Release Date: January 17, 2018
Track Listing
Disc 1
- Dakara, Hitori Janai
- Ashita e
- Go My Way!
- OVER
- Jupiter
- Itsuka Kono Namida ga
- Love To The World
- Get Down
- Hikaru Kakera
- Gift
- Suki da. remake ver.
- COLORS
- Shiawase no Kakera
Disc 2 – Cover CD
- I WAN’NA BE LIKE YOU -Live on 2017.11.19- (Original song from The Jungle Book)
- SEPTEMBER (Original: Earth, Wind & Fire)
- Ring! Ring! Ring! (Original: DREAMS COME TRUE)
- Ito (Original: Nakajima Miyuki)
- Let’s Grooooove!!!!! Monster ~Opening/Ending~
Review
juice is the third studio album release from Little Glee Monster. It features their 2017 singles Dakara, Hitori Janai, Ashita e, OVER/Hikaru Kakera and a remake of their 2015 single Suki da. Other highlights include:
- Go My Way – used as the song for the 5th national elementary and junior high school rhythm dance interaction competition
- Itsuka Kono Namida ga – the 96th nationwide high school soccer championship support song
- COLORS – LOWRYS FARM “GIRLS TUNE FES 2017” theme song
- Shiawase no Kakera – ending theme for the NHK program Gretel no Kamado
https://youtu.be/qJT9gnmCWeY
The follow up to Little Glee Monster’s second album Joyful Monster arrives in a popular month for the group as all their albums (including this one) have been released around the same date since 2016.
https://youtu.be/-e4STsHcTZ4
Much like their previous releases juice comes in a 2-disc set. The first contains their original material and the second is a short EP featuring covers of popular songs from western and Japanese artists.
https://youtu.be/WH1cmXidUzQ
As stated in the introduction to this review there are many tie-in songs present on this album. Those, along with the single releases are the showcase songs on juice. They give listeners a well-rounded view of what this group is about. And that is strong vocal performances. If you have a strong affinity towards that aspect of music than this group will surely satisfy your needs.
https://youtu.be/1RA_-cVWDIY
Besides the many-featured tracks other songs to check are Jupiter and Love To The World.
Jupiter starts out as an a capella song showing off Little Glee Monsters’ vocal abilities before light ballad instrumentation kicks in. While this type of song could be the type that would welcome being a bit showy with vocal gymnastics; this performance is restrained preventing any uncalled diva-like antics from ruining the song. Love To The World has a more joyous tone that makes the group live up to their name. It can be thought of as a compliment to OVER which also has a similar type of upbeat sound.
When it comes to the covers Little Glee Monster put their own twist on each one while remaining faithful to the elements that made the originals great. You can’t really go wrong with any of the four choices on the second disc and what you gravitate towards will be based on personal preference or familiarity with the source material.
In the end juice is a fantastic album from Little Glee Monster. They are really starting to mature as artists while still maintaining the youthful spirit that makes their music infectious.
