SREE  (santh) has turned out to be the unlikely hero with his decimation of

SRI Lanka .

Finally good sense seems to have been drilled into his head and his stint with Alan Donald seems to have helped him . He is now less keen on his antics and tantrums and more focussed on his game …

Artist: Alan
Release Date: November 4, 2009
Label: Avex Trax
Personal Rating: 3.5/5

1. Swear
2. Beauty
3. Swear (Instrumental)
4. Beauty (Instrumental)
————————————————————————————–
Nicer cover than the last release! But I thought that the colors were a bit too bold, I guess…

Yes! Finally! Alan finally comes out with a single that’s not a ballad! But here’s the thing, Swear was actually charted pretty low this time. What happened? I have to admit that Sora Uta and Kaze no Tegami weren’t really her greatest upbeat tracks but Swear… not really a shinning idea of trying out something new. As much as I don’t want to, but I’ll be frank: Swear was a pretty cliche track.

At least the single doesn’t go on sounding pretty boring. Beauty stands out a lot more and seems like the ideal track that would be the A-side. Seriously, Alan pretty much shows better omph in her vocals and there’s actually some sort of build up throughout the song.

Personal Rating: 3.5/5

The group was much smaller on Tuesday at ALAN.  The highlight of my day was listening to Maggie Stiefvater speak on a panel about writing Fantasy.  They were giving out copies of LINGER, too, so I was able to get a couple of copies autographed.  I’ll be using them for prizes at a later date so be sure to keep checking back.

After Maggie’s panel I listened to Jessica Verday talk with her editor about her book and how she goes about writing.  It was interesting, but not what I expected.  The title of the program was “Getting Published,” but they didn’t talk about HOW to get published.

I had to leave a little after 11:00 so I could get to the airport to catch my flight home so I missed the last couple of hours of ALAN, but what I did see what great.

Here is a picture of Maggie with LINGER.

Check out the Tweets from ALAN! #alan09 and #alan2009.

Next year NCTE and ALAN are going to be in Orlando, FL so start making your plans now.

my life by alan

1.) reflection ～overture～
2.) Swear
3.) One
4.) 見つめていたい
5.) 涙 (Smooth Jam Mix)
6.) Lost Child
7.) Butterflies
8.) Essence of me
9.) Call my name
10.) 白い翼
11.) Nobody knows but me
12.) BALLAD ～名もなき恋のうた～
13.) 久遠の河
14.) my life

Released: November 25th, 2009 ~ No chat data

my life is alan’s 2nd album release. Three singles were released beforehand. Which were 久遠の河, BALLAD ～名もなき恋のうた～ and Swear. 涙 is from alan’s 7th single 恵みの雨 and appears as a new remix. And, is that Ayumi Hamasaki in the cover? I didn’t know she works as a stunt double now o:

reflection ～overture～ has a very pretty intro. With strings and stuff. Near the end alan is singing random stuff and it gets kinda boring during that.

Swear has a bit of a new intro to sound like reflection ～overture～ transitions right into Swear. Rest of the song is the same though. Which means Boring Vocals, Amazing Strings. alan sucks in this song. No energy is present, therefore it fails. No surprise that the single failed on the charts.

One (which has been causing last.fm users a lot of trouble to scobble xD) starts with boring instrumentation. It seems that alan is trying the cute voice in this song, and it’s annoying because I’m used to her voice being more full and having a lot of power. Boring song in the end.

見つめていたい has a GORGEOUS intro. The piano is amazing. alan is boring in this song once again. Her performance is lackluster and misono would probably sing better than her in this track (which is saying a LOT). Only redeemable thing is the piano and guitar.

涙 (Smooth Jam Mix) is different. This one has conga drums and stuff like that. Although I don’t remember if I liked the original because I don’t even remember it at all xD alan sounds bored, once again, as always. Next.

Lost Child is so boring, for being a dance track and all. alan has no energy, the instrumentation doesn’t change up that much and it gets really damn boring after a while. The English voice that sings for alan sometimes is nice though.

Butterflies is like Lost Child without an English voice singing.

