jchertudi's cd collection.

ROENTGEN is a very interesting album from the perspective that this is an artist doing something very out of their normal work, and trying to make an album out of it. We've seen hints of it in L'Arc's music (Singin' in the Rain and Sell my Soul, for instance), but now HYDE is going for a very artistic and unified adult contemporary album. The results are spottier than a leopard. Some of it is really good, such as the very soft acoustic ballad ANGEL'S TALE, and the poetic orchestral WHITE SONG. Then there are songs like evergreen... or NEW DAY'S DAWN... or, worst of all, OASIS. It's too easy for this genre of music to just be boring, and several of the tracks fall into that trap. While this album provides a unique listening experience for many fans of HYDE's other work, it has room for improvement.

HYDE now shows us his other musical taste: hard rock. The musical direction is totally different from his previous effort, but the results are stunningly similar: some great, some good, and some dreadful. I cannot see the appeal in FRUITS OF CHAOS or HIDEAWAY, the last two songs of the album, so I just stop after the pleasant and dramatic ballad SHINING OVER YOU. Most of the rest is fine, with the catchy HELLO (in the same vein as HONEY and HEAVEN'S DRIVE) and the dark and plodding PRAYER standing out as the best. There's a couple of lighter moments - the aforementioned SHINING OVER YOU and the fine single HORIZON - but otherwise this is an album for rocking out.

HYDE turns up the volume and gravity on this record. From the opening crashes of the dramatic JESUS CHRIST, it's clear that this is going to be a heavy listen. There's nothing upbeat on this record until MISSION towards the end, and that one ends up sounding flaccid and fake next to all the other songs as a result. FAITH is another album meant to be unified and cohesive, like ROENTGEN, which always scores points in my book. The difference is that there is only one lousy song and a ton of great songs. Maybe having a songwriting partner (K.A.Z) helped the quality on this one.