Kalafina 5th album "far on the water"

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OK, copy is here. Somehow my RSAL parcel arrived faster than my EMS one (goddamn customs holding it up, won't arrive until tomorrow) so I have my BD LE copy. Cover is still bleh. Booklet is awesome though, and the cover sans outer case is fine.

Into the Water - I don't even know what to think of this. It's pretty cool, but I'm not sure how it fits with the rest of the album. Sounds like a Kajiura BGM piece, as I think a few others have said.

Monochrome - Wow. I really wasn't sure what I was expecting, and the things said in this thread don't really paint much of a picture of it. What I did have in mind is completely wrong, too. I think this will grow on me, but I did catch myself bopping my head to it, and that accordion is wonderful.

Gogatsu no Mahou - OK, I can see why people like this. Vocals are wonderful and it sounds lovely. I can see this staying with me, which is a good sign already.

Ring Your Bell - I always thought this was a pretty nice song, although I think it is a little too long for it's own good. I still love the refrain, too.

Usumurasaki - That intro is really something, I can't quite tell what it reminds me of other than it's a bunch of different things, most of them not even Kajiura related. I can see the influence of Koibito and IEN here. For some reason it reminds me of that stereotypical Arabian style music you get in films and cartoons whenever something is going on regarding that kind of culture. Was it this song people were saying was kind of like Sandpiper? That instrumental central segment with the solo reminds me a bit of it. I'm writing this as I'm listening for the first time, and this may well end up being my favourite of the album, I can tell you that now.

Identify - That guitar riffing is rather lovely. Also yay, Keiko at last. Solo is cool, which is an important point of a rock song. I'm not sure what to make of the vocals on this song though. Might grow on me.

Hokage - Well, it sounds pretty like Sapphire. Luckily I like Sapphire. I'm not sure if I'll come back to it as a standalone song, but it's better than I was expecting. I was expecting another Snow Falling :hide:.

One Light - Still like it. Still don't like Hikaru's super shonen opening lines. Rest is good, if a bit generic. Probably regarded in a similar state to To the Beginning now that I think about it.

Musunde Hiraku - I was expecting it to be garbage considering the amount of references to Mirai being made, but it's not even close to that level. As with RYB it's a bit too long, however. Cut it down to around 4 minutes and maybe it'd be better.

Heavenly Blue - Why are you even here. Various live performances have caused it to grow on me a little, but it's still a low tier song and should've been skipped for KnGnN or Alleluia, or both. The studio version really isn't that good in comparison to live performances either.

Sorairo no Isu- Oh wow, this is really pretty. I can definitely see this being a favourite of the album too. Lovely overall.

Believe - *vomits uncontrollably* :barf:

Far on the Water - I definitely like this more than Yume no Daichi, probably on par if not above Symphonia, shall have to wait and see on repeat listens. The sudden drop off that was evident in the live from a while ago didn't seem quite as jarring here on the recording either, which is a good thing.

Overall rating on first listen
7/10, maybe 7.5/10. That puts it as an easy bottom of the pile for their albums sadly, but it's still got some good stuff. It's definitely better than I was worrying about initially at least, and there are some songs on here that I'm pretty certain I'll fall in love with. It may grow on me over time like all their other albums have however, so it might reach AE level eventually.

Song by song rating on first listen:
Into the Water - 6/10
Monochrome - 8/10
Gogatsu - 8.5/10
RYB - 7/10
Usumurasaki - 9/10
Identify - 7.5/10
Hokage - 7/10
One Light - 7/10
Musunde Hiraku - 6.5/10
Heavenly Blue - 5/10
Sorairo - 9/10
Believe - 0/10
FotW - 8.5/10
 
I still like Believe, sorry. Though I do agree that it was used twice for Budokan (even though I know it was a live) and on their Best albums, like people have been saying. But maybe Yuki wanted to put those songs on there because they were their most recent anime tie-ins. Though I agree about Kimi no Gin or Alleluia. Still, believe is okay with me. HB not so much. But oh well, this album still has some awesome songs, like Musunde. I don't think that it's too long either. I did think at first it was going to end after Wakana's slow part, but then she added more Keiko and I was pleasantly surprised. I love Hikaru in this song. They all sound happy when they sing it, now that I have listened to it more and read the lyrics I changed my mind about that. heh I would love to see a PV for this song. And for Usumurasaki as well. (I think people were saying it was like sandpiper because of the beginning, but I can't remember either.)
 
What I remember is generally positive feedback for Red Moon, people absolutely hating After Eden, especially Eden (which is one of my faves lol excuse my flop taste), overall very positive reviews for Consolation and now this album that is getting mixed reviews, mostly tilting towards the "it's alright, but nothing great" territory.

