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from HYDE’s THE LAST DINNER Tour Pamphlet

FAITH Release Date: 2006.04.26 Peak Position: #2 Label: SONY/Ki\oon/HAUNTED RECORDS ISBN: KSCL-998 Limited Edition: DVD (KSCL 999-1000) First Press: Bonus Poster (Limited Edition First Press only) HYDE’s Official Web Site

HYDE of L’Arc~en~Ciel releases his third solo album “FAITH” followed by a five-month tour in Japan with 4 stops in California, USA. HYDE has been extremely busy with the making of this album, doing an incredible amount of research to make this album a reality. The cover of the album features an oil painting of Jesus Christ, the Christian Messiah, by Kuniyoshi KANEKO and it contains songs with titles such as “JESUS CHRIST”, “MADE IN HEAVEN”, and “MISSION”.

This album is heavy on Christian religious symbolism and imagery but still has HYDE’s edge. HYDE has said he admires Jesus Christ as an honest man who did what he could to bring peace into the world. Reading his lyrics, however, it’s clear he doesn’t feel the same way about God. While he was a self-proclaimed atheist before (one of his famous quotes is “If there was a god, there’d be no wars”), he has changed perspective spiritually. It can be inferred that he believes in a god, but isn’t happy with how he chooses to rule over the Earth. His lyrics follow suit with “MASQUERADE” of his previous album ,”666″, questioning God/god’s intention. Now, let’s see how this album fairs with his angel and devil albums before it.

 

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1) JESUS CHRIST

This is an extremely strong, powerful, and beautiful opening song. It starts off with hard guitars, which doesn’t seem typical for a song called “JESUS CHRIST”. When HYDE starts to sing, his voice sounds incredibly desperate and displays the emotion that HYDE always seems to present so effortlessly. In this song, the singer is asking God to take him instead of his child who is dying. HYDE’s flawless falsetto in the line “Take me instead” and his pleas of “Ah, God give me death” are really spine-tingling. “JESUS CHRIST” is about the contradiction of faith: no matter how long or despairingly the singer prays, and regardless of his strong conviction, the child will still be taken. The piano pieces in the song also make for a wonderful contrast between rock and classical instruments.

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2) COUNTDOWN

This was HYDE’s first single for the album. A review for the whole single can be found here. “COUNTDOWN” is a hard-rock song with a fast-paced chorus that really takes you on a ride and doesn’t really want to let you go. It’s incredibly catchy, and you’ll find it hard to refrain yourself from singing along with the chorus. Not to mention, the countdown from 13 to 1 is really cool. I must admit, the track doesn’t shine too much after “JESUS CHRIST”, but serves as an excellent introduction to the next track.

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3) MADE IN HEAVEN

“MADE IN HEAVEN” is one of the hardest and heaviest songs of the album. HYDE’s voice is low and growly during the verses, but loud and powerful during the chorus. With a cool, almost violent chorus and demanding lyrics, “MADE IN HEAVEN” is no doubt made to be a crowd-pleaser during lives! You may also want to exercise caution while listening, as you may have the tendency to rock out too hard.

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4) I CAN FEEL

Not the heaviest song, but one of the best songs on the album! “I CAN FEEL” is about (in HYDE’s own words) “when love becomes connected with the universe”. It’s definitely HYDE’s best rock-ballad to date, with verses that make good use of vocal echoes and a beautifully written chorus that clearly expresses the love HYDE is trying to describe. This is one of the only songs on the album that I absolutely adored on first listen and absolutely adore now, even after the xxth time of listening to it.

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5) SEASON’S CALL

A smoother and calmer song on the album, “SEASON’S CALL” was the last single before the album’s release. Not as cool as “COUNTDOWN”, nor as groundbreaking as album tracks, “SEASON’S CALL” is, more-or-less, a simple song with the usual high-grade vocal performance and lyrics. Even though it’s simple, I can’t help but really like this song, either for the almost-non-existent-yet-infectious melody, or HYDE’s clear and honest singing. Either way, it’s a good listen.

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6) FAITH

“FAITH” is the Jesus song, written by HYDE in the perspective of Jesus Christ. No doubt that the research HYDE did to make this album a reality shows: in the end of the verses, HYDE recites famous quotes of Jesus, and the final bridge is simply wonderful. I really like this song, even if not as memorable as other songs on the album (such as the next track “DOLLY”), it’s a calming yet strong track on the album, relying on drums rather than guitar to pull it all together. It really shows what kind of man HYDE believes Jesus to be: someone who really cared about the state of the world and who did whatever he could to try to ensure peace and love on Earth.

