The Stuff You Listen To:

OMG YAY, time for the alan fanboy mode. I’m pretty sure people will hate me for this, but oh wells. Lets begin. I heard a lot about how Natsukashii Mirai ~longing future~ was an epic ballad, so I couldn’t help but listen to it myself. And I’ll admit, it’s not exactly AMAZINGLY OMGLKAJSDLK:FJALK:FJLK:ADFJ epic, but it IS pretty damn epic. Apparently, this single was meant to represent the element Earth, and I think it does that well in the beginning. However, when alan starts singing, it seems that the earthy feel goes away. In addition to this, it sounds nothing like alans previous Chinese styled music. This song is a much more mainstream ballad, and well, it does sound pretty good. I love the use of strings, percussion, and piano in here. But wait, ALAN FINALLY PLAYS HER EHRU DURING THE BRIDGE. It’s not too amazing, but I love the sound of the ehru. But anyway, I’ll admit, the song really is something that just makes you feel inspired or something you’d sing along with a group of friends or at graduation, especially at the end, at I’m giving a lot of credit to the background vocals for doing that. However, I think the thing here is that alan isn’t the one making this song epic, everything else in the background is. Aside from those mountain note sections (which were pretty awesome as always, but a bit too high this time), alan sounds a bit too regular and normal here, and doesn’t sound like she’s really giving it her all. It’s all the background vocals, and the arrangement that’s making it sound all epic. But still, I can’t help but LOVE this song.

And on to the B-side, I personally think that Seed of Green is more “earth like” than the A-side. I absolutely LOVE the music in here, especially the slight use of an electric guitar and the pretty piano, along with the use of sounds such as birds chirping. Alan though, still sounds very reserved. I did freak out during the verses, because it doesn’t sound like her at all. O-o But I do like how she sounds there, even though it sounds like she seems to struggling to belt.

In addition to the two songs, there’s also a choir version of the A-side. Arrangment wise, all there is a piano, which sounds really nice, although it does get rid of all the epicness that was in the original. When it comes to the choir that was used here, I am very mixed on it. On one side, they sound good in the some parts, and I LOVE it when they do more interesting harmonies. However, on the other end, I don’t like how “Asian” the choir sounds. As in, the way they pronounce the lyrics just really irritate me, and it sounds stupid at times. Especially when it gets to the parts where the pronounce their r’s, and when they sing the English lyrics.

Overall Rating:

4.5 out of 5