sampling of this Nippon band's music, check out myspace.com/aliceninefan (a fan-erected page), where you'll find mp3 files of "Jewels" and 3 older songs by the band. Find more (? when I tried my network pc told me it was unable to find a link, but that may well be due to the pc being part of a network, so you might have more luck with your personal pc; you have a choice between a Japanese and an English versionof the site, by the way) by surfing to their European label's website cljrecords.com (/artists/alice nine./official website). As for my personal appreciation, I'll have to admit that there is at least sóme exotic attraction in the fact that the band performs most of their lyrics in their mother tongue. However, although the guys are prolific enough players in the diversity of styles they bring, I'd rather see them stick to a couple rather than diversify so mùch...as it makes 'em come over as somewhat doubtful about the way they should go! My end rating is a mix of points for execution (removed from the stylistic changes), and my disappointment (becàuse of the apparent undecisiveness).

Oh yeah...before I forget, the European label should've issued both versions of the album, the regular one with the 12 audio tracks on (totalling almost 53 minutes worth of music), the limited edition with a bonus DVD (or enhanced part, I ain't sure) featuring music clips for "Cosmic World" and "Blue Planet" . Meanwhile, new single "Mirror Ball" (and not that againthis is NOT an album track!!!) is planned for release on March 26 th (in Japan), to be issued in 3 versions (the regular version with 2 nd track "Miracle" ; the two others with bonus track "Eraser – Memoire D'Une Fleur" , and depending on the version a music clip for either the title track or the bonus song).

85/100

Tony.