Angela

Voice of the Sky (Sora No Koe)

Review by: Mimi P.

Album

Company: Geneon Entertainment / King Records

CD Length: approximately 44 minutes

Rated: G (for everyone)

EXTERNAL EXAM

Leave everything to your imagination and let J-Pop group "Angela" help you find your way to the stars with inspiring songs like “Brilliant Road to Tomorrow” and “Over the Limits”. Armed with the powerful vocals from lead vocalist Atsuko and skillful guitar play from Katsu, “Voices of the Sky” is sure to leave a lasting impression.

FINAL EXAM:

For those who aren’t familiar with the duo, I’m going to tell you a little bit about them. Angela is a fairly new pop group to come around the music scene. Angela consists of two members, Atsuko as the main vocalist and Katsu as the guitarist. The group is mostly known for their anime theme songs. They have made songs for “Stellvia” and “Fafner-in the azure” to name a few. “Sora-no-koe” was the group’s first full-length album, released in late 2003. “I/O” is their second album, which was released a couple of months back in November 2004. Overall, the duo has released two full albums. They will also be releasing a new single very soon. Recently, Geneon Entertainment released Angela’s debut album in the US re-titled as “Voice of the Sky”.

Best track

Atsuko tells you to “reach for the sky” with the upbeat track, “Brilliant Road to Tomorrow”. Many anime viewers will know this to be the opening theme to the anime series, “Stellvia”. After seeing a couple of episodes of the series myself, I can say that the song fits the theme of the anime very well. The story revolves around Katase, who struggles though space academy to achieve her ultimate dream and proving to everyone that she can be a space cadet. I can vouch that this is my favorite track on the album. Why you might ask? First of all, I love singing along to this song. It’s so catchy, and I can’t help myself. Secondly, I'm always trying to spread the word about japanese music, and creating new fans of it along the way. I've found that quite a few people admit to liking j-pop after listening to this track as opposed to a song by popular artists like BoA or Ayumi Hamasaki.

Worst Track

A piano ballad titled “Temperature of Happiness”. Again, Atsuko displays her powerful voice and her true vocal range in this track. I could tell that this might have been a difficult track to perform with the varying vocal ranges she had to do. At some points you may also think her vocals are a bit over-powering with the piano, but it doesn’t take away from the song at all. I also have to add that the musical composition is actually very beautiful.

Perfect for Fans of:

Yoko Kano, Akiko Yano, The Brillian Green

Prior to Otakon 2004, I wasn’t familiar with the works of Angela. Being a big fan of J-pop/J-rock, I’m always open to discovering new Japanese artists whenever given the chance. After attending their Friday night concert at Otakon, I became an instant fan of the pop-duo. I remember trying to get a copy of their album at the dealer’s room that night. Once I got up to the booth, they were all sold out. Angela gained a lot of new fans that night. When Geneon announced that they were going to release a version of it to the US, I jumped at the chance of getting a copy.

Overall, the album is a strong debut for Angela. I can’t say there’s a single bad track in the entire album. You’ve got high-energy tracks like “Brilliant Road to Tomorrow”, soft numbers such as “Temperature of Happiness”, and striking tunes like “Pain”. For Stellvia fans, this is a must have especially if you want the full-length theme songs. With so much variety, “Voices of the Sky” definitely leaves a little bit of everything for everyone.

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