IMPACT EXCITER CD Review
This is so outdated since everyone started reviewing it once the torrent leaked out, but I was busy doing the more important stuff like this and that. xD Still wanting to give out my 7 cents tho!
C is for CD!
I’ve read a couple of reviews here and there.. One thing I noticed: people expect / think too much. So I tried another approach.. Instead of listening in one go to critique it, I opted to enjoy the album when I walked home / in train.. works wonder. So if you just want to read another negative review, go somewhere else 
I’ll slip in some booklet shots (only Nana in regular cover costume for now) in between. It’s purposely crappy so you need to buy the CD 
I really do not have a scanner here btw.
Just a few words before we move on. I really think that an idol’s music is mostly a matter by perception, unlike normal music fans who don’t even care what happens to the singer. This easily explains the deaf fanboys/girls lol, but actually the same applies to those anti-Nana, or the recent trend I noticed: anti-Nanatard.
Nana’s too famous for her own good she’s like Apple or Naruto or Justin Bieber (lol sorry for the weird analogy I’m sleepy) which are actually not bad, but some people just couldn’t stand their fans and that makes them hate the idol/product/anime too. It sounds shallow/childish but it happens more often than I thought.
I listen to other singers too so (maybe) I’m not that deaf yet, but can’t say I’m not biased. My fondness of Nana is herself in a whole. Definitely initiated by her voice, but then I grew to like her as a person, with behind the scenes, radio shows, interviews.. and of course, the awesome concerts. Maybe that explains the many CD that I (and many other fans) bought regardless of what we think of the music: to support Nana. I can go on longer about “supporting” but let’s save it for another day. =)
OK, IMPACT EXCITER was released exactly 1 year and 1 month after UD.. it’s been a very busy year for Nana with Music Japan, Kohaku & its promotions, FC event, 2 months concert tour, 3 new singles, while still doing fair share of seiyuu work. I can imagine how IE was created in a rush in the past 3 months. And she also needs to practice for LIVE GAMES.
16 tracks seem a lot, but 1/3 of them aren’t new. This brings us to the fact that the past 3 singles were a letdown for many fans. But hey, while Mugen the song is indeed lolwut, the c/w tracks are OK. Yes, Nanoha singles duo can’t compete with Inosuta or Etabure, but they’re still AWESOME in concerts. Juujika and Unchain sound great, and I’m still in love with Polaris.
Not mind-blowing doesn’t make it automatically bad.
Oh well. On to the tracks.
1. TIME TO IMPACT EXCITER
2. NEXT ARCADIA
Not the first time Nana did an instrumental opening track that follows to the first track, remember THEME OF MAGIC ATTRACTION ~ through the night? But this is actually better. Didn’t get the song at first, but now totally loving it. I don’t like Nana’s altered voice, but the rest is awesome, and naturally the Wed Jpop live is totally impacting and exciting!
3. ミュステリオン
Am I the only one who doesn’t hate Musterion? Yes the tempo is indeed messy, and the voice dragging was kinda pointless. But it’s rocking pretty cool. Or maybe I’ve been brainwashed, can’t escape from this song everywhere I went! ^^;
4. Silent Bible
Still think it’s much better live.
5. Young Alive!
One of my favorite. It’s catchy fun, and definitely has a nice feeling to it.. I’m not surprised they picked this for Tower Records opening call. Also reminds me of Dear Dream.
6. SCOOP SCOPE
Sounds like a new cute dance number. I’m already imagining stuff xD tho hopefully it’s nothing like Perfume’s dance lol. I guess there’s no “futuristic” theme without having a song full of electronic beats like this.
7. DRAGONIA
The song was written with Romance of Three Kingdoms in mind, so it clearly shows in the arrangement. Kinda sounds like some epic anime/game OST, but it’s a hit for me.
8. 夢幻 (Mugen)
Even after 9 months and seeing it live twice, I still can’t bring myself to listen without cringing.. Too bad we can’t kick this out of the album. xD
Half time break xD
9. å¤æ‹æ¨¡æ§˜ (Karen Moyou)
Yay ballad finally, and coming after Mugen it’s godsent. Pretty generic summer love song that fits the season (trying to channel Hoshizora?), but hey who doesn’t buy that.
