It’s been a while since we’ve posted news on the BOO website, and we are very glad to be bringing you this fantastic update, as this is the first single release since  ‘flyaway‘, which was released way back in January 2009.

The single will feature 2 songs:  ONE STEP! feat. mini and Tomorrow Never Knows, and is due out on January 27th 2010, with an RRP of  ¥1,050.

Two of our most favourite websites have been very receptive of new single suggestions, so you can now pre-order the single from:

• Play-Asia ($11.90)
• YesAsia ($13.49)
• CDJapan ($11.06)

amongst others. It is probably worth bearing in mind that purchasing from YesAsia and CDJapan will contribute towards BACK-ON‘s Oricon rankings,  but Play-Asia is currently offering 10% off the listed price (sale price shown above) so after postage and packaging, it might be slightly cheaper. 10% discount is no longer on offer so may or may not be cheaper*

I certainly have high hopes for the single. Tomorrow never knows has already been used as the background theme music for the DyDo coffee TV commercial and in case you haven’t heard it yet, you can watch the 30 second CM in full or below courtesy of jr77355.

In the meantime, we do know that BACK-ON are currently preparing for their 2 forthcoming live gigs in Taiwan on the 26th and 27th of December, at Taichung’s SOUND LIVE HOUSE and Taipei’s THE WALL LIVE HOUSE respectively.

You can see the special promotional poster below:

BACK-ON will be supported by local bands such as LAZY LADY, OverDose, Broken Flowers (碎紙花), and Solidor(固定客) (Solidor’s Blog).

Last but not least, Kenji03 and the band members are here to promote their mini ‘tour’ on Youtube. The video is courtesy of MONSTERSNITE and we get to hear Kenji03 speak some quality mandarin! :)

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

DyDo TV CM ft. Tomorrow never knows, courtesy of jr77355

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

p/s: * Post updated on December 24th 2009 with title of ‘Untitled’ song and other details.

Brand new BACK-ON.com – flyaway version

It appears to be a TV ‘spot’ ad that is currently playing to people across Japan (we hope!) to promote the new single, but the video was quite small, although we were all very excited to hear a clip of the chorus. However, in the meantime, it turns out that AbyssalChronicles has actually uploaded this clip for everyone to watch on Youtube!

Click on the link below to ‘watch it in high quality’ directly on Youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRHvCLCaOzs

Alternatively you can still watch the ‘normal’ version at the end of this post. For the sake of better graphics in particular, I would really recommend watching it on Youtube directly!

And on a quick side note, JUICE magazine did a quick preview for the new BACK-ON single, and the author seems to say that the theme of this single was:

Friendship & Courage (友情や勇気)

Hope you all enjoy watching the preview! :) Like some others, I am very excited by how good the songs sounds from the clip, and aside from the surprise that the lyrics for the single might already be available online, I can’t wait till we hear the song in full!

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

The images we have all been waiting since the news hint of the new single, flyaway, were the CD covers for both the standard or normal flyaway single cover (shown first) AND the limited edition ‘Tales‘ version:

As the news update from Sound Ex put it:

“Even though it’s not “Back-On’s style, I REALLY love the covers.“

I would have to agree wholeheartedly with the latter statement, especially as I also love the covers too (why are the images so tantalisingly small!?) and I am sure you feel the same too (especially fans of the PSP series: Tales of the World – if you weren’t already aware of the news, BACK-ON is writing the OP and ED theme music for the brand new game Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2) although if I were to really ‘look’ for any similarities to BACK-ON‘s previous CD cover designs, I would say that the cursive writing reminds me of Chain, one of BACK-ON‘s earliest singles, which features that nice italic