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7) DOLLY

Now this is one awesome, hard-hitting song! About the ultimate disregard by humans of the natural and moral laws, HYDE sings of someone who would do anything to bring his lover back to life, even if it means eternal damnation. The song is named after the cloned sheep Dolly, and seems fitting to what HYDE is trying to say: that science and technology will ultimately cause our moral destruction. He uses the Tower of Babel to compare humans’ quest to become godly: “Build a tower tall and strong It will be beautiful/Using our technology Babel will stand anew.” The way he sings the word “love” in the last line of the chorus, “I do it for love” really adds a large degree of desperation to the song. Lynne Hobday (HYDE’s English teacher) makes her first of two appearances on the album as Dolly.

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8) PERFECT MOMENT

It’s common knowledge that HYDE does not believe in the afterlife, however it doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe in the perfect death. In “PERFECT MOMENT”, the singer is happy to die, even though he knows there’s nothing to expect afterwards. From the line “I’ve been to Heaven Heaven on Earth”, I think it’s clear that the singer has no regrets about his life and has done everything that he’s wanted to do. Therefore, there’s no use staying on Earth anyway. Even though to some, the subject of this song may seem a bit dark, I’m sure most people would rather die with no regrets and be happy to die in a moment such as this, instead of having death come too soon and fearing it. The song itself has an almost dream-like quality to it, especially with HYDE’s “ah ah” before the chorus. However, after “DOLLY” it gives an unwanted slow-down of the album.

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9) MISSION

A happier song on the album relying on acoustic guitar, “MISSION” is about striving for peace. Starting with HYDE’s singing “Come and dance with me”, HYDE is inviting everyone listening to join him in helping to create a peaceful world. Using music and dancing in both the figuritive and literal senses, he sings “No walls — embrace a world as one.” When hyde came to Baltimore for L’Arc-en-Ciel’s first American concert, he stated that he felt moved that everyone, regardless of language and nationality, all came together for one thing: to hear the music. No doubt that this feeling may have prompted the lyrics of this song as he pictures a world “Where music will guide us, guitars instead of guns/ We’ll play in harmony, it should be so easy” and states that “Music’s breaking down all the barriers” — which is becoming more and more true with the apparent influx of major Japanese bands playing around the world. In this song, HYDE is saying that perhaps one day we’ll all wake up with one mission and run to fullfill it. That’s contrary to the next song, which makes it seem like human-kind is hopeless.

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10) IT’S SAD

A perfect way to end the album, “IT’S SAD” condemns the human race as “the worst creatures in history” who are “full of conceit” and that “the ground will find some peace when we’re gone”. And, it’s sad. With cool verses (which are more spoken than sung), an awesome chorus displaying HYDE’s vocal potential, and hard-hitting music, “IT’S SAD” is the perfect ending for the album. Not to mention it has a beautiful bridge that’s almost only vocals, but quickly regains it’s edge as it transitions to the next bridge: HYDE and Lynne, in her second album appearance, repeating a court’s verdict (which sounds, if I might add, really cool.) No doubt the album ends in a bang with this song, which puts into music what I’ve thought about the human race for most of my life.

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Conclusion: An extremely strong album from HYDE, with smart, original melodies, excellent well-written lyrics, and A+ vocal performances which enhance each song. It’s a strong improvement from his previous album “666″ in all categories of sound, vocals, and lyrics. No doubt HYDE has grown as a hard-rock soloist, presenting American rock in a fresh, new way. Also note that KAZ, the new lead guitarist of HYDE’s band, composed 5 of the songs on this album as well.

It’s also commendable the research HYDE did on Christianity to create this album, however, I feel that if he would have spoken to some of its preachers, he might have had a better grasp on the religion. It’s clear from his lyrics that it’s just book material, as he has no concept of important foundations of the religion such as free will.

The album is now available in the US courtesy of TOFU RECORDS. The US version of FAITH also has the DVD of the Japanese Limited Edition as its regular edition. For those living in America, don’t forget to support your favorite artist in the states by buying the US version! This album is more than worth a buy.

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