Album Review - 相愛性理論

There are plenty of new albums being released in the recent Vocaloid Master 20 (click for more information about Vom@20). But in the end, I decided to write a review for an old album release in April 2010 - 相愛性理論 by DECO*27 instead.

Why? Because this album was so awesome that I have to stop going through all those new songs and slowly indulge in the older works of DECO*27.

As an introduction, DECO*27 is a rather successful Vocaloid song producer. Some of his songs, notably 二息歩行/Nisoku Hokou and 愛言葉/Ai Kotoba were featured in Project Diva game as well as Mikupa concerts. His songs are often characterized by his light but quick guitar tunes, which is different from mainstream rock (perhaps light rock?). At the same time, the drums and bass were also lighter, which further highlighted the vocals (Hatsune Miku for this album). As such, I find the melody of most of his songs very refreshing.



相愛性理論 (a.k.a The Theory of Loving Each Other) is the first major album by DECO*27. As such, the songs in this album emphasized on the innocence and moe-ness which was prominent in his older works, particularly in the lyrics of the songs. Simple words and phrases were frequently used in most of these songs, but often, these simple terms were capable to evoke deeper emotions and sentimentalism of the listeners.

The complete song list for the CD is as shown below (source)

1. 相愛性理論
2. ハルイチ。
3. 愛+K=aKi
4. 心壊サミット
5. 愛言葉
6. 恋様シート
7. 僕みたいな君、君みたいな僕。
8. キミ以上、ボク未満。
9. 好きよ好きよも好きのうち
10. 罪と罰
11. "bye-bye" by my 愛
12. 愛 think so,
13. 二息歩行
14. 一人ぼっちで二人きり
15. 愛 think so, feat. とぴ
16. ハルイチ。 (kous Remix)
17. 愛言葉 (sasakure.UK Remix)
18. 相愛性理論 (Treow Remix)

I find great energy and passion from the songs of this album. As there are many songs in this album, you might find that some songs have pretty similar melody. Nevertheless, due to the beautifully (not godly though) tuned vocals, each song evokes a different feeling and therefore leaves a different impression in the heart of the listener.

愛 think so (what a creative song title!) is truly an exceptional song. I doubt that I can call this a ballad, but this light rock song is definitely capable of evoke a sad feeling in the listener.



One particular song that was really catchy which I would like to recommend is 恋様シート (a.k.a. Love Like Shit). It's seriously an epic rock song with a catchy beat. There's great energy in this song and it felt as if DECO*27 's guitar is ON FIRE! VocaRock FTW~



Last but not least, check out another cult song titled 罪と罰 (translates as Sin and Punishment)! I can't help to realize that the tempo and beats of this song was characterized by cute electronic sounds, such as the sound emitted by a digital watch. Again, the producer's use of simple phrases (click for lyrics) was effective in draw out some dark emotions without having to resort to heavy rock music style.



I strongly believe that if you enjoy DECO*27 's latest work, you will find his older works equally attractive. Furthermore, his older works, such as those featured in this review, offer a similar but slightly different music style which are characterized by lighter guitar tunes and cuter sense of presence (somewhat like OSTER PROJECT).

Either way, do enjoy yourself by indulging into a song paradise of the 相愛性理論 album!