Idolmaster SideM "WORLD TRE@SURE 04" (Review)

IDOLMASTER SideM’s 4th “WORLD TRE@SURE” CD is the dark horse in this series. The Chinese team went all out and surprised by delivering one of the best performances so far.

Title: THE IDOLM@STER SideM WORLD TRE@SURE 04
Label: Lantis
Release date: 03/10/2018
Genre: Pop

Tracklist:

01.千客万来ニーハオサァカス！
02.MEET THE WORLD!(CHINA Ver.)
03.千客万来ニーハオサァカス！(Off Vocal)

Track by track analysis:

01.千客万来ニーハオサァカス！

A Chinese gong opens this song in majestic fashion. The addition of the dizi (might sound similar to a shakuhachi for some people) and sanxian (similar to a shamisen) made Senkyaku Banrai Ni Hao Circus! sound delicate and traditional, at the same time that it introduced an enjoyable groovy tone to this song. Adding up to that grooviness is a funky bass line, uptempo drums, exciting guitar licks and a playful piano melody. The song also features an exciting guitar solo, leading the way for yet another upbeat chorus.

On the vocal end we’re surprised with a well balanced performance. The balance between the solid mid to low tones of Tomohito Takatsuka and Junta Terashima and the higher tones of Yoshitsugu Matsuoka and Takehiro Urao, made this performance not only exciting, but also incredibly entertaining to listen to. 5/5

02.MEET THE WORLD!(CHINA Ver.)

Built around a playful piano melody and groovy bass line, MEET THE WORLD! takes pride in its upbeat and danceable sound. Atmospheric synths, strings and simple bass-driven drums add the finishing touches to this instrumental, creating an addictive and, at the same time, inspiring sound. Paying close attention to this song, it actually sounds like a throwback 80’s pop tune – mainly due to its piano melody.

This quartet surprises once again on the vocal end. Even if they lack a bit of quality, they, as a whole, managed to deliver the most balanced out of all 4 takes on this song. This is a thoroughly enjoyable performance. 5/5

Final rating:

The single opens with Senkyaku Banrai Ni Hao Circus!. Bringing to the instrumental instruments such as Chinese gong, dizi and sanxian was essential to make the Chinese concept come to life. Surprisingly, the song didn’t go too much towards the traditional, sometimes overly emotional tone of traditional Chinese music, and instead lent a couple of elements from it and incorporated those in a pop tune in which electric guitars and funky bass lines were the core. The instrumental itself is incredibly entertaining and its duality – between traditional and modern – makes this song a must listen.

Wrapping up this single is the already well known MEET THE WORLD!. The Chinese team that counts with Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Jupiter), Tomohito Takatsuka (Beit), Junta Terashima (THE kogadou) and Takehiro Urao (F-LAGS), tackled this song in a unique way. Even though this quartet is not as packed with skilled singers as some of the previous teams in the WORLD TRE@SURE series, they managed to, with their own talent, make their performance sound the most balanced out of all 4 takes of this song released so far.

Few would bet that this team would perform this song better than the French and Spanish teams (that count with some of the best singers in the franchise) did. The Chinese team is the dark horse so far. It is surprises like this one that make listening to all these WORLD TRE@SURE CDs incredibly enjoyable. You can’t literally predict who will perform better based on “n” number of “great” or “not so great” singers in a lineup. Sometimes there’s a balance between them that will make the whole team shine, or several great voices might not click well with each other and a performance will be altogether ruined. In this case, the balance between the vocals of the Chinese team made them all shine.

All in all, WORLD TRE@SURE 04 is a release that you mustn’t pass on. The vocals are on point and the instrumentalization in both tracks but more particularly in Senkyaku Banrai Ni Hao Circus! will catch your attention in no time. This is yet another unique addition to this series and the Idolmaster SideM franchise.

“THE IDOLM@STER SideM WORLD TRE@SURE 04” is available for purchase at CDJAPAN.