This is the review!
01. メロン記念日のテーマ (Rock Ver.) Ehh, basically a hard sound followed by an E.guitar playing the familiar tune, no vocals. It's cute, but not really much effort, OH, they keep the Tsunku? saying "here we go!" at the end.
02. DON'T SAY GOOD-BYE I like the little touch of synth in the instrumental, I love the verses and the attitude, but it kind of goes away once they sing the chorus.
03. ピンチはチャンス バカになろうぜ! (Album Ver.) The only real addition is the talking before and after the song, it's a minor detail, but enjoyable. I love this absurd clown song. This way really fun in their concert DVD (they did it twice) I love how it's so nonstop and crazy. Plus the chants, the random non-sung parts, and the super dramatic finish. #1 choice of the singles.
04. sweet suicide summer story: Probably my (very-close-but-2nd-favorite) of the collab singles. I like to think of the piano in this as being played by someone's face. I like the "kankei nai kara~" parts, but my favorite is the "Kudaranai..Aa-!" (as my lyric choice revealed on my T-shirt)
05. 青春・オン・ザ・ロード It's a very sweet sound, I didn't give it much credit when it came out. I like the chorus where the collector vocals pop in. I like the distortion effects and I like Murata's line after the guitar solo.
06. メロンティー This was also overlooked. Now my 3rd pick of the collabs. The chorus is more catchy than I would expect from just repeating the title.
07. ロマンチックを突き抜けろ! ～Break it now～ It's like they took a moonstone and evolved Onegai Miwaku no Target. I really like the repeated lines and the percussion.
08. ALL AROUND ROCK: The song that was left last, I didn't hear this until the CD was out. It's very rare for the remaining song to become my favorite, but this did it! It's ska + spy + 60s Batman. Funny how most of what sounds like rock is actually LOCK. After the cool guitar solo, I like the sexy voice followed by the random mention of the philosopher JOHN LOCKE. Haha, I just noticed a line about <img src='
http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /drunk.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> Scotch with a Guinness chaser.
09. 愛だ! 今すぐROCK ON! Shindou Atsushi should have been called back sooner. I like how the chant tricks my ears with "Ima sugu!
Iu ze! I WANT YOU - Ikinari!
You Say! I LOVE YOU. The song has great energy, I listened to the radio preview so much that I am compelled to say "F.M. PORT" every time the song ends. The wedding bell "tone" that they imply near the end is cute.
10. ALWAYS LOVE YOU More Beat Crusaders synth. I really like the verses of this, and the chorus will probably be a tear jerker when they do this at the final concerts. I like the simple guitar parts during the chorus. I love that they each get such long solo verses, not very typical. Even more rare, Shibata doesn't come into the song until very late. Is her first line at 3:13? WOW.
I didn't care much for a few of the singles at first, but I really started to get into them right before the album came out, so I appreciate this album for each single, and each new song had something cool to offer me. I'm glad they put out a full album before they retired the group. I think the single order actually considers the progression of an album.
I'm happy with how this ended, if it truly had to stop the group, they accomplished quite a lot to conclude it. They worked with some interesting bands and got to be on a cover album in tribute to a beloved Japanese rock band. Not many acts who left H!P were as fortunate with the opportunities that MKB had. They were kind of ignored for so long and they finally got an honest effort put into their songs, after going 6 years without a full studio album. Melon Juice was a nice surprise though, I never expected solo songs to be released.
