Fresh off the success of her 2014 Oricon charting singles, "Rising Hope," "Bright Flight/L.Miranic," and "Shirushi," JPOP artist LiSA is back with her fifth album titled Launcher. Released on March 4th, Launcher is her third album and features songs from the anime series Sword Art Online II and the Irregular at Magic High School. Along with a very striking album cover of our JPOP starlet, I've personally been looking forward to this release for a while as I've done with most of her work. However, for those on the fence about the purchase and want to find out whether the album hit its targets with megaton precision or if it fires a dud, read on!
The first thing that I noticed immediately after listening to the album during my latest gym workout is that it doesn't try to do anything new or outrageous with LiSA's vocals, as her newest album sounds strikingly similar to both Landscape and Lover"s"mile. However, it doesn't have to. LiSA knows her audience and what they want. Although a lot of her songs may sound similar with a melodic blend of J-POP style rock and ballads, they've always been consistently strong and that doesn't change here; which for her dedicated fans is most likely a positive as they know exactly what to expect. However, if you've been on the fence about her though, there won't be anything on the album to change your mind.
Personally, my favorite tracks on the album are "Rising Hope" and "Bright Flight/L.Miranic," joining the ranks of "Miraikaze," "Jet Rocket," and her GirlsDeMo work as some of my favorite LiSA songs. While the three songs were all from her 2014 singles, they remain the strongest tracks that showcase her powerful chords that have made her a perennial powerhouse amongst anime and JPOP fans alike. Even for people who may have previously purchased her singles, having those three songs on the same disc or album alone is easily worth the price of admission.
The downside is that compared to them the rest of the album feels as though it is lacking in originality with the exception of "Elect Lyrical" which uses a chiptune melody to produce something that would be right at home in a 16-bit Sonic game or as a theme song for Disney's Wreck-it-Ralph. It is easily the most interesting and unique track and a must listen to for the intro alone.
Despite the lack of originality however, the album still remains a joy to listen to for her fans; myself included. While we may have already heard it all on her previous albums before, you can be rest assured that I will be buying her next singles along with the rest of her fans on day one. There needs to be something said for being able to consistently produce quality work that fans love and that's what we have here.
"Launcher" song list:
- Mr. Launcher
- Rising Hope
- rapid life syndrome
- Mitsu
- Akogare Bouenkyou
- BRiGHT FLiGHT
- L.Miranic
- FRAGILE VAMPIRE
- ANTIHERO
- Bad Sweet Trap
- Electro Lyrical
- Kimi ni Pierrot
- No More Time Machine
- Shirushi
