w-inds. - Pieces

[Here's my review on w-inds.' single CD titled "Pieces." Sorry that it's so long and that it gets wordy at times :S]

For people who didn’t know this, I would like to first mention that this single “Pieces” that w-inds. sang was a cover song of the same song with the same title by another group called Retro G-Style. Retro G-Style actually released this song a few months before w-inds. did (Retro G-Style: 01/07. w-inds.: 03/10. “Pieces” is also Bourbon Gum’s new CM song.

w-inds.’ 11th maxi single contains four tracks: the main single “Pieces” and its coupling song “Move Your Body” and instrumental tracks for both.

“Pieces” starts off with a pretty slow melody which probably was a surprise to many fans since most wanted another fast-pace single like “SUPER LOVER~I Need You Tonight~” or expected to be something like their previous single “Long Road.” Keita starts off singing and I immediately think: it’s grown (talking about the voice). His voice sounds so pure and soothing which really matches the tempo of the music. Keita’s youthful and sweet voice really stands out in it!Then Ryuichi comes in and does a bit of rapping. At first I thought his voice tone was a tidbit strange because it was so low compared to the light music, but the more he rapped the more I liked it!

I felt there was a fair amount of singing and rapping in this song. Ryuichi and Ryohei do the rapping of course but Ryuichi did a bit more of it. Some people may think that the rapping sounds odd against the melody, but I feel that they did a good job with it. Their strong but soft voices aren’t too “out there” and it follows the song nicely. Also, Keita does some back ups during the rapping ^^. You rarely hear that! It was a nice touch by on his part.

“Pieces” may be a bit slow at first, but you just have to listen to it more and let it grow on you; you will be addicted to it quickly. When you have the desire to relax or something like that, you’ll find yourself looking for this song to help out.

w-inds. definitely did a better job with the song than Retro G-Style did. Probably because Keita’s voice was a better match than the lead vocal from the other group was. Keita was able to hit the higher notes and his voice just really relaxes you.

The single was a disappointment to quite a few fans actually. Probably because it was so long (5 min. 41 sec.) and it was such a slow-paced song. Some didn’t really like the rapping because of the non-matching tempo. Some other also didn’t really like the fact that it was another cover song. But when I listen to the song overall, I really believe it was a great solid single. It was sort of a ballad in a way, but not slow enough to not have any dance sequences in the PV. It actually sort of reminded me of “Love is Message” a bit. It also had some R&B/hip-hop touches as well. It was a very peaceful song and I remember IT member Lor saying that the main theme of the song was “spring.” It kind of makes sense since it was released in March and the relaxing music matches the feeling of spring.

The coupling song was called “Move Your Body” which really was a very different song from “Pieces.” I really love this song! It’s mostly sang (or rather rapped) by Ryuichi and Ryohei. Ryohei actually rapped more than Ryu did this time which was nice since I always wanted Ryohei to have more parts on his own. “Move Your Body” does exactly that, it make you want to move your body. The style is very funky and upbeat (very different from “Pieces”) and I felt there was quite a hip-hop feel to it. If only coupling songs had PVs, I would be really interested to see the dance for this! I also think that this is a great breakdancing song, so Ryohei probably would have a lot of fun with it if this was ever a PV.

I also felt that this single was their start-off to the different sides of w-inds. (you will realize this more in their 12th maxi single “Kirei Da.” For example “Kirei Da” being the first single with a Japanese title and the PV was very different from what they usually do as well). You notice right off the bat that they’re trying something new. You notice the single cover of “Pieces” and immediately see how much these guys have grown from the first little “Forever Memories” days. The background of the cover is different from previous ones as well with a nice peaceful setting of the sunset instead of a plain designed background. You also hear Keita’s more matured voice and his back up parts to Ryuichi and Ryohei’s rapping.

I really recommend this single! These two songs have two very distinct styles which really show people how the many types of music w-inds. are able to pull of singing.

Added: May 30th 2004
Reviewer: xoxo4hisAtO
Score:
Related Link: To purchase this CD from YesAsia click here
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Language: english