Search - L'arc-En-Ciel :: Ray

Brother-Album of "Ark" Stands Strong on it's Own

Crow Winters | Detroit, MI | 11/29/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"(Foreward: Amazon.com's tracklist is missing some songs. Here's the actual tracklist:
1. Shi no Hai, 2. It's The End, 3. Honey, 4. Sell My Soul, 5. Snow Drop, 6. L'heure, 7. Kasou, 8. Shinshoku- Lose Control, 9. Trick, 10. Ibara No Namida, 11. The Silver Shining)"Ray" was released in November of 1999 in conjuction with "Ark", both albums, of which, found themselves in the 1st and 2nd spots on japanese billboards. The 6th and 7th studio releases from one of Japan's most influential modern musicians are curious endeavors: comparisions are hard to ignore but so are the contrasts, and the obvious question of weather or not the material is up to snuff with a band whose standards are typically as high as L'arc's, espically considering that "Ray" is not only competeing with "Ark", but these brother albums are both hot off the heels of 1998's "Heart", and therefore Hyde and Co. had just over a year to put together these two albums, a legnth of time most bands would be hard pressed to put out even one album. Also, there's the obvious inclination to consider "Ray" and "Ark" a double album of sorts. Despite all the this and thats, "Ray", while most certaintly splotchy in a few areas, holds up quite well as an album on it's own, and contains some of the band's strongest works.The first thing that's noticeable about "Ray" is that, from start to finish, the album is mostly a patchwork of gritty, dark, and almost seemingly traumatized rock. The opener, "Shi no Hai", is an apporiate and possibily perfect opener for the rest of the set; an unforgiving, catchy and crunchy riff comprises most of this mid-tempo rock song's length, and serves as a platform for both Ken's guitar texture prowess (and countless distorted solos), but for Hyde's emotionally charged vocals, which are at thier finest. The song leads way into "It's The End", which is moved along by a faster tempo an exotic song structure. Though perhaps a bit apoctolpyic in nature, Hyde seems more mournful here, showing off his soft precision as he sings "I will say 'Good luck'", painting a dramatic image of two paths parting ways. This is all a gradual transition for one of the album's showstoppers, "Honey", which is incidently one of the few upbeat tracks to be found. "Honey" has a delicious vocalization that would make the most jaded hum and a delicious riff that The Cure would probably kill for, and within it's peak, contains one of the most roaring solos of guitarist Ken's career. Once "Honey" is done, L'arc tones things down with the sexy piano-driven "Sell My Soul", which paints a lovely, if not completly unrealistic, image of the band playing in a low-scale pub. "Sell My Soul" is an extremly strong and delicious track, but it's quickly overshadowed by the other showstopper it's wedged between: "Snow Drop", an uplifting and decidingly U2-esque pop track that's just as catchy as anything L'arc would have put out on "True" a few years ago.Confusingly, however, the album goes somewhat in the air here, with the 4 minute insturmental "L'herue". Either an expirment in atomsphere or a subliminal message to fix a sandwhich, "L'herue" dwindles on with the same frivlous bass and drums (neither of which complementry to the skills of the musicians, espically bassist Tetsu) for a few minutes without actually really going anywhere, forcing an unnatural break into the CD where it counts the most: the middle. This is the only moment where L'arc sounds like they were pressed for time and picked sub-par material, and it's quite possibile that "Ray" would have been substanially better with a different track or had it been completly left off. I hate to say that any L'arc track openly invites the 'skip' button, but this is the truth, in this case.Things are picked up quickly, however, with the theatrical "Kasou", whose sudden break into Hyde's throaty yell is just as cheeky as it is emotionally electrifying. Things are followed up with one of L'arc's most enraged, almost terrifying songs, "Shinshoku- Lose Control". While not quite an opus, this song demonstrates Ken's knack for complex melodies and shattering distortion solos, and shows off Hyde's normal vocalization range rather well. This paves way for the "Trick", another crunch heavy riff based song that, while competent, is forgotten with the rest of the CD's strong points. The detuned phoned-in guitar solo from Ken is quite surprising, however.Then there's "Ibara No Namida". Filled with beautiful apperigos and feedback, this one-two punch of a song is as beautiful and strong as it is errie and detached. By now, though, we've been hit more or less with the most electric guitar crunch riffs we can possibily stand- and L'arc is seemingly aware of this, so as a finale, we're treated with the string-tinged ballad of "The Silver Shining", a soul-shaker of a song that trascends any language barrier (even if Hyde does sing nearly 90% of the song in English anyways). This is not only one of L'arc's finest moments, but arguable one of the most moving ballads ever written. Take notice, Bono.In closing, "Ray" is a completly competent work of a band that has been around the corner and back again- quite a few times, in fact. While not perhaps a reinvention of the wheel, it most certaintly ISN'T a work of rushed shclok to appease those willing to buy into the tried and true. Rather, L'arc simply, apparently, had too much good material. Darker and more mysterious then it's predecssors yet with a familiarity and flavor that only L'arc can deliever, "Ray" is a beautiful and important album, despite it's few, very few misses here and there."