Essence of me made me fucking lol. alan trying out something like this is so fucking weird. It doesn’t match her xD Although there is wailing in here, after all those fucking tracks finally. Boring song though. Felt more like an interlude.

Call my name sounds like a less Lesbian and softer version of TABOO by Kuu. The beginning anyway. alan sounds a little excited in this track. But I just can’t get through the whole track because it’s so boring.

OH DEAR LORD, 白い翼 is FUCKING BORING. FUCKING SHOOT ME HOLY SHIT. Anyway, yeah this ballad is really boring. Please alan, learn to get good producers, they obviously don’t know what the fuck they’re doing anymore.

Nobody knows but me is fucking creepy. alan co-wrote and composed this song. Goes to show that alan is a stalker bitch ;D The song is still boring anyway.

I find it funny I used to think BALLAD ～名もなき恋のうた～ was really boring, but after all those tracks, BALLAD ～名もなき恋のうた～ is fucking amazing.

久遠の河 doesn’t deserve to be on this piece of shit called my life. It deserves to be on Voice of EARTH or remain a single song forever kthxbai. Love the wailing towards the end <3 dramatic song.

alan’s singing in the beginning of this track seems off. Pretty song, can’t say anything else about it. So happy that it isn’t boring as fuck.

FAVORITE TRACKS:
1.) 久遠の河

alan, what the fuck happened to you? Please explain to me why your producers were so shit this time around? What happened to the amazing wailing from 明日への讃歌 or the catchiness of 懐かしい未来 ～longing future～? We get these boring ass ballads and upbeat songs that sound like boring shit. alan, please get rid of your producers. They’re just not working out for you. You were so amazing, and now you just fail. I hope you pick things up for your next single. alan, your life is boring.

D-

La número uno está aquí, la número llegó!! la número uno eres tú, el número uno soy yo!!!

Que corito tan pegajoso! y corresponde a la nueva canción del joven talento Alan García y su acordeonero, el rey Vallenato en la categoría aficionado del mas reciente Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata, Guille Ortiz. O mejor, Alan y Guille, a secas. Este par de pelaos se metieron al estudio de grabación de Rolando Ochoa en “el Valle” y grabaron esta sabrosa canción titulada “La Número Uno”, perfecta para esta época de fiestas y alegría.

Mas info la encontrarán debajo del video-mp3

Con enorme satisfacción la organización musical de ALAN & GUILLE presenta el anticipo musical de su próximo trabajo discográfico.

La grabación de este súper sencillo se realizo en la ciudad de Valledupar en GABAON ESTUDIOS del Gran Rolando Ochoa, con la participación en la producción musical de Freddy Patiño bajista de la agrupación Kvrass, Camilo Claro guitarrista de nuestra organización musical y el ingeniero de sonido Jairo Sepúlveda.

Ya esta aquí: Alan & Guille Alan & Guille Alan & Guille

FABIAN ROJAS: MANAGER
fayviartisticos@hotmail.com
3203354835 3007770112

LEONARDO RODRIGUEZ
JEFE DE PRENSA
Leonardo_col@hotmail.com

www.AlanGarciaQueNivel.com

Amazing Authors I Couldn’t Believe I Got to Hear:

Gregory Maguire

Jeanette Walls

Authors I already loved:

Maggie Stiefvater

Laurence Yep

Mary Pearson

Rebecca Stead

Jacqueline Woodson

Todd Strasser

Authors whose books I had heard great things about,

but hadn’t had a chance to read:

Chris Crutcher

Patricia McCormck

Stephen Chbosky

Lauren Myracle

Adrian Fogelin

Sarah Dessen

Sara Zarr

Authors I just learned about and can hardly wait to read:

Matt de la Peña

MARTES 24 DE NOVIEMBRE

WARNER CHANNEL 20:00 hrs

SKY 205 / CABLEVISIÓN 210

Two and a half men / 2009 / CBS / Warner

Jake está cansado de seguir siendo humillado públicamente por discusiones entre Alan y Charlie, en esta ocasión en una tienda de helados.

Está aprendiendo a manejar y considera que quizás debería dejar la casa de playa.

