Tracklist:

1. WORLD END
2. HEAVENLY STARS
3. PULSE
4. SNOW FLAKE – Kioku no Koshuu – (Album Version)
5. ANTHEM
6. BRAND-NEW DAY
7. Akai Siren
8. Antares
9. MUSIC
10. WORD OF THE VOICE
11. Butterfly
12. Rakuen Tengoku (Bonus Track)

#5 is FLOW’s sixth album, released on January 28th, 2009. It reached #19 on Oricon. The title refers to the end of their fifth year in the music business.

With the three singles released in this era being a chain, I was expecting them to follow each other, but apparently that was only for the PVs. Nonetheless, the ambience of WORLD END, despite such a depressive name, is perfect to open the album. I think this was the best A-Side of the era, even though SNOW FLAKE – Kioku no Koshiuu - is pretty close to that, and the mix of aggressive guitars and calming sequences make a unique song.

HEAVENLY STARS is somewhat a more aggressive version of the previous song; but the vocals, distinctly apart while usually the two vocalists tend to blend their voice together or sing one sequence after the other, make this song little of an enjoyment. This is a train ride to FLOW’s past work, when their music was more optimistic and, well, immature.

Next comes PULSE, the aggressive second A-Side on the last single of the era. I’ve come to like it a lot more, even though the chorus still annoys me a little bi, but the aggressive guitar riffs at the end of the chorus tend to just let the entire song collapse. Otherwise, the verses are nice and calming, but not enough to make up for the rest of the song.

I liked SNOW FLAKE – Kioku no Koshiuu - (the persistence of memories) when I first heard it, but, much like a lot of the songs on this album, I’ve come to like it even more after a few listens. After the two more powerful singles, this song finally introduced a ballad into the era. It’s very well made and the strings are very nice. The combination of the two vocalists’ voices is at its peak here, and I think it’s FLOW’s most powerful attribute in general. The Album Version extends it a little bit, although I see very little difference.

ANTHEM is one of my favorite new tracks on the album. This song is pretty much a direct confrontation to the overall, more sad, tone of the previous song. The verses could have been better, the problem being the same as with HEAVENLY STARS, the vocals are distinctly apart, but the chorus flows nicely and gives me a feeling of hope and bliss.

The next track is another ride back to FLOW’s earlier stuff, although I think they executed it a lot better than HEAVENLY STARS. BRAND-NEW DAY is another very positive song. The pattern is similar to the previous track, and it has the same problems: the verses could have required some help, but the chorus is catchy.

Akai Siren (red siren) is the more hardcore song on this album, and also one of the worse songs on it. The verses are pretty boring, and the chorus really does nothing for me. It’s one of those songs that has a lot of potential but doesn’t draw that forward.

Next comes a highly contrasting song: Antares is a bizarre mixture of several traditional music styles, one of them is definitely Spain, which is noticeable by the vocals. It’s another of my favorites on this album, in part because it’s one of FLOW’s most unique songs ever.

MUSIC is quite similar to Akai Siren in that it’s quite aggressive, and in this case we have something even worse than Akai Siren. I really think FLOW should stick with songs that are more low-key than this like WORLD END or WORD OF THE VOICE, because it’s what they do best. When they go all-out, it creates pretty annoying songs that hard to sit through.

WORD OF THE VOICE now seems like the worst single of the era, but that’s not that bad considering the other two were amazing. It’s a perfect example of what FLOW are good at and this is a song that I find very easy to listen to because it’s very soothing despite being so instrumentally powerful.

The last song on the album is Butterfly, a song that reminds me a lot of punk bands here in the West. It’s a great way to end the album because it has this feeling of “closing the curtains”, “end of the story”. And here again, we have a song that is powerful but soothing.

The bonus track is little to fret over, because it’s the ridiculously circus-like Rakuen Tengoku (Eden Paradise). It reminds me of Okuru Kotoba (their debut single) in the worst possible of ways and frankly, this song is just a little bonus added to make the CD+DVD version seem a little bit special.

