Hyde

Roentgen.english (CD + DVD)

Review By: Mimi P.

Genre: J-Rock

Company: Ki/oon Records/Haunted Records

CD Length: approximately 66 minutes

Rated: PG (mild themes)

EXTERNAL EXAM

Hyde would like to take you through his deep and meaningful world of Roentgen, this time in English. From the breath-taking lullaby “Angel’s Tale” to the haunting orchestral ballad “The Cape of Storms”, this will be a journey that you’ll never forget.

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: The video quality on the DVD is excellent. I could hardly catch any color bleeds, pixels, or wrinkles.

SOUND: The sound quality is superb with the help of PCM STEREO. Hyde’s voice comes out very clear, and nicely over the background music.

EXTRAS: The added DVD with the music video of “The Cape of Storms” in the Roentgen.english album is already considered a bonus. There aren’t many extras on the DVD besides the “Last Quarter Mix” of “The Cape of Storms” for the movie, Kagen no Tsuki.

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 true talents with soothing orchestral/acoustic ballads, the “poetic and deep” Hyde if you like to call it that.

FAN SERVICE: The DVD doesn’t really have much along the lines of fan service except for ample shots of Hyde and beautiful scenery. I know the sight of Hyde is enough to make the girls swoon. Fans of Chiaki Kuriyama (GoGo from Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Battle Royale) are in for a treat since she makes an appearance in “The Cape of Storms” music video. Of course, she stars in the Kagen no Tsuki (The Last Quarter) movie with Hyde.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

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 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).

Back in 2002, Hyde released his first solo album called "Roentgen". "Roentgen" was considered an experimental album, a break from the usual work Hyde brought with L'arc~en~ciel. The album consists of mostly orchestral type ballads. The original Japanese version consisted of a mixture of songs sung in full Japanese, full English, or both languages Anyway, an overseas version that consisted of all songs in English was released shortly after, but wasn't on the shelves for long. It was a limited release that was not made available in Japan. Just recently, the English version of "Roentgen" re-titled "Roentgen.english" was released including the b-sides to previous related singles.

Best track

The song that has got to be my overall favorite track on "Roentgen" is "The Cape of Storms". This song is the main reason for the re-release of the album. This is the theme song to Hyde’s recent movie titled "Kagen no Tsuki" (Last Quarter). I fell in love with this track instantly when I first heard it. It's a dark, haunting track also speaking about "lost love". It’s definitely one of those songs that’ll leave a lasting impression.

Worst Track

"Shallow Sleep" has been one of my longtime favorites from this album. For some reason, I don't like the English version of this track as much as I do the Japanese one. Hyde seems to have more trouble singing this song than any other I've heard so far on the album. It doesn't flow as well as it should lyrically.

Perfect for Fans of:

l’arc~en~ciel, glay, Hide, Gackt

FINAL EXAM

The “ Cape of Storms ” is the only video included in the “Roentgen.english” DVD. Picture a deserted oceanfront view from the top of a cliff, and a secluded desert area. Well, that’s pretty much the set for “The Cape of Storms” video. It starts out showing Hyde wandering in what looks like an empty beach. Then the video switches between views of Hyde at a cliff overlooking the ocean or standing around or sitting in front of a piano in the desert. Although haunting, the scenery is beautiful. I can actually say that this is the best music video Roentgen series, it’s got a lot more going on than the other ones.

The Roentgen series are easily some of my favorite all-time Japanese albums. I feel in love with the original Roentgen album when it was first released back in 2002. I had to get the all English version when it came out last year. Hyde shows off his remarkable talent in this album. Songs like “Drop of Colour”, “The Cape of Storms”, and “Angel’s Tales” are enough to win you over and I’m not speaking from a fan girl’s perspective either.

Since “Roentgen.english” is a departure from Hyde’s usual work in L'arc~en~ciel, fans might have trouble digesting this album Despite this fact, it's an album worth checking out. Also, I think fans of Gackt’s ballads will easily enjoy this album. It is just as good, if not better. Plus, I enjoy seeing rock singers trying something new and different especially going the jazzy or orchestral route. Take Kiyoharu (former SADS and Kuroyume lead-vocalist) with his "Poetry" album. I found it just as good as his previous works, if not better. Despite some of its flaws, "Roentgen.english" lives up to the original for the most part.

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