La cantante nos presenta mañana,su nuevo trabajo en edición regular y limitada.Una de las voces más impresionantes del panorama nipón y con unos registros,muy alejados de los que nos tienen acostumbradas las cantantes de J-pop.

CD:

1.reflection ～overture～
2.Swear
3.One
4.Mitsumete Itai
5.Namida(Smooth Jam Mix)
6.Lost Child
7.Butterflies
8.Essence of me
9.Call my name
10.Shiroi Tsubasa
11.Nobody knows but me
12.BALLAD ~Namonaki Koi no Uta~
13.Kuon no Kawa
14.my life

DVD:

1.Kuon no Kawa PV
2.BALLAD ~Namonaki Koi no Uta~ PV
3.Swear PV
4.my life PV
5.Shiawase no Kane (2009 Ver.) PV
6. Off Shot 2009

Aquí os dejo uno de estos PVS,en este caso My life que es el nuevo tema,que da nombre al disco.

alan’s second album, released November 25, is incredibly average, given the standard that she’s set since her debut Ashita e no Sanka – an Oriental ballad that still goes undefeated.

Everything – from the messy, choppy introduction to the generic-as-hell ballads, to that first cover, in which she points at herself in a way so off-putting I can’t even describe it – is a 180 rotation from Voice of EARTH. alan took quantity over quality – and boy, the quality of this album sucks.

(I couldn’t bring myself to write two-four WHOLE sentences about ALL 14 tracks. That would be torture. So this isn’t really a review. It’s more like a twenty-sentence rant.)

Pretty much the whole album falls flat, despite the obvious effort to be a modern pop album. Lost Child, Essence of me and Call my name are prime examples of this – but they’re still tepid attempts at funky.

One, Mitsumeteitai, Shiroi Tsubasa, and my life are all dull, bland slow songs – that last one had potential but it overreached itself in terms of verse length. Needless to say, Kuon no Kawa and BALLAD were my favorite tracks. Nothing at all on this album could compare to the epicness of those two songs.

In addition, alan’s vocals are decidedly less controlled – perfect vocal delivery is something I’ve always expected from her, and she didn’t deliver.

The reason why I say that my life was average, and not below average, is because of the frame of reference: if this was any artist’s album, it would be okay. Not great, just average; we’d forgive the ballads and focus on the dance songs. Because it’s alan, we can’t forgive her for releasing something so mediocre after Voice of EARTH.

(However, avex needs to release instrumentals of all the songs – I need these kinds of mellow instrumentals for doing homework.)

my life is just so different from Voice of EARTH (a truly magnificent piece of work, something that I would thrust in my (rather annoyed) friends faces, screaming “THIS IS REAL MUSIC!”)

Sadly, I can’t say the same of my life, it’s just so… average.

The cover of the CD only edition

my life is alan’s 2nd Japanese album and it was released on November 25, 2009.

I’m sure everyone knows this already but…what is a young AYUMI HAMASAKI doing on the cover? I see where avex is going with this.

♦ ♦ ♦

WOW. Talk about a sophomore slump! alan’s debut album Voice of EARTH was released earlier this year and I absolutely loved it. Seriously, it’s one of my favorite albums of 2009 because it was pretty phenomenal but most importantly, it showcased alan’s unique style and characteristics as an artist. Say what you want but that album has something that my life definitely lacks: an identity.

After her latest single Swear, I guess I was expecting the worst. It’s too bad that I let my suspicions get the best of me because in all honesty, most of my life is bland and lifeless (no pun intended). Like I said when I reviewed that single, I don’t have a problem with alan going out of her comfort zone. Actually, I’m all for it. The problem here is that a majority of the new tracks are just not interesting at all. That’s where I draw the line.

Songs like One, Butterflies, Shiroi Tsubasa and the new version of Namida (the B-side on the Megumi no Ame single) are so boring. At least she brings some emotion in Mitsumetetai though. That song is actually pleasant despite being slower paced. Luckily, alan does bring some surprises with the album’s 2 “dance-like” tracks. They are SO out of place and have no business being on here but I liked them. XD Despite being a hot synthetic mess, Essence of me is endearing. The sound gets improved upon in Call my name too.

