SCANDAL is one of Japan’s and internationally recognized J-Rock band and has been getting more and more international recognition in the past few years with their world tours. Having recently completed their Japan tour, they made quick haste in announcing and releasing their seventh album, YELLOW, which has a lot to follow up on with their successful previous album, Hello World.

YELLOW seems to be the album where the band is trying out many different styles to incorporate into their already distinctive upbeat rock style, while taking lot of inspiration from their overseas world tour experience. While Hello World was exploring new ideas like Mami's solo song, and even Rina coming out from the background drums to play the guitar, YELLOW seems to focus on more melodic and slower tunes than their really upbeat Hello World songs. This is evident in the tracks like "Love Me Do," "Morning Sun," "Love," and even "Heaven na Kibun" could be considered on a slower pace than the usual. Most of the other songs are what you come to expect and be excited for from SCANDAL. It includes their recent Oricon top ten charting song, "Sisters and Stamp!," which should not come to a surprise from most fans. Another interesting song that was included in this album was “Konyawa Pizza Party” where you can feel even more of the usual happy upbeat music with the inclusion of party supplies sounds into the melody itself. I can only imagine the amount of fun they had in their studio recording for this song with all the extra party supplies adding a 'fun' aspect to the session and music.

The two super welcomed additions to the album is the physical release of the theme song "Chiisana Honou" from their Tour DVD last year, as well as a English Version of “Your Song” from their previous album, which may come to a surprise to some. While I do personally prefer the Japanese version of the song given all the great memories attached to it from their previous tour, this song encompasses the memories SCANDAL had connecting with their overseas fans during their world tour. That also goes without saying for "Chiisana Honou," as who attended their world tour lives would be instantly transported back to relive those moments. Both songs are certainly welcome additions to this year’s album and something we can definitely look forward to during their Hawaii lives this year.

Overall the entire album seems to lean towards 50/50 between slow melodic songs to usual upbeat music we’re used to from SCANDAL. And that’s probably what we can expect from their Japan and Asia Tour this Spring. They seem to bring something new and unexpected element each year to their lives and it seems like it will happen again this year from listening to the album. We are eagerly anticipating seeing them perform this album live in upcoming months.

YELLOW Tracklist:
01. Room No.7
02. Stamp!
03. LOVE ME DO
04. Morning sun
05. Sunday Drive
06. Konyawa Pizza Party
07. Heaven na Kibun
08. SUKI-SUKI
09. LOVE
10. Sisters
11. Happy Birthday
12. Chiisana Honoo
13. Your Song -English ver-