#1134 Album Theory 86 | BEATout! / GLAY (1996)
This is the third GLAY album I have introduced.
This time, I will introduce GLAY's major 2nd album, released in February 1996,"BEATout!".
What is BEATout!?
SPEED POP was released in February 1995, but TAKURO's momentum didn't stop, and it seems he wanted to release another one by November of the same year, but the staff requested,"Please let us release one more single before that!", and that single was "Glorious."
After its release, Glorious was used in this commercial and became a smash hit.
I also learned about GLAY through this song, and I borrowed it from a friend who bought it immediately to listen to it.
Thus, this 2nd album BEATout!, which included the hit single "Glorious," also reached number one on Oricon and became asmash hitselling 800,000 copies, and GLAY entered the ranks of top artists.
The staff's brilliant decision to delay the release really shines here.
By the way, the meaning of BEAT OUT is"to defeat".
You learn something new every day!
BEATout! Full Song-by-Song Commentary
1. More than Love
I have introduced this before inREVIEW, but it is an incredibly upliftingbest opening number.
It's quite cool from the intro, and the chorus that starts suddenly is super pop, cheerful, and rock; at this point, it feels far morescaled upcompared to the previous two works.
There is also a PV for it.
I heard More than Love like that at the Seibu Dome, and it was very good. This song has a nice A-melody and B-melody, but at the part in the A-melody where it says "JUMP to the eight-beat",everyone jumps, and at the end of the B-melody, everyone"YES! YES!"shouts, so it's a song that really shines in live performances.
2. Yes, Summerdays
This is the 6th single where you can feel the signs of a breakthrough.
Anyway, the intro is incredibly mellow, and it might be thatI like the intro the best, I love the intro of this song that much.
And the A-melody has a nice feeling of gradually building up, the B-melody also has a nice feeling of gradually building up, and then the chorus! That's the feeling.
Well, the chorus is also nice, but since the A-melody and B-melody are so good, Ifeel it's a bit weak(this is probably just me).
By the way, this song is a favorite of Hokkaido hero Yo Oizumi.
3. Genshoku no Sora <Cloudy Sky>
This might be the song with the least impression on this album, but I still remember it clearly from the intro to the chorus. It shows how much I listened to this album.
Precious, precious, precious, love.
4. Trouble On Monday
This brings back memories! A close friend of mine in high school loved this song and used to sing it at karaoke all the time, so I remember harmonizing with him on parts like
“It’s alright” every time. So nostalgic!Anyway, it’s a mellow masterpiece overall, but the chorus is especially mellow and quite good.
Also, the final “21st Century” part is great too.
With lyrics unique to the end of the century, listening to this song takes me right back to my student days.
5. Together
This song is also nostalgic.
I remember hearing this often around the time I was watching Hammer Price or Super Soccer on Saturday nights, as well as this MIZUNO commercial.
Out of all the GLAY ballads from this period, this might actually be my favorite one.
The piano is beautiful, and TERU’s vocals are both gentle and powerful—it’s a masterpiece.
I loved this song from the first time I heard it, so I remember being a little happy when it was promoted to a coupling track after BELOVED was released, haha.
It’s a super masterpiece that hasn’t faded even when listening to it now.
6. Tsuki ni Inoru (Pray to the Moon)
Then, in a complete change from the profound ballad Together, it becomes quite a hard, aggressive song. This is the edgiest, sharpest song on the album.
I think this song is all about the opening guitar riff, which is incredibly cool. I’m sure many kids tried to copy it.
Since it’s about the moon, it’s a song that makes you feel LUNA SEA.
7. Ikiteku Tsuyosa (The Strength to Live)
This is the 7th single, released just before their big break and before Glorious.
I love the story about how, despite all the other members except TAKURO opposing it because of how tacky the title was, TAKURO insisted on it anyway, haha.
It’s that kind of song, but it has been used in various situations as a message song to give courage to disaster victims, such as during the Great Hanshin Earthquake that same year and other disasters that hit Japan later, and it’s a masterpiece that really gets you pumped up.
I still don’t really understand the “PS~” part at the end, even now, haha.
8. Shumatsu no Baby talk (Weekend Baby talk)
This song is said to be the first song TERU ever composed, and YUKI from Judy and Mary participated as a guest vocalist.
I remember the chorus because it’s very impactful, but I don’t have much of an impression of the rest, haha.
9. Glorious
Although I feel like I’ve talked about it enough since I mentioned it in REVIEW and the BEST 10, it’s still a masterpiece that reminds me of those days no matter how many times I hear it.
At the end of the day, this is the best song on this album.
The intro, the verse, the pre-chorus, the chorus, and the interlude are all so mellow that they still resonate even when listening today. It has a high level of perfection, and one could say it was a song destined to be a breakout hit.
Since it was January '96, I was barely in elementary school, but I have a strong impression that our generation really looked up to GLAY during this period and everyone started picking up instruments.
That's how truly cool GLAY was at that time.
10. Kiseki no Hate
Andthis song is also truly wonderful, isn't it?
I don't have much to write about songs that are too wonderful, but regardless, it seems this is a song TAKURO wrote as a kind of milestone, and it is arock balladfitting to decorate the grand finale of the 5-million-selling best-of album 'REVIEW'.
After all, GLAY's songs of this type are the ones that touch my heartstrings the most.
11. Miki Piano
And, incidentally, this album doesn't end with 'Kiseki no Hate'. I wonder why?
It was a mystery back then, and it's still a mystery to me now.
This is also a good song, but the impact of 'Kiseki no Hate' is just too strong, and it's sad that it ends up feeling a bit like anoutro.
Summary
That was BEATout, it brought back memories.
For the next work, let's introduce'BELOVED', where GLAY completely broke through and recorded their first million-seller.