The best was certainly saved for last on this album. Even with all the bad stuff, the final 3 tracks are such a relief. That includes the singles BALLAD ~Namonaki Koi no Uta~ and Kuon no Kawa. Kuon no Kawa is easily my favorite song on the album even though it should have been on Voice of EARTH because of the epic factor. At least the title track my life ends the album on a good note. Not everything was disappointing. ;D

Well, my life isn’t terrible but damn, it’s such a let down. Considering that alan made such a staggering debut, this is a huge, colossal let down. When I said I was open for her branching out musically, this is not what I had in mind. Hmmm…the wonders 8 months can do. At this point, it seems like she’s stuck in a rut.

Pros: At least she’s trying new things??? The last 3 tracks too.
Cons: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz *snore*

BASICALLY…wail yourself up out of here, alan! We’re through for the time being!

Overall Rating

3 stars

Tracklisting

1. reflection ~overture~
2. Swear
3. One
4. Mitsumetetai (見つめていたい)
5. Namida (Smooth Jam Mix)
    涙 (Smooth Jam Mix)
6. Lost Child
7. Butterflies
8. Essence of me
9. Call my name
10. Shiroi Tsubasa (白い翼)
11. Nobody knows but me
12. BALLAD ~Namonaki Koi no Uta~ (BALLAD ～名もなき恋のうた～)
13. Kuon no Kawa (久遠の河)
14. my life

Note: My favorite tracks are highlighted in blue!

Today was a fast and furious day of author speeches, panels, and signings.  Here are the authors that appeared today (in order of appearance):

Gregory Maguire
David Klass
Adrian Fogelin
Sarah Dessen
Deb Caletti
Todd Strasser
Chris Crutcher
E. Lockhart
Chris Carlton Brown
Matt de la Pena
Pam Bachorz
Paula Jolin
Maureen Johnson
Patricia McCormick
Danica Novgordoff
Benjamin Alire Saenz
Stephen Chbosky
Lauren Myracle
Carol Lynch Williams
T.A. Barron
Jeanette Walls
Tim Wynne-Jones
Elizabeth Scott
Rebecca Stead
Mary Pearson
Sara Zarr
Alan Sitomer
Sharon Draper
Julie Ann Peters
Jo Knowles

There were several people tweeting during the presentations so here are some links.  I don’t know what was going on with me, but my brain must have had some kind of meltdown because I switched my hashtags sometime during the day.  At first I was using #alan09 and then later I was using #alan2009.  Who knows what I was thinking.  My fingers were flying on my iPhone faster than I could process what I was doing I guess.

So, here are the search results for #alan09, #alan2009, and #alan.  If you read these 3 searches, you’ll get a pretty good idea of what went on today.  Tomorrow we do it all over again with a new set of authors.  I’m looking forward to listening to Maggie Stiefvater and Jessica Verday tomorrow.

Tomorrow by Midnight is the deadline to enter the big NCTE Contest I have going on.  Be sure to register.  I’ve got some great books to give away.  Many autographed copies and ARCs.

Last, but not least, here are some pictures from today.

A cantora tibetano-chinesa alan, que lançou à duas semanas atrás o single “Swear”, agora se prepara para lançar seu segundo álbum de estúdio, intitulado “my life”, previsto para o dia 25 de novembro.

alan havia lançado seu primeiro álbum “Voice of Earth” em março deste ano, que  inclusive foi falado aqui no blog já faz um tempinho xD. A faixa “my life” foi usada como música tema  do game GOD EATER para o console portátil PSP.

O novo álbum conterá 14 faixas no total, e incluirá singles anteriores da cantora como “Kuon no Kawa”, “Ballad ~Namonaki Koi no Uta~”, além de seu mais recente lançamento “Swear”.

Segundo informações, a primeira prensagem do álbum contará com uma faixa bônus chamada “Nada Sousou”, que seria um cover de uma canção de mesmo nome lançado pela cantora Rimi Natsukawa em 2001.

A primeira prensagem da versão limitada do álbum “my life” incluirá três vídeos extras; uma performance de estúdio de “Nada Sousou”, “Natsukashii ~longing future~”, e um remix de “Namida” (b-side do sétimo single “Megumi no Ame”), enquanto que a primeira prensagem da versão regular contará com um photobook de 40 páginas.

