Tracklist
- THE WORLD IS MINE
- RAGE OF DUST
- MIDNIGHT
- スクランブル
- 君がいた夏
- THIS IS HOW WE ROCK
- BRING IT ON ～Battle of Rap～
- Don’t Look Back
- Brand New Days
- C!RCUS
- Goldship
- Be with
- サムライハート (Some Like It Hot!!) [Acoustic Sessions] (DISC 2)
- RAGE OF DUST [Acoustic Sessions]
- Be with [Acoustic Sessions]
- Supersonic [Acoustic Sessions]
- Stand by me [Acoustic Sessions]
Spyair is a band that debuted in 2005. The band consists of four members, IKE, UZ, MOMIKEN, and KENTA. Their name came from the name "spyware" that is a kind of computer virus. They got their rise in fame when their songs were repeatedly featured in many popular anime such Gundam, Bleach, and Haiyku!! Kingdom is their seventh album release after having several live tours throughout Japan and a continuing streak of their songs being used in different forms of media.
I'm not one of the fans that found out about Spyair through anime. I actually stumbled upon one of their songs, Beautiful Days on Youtube years ago and kept up with their activities after that. Kingdom comes are their album 4. An album that came out the doors ready to fill every listener with a fever bring confident flame. So I could only wonder what Kingdom would bring to the band's discography. Every track that came with this album made me do a double take. I actually had to listen to the album a second time because of the content. There's a constant tug of war in the musical style that want to be dominate on Kingdom. At first, I was under the impression that the band was going for a more mainstream pop rock grove style. World is Mine features Spyair in swing music mixed with heavy punk rock. Other tracks that feature the same type of style have production of horns and Pianos giving these tracks a light mainstream Pop Rock sound. You can repackage the punk rocker but you can't take the punk out the rocker. Tracks like Midnight and This Is How We Rock unleash the band's old ways. Heightening the guitar solos for fast precision that's so dominate that they knock you off balance. They also return to rap for tracks such as Bring It On -Rap Battle-. I believe Spyair was rapping in their past songs too. Only this time I felt like the boy really put their best foot forward to create a rap/rock genre. I was pulled all over the place as each song played. Kingdom's production truly tried to have a song for everybody. With You was probably the softest track to be found on Kingdom. Putting the song at the very end of the album was a good move. Listeners will need a peaceful track to calm them down after being exposed to so many different sides of Spyair. Kingdom went well since Spyair changed up a little. However, this band knows the limit. I felt that Spyair is good enough to not have to change their sound to sell more album sales.(They never got number one spot on Oricon.) Good thing Spyair knew how to not lose themselves to the big bad wolf known as "selling out". If you understand Japanese, the song's lyrical content hasn't changed much also. I still get encouraged by how their songs are written in a uplifting manner. Even their romantic perspective comes from an uplifting place.
Vocals recorded for Kingdom have IKE singing songs that are new to the band's style. I don't think his voice fits Jazz or Swing music but he sings with confidence like he's meant to. He's vocals are right at home during the performance of heavier rock tracks. Raspy vocal grit can't help but come alive on top of a rock band. Strong backup vocals still support IKE as demonstrated in World Is Mine. Gosh, Kenta plays the hell of of the drums on this album. Did you guys take the time to really listen to him play? Lord have mercy…….
Kingdom wasn't as good as 4 in my opinion. Its not a let down either though. One might notice that Spyair's music is evolving before our eyes. These guy's seem to know what their doing, thankfully.
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