10. æ‹ã®æŠ‘æ¢åŠ›-type EXCITER- (Koi no Yokushiryoku)
Normal arrangement is better. How many times have I said don’t distort Nana’s voice? Glad the song itself is one of Nana’s better chara-song, so still acceptable.
11. PHANTOM MINDS
Still sounds amazing.
12. ストãƒãƒœã‚·ãƒãƒž (Strobe Cinema)
Being new ending theme for M no Sekai’s gives this song a permit to be too sugary, bubbly, and maybe hated by fans who also hated Gozen Reiji.. but I think both songs are cute, even the funny way Nana’s singing. :3 Perfect for encore.
13. 囚ã‚ã‚Œã®Babel (Toraware no Babel)
Finally a real dance song! And this time without attempting to make anyone go on diet. Funny that despite the attempt to be futuristic with eurotrance synths, it sounds like it’s coming from some 80s idol ^^;
14. アルビレオ (Albireo)
Nana’s self-composed song. I wish she rediscover her Violetta or Supagen talent rather than Seven. Had some nice vocals, but the song is kinda draggy and boring. I bet she won’t perform it again after LIVE GAMES.
15. Don’t be long
Another Nanoha song to fill in the blank. Really an IN song lol. I used to dislike this since it pales in comparison to Pray’s hawtness, especially when watching the movie. I’m now OK with this song, just wishing it was Polaris or Unchain instead. ^^;
16. 7月7日 (Shichigatsu Nanoka)
Mature, elegant, soothing… probably one of Nana’s best album closure song. I like how Nana’s vocal really shines here, mostly only accompanied by Mika’s harp.. kinda reminds me of Eternal Diva songs in a way.
Overall.
I’m clueless why they distorted Nana’s voice just for the sake of the “futuristic / outer space” theme, knowing vocal is definitely her strongest feature. Hello, Mr Producer? Otoh this makes me believe most of the songs would sound MUCH better in the concert since she can sing normally, so my opinion on IE might change after GAMES.
The whole experimenting thing remind me of Minorin’s albums, but hey this isn’t Nana’s 2nd or 3rd album, they should know better. It seems funny that NOW only they try new genre instead of polishing what she’s good at. And don’t get me started with the incoherent flow. They only did the opening and ending properly, but in between it’s like a shuffled playlist.
In the end of the day, I’m NOT disappointed with IE. I just think it could be better given more development time. Tbh IE feels more like an attempt to catch up with LIVE GAMES dates than pure musical purposes. Nana should reconsider her priority.
O yeah, other good thing is I don’t feel the need to skip any song (I skip Shonen in UD). I like most of the new songs, esp dying to experience NEXT ARCADIA live. ;A; If I have to name songs I’d rather delete from the album, it’s just Mugen and Albireo (sorry, Nana). But otherwise I really enjoyed the album.
..
I’m not sure if the DVD is leaked in torrents? Planning to review it when I’m less busy.
hmm, maybe we want more perfection, some of us do it for our own, the others criticize to help pointing out bad points for nana, either way, IF nana and the music producers could hear our complaints, we wish they could do something about it and make better songs in the future. Well, we certainly hope so.
and DVD is leaked in torrent yes
Hello, Danie! I’ve been reading your blog since last year around April and I only now decided to show my face. I guess that’s a bit creepy. Ahaha. Anyway, I wanted to say that I found your review much more uplifting than many of the other ones I’ve read. So, thank you, because I was a bit sad that others would bash the album like they did, when I don’t think it deserves any bashing! I can’t say I dislike any of the songs (including “Mugen”, I feel like the only one who likes that song haha). I’m starting to even like “Mysterion/Musterion” now too so, no, you’re not the only one. Haha.
I’ve yet to get my copy of the album yet though! I should’ve paid for next day shipping! Hopefully by Monday…
Anyway! Since this is my first comment, I want to thank you for posting all of this Nana goodness! You rock ^__^
first I was really disappointed from the album too.
But after looping it a few times the songs growed on me.
I really like the Album now. ^^ Not so great as UD, but not THAT bad as some people think. -.-
My favourites (from the new songs) are:
Toraware no Babel (totally love it *___*)
Albireo
Dragonia
Mysterion
Scoop Scope
I infinitely agree with every single word you wrote here. EVERY SINGLE ONE.