Edição Regular CD

Edição Limitada CD+DVD

CD Tracklist

1. reflection ~overture~
2. Swear
3. One
4. Mitsumeteitai (見つめていたい; I Wanna Be Staring At You)
5. Namida (Smooth Jam Mix) (涙; Tears)
6. Lost Child
7. Butterflies
8. Essence of me
9. Call my name
10. Shiroi Tsubasa (白い翼; White Wings)
11. Nobody knows but me
12. BALLAD ~Namonaki Koi no Uta~ (BALLAD ～名もなき恋のうた～; Nameless Love Song)
13. Kuon no Kawa (久遠の河; River of Eternity)
14. my life

DVD Tracklist

1. Kuon no Kawa (PV) (久遠の河; River of Eternity)
2. BALLAD ~Namonaki Koi no Uta~ (PV) (BALLAD ～名もなき恋のうた～; Nameless Love Song)
3. Swear (PV)
4. my life (PV)
5. Shiawase no Kane (PV) (幸せの鐘; Bells of Happiness)
6. Nada Sousou (涙そうそう; A Stream of Tears) (First Press Bonus Video)
7. Namida (Smooth Jam Mix) (涙; Tears) (First Press Bonus Video)
8. Natsukashii ~longing future~ (懐かしい未来 ～longing future～; Longing Future) (First Press Bonus Video)

Vou deixar aqui também o PV de “Swear” (música do single anterior de alan), e para quem não viu veja e para quem já  viu reveja ^^, abraços.

Fonte: J-music Revolution, JpopStop

Créditos: Jstation

After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, The graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Me, The Missing, and the Dead by Jenny Valentine, My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love , Mary Poppins & Fenway Park by Steve Klugler are the finalists of this new $5000 award for the best novel that possesses a positive approach to life, appeals to a wide and appreciative teen audience, and demonstrates literary merit. The winner is ….
My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park by Steve Kugler.

Swear / 12th Single / Release Date: [2009.11.04]

Credit: Todo Sobre alan

The Brits always have the best and funniest talk shows. This one get a bit “saucy,” as he puts it. She’s promoting her album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel in the UK before she goes back to celebrate Thanksgiving. Click below for the rest of  the footage.

The cover of Alan Moore's Watchmen

Watchmen was written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Watchmen was originally a mini-series published under DC Comics, it spanned one year with twelve issues and was collected into a graphic novel around 2005. It was the winner of the Hugo Award and was the only graphic novel on Time Magazine’s list of the top 100 English novels.

Watchmen has been widely received as the most celebrated graphic novel of all time. Many times director’s had tried to adapt the book to film, and in 2009 in some ways Zack Snyder (director of 300) succeeded.Many fans did not like the film very much, personally I thought it was a pretty faithful adaption, click here to read my review of the film.

The story follows that of six would-be heroes who decide to take the law into their own hands after the Minute Men were disbanded sometime in 1940. The characters consist of Silk Spectre II, Nite Owl II, Dr. Manhattan, The Comedian, Ozymandias, and Rorschach. After the Comedian is killed Rorschach begins investigating his death, he comes up with the theory that there is a “mask killer”. He then proceeds to inform all of the retired heroes of the Comedian’s death and his mask killer theory. The heroes must then overcome their differences and band together to stop World War III.

Next, the characters of Watchmen:

The Silk Spectre II

Laurie Juspeczyk aka Silk Spectre II is the daughter of the original Silk Spectre, her mother forced into the role of a masked adventurer (masked is sort of false as she doesn’t actually have one but what are you gonna do?). She is Dr, Manhattan’s girl friend, however, she leaves him in the third chapter.

Nite Owl II

Dan Dreiberg aka Nite Owl II took the role of Nite Owl when one of the old heroes in the Minute Men retired. He later retires after the passing of the Keene Act. In the ’60’s he and Rorschach worked together as partners.

