REVIEW: KAMJIO - Heart

Heads up, Versailles and LAREINE fans! After a decent first single (followed by two others) and an absolutely riveting first mini-album, visual kei heavyweight KAMIJO continues the series of firsts in his solo career with Heart, his debut full-length album. Somewhere in between Louis and Symphony of the Vampire in terms of overall quality, Heart is an unexpectedly quiet first album that still has some very solid content. It won't catapult him to the superstardom that many expect him to one day reach, but Heart is a solid cornerstone for KAMIJO to build his career upon, and is definitely worth a listen.

Heart Regular Edition Cover

Tracklist:

1.Vive le Roi

2. Rose Croix

3. Yamiyo no lion

4. Louis～enketsu no la vie en rose～ (Symphonic Metal Version)

5. Death Parade

6. Romantique

7. Dakishimerarenagara

8. Moulin Rouge

9. Sanctuary

10. Katate ni yume wo motsu shoujo

11. Tsuioku no mon amour

12. Heart

13. Presto (Acoustic Version)

Heart has a symphonic rock style that you're used to hearing from acts associated with KAMIJO, but with an increased emphasis on symphonic music. It's still very much a symphonic rock album, but a lot of love and care has been paid to the backing violins, piano, trumpets and other symphony instruments. The symphonic sounds on Heart really feel like they came from an orchestra that was used as a legitimate group of backup musicians (regardless of whether that's true or not), and this adds a classically grand sound that we never got to see prior to KAMIJO's debut as a solo artist.

Following an epic symphonic opening, "Rose Croix" brings a strong and varied start to the album before smoothly transitioning into a swift and catchy chorus. "Yamiyo no lion" is decent but much less subtle, bluntly moving from rock-heavy verses to a symphonic rock chorus reminiscent of a Versailles track. The re-tooled symphonic rock version of "Louis～enketsu no la vie en rose～" (the lead track off of KAMIJO's  first single) is hands-down the superior version of the song. All of the musical elements in the song are much more contrasted than in the original.

Heart then moves on to show how thin the line is between variety and staleness when it comes to KAMIJO's current style. Thankfully, variety wins out for the most part. "Death Parade" is KAMIJO's symphonic rendition of what would otherwise have been considered a "heavy" song, and its sound is quite unique. It is followed by "Romantique", a relaxed love song that is soothing to the ear. "Dakishimerarenagara" is fun, but its chorus follows the same formula as many of the other tracks on Heart. It's a formula that is finally beginning to wear thin. KAMIJO then mixes things up drastically with "Moulin Rouge", a jazz-rock homage to the famous cabaret of the same name. The guitars are a little too gritty for my tastes, but overall this extremely catchy departure from KAMIJO's usual sound is a risky move that paid off in spades. "Sanctuary" returns to a more symphonic rock sound, but there doesn't seem to be anything special about it. The same can be said of "Katate ni yume wo motsu shoujo", although this song does slow things down here and there for a more varied and romantic feel. It ends with an female voice giving a monologue about the concept behind Heart.

"Tsuioku no mon amour" is much more varied and interesting than many of the other tracks that share the "love song" architecture on the album. It's followed by the incredibly epic title track. "Heart" is a fantastic adventure that incorporates a little bit of everything from KAMIJO's arsenal into itself. It's quite an impressive way to close out an album. As an added treat, the album actually ends with an acoustic rendition of "Presto", the lead track off of KAMIJO's mini-album Symphony of the Vampire. "Presto" is, in my opinon, KAMIJO's best song to date, and the acoustic version is heart-touchingly gorgeous.

There is a fair amount of critique mixed into this review, but I want to make it clear that Heart is an excellent first start. If anything, KAMIJO is facing an uphill battle as a result of his choice of musical style. The biggest problem with visual kei's symphonic rock movement is that it's incredibly easy for its artists to make the same song over and over. The symphonic rock sound can come off sounding very original in short bursts like singles, but the initial charm wears off over the course of a longer album. Once that happens, it's only a matter of time before the listener begins to lose interest (case in point: Jupiter's debut album).

I applaud KAMIJO for largely avoiding this pitfall to create a solid first album that offers more variety than many of its symphonic rock peers. I still strongly believe that he has the potential to become a more romanticized version of a superstar like Gackt (and he deserves it). In my opinion, KAMIJO's next course of action should be to take the elegantly energetic feeling experienced in songs from the height of Versailles' career (such as "Ascendead Master", "Philia", and particularly in "Masquerade") and mix it into the style that he has cultivated over the last year. Once he does this and  adds just a little bit more variety to his longer releases, KAMIJO will truly become the symphonic superstar that he is meant to be.

Buy It On CDJapan:

• Regular Edition
• Limited Edition

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