Tohoshinki – Beautiful you / 千年恋歌 [22nd Single]

April 20, 2008 at 5:08 pm (Tohoshinki) (Oricon Year 2008 Singles, Tohoshinki)

Tohoshinki’s 22nd single, entitled Beautiful you / 千年恋歌, was released on 04.23.08. 千年恋歌 received a tie-in as the theme for the Korean drama Taioushinjiki.

Beautiful you is a guitar-driven ballad that showcases the mature sound of the boys. The song begins with the instrumentation, which features a spotlight on the guitar. The opening vocals are smooth and Jaejong delivers it strongly. The chorus pops with the opening English line “You’re such a beautitful woman,” which shows the more mature sound the boys have been channeling lately. The chorus stands apart because of the strong vocals that work with the instrumentation to create the perfect atmosphere. The pure instrumental section is nice because it spotlights the true beauty of the music without the vocals. Beautiful you is a nice track that follows the TRICK project, showing that they haven’t lost any steam from their previous releases.

The other A-side, 千年恋歌, is a fantasy-like ballad. The song begins with a beautiful instrumentation that lasts a few second before going into the first verse. The vocals are smooth and compliment the fantasy-like atmosphere that the music creates. The chorus is very enjoyable and the instrumentation does a fantastic job of making the transition. The only problem is that it doesn’t come alive as much as the music directs it to. The final chorus brings more of the spirit of the song through the vocals and the arrangement. The ending instrumentation is beautiful and finishes the song perfectly.

Single Ranking: A –

Tohoshinki’s 22nd single, entitled Beautiful you / 千年恋歌, features two ballads but with different sounds. Beautiful you is centered around the guitar and showcases the more mature sound of the boys that compliments them well. 千年恋歌 is more of a traditional ballad but sounds amazing as the boys give a strong vocal performance that mixes perfectly with the absolutely gorgeous instrumentation.