Rorschach

Walter Kovacs aka Rorschach decided to become a masked adventurer after a rough childhood in which he saw the true horror of the world. After a kidnap case in the ’60’s he went insane and began killing criminals instead of catching them and leaving them to the police. He became a wanted man after the passing of the Keene Act. In some ways he is the main character, because he is the one who tells the story.

Ozymandias

Adrian Veidt aka Ozymandias was a man who believed in Utopia and world peace, and believes these things lie in the future. He retired from adventuring two years before the Keene Act was passed, and cashed on his alter ego making all sorts of merchandise and becoming an aristocrat.

Dr. Manhattan

Jon Osterman aka Dr. Manhattan was killed in an accident in an intrinsic field machine, he was torn apart then made a new body with all sorts of abilities, he is one of two heroes still in employ with the government.

The Comedian

Edward Blake aka The Comedian “He was practically a nazi” and a very lonely man. Heis practically insane like Rorschach. The Comedian is more of a soldier than a super hero. He participated in the Vietnam war with Dr. Manhattan.

The art of Watchmen is beautiful, Dave Gibbons does a wonderful job, and John Higgins uses are beautiful especially when they are used to show distance of an object. And the design for the costumes is the most important part to me because the costumes of most of the heroes are colorful which is surprising considering how grim the book is.

Overall, Watchmen is an excellent and thought provoking book and should be purchased by anyone who either likes comics or likes literature in general.

Swear by alan

1.) Swear
2.) Beauty
3.) Swear (Instrumental)
4.) Beauty (Instrumental)

Released: November 4th, 2005 ~ Highest Chart Position: 35 ~ Total Sales< 2,910

Swear is alan’s 11th single and the final single in the my life era. Swear and Beauty were both used in TV CMs’.

I’m gonna say it now, Swear flat-out fucking sucks. Where is the energy? The fun? This is pure J-Pop crap, just not as exciting. Because even though other J-Pop artists are squeaky, they sound fun and have energy. Unlike alan in this track. She sounds bored, and she sounds like she doesn’t want to sing this song. The instrumentation is the only redeemable thing in this song. The choir has more fun with the song than alan does. alan, please learn how to sing with energy. It’d do the planet earth some good.

Beauty is better than Swear, but only by a margin. The instrumentation is very pretty, minus the stupid bassline >( Arghh I hate those things in ballads. The chorus is exciting and alan sounds like she’s ready to sing with force =DD I love it.

Swear (Instrumental) is cute, and the instrumentation totally saves the actual song for me.

Beauty (Instrumental) is also very pretty. I love the piano playing and the twinkles and stuff xD

Dear god, alan you’re just failing now aren’t you? What happened to you? I would take those shitty vocals in 群青の谷 over this crap any day </3 Please try better next time.

C

Tracks:

1. Swear

2. Beauty

3. Swear (Instrumental)

4. Beauty (Instrumental)

Swear is alan’s 11th single and it was released on November 4th, 2009. This single reached #35 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 2,910 copies.

It’s about DAMN time alan did an upbeat song. Don’t get me wrong, I love her ballads and all, but a little more variety please? Swear is a cute little song with chimes, acoustic guitar and some thumping beats, and I just adore it. ♥ alan sounds great, like always, and I’m glad she’s able to sing upbeat songs as well. I’d like moar upbeat from alan, prz.

Beauty is more like alan’s usual style. That being said, it’s a slower-paced track and it has a nice ethereal feel to it. The first verse isn’t too special, but the chorus features some gorgeous vocals. Not her best B-side, but it’s still nice. The 2nd verse is better since it has more to it, like some acoustic guitar and a heavier beat.

Overall Grade:

alan’s second album starts off with the rather weird intro reflection -overture- which is pretty much a step down from Tennyo, because I actually enjoyed that one. Its got this odd tech-thing going on with it, with alan singing in a congested sort of way. I had to listen to it twice, because I just didn’t get it and I still don’t.

Swear is quite possibly the most pop-oriented and upbeat song I’ve ever heard from alan, since she does ballads and fail experimental tracks most of the time, but even if this is a beam of light in the darkness of ballads its still pretty boring and bland.