I listened to Consolation today again and it made me realize that other than Identify, there are no songs that immediately capture my attention and are as full of emotion as well, any of the album tracks in Consolation to be honest. Maybe One Light, if we consider Hikaru's eagerness in her delivery of the first stanza (and to be honest, that's the reason I like it more than Believe and the abomination that is Heavenly Blue yuck).

I love Wakana, but I think that having the whole album mostly led by her (except for Identify and the shared parts in Musunde hiraku and FoTW) is too much and doesn't help from having the songs sound kind of similar to each other (more than they already do because the structure of the anisons is the same). She did great in this album and I have no complains about her vocals whatsoever, Gogatsu no mahou and Sorairo no Isu impressed me in particular, but I think a little break from her as lead would've been a welcome change of pace.
 
garnetjester said:
What I remember is generally positive feedback for Red Moon, people absolutely hating After Eden, especially Eden (which is one of my faves lol excuse my flop taste), overall very positive reviews for Consolation and now this album that is getting mixed reviews, mostly tilting towards the "it's alright, but nothing great" territory.

I listened to Consolation today again and it made me realize that other than Identify, there are no songs that immediately capture my attention and are as full of emotion as well, any of the album tracks in Consolation to be honest. Maybe One Light, if we consider Hikaru's eagerness in her delivery of the first stanza (and to be honest, that's the reason I like it more than Believe and the abomination that is Heavenly Blue yuck).

I love Wakana, but I think that having the whole album mostly led by her (except for Identify and the shared parts in Musunde hiraku and FoTW) is too much and doesn't help from having the songs sound kind of similar to each other (more than they already do because the structure of the anisons is the same). She did great in this album and I have no complains about her vocals whatsoever, Gogatsu no mahou and Sorairo no Isu impressed me in particular, but I think a little break from her as lead would've been a welcome change of pace.
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Totally agree with the comment about Wakana. I like her sometimes, but Kajiura really needs to switch up the leads. I think someone mentioned it before, but I think Kalafina could actually use a new member. It would allow for more interesting voice combinations.
 
I agree about that, but then if we get another member to be stuck in harmonies forever like Keiko it would be a waste. I think Kajiura used to be a bit better at balancing everybody's parts in the album songs before (the singles are almost always led by Wakana anyway), and I really missed that in this album.

If only Keiko could lead more songs in general I think we'd have 3 very different flavors in Kalafina, and it would be very interesting to expand on these different sounds in album songs, but somehow (and I don't know if it's because Kajiura prefers to write her songs with sopranos in mind, although Yuriko Kaida is almost never a lead either although she's soprano) she seems to greatly favor Wakana lately. I understand if it's because Hikaru is sounding weird lately (Mahiru ;_;) and maybe we're having a reversal from After Eden where Hikaru was the main lead while Wakana had some vocal issues but seriously, I don't want a Kalafina where the only lead is Wakana, and the 2 other members only harmonize. Sure, 3 part harmonies are beautiful, but I don't need every song to sound so similar when there's 3 capable vocalists who can lead and give completely different flavors to the music.
 
I definitely agree that another voice could be helpful in a number of ways, but I suspect the practical considerations make it somewhat unlikely (as in, they'd have done it already if they wanted to do it at all). It's been so long since Maya left that they're used to working together, so you'd need someone who's worked with them before to ensure that this new person settles into the role quickly. I wouldn't expect personality clashes or anything like that, but they'd have to re-learn their respective roles in various song arrangements, which could be time-consuming. Unless it was Kaori or Yuriko, who've both sung material by the same composer with the same vocalists and musicians before.

I expect that collaborations with guest vocalists would work better. That could open up a whole load of new possibilities without altering the great dynamic and rapport that the current band members have. They have guest musicians for certain songs, so why not guest vocalists?
 
Also the excuse about Keiko's range being too low is bull imo. Maybe it wasn't so much the case before but judging from that acapella of La La La Love Song, she is obviously capable of singing some "Wakana parts". Like Kajiura doesn't need to write the song in a lower key, just allow Keiko to sing some parts that originally Hikaru or Wakana would be assigned to do. Maybe the next album will be Keiko focused, but that's probably too much to ask for. Or better yet, start to better balance the songs again. One can only hope. :p

StarCloud said:
What are they singing at 2:38 - 2:54 ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV9a39qNxVI
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This is what I heard (feel free to correct if you hear differently)

oltia esti soldia
imi soritoltido
aria toltia esti soldia
imi firiya tomariso
aria to
 
I would also like for there to be more variety in the overall sound of Kalafina, but I don't think introducing a new member is the way to do it. I'd definitely like to see more guest collaborations and featured artists in the mix. If I recall, Far on the Water only has Yuriko Kaida and REMI as chorus vocals, which is to say that the only variation added was REMI. But as far as I've seen collaborations between different artists in Japan aren't very common. Does that seem accurate or have people seen otherwise? Collabs for concert purposes is different, but not too much on an actual single or album.