I’m really hating the hatred (lolwut) towards IE, and I’m just sure people will change their minds after Nana performs this live.
I can’t say I support Nana as much as you do (you’re just invincible) but I’m really happy I can at least help out a bit because she is worth all the money you can spend ^^;
.-= Akiha’s last blog .. NANA MIZUKI LIVE FEVER – Trinity Cross Sub Español =-.
initially i find ミュステリオン weird but after listening to it a few times i get to like it. Though the song is weird but i personally feels that it’s a song that require a high level of skill to sing it out as you can hear nana constantly changing her pitch throughout the song. Though I’m not a Nana hardcore fan but i still respect her alot.
This album is really nice. Not so great as UD but still, it’s Nana after all.
Mysterion/Musterion is actually a really nice song. I kinda fell for it during my first full listen of the album.
My favourites are:
NEXT ARCADIA (love crazy piano in it. awesome)
Young Alive! (I love her popish songs)
SCOOP SCOPE (I love the melody)
Natsu Koi Moyou (lovely ballad, I like it better than 7月7日)
Toraware no Babel (I’m so loving it!!!)
I dislike Albireo most of all but I don’t hate it. I can’t hate any Nana’s song (same with Minori, JAM Project and Masami Okui solo).
As for Mugen then I started liking it soon after it got released. I think it’s pretty cool song.
When I read music reviews from people I’ve noticed that they usually look for the bad in a song, not the good. So they don’t put the good the only put the bad. I applaud you for being one of the few who put what was good rather than what was bad.
My album should be arriving anywhere between July 14 and September 29
.-= 月野å°å’s last blog .. MINMI – Natural =-.
I love Mysterion, Next Arcadia, and Strobe Cinema (even if it makes my nosebleed.) too and of course all of the new songs, i can’t even pick which one I’d loop every day, so I loop the whole album, xD And yes, I like Mugen. xD!
I think they distorted Nana’s voice to make it sound harder to sing. In all reality, distorted voice in Mp3s are very hard when it comes to live performances.
Maybe they did it for fans to come and look forward to her singing too, instead of her cosplays? (am I going to be shot for this?)
Well I am always looking forward to Nana-sama’s vocals, and Wed Jpop Live totally made me fall in love, over and over again. <3
ooohh,,what a coincidence,,
the review’s out after I picked my impact exciter yesterday huff..
now from my opinion,,this album’s really good..I almost like all of the songs in it..
and my favorites are
@NEXT ARCADIA (the moment I heard the intro I fell in love w/ it hha..I wish Nana will sing it as the op of LIVE GAMES..)
@SILENT BIBLE (reff:è–ãªã‚‹å¤œã«è¼ã深紅ã®æ˜Ÿ…♪)
@Young Alive! (my number #2..just exactly what you said danie how it is similar to dear dreams..energetic..blasting..kicking..)^^
@DRAGONIA (absolutely anison type)
@Koi no Yokushiryoku (at first when I heard this song,Paz’s lame dance couldn’t get out of my head which made me ill feel geez..aside from that dance I love this song..the tempo changing esp..)
@PHANTOM MINDS (never fails to make me infatuated with it..P.S–for those who collects figurines Alter is going to make Fate Testarossa figure from Nanoha 1st movie..and it is named PHANTOM MINDS ver.!!)
@Toraware no Babel (I love it as everyone loves it.=p cool song)
@Shichigatsu Nanoka (my MOST FAVORITE..the lyric and melody are excellent..I just can’t withstand with Nana+Mika duets..the harpppp..driving me mad) keywords: Nana’s voice+harp..
@Hot0rikun967: not creepy at all, thx for reading and commenting! =) No I don’t hate Mugen either, I never skip it tho I don’t think it’s good. And lol I’ve been there, getting the normal shipping to save $ but then realized $5 isn’t worth my anxiety. xD
@Akiha: As I’ve said many times, getting 1 is more than enough. :3
@G: Must agree that Musterion is freaking difficult, she seemed rather struggling in MJ live… I won’t even try singing this in karaoke haha.
@月野å°å: I agree. I don’t see the point doing that tho, to be critical? To prove that “my ears are better than yours”? It’s music, it’s supposed to be enjoyable. ^^;
@reinforce: I know about the Alter Fate movie, damn them. November is a bit too soon tho, not sure if I can gather the money before then.. I’m already eating Matsuya everyday haha.