I’m almost surprised that I’m going to say this, but One doesn’t sound half bad. I mean its nothing interesting or new, especially coming from alan since its pretty down in the tempo without actually being down-tempo, but I like the pace and the easy, somewhat dramatic flow of it. alan’s vocal performance wasn’t half bad either. The downside is that once the novelty wears off it’ll become quite the tedious listen, but it beats out practically all the album only tracks from Voice of EARTH.

I guess I spoke too soon, because this next track is the first real ballad on the album and Mitsumeteitai I Wanna Be Staring At You was just boring, boring to the point that I thought my ears were going to fall off, because absolutely nothing was going on. There’s a tedious and rather cliche piano melody playing dully in the background and alan singing as if she herself is wondering why she is singing such an uninteresting song. Yawn.

No seriously alan, is this the b-side from that Megumi no Ame single, which was so boring I literally cannot remember how either song goes? This is just beyond lazy. Namida Tears is like I said the b-side from that single I’d rather forget was ever made, but its a Smooth Jam Mix, which is just fancy talk  for more boring version of the original. I am honestly speechless.

Lost Child is a really crappy song and maybe that’s a harsh way to put it, but man this track is really dull. The first time I listened to this I thought it was going to be all right like One since it was sort of upbeat and then at some point I lost interest and blanked out and then when I realized I had literally stopped listening to the song it was almost over, so I had no choice but to play it over. alan sounds as bored as my ears and then when she’s not sounding bored she sounds like she’s trying to force herself to sing the song.

The album of course doesn’t pick up it going goes more downhill like a mudslide. Butterflies is another track on this album in which I didn’t pay attention to, the song was so uninteresting my mind simply tuned it out. The arrangement is really bland, like no effort was put into it at all, so its just there to give the song something to stand on. alan’s vocal performance was also pretty blah, because she sounded not into the song just like in the previous. Ah, this album is really bad so far.

alan laughably tries to get funky on the next track Essence of me and fails, because she’s not an artist who can particularly pull a track like this off and it shows. The arrangement is tech and synthed based, but sounds really tacky so I didn’t too much care for it. alan falls into the auto-tuned trap, which in my opinion should only be used on artists who can’t carry a tune, but since she can its pretty wasted and also sounds bad. Then to add insult to injury she adds a random whistle-note that sounds like a cat wailing. Next.

I guess alan didn’t want to stop the dance-a-thon so Call my name is next and its so out of her league its almost embaressing, no wait it is, because if I hadn’t been too busy trying to ignore this track I would have been cringing instead. The flaky arrangement is throwaway at best and makes me think of something that would have been hot when Disco was in fashion. Lame. alan’s vocal performance was… I don’t even know, its like she sounded strong, but I just couldn’t take her serious, because this song is so fail. Its also over five minutes and plays like three, just… what? This was a weird track all around.

Shiroi Tsubasa White Wings is a rather abrupt transition as its a ballad, a very dull ballad. I thought I was going to like this because the arrangement isn’t all that bad despite not being very interesting and alan gave a decent vocal performance, sounding really good on certain parts, but as it stands once you get into it, its pretty boring and not a track I’d listen to again.

alan keeps the sluggish place going with this next track that is down-tempo, but sounds really dreary at the same time. Nobody knows but me makes me want to pass out from the sheer bore of it, I’m serious. The piano doesn’t help much on that front, not at all and neither does alan’s vocal performance, which sounds pretty lifeless if you ask me. At some point I’m guessing alan tried to make the track more interesting and started talking with her singing overlapping it, but I just thought it was strange and it kind a came out of nowhere.

The next track on the album is the dully titled BALLAD ~Namonaki Koi no Uta~ Nameless Love Song was boring on the single and its still boring on the album, if not even more so. Its almost like alan is poking fun at herself, except its not funny, its just tiring and overused, seriously.

This next track Kuon no Kawa River of Eternity is aside from One the second most decent track on the album, but despite the tradionational and rather sweeping arrangement and alan’s nice vocal performance, its like I’ve heard this a thousand times before from her and more grander at that, so its like at this point I just don’t care. Its a nice listen though, I’ll give it that.

