Release Date: May 12, 2015
Track Listing
- Immigration Control
- HONEY DISH
- Itazura Rock n’ Roll
- Not in Theory
- Himawari
- Shiny Road
- Heaven’s Burger
- High Tension Emotion
- FAKE
- Perfect Sky
- You
- Fairy Tale
- Hacchake Sensation
Review
PASSPO takes listeners on another flight with their fourth major label album. (fifth overall) There are four different editions of Beef or Chicken, First Class (CD+DVD), Economy Class, and Low-Cost Carrier Peach & Vanilla. (all CD only) Singles released from this album were Perfect Sky, Himawari and Honey Dish.
I first heard songs from Beef or Chicken when I went to PASSPO’s afternoon flight (a.k.a. concert) at Akasaka Blitz on May 31. The live versions were great, and the concert atmosphere was fun. PASSPO fans can get a little rowdy, which was unexpected.
And, of course, the lovely ladies on stage put on a damn good show, and they sang live the entire time. That’s probably a moot point for some of y’all, but that’s kind of important for me, given they were in a live house and not in a giant concert hall.
Of course, there is a difference between live and listening to studio recordings. So how is Beef or Chicken without the crowd’s energy and the hotness on stage?
Well, just like their stage show, the album is a lot of fun. It starts with the well-honed PASSPO sound that blends rock instrumentals with pop melodies. It’s old hat for long-time PASSPO followers, yet the formula never wears out its welcome.
The best example at work is Not In Theory, which takes the group into slightly harder-sounding territory. No, they don’t hop aboard the current idol metal bandwagon, but the song sounds a bit more aggressive than what they have done in the past.
As you enter the halfway point of Beef or Chicken, the songs move slightly away from hype-inducing tracks to mid-tempo fare at the end. Some of the stronger material is found in this part of the album. Standouts include High Tension Emotion, FAKE and You.
Strangely there are no ballads on Beef or Chicken. With how this album is structured, ballads would most likely hinder and disrupt the flow, so it’s probably best that there are none to speak of.
In the end, Beef or Chicken is an extremely enjoyable listen from beginning to end and is one of the better Idol/J-Pop albums I’ve listened to recently.
