hyde

Roentgen Stories

Review by Mimi P

Music Video Collection

Company: Ki/oon Records Inc. / Haunted Records

CD Length: Approximately 23 minutes

Rated: PG (mild themes)

EXTERNAL EXAM

Submitted for your watching pleasure are 4 music videos from Hyde's (Lead singer of of super group L’arc~en~ciel) various "Roentgen" albums. In a surrealistic journey, you travel with him to the deep recess of his mind, to the outer limits of reality.

Sit back and relax while Hyde takes on a long journey through his world in “Roentgen Stories”.

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: I have to say that the video quality on this DVD is excellent. I barely noticed any color bleeds, pixels, or wrinkles.

SOUND: The sound quality is also very good with the help of PCM STEREO. Hyde’s voice comes through clearly over the background music.

EXTRAS: Unfortunately, you’re not going to get any extras with this disc. I wouldn’t call the interconnecting clips in between the music videos extras. I believe they help in making transitions between songs, adding more sense to them. Basically, all you’re getting are the music videos.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STYLE: Hyde’s Roentgen material is much different from the usual L’arc~en~ciel stuff that most fans are used to. If you’re expecting the usual pop-rock sound, you’ve come to the wrong place. With Roentgen, Hyde shows off his talent with soothing orchestral/acoustic ballads. As for the music videos, there isn’t really anything eye-catching. Most of the time, you’ll either get shots of Hyde from different angles (lots of close ups), or the eerie scenic views surrounding him.

FAN SERVICE: The DVD doesn’t really have much along the lines of fan service except for ample shots of Hyde up close. I know that’s enough to make the girls swoon. The creepy looking Hyde at the end of the “Secret Letters” music video might turn some off.

FINAL EXAM

I’ve been a long-time fan of L’arc~en~ciel so it was natural to start looking into everyone’s solo works. As most of you may know, L’arc~en~ciel took a two year or so hiatus to work on their individual solo projects. Testu, the leader and bassist of the group, went on as Testu69 bringing us the same bouncy pop-rock numbers we’ve been used to from him. Ken formed his own band called “Sons of All Pussys” or “S.O.A.P.” joining with former L’arc~en~ciel drummer, Sakura. With the new group, an edgier rock style was produced. Yukihiro, the drummer, went to make techno-like music with “acid android”.

Now, I’ll go back to Hyde. During his solo career so far, Hyde has released four albums, three of them are different versions of “Roentgen”. The first album was Roentgen (songs were either in Japanese or English), overseas release of “Roentgen” in English (not available in Japan), 666, and Roentgen.english (Japan release of all tracks are in English). “Roentgen” is considered Hyde’s “angel” album, while “666” is his “devil” album.

The true meanings of the albums can still be left up for debate. When I bought the original “Roentgen” a long while back, I fell in love with the music right away. Being such a big fan of the songs, I had to check out the music videos. There are a total of five music videos associated with the “Roentgen” albums. The DVD contains four music videos, which the first three were released as singles, the fourth video was previously unreleased. “The Cape of Storms”, which is the theme song to Hyde’s new movie “Kagen no Tsuki (Last Quarter), was offered as a DVD extra with “Roentgen.english”.

A clip of Hyde pushing a man (we assume his friend) off a cliff sends us to the first music video on “Roentgen Stories” which is “Evergreen”, the first single off of the original Roentgen album.

The clip makes a lot of sense taking in consideration the meaning of the song. “Evergreen” speaks about saying goodbye to someone close who has passed away. There isn’t much action to be found here. The rest of the video has Hyde sitting inside of a cage, singing, and playing his acoustic guitar. As the camera finally starts moving away from him at the end of the video, you’ll see the man lying motionless at the bottom of the cage.

The only thing that I can say is enjoyable was the Hyde close-ups. Some might be disturbed with the dead body lying on the floor at the end of the video.

Next, you’ll see Hyde walking towards the rooftop of a chapel, leading us to the next music video “Angel Tales”.

This single, has got to be one of my favorites off of the album. Hyde does a wonderful job with his vocal talents in this soft, acoustic lullaby. The song alone is enough to put anyone in a dreamy trance, it’s that lovely. Both versions of the song, either in Japanese or full English, sound great. “Angel Tales” basically speaks about dreaming about your love or loving someone from afar.

Again, you’re not going to see much action here. Just about the entire video shows Hyde singing from the rooftop. Well, there is a scene in the middle where he’s walking up a flight of stairs.

Hyde jumps off the rooftop, and magically appears lying on a bed covered in white sheets. “Shallow Sleep” will probably be the closest thing you get to an L’arc~en~ciel feeling tune. It is a very nice soft-rock number about “being haunted by past love”. The video has a little bit more going than the previous ones, meaning it’s one of those videos you will need to look beyond the surface to understand what it all means.

An image of Hyde lying motionless on the concrete ground next to a puddle of blood sends you to the last music video, “Secret letters”. The video shows a group of people carrying a casket to a burial site. This casket happens to have the “dead” Hyde. At some points of the video, you’ll see inside of the casket where Hyde is singing. The video then ends with a creepy-looking Hyde singing and dancing in the deserted wood after looking upon his funeral. The end is a little confusing when Hyde’s character is captured by two men (who we’re not sure really are).

“Secret Letters” has much more going on then the first two songs like “Shallow Sleep”. Videos such as this one are of acquired taste (with the gothic-like feel to it), you might be somewhat disturbed.

Hyde shows off his exceptional vocal and visual talents with “Roentgen”. If you haven’t checked out the album, you should. Although, I would advise you to wait and see if you enjoy the album before taking a look at the “Roentgen Stories” promotional videos collection. If you do end up enjoying the album, this DVD would make a nice addition to it.

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