I'd love to see Keiko as the lead vocal just because it really shakes up how the harmonies are stacked up, the biggest change usually being Hikaru taking the bottom vocal which always excites me. (This explains why I just absolutely loved Alleluia.) I've always thought that Hikaru's biggest strength was always the different tones and colors her voice produces and that she's the most versatile in terms of adapting to different genres so any type of song that showcases Hikaru's voice in a different light will always grab my attention. Hikaru doesn't need to be the main vocal for it to grab my attention, Keiko as lead vocal is almost a guaranteed favorite for me.
 
shiro said:
This is what I heard (feel free to correct if you hear differently)

oltia esti soldia
imi soritoltido
aria toltia esti soldia
imi firiya tomariso
aria to
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yeah thanks seems to be right.
 
[kontia esti soria imisorito dito aria

kontia esti soria imifiria komariso aria ooo] this is what I hear of Gogatsu no mahou kajiurago! :)
 
Vocal score book for every song in fotw incoming! As part of the tour goods. That means official Kajiurago, people! And this includes into the water.

Apparently Kajiura has been wanting to put vocal score books out for the albums, but they actually take quite some time to make. She finally found the time to do it for fotw.
 
Hatouchan said:
Vocal score book for every song in fotw incoming! As part of the tour goods. That means official Kajiurago, people! And this includes into the water.

Apparently Kajiura has been wanting to put vocal score books out for the albums, but they actually take quite some time to make. She finally found the time to do it for fotw.
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Oh man, I love vocal scores!

I hope if this is successful she decides to do this for previous albums like she wanted, given she has some time of course! I really wanna know what Keiko is saying at the end of Red Moon, among other things. :plz:
 
And are they actually saying "Kalafina" at the end of interlude #02? It sounds that way to me. (Also Keiko had a lot of parts in SH and RM. So I think Yuki needs to spread out the leads. I mean, Keiko is in the background, but she really did shine in identify and Usumurasaki and Musunde. Alleluia too is one that still makes me want to tear up because of Keiko's awesomeness. But I do love Wakana and Hikaru too. There was only one Hikaru/Keiko song in the entire album though, which is a little sad. Since I know she loves to sings songs like ongaku (lol at that statement) so I think giving her more lines will happen soon. Kajiura does listen to them, since they asked for a piano ballad and we got Mahiru which I still think is good, so maybe Keiko didn't want a whole lot of lead? We'll find out I guess.) Thanks Hatou! It will be interesting to see what Yuki says. Stupid translator doesn't do a good enough job in order to read all the tweets myself.
 
Hatouchan said:
Vocal score book for every song in fotw incoming! As part of the tour goods. That means official Kajiurago, people! And this includes into the water.

Apparently Kajiura has been wanting to put vocal score books out for the albums, but they actually take quite some time to make. She finally found the time to do it for fotw.
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Oh my goodness Kalafina vocal scores are everything I always knew I wanted but never imagined getting in a million years.
 
Well this is the niche good that Kajiura was talking about. It'll be in a single book, as opposed to the many Kajiura does at YK live. Kajiura says that this vocal score book will based on the album songs, and that there will be differences from the live version.

george1234 said:
^ amazing!! :D

Was there anything interesting in the twitter event ? :) (i have made a dedicated thread )
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Well... I'm going to do the radio shows. I'll consider doing the twitter event if somebody else doesn't do it first.
 
Vocal scores *cries in joy* YESSS!
I agree there needs to be more of a balance in leads, in AE and RM Keiko and Hikaru were very favored but it seems the tables have turned. Even if the leads change it's better then the Wakana heavy stuff we've been getting. Wakana has a beautiful voice but having a soprano lead is so generic and dull, the fact that she DIDN'T lead all the time was what made me love Kalafina in the first place. Another thing, I agree with whoever said Keiko's voice is too low for leading is bullshit. MOST times her voice isn't that low especially in the older songs.
 
Kajiura says that actually, she wants to release the vocal scores for the older albums too.. but uhh well this is her face (´･_･`). I think she might not be able to find the time to do it. There are vocal scores made for the girls when they first record the songs, but generally she makes changes as they record so the initial draft will likely be different from the actual song. Hence why they can't just release what was already made. Of course, live ver is different too.

Kajiura also jokes that the reason why she thought of releasing the vocal scores was due a certain incident. There's a magazine in Japan that has vocal scores in them. She noticed that they put one of her songs in, and felt grateful that they did. ...Then she noticed that there were mistakes here and there and it made her quite annoyed. "If you're gonna sing, you might as well sing it correctly! m9っ｀Д´)"
 
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