@Yuki: lol harder to sing. Poor Nanachan. XD Well most fans come for her live music anyway. I mean it’s a baseball dome, if they just want to see her, people who got the tribune seats won’t come haha.
Am I the only one who likes Mugen? In response to your opinion about ミュステリオン XD.
I’m more of a fan of her power songs than her generic/happy jpop songs. I know every fan has their opinion but I view happy jpop more as filler, part of it being that Nana has such a powerful voice that it almost feels off for her to sing mellower songs (like First Calendar and Scoop Scope).
That said, I really liked Albireo, Next Arcadia (after listening to it live xD), Koi no Yokushiryoku, and July 7. I also liked Dragonia but not as much as the other songs I mentioned.
@danie-san~ Well we all know that Nana-san can practically pull it off. >D Yup, If I have the chance to go to Japan, I will definitely come to her live performance so I can see listen to her epic live music and kosupureeeiii. XD! And yes, I agree. XD!
Two more weeks to go before live Games! XD!
.-= Yuki’s last blog .. I fail at life =-.
Surprisingly I like this album more than UD. It would be the perfect album if Mysterion and Mugen being removed. Albireo and Shichigatsu Nanoka is definetly my best picks due to Nana strong vocal and slow ballad. Love 7月７日 PV in the DVD.
The album theme work for me though. I like it very much. Been looping the whole album for 14hours while working. In short, can’t live without it for now.
Can’t wait for your DVD review. I’m very surprise when they include english subtitles in the first lesson.
I love the first picture!!
and yeah… that Musterion is very hypnotizing!! somehow… with that “suddenly stop” beat and dragging voice made me really love this song… I can’t wait to see the full version of the PV.
@faire05: danie posted a post with the full pv included in it
http://jouttex.otadesho.com/musterion-full-pv-anyone-else-scared-t_t/
.-= 月野å°å’s last blog .. MINMI – Hibiscus =-.
thank for the review ^_^
IE is abit another new style *like Musterion* when i 1st heard is my 1st time hearing nana singing like that X_X” then when come to the PV i totally *faint* XP *i got more nosebleed than the Etsuraku Camellia PV XP*
But 7月7日 PV did heal me in the end lol ^_^
(P.S. i got some bad news for the Oricon IE has been 3rd for 3 days
due to Kana Nishino’s which is now 2nd -_-”)
Got my copy today. IE’s limited edition package looks better than UD’s.
Though, I prefer UD more than IE in term of music but IMO it’s still a decent album and I really like it.
Still waiting for my copy to arrive, customs are haters >:(
I love Musterion and haven’t listened any other of the new songs, only Mugen is so-so from the older ones.
Thanks for the review and looking forward to the DVD review ^^
@ those waiting for the DVD review:
Kinda busy with stuff atm and if I don’t post tomorrow night, I won’t post anything for the whole week cuz I won’t have internet until 20th or so! I’m so gonna die lol.
And I’m so in love with Shichigatsu Nanoka now. It’s just calming. =)
Haha, my boyfriend just picked up my copy – he’s in Japan for a study abroad trip.
He said it was a limited edition with “a poster and a couple of pictures” – wonder which poster I got…I’ll find out in 3 weeks
.-= Yoruko’s last blog .. May’n -amp Nakajima Megumi at Anime Expo 2010 =-.
I still have to wait for mine to arrive
and I haven’t listened to much of the songs.. Yeah, i don’t (wanna) hear the singles too , as usual ^^;
Shichigatsu Nanoka’s music video is infinitely better than Musterion’s. But that’s just me.
Love the pictures in this CD booklet. So my question is: Does this CD Booklet contains 12 pages only?
^ Nope, about 3 times more since there are 2 other costumes, but I’m too lazy to get up and check it for you. xD My legs are still dying haha.
@Socratics101: Well it’s very simple, just the recording footage… they put more effort for Shin’ai before.
@Yoruko: Only Gamers give a poster and 2 photos in 1 go.
Thank your bf for getting the best package lol.
I realize that, but still, just goes to show that simple is better sometimes. :3
@Danie – (nn,) Aah… So it does have more pictures (in the booklet) than you posted in here, it’s great to hear that.