I found #5 to be very enjoyable, in various ways. For one, I think it’s FLOW’s best album to date, as well as their most mature work. It’s a fun album that skips from more nostalgic tracks like SNOW FLAKE – Kioku no Koshuu - and WORD OF THE VOICE to songs that are more on the happy side, like Butterfly and ANTHEM. With the exception of the two more hardcore tracks on this album, Akai Siren and MUSIC, all the new tracks offer something enjoyable even if only a little bit, and I hope that FLOW continues to create stuff like this. It’s not perfect, but I still recommend listening this album to anyone who enjoys rock, even in the slightest bit.

Track Listing

1. NUTS BANG!!!
2. SUMMER FREAK
3. Bring it on!
4. Tasogare Summer Days
5. SURFIN’ U.S.A.

1. NUTS BANG!!!

So we begin this mini-album with a pretty rockin’ track from the group.  We also see a return of some rapping from the group which I missed.  Now this is the FLOW that I’m used.  They’re lively, excited and pretty amazing as they go through the song.  Both Keigo and Kohshi do a really good job singing and rapping, they even threw in some growling in it.  Ok, that’s a bit weird…but the song is pretty cool.

2. SUMMER FREAK

SUMMER FREAK is a bit more faster than the last track and since both Keigo and Kohshi are singing this time.  It still carries their fun and energetic style for being J-rock and they’re still sounding so cool here.  Even the rapping seemed to fit here better.  Another good track.

3, Bring it on!

Surprisingly, they sound like they’re throwing in some reggae in with their rock sound to make a pretty tight song.  The vocalists sound a bit funny as they try to sing deeper than normal and it made for some lulz.  I’m not sure who’s the worst offender of doing it between the two, but cool and flow (pun) in the song is just oozing from them.  I think besides the weird vocal style, this is the best song so far.

4. Tasogare Summer Days

Hmmm…they seemed to split the song at first with this reggae, but then I bit my tongue and learned that it’s their most complex rock track off the mini-album.  I mean Iwasaki (drums) and Got’s (bassist) are doing a lot more here than they were in the previous tracks.  If it wasn’t for the reggae pauses during the song, I would’ve said this’d be awesome on “#5″.  It’s just that hard and awesome.

5. SURFIN’ U.S.A.

Jeeze….a cover of that famous Beach Boys song?  I’m sorry, but Japanese guys singing American rock songs just doesn’t cut it and sadly, FLOW did not do a good job covering this.  I mean the music is there, but it’s Keigo’s terrible lack of English that really took me out of the song.  He kind of likes to overaccent the words and it’s bothersome.  The FLOW energy is still there, so it’s not all bad and Take’s solo was awesome.

For being a summer album, they really upped their personalities and liveability ten fold with this release.  It was fun, very energetic, the songs didn’t sound like each other at all and even though the cover was meh, the rest are so good that I can see one or two of these tracks on their new album as they are that good.  *RECOMMENDED*

Track Listing

1. -ECHOES-
2. CALLING
3. Sign
4. UNION
5. ATMOSPHERE
6. PLANETARIUM
7. -CORE-
8. FREEDOM
9. ENEMY
10. SOUL RED
11. LUNA
12. TONIGHT
13. AMBIENCE
14. TO-O-KU-E
15. -F.O.E-

1. -ECHOES-

I was amused by how MICROCOSM begins with this outer space-y kind of introduction.  Adding a wide amount of synths and muffled voices and some guitar going on, it built up for the first song on the album.

2. CALLING

I’ve said about it before but CALLING just has that anime-FLOW-ish sound that they’ve been more famous for throughout their careers and to be honest, it hasn’t really died down for me because CALLING is one of the best songs of the era.  There’s not much otherwise to say, but I do love KOHSHI and KEIGO’s vocals here.  It’s still a pretty good song.

3. Sign

So for their third outing for a Naruto theme, Sign still is one kickass song because well…what Naruto tie-in isn’t amazing for FLOW?  Of course, putting it after “CALLING” is a little meh, but it’s still one of the cooler tracks since getting back into the group.

4. UNION

After getting outta the two A-side released in the era, we bring in the new material from FLOW and kind of like how the theme of the album is going, it’s got a lot interesting stuff going on.  UNION has the first rap lines from the album and although it didn’t really fit the mold that was going on in the song it was ok.  The chorus though was pretty amazing and while the vocals are under some auto-tune, it wasn’t bad and brought out the groups usual try for experimentation.

5. ATMOSPHERE

For something called ATMOSPHERE, this really didn’t come off as a light track because while the strings opening hit the harder punch of the rest of the song.  I love the fact they incorporated strings here to make it somewhat more epic and powerful.  Might have too much noise going on, but it’s still a good tune.