The title track my life sadly takes the album off on such a forgettable note, because it just washes over me in a sea of bland. I literally felt my mind numbing while I was forcing myself to pay attention to this while reading something more interesting, you can only guess which one won.

One
Kuon no Kawa

In all truth there is not a track on this album that I like and normally I like to take four of my favorite tracks from an album an slap them on, but I just can’t, because they’re all so boring and or bad. my life turned out to be exactly what I predicted it would be, bland and only reinforces my extreme dislike of her and wonderment on why people are so fascinated by her and her average voice? I’m not saying it like that, because alan has a nice voice, but I’ve heard better, ayaka anyone? I liked Voice of EARTH in a sense, why? because even though its filled to the brim with single tracks and the album only tracks were fail, its not a bad listen, its really not, but this, this is just terrible. Its lazy, pure and utter laze and I recommend this to no one, not even fans, because if you have a functioning set of ears this album will bore you to tears and frustrate you to rage all at the same time. I really hope alan does something about this whole music thing, because she has potential and talent, but she’s just not putting it to any use.

John Woo, director of Red Cliff, is likely known in America for the films Face/Off, and Mission Impossible II but in addition he is quite an active director in Asia as well as having several films in the development stage to be released over the next couple of years. The film is actually part 2 of the 1992 classic Hard Boiled both starring Tony Leung and reuniting Woo and Leung for the first time since that film. The film was wildly popular in Asia and is advertised as the most expensive film ever made in the orient at least at the time of this writing. The story takes place in 208 A.D. involving the Han dynasty and their fight for power. The ensuing battle marks their end of rule in this loosely based historical drama.

Not having seen either film but considering the plot and my surmising that there was a lot of non-stop action, I was quite surprised at the restrained symphonic quality of the score and the minimal use of electronic programming from Taro Iwashiro, who I’ve had no prior experience with but certainly wish to explore further. The soundtrack was the winner of Best Original Film Score at the 2009 Hong Kong Film Awards. It also features a vocal of the main themes by Chinese J-Pop star alan.

“The Battle of Red Cliff,” is a pretty theme that would hardly be a description of a battle involving the Han dynasty but more like a theme from a melodrama with emphasis upon the fortunes of war through the percussion. It is a theme that is used throughout the score. “Light Of The Evanescence” is a soft tranquil theme in an andante tempo that depicts a quiet time in the forest by a brook or the aftermath of the battle. It too is repeated in the score and is really quite a moving piece. “Decision for Justice” is a proud heroic theme that indicates the resolve to solve the conflict at hand. While this is a military piece you don’t get the feeling of similar situation written for an American film. “Precious One” is a love theme version of “Light Of The Evanescence” with delicate flute and oboe in the forefront. “Red Cliff-River Of No Return” sung by alan is very oriented to the pop market and I’m sure the $ signs were in the eyes of the producer and director as this was being recorded. It is a pleasant theme and I’m sure many of you will enjoy it but it really doesn’t fit a film that takes place in 200 A.D. The score, performed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, has an overall Asian flavor with the use of a Bamboo Flute and Chinese Harp but still has its own unique identity and style. I never got the feeling of a 110-piece orchestra with extra brass to emphasize the military aspect of the film. This is definitely one to explore if your taste lends itself toward the classical side of film soundtrack listening. Recommended.

CD# is SILCD1296

Produced by Taro Iwashiro

Track listing

1. The Battle Of Red Cliff (03:05)

2. On The Battlefield (08:43)

3. Light Of The Evanescence (02:32)

4. Shadow Of The Evanescence (02:26)

5. Shooooot! (01:43)

6. Decision For Justice (03:58)

7. Secret Stratagem (01:51)

8. Closing In Upon The Enemy (04:13)

9. Unseen Locus (03:01)

10. Precious One (05:22)

11. Sound Of Heartstrings (01:35)

12. In Loneliness (05:35)

13. Beyond The River (04:19)

14. Red Cliff (End Roll Version) / Theme Song Of Part I (07:12)

Performed by Alan

15. Outroduction Of Legend (05:16)

16. Red Cliff (End Roll Version) / Theme Song Of Part II (03:32)

Performed by Alan

Total Duration: 01:04:23