5-1=0//world of the tempters japan [Import]

The closest comparison I can make to well-known Western music is to the Pretty Things' Emotions. 5-1=0 (I don't know where this "World of the Tempters" bit comes in...it's just the 5-1 album) is a mixture of incredibly ultra-lush (yet very well produced) songs and songs that, frankly, could have been on their first album. That isn't a problem in and of itself, but in context, the album just doesn't gel. It shouldn't be surprising, then, that Big Beat nicked almost all of the "rock"-ier tracks from this album for G. S. I Love You Too.

All of this sounds very negative, I suppose, and as I don't want to give the wrong impression, let me go through this track by track. Jun Ai opens the album very strongly; it's a stellar track, with amazingly-high production values and some excellent playing (and, by the way, I'm assuming here that the band plays its basic tracks). Tell Me More follows, familiar from G. S. I Love You Too, and (while good) it's very out of place here. Baby Chu Chu is an interesting tune, but too fey for its own good. Himitsu no Aikotoba comes next, also from G. S. I Love You Too--it's the one that starts with the "Here Without You" motif.

"Yume no Hitobito" follows; a strange, dark tune that doesn't do much for me, although it has an absolutely *beautiful* middle section (by the way, I should mention that the strings and orchestral overdubs are very Japanese, and very tastefully done). Kyuden Ni follows, and it's in a class all by itself. Beautiful, very haunting (comped on the Cult GS Box) although a bit meandering; the sort of thing that could be the theme to one of those very ethereal anime series, complete with dialogue.

Next comes Okasan, a track which is an absolute high-point. I love it, from its "mystical" guitar sound, to the very-Laugh Laugh-esque harmonica, to the intensely well arranged strings. Excellent. Ame Yo Furinaide follows, in a much lusher (and, in my opinion, inferior) arrangement to the way it shows up on G.S. Ultra Rare Tracks and the Tempters Single Collection. Kidotta Ano Ko returns us to upbeat rock tracks, and simultaneously returns us to G. S. I Love You Too territory. Same thing applies to Kono Mune Ni, also on G. S. I Love You Too. Both tracks are excellent, but sound very out of place here. Bokutachi is on G. S. I Love You Too as well.

The album then switches back for the final one-two punch. Namida No and the Legend of Emerland are both excellent, lushly arranged ballads/rockers with some excellent performances from the band (especially the later, with an excellently-emoted chorus).

So what to do? Lots of this album shows up on G. S. I Love You Too, and a large part that doesn't show up on that comp *is* on The Tempters Single Collection, which is an excellent purchase and also includes the single version of Ame Yo Furinaide. Indeed, with those two discs, all you're missing are three tracks. I would thus advise someone just dipping their foot into the mysterious realm of GS to avoid purchasing this excellent, yet flawed album, and go for the collections instead. Heck, we can always hope for a domestic release!