6. PLANETARIUM

On the flipside of the coin, if “ATMOSPHERE” didn’t become a powerful rock song from FLOW, we would’ve gotten PLANETARIUM which is the band’s first ballad on the album.  I love KOHSHI’s vocals in this song because they are innocent and with the minimal arrangement but with beautiful strings, it was like…wow this is a pretty song.  This really puts the outer space theme right down in your spine.  Im actually impressed by this song ^_^.

7. -CORE-

So we get into our interlude of the album, which is fitting since it kind of bridges the slow and dramatic flow (no pun intended) from “PLANETARIUM” to the more powerful and darkside of “FREEDOM”.  -CORE- has the robotic kind of vibe to it which sounds so creepy before the band comes in with this hard-hitting melody.  Basically, a whole lot of guitars and synths.  Even GOT’S (bassist) has a quick solo before finishing up.

8. FREEDOM

I’m surprised they actually ended up adding the B-side from “CALLING” to this album.  I guess it does make sense being after “-CORE-” and all that.  While I’ve said there’s a good amount of auto-tune present, it’s not bothersome and their stronger melody here helps that problem out, but it seems that without the rapping…it’d just be “ENEMY”.

9. ENEMY

That being said, ENEMY really ups the amp because it’s hard, full of punch, and just way too good for its own good and clearly made “FREEDOM” seem non-existant for me.  Though I’ll admit that KEIGO’s warped vocals are kind of a deal-breaker moreso because this really goes back to “LEATHER FACE” back in their previous era, this song has still got an amazing amount of punch and power.  One of the strongest songs this album has to offer.  Just way too good XD

10. SOUL RED

Going back to some straight-up rock and nothing dark, SOUL RED kind of brings back the punk-ish sound of what they used to be and kind of worked on that especially mixing it up with that almost epic bridge.  The chorus is lighter, but vocally sounds good too.  Might be a little like their summer tunes as of recent with the big amount of bass here and stuff heh.  I kind of liked this one.

11. LUNA

Which brings us to LUNA which is kind a mix of their upbeat songs on the album with the more experimental side as well.  I like the fact the song is trying to be edgy and hearing KOHSHI try out some English was nice.  KEIGO’s more angrier lines give the song more color and having two different moods going on is cool.  I can definitely see myself enjoying this rather bipolar-ish tune!

12. TONIGHT

I actually think TONIGHT would’ve been better placed near songs like “CALLING” and “Sign” simply because this tune has that anime-ish sound like those two did.  Then again that could be the problem here because there’s not too much to remember this song by.  I think there needs to be a lil more differentiation here at least?

13. AMBIENCE

Strings once again appear to open up our next song.  It kind of has the practicing thing going on…I hope someone understands what I’m talking about xD, Anyway, AMBIENCE starts out pretty slow and with the strings playing in the background while the band plays along, this was the little difference I needed because once again it falls under the anime-esque groove, but with the added strings….it actually stands out for me.  Though that guitar solo is questionable lol.

14. TO-O-KU-E

Our final vocal tune from FLOW definitely made sense and ties up the album in a ribbon.  It really has this atmospheric kind of arrangement that makes so much sense and fits with the album’s theme.  I love how soft the verses and how loud and powerful the chorus is.  Definitely one of the best songs of the album as well!

15. -F.O.E-

Finally, the song that closes the album kind of takes away from the space theme for a more natural sound.  You hear the sounds of birds, acoustic guitar and keyboard.  It’s kind of like the grand finale of coming back down to Earth.  Pleasantly closing the album ^_^

Tracks Recommended

• ENEMY
• TO-O-KU-E
• AMBIENCE
• PLANETARIUM
• LUNA

Song of Avoidance

• TONIGHT

MICROCOSM, means human beings, humanity, society, or the like, viewed as an epitome or miniature of the world or universe.  With this album, for the first time I thought FLOW got it right with having an actually theme that isn’t summery.  Also, I felt that for the first time, the anime-esque tracks weren’t even needed here so they could’ve left out CALLING, Sign, and even TONIGHT and we’d have an almost perfect album.  I gotta say…FLOW is really coming up nicely and I can’t wait to see more!!!!