This is the third album released by Gackt. Gackt has gotten substantially more popular since the release of his last album. Appearing in several commercials, and increasing the frequency of his TV appearances, he has managed to interest more fans with his interesting quiet personality and dry sense of humor. Hopefully a best album is not on the way next. Like most Gackt releases, this album goes a little overboard on the packaging. The hard cardboard case and pages make it attractive, but it is very difficult to get the CD out. The piece of plastic that holds it usually comes out with it, and I'm not even sure if that is supposed to come out or not. It looks like it is, but taking the plastic out too many times could wear down the cardboard. It even comes with a diagram showing you how to remove the CD, but it helps little. The first track, "Noah", is just a scary intro. The second track, "Lu:na", rocks WAY TOO HARD and, though short, is obviously the best new song on this album. Wow, this song is so damn cool. Not only does Gackt deliver rock, but he does it in his own way. His dramatic voice conveys a sense of urgency like no one else. His voice is beautiful, and you can feel his suffering in the upset tone he takes. So amazing. Third is "wa-su-re-na-i-ka-ra". This is just his latest single "wasurenai kara", but I guess they put those spaces in there because the song has a new intro. This song is dramatic rock, like most of his music, but it's probably a little too basic, which is why some people probably didn't find the single amazing when it was released. People sometimes set their expectations to high. This is still quite a good song. Track 4 is "Soleil". This is a really good new song. It is surprisingly happy for Gackt. It is a joyous song that kicks ass. Gackt's voice gives it a strange tone, and the operatic bridge is blatantly beautiful and effeminate. It's the way he mixes such things together and adds the little touches that makes Gackt's music worth hearing. Track 5, "Speed Master", along with the next new song, track 7, "death wish", start the less refined, grungy rock section on this album. Although these two tracks add good variety to the album, and are both decent, I think the choppy, fast abrupt percussion doesn't fit perfectly well with Gackt's music style, and the blatantly fast, loud nature of the songs can become an annoyance. However, the merits outweigh the problems. Both songs have their moments, and of course they aren't without Gackt's beautiful singing voice. A slow soft song, "Fragrance", which is the B-side track from the "ANOTHER WORLD" single is surrounded by these two songs. "Fragrance" is pretty good, but not for the uninitiated. It takes time and a real sense of dark beauty to appreciate. Track 8, "Doomsday", comes from the "wasurenai kara" single. It is pretty straightforward rock from Gackt and is fine. Track 9, "Missing", fortunately begins a stretch of great new music on this album. Along with "Lu:na" and "Soleil", at the beginning, these three last new tracks are the best new music on this album. It's just that less refined mid section that isn't so great. "Missing" is another really happy emotional song. It makes you feel like you've gotten over the hill of this album and hit the really sweet stuff. Track 10, "rain", is easily the most dramatic and emotional piece on the album. It begins softly, and when it reaches that chorus it is full-out emotion. It has such a great melody. Track 11 is "ANOTHER WORLD". This song is Gackt's best selling single to date. The fans love it because the song seriously rocks. It works well as a live performance because Gackt does a great job of getting the fans energized. Gackt sure knows how to get attention. It's kind of a simple song, but it's great. The final song on the album is a new one titled "memories". It is actually another happy song. For Gackt, this album has more than its share of happy songs. The acoustic guitar harmonizes happily along with Gackt's voice as if the guitar is doing a duet with him. Then the song hits a more determined catchy chorus. This album leaves you with Gackt's sweet voice fading out happily and closes with an orchestral finish. What a nice ending to the album. It leaves you with a good feeling so that you will crave more. Unlike both of the past albums, "MOON" has no clever goofy song on it like "U+K" and "marmalade". This is somehow a very noticeable difference, probably because they added a surprising touch to both of the past two albums, increasing the variety. But the main thing that made those songs attractive was just how good they were, and most of the new music on "MOON" is good, so this point doesn't seriously count against "MOON". This album is really being overlooked as a boring uneventful release from Gackt, and it doesn't deserve it. What is really happening is all of his new fans are realizing how deep Gackt's music really is and are finding out that they don't like it (because they don't have the attention span to properly appreciate it), which is sad because compared to a lot of music out there, Gackt's music is incredibly straightforward and easy to get into. Visual rock fans have been enjoying this kind of hard core non-pop for years. Gackt's music is rock with a bit of a surprising pop twist, so it doesn't fall neatly into any category. This album has it all, just like the past two albums. It has extremely attractive fast rock songs like "Lu:na", as well as very dramatic songs (concert-closers) like "rain" and "memories" that should not be overlooked. Of course, as with any Gackt album, it will take several listens to properly appreciate this music. Gackt's music somehow has this quality that makes it not so great the first time you hear it, but as you hear it more and more you appreciate the fine details and you come to love the music. The two things working against "MOON", earning it an 8 rating instead of a 9, like the last two, are its slight less variety and its obvious extra reliance on older, already released music from the singles. "12-gatsu no Love song" isn't on this album (obviously because of its seasonal appeal), but all four of the other tracks from the singles are included on this album, which for Gackt is a lot. All of Gackt's albums have discluded at least one of the prior-released singles. Putting that aside, there is still a lot of pretty-good-to-excellent new music on "MOON". Everyone should buy "MOON".
Buy it here.
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