Ditto the above

Crow Winters | 07/06/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yup, got to agree with the above review. This album is FANTASTIC. One dodgy song on the whole thing, that being `l`heure`, besides that each song`s great, I`d even use that awful word classic to describe it. `ibara no namida` (`thorned tears`) sounds a bit like Radiohead, but besides that it`s hard to explain. As it should be. A bit gothy, a bit rocky, a bit generally wonderful. Probably my favourite L`arc album. And I have six. Also it comes in the weirdest packaging I`ve seen in a long time!"

Not their best work, but that's understandable.

kuusou kagaku shounen | US | 10/15/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

""ray" is a collection of 11 rock songs. A few songs break the mold but this is L'Arc~en~Ciel's "rock" album, comrpised almost entirely of basic guitars/drums/bass. It manages to stay fresh, and the album doesn't sound entirely like a blur by the time you reach the end. But in comparison with other L'Arc albums it's clearly much more "stable".



Many new fans may find this one of the easiest albums to get into because the songs are all fairly accessible. I'd recommend this with "ark" for new fans, even though these are my least favorite albums of the band.



The bright spots of the album:

"HONEY" - the big single penned by hyde. Catchy as hell and rockin'.



"snow drop" - tetsu's answer to "HONEY". I like it even more. Has sort of a U2-ish feel to it but is distinctly L'Arc.



"shinshoku -lose control-" - A dynamic songs of quiet verses and heavy choruses. The choruses reach an aggressiveness unparalleled in the rest of their library. And yet it's a great song throughout.



"ibara no namida" - Another hyde song, once again with very prominent choruses. This is an EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT live song and I highly suggest you pick up GRAND CROSS CONCLUSION or REALIVE to see it (each performance is spectacular).



"the silver shining" - A gorgeous song, by ken. Features a lot of synthesizers, lots of falsetto, and lots of whispering tetsu background vocals. I love it.



The rest of the album is mostly made up of mediocre songs - "shi no hai", "It's the end", "Sell my Soul"... all fine songs, but aren't extremely great. "kasou" is a fan favorite, and I like it but not as much as the above 5 songs.



I find yukihiro's 2 compositions the worst of the bunch, and perhaps the worst 2 songs they've ever let onto an album. "L'heure" is a mindless, repetitive beat that does nothing to aid the album in anyway. Entirely useless, even as an intermission. "trick" is another repetitive song that sounds like a broken record about halfway through it. Easily the most overrated Laruku song ever.



Never heard L'Arc? Snatch up this album along with "ark" and you'll get a pretty good idea of the band's sound. This definitely isn't the strongest in their collection, but that's to be expected. Imagine if ray and ark had been just one album though; it would've been amazing. But they stretched themselves and went for the double album release, and managed to pump out two pretty good albums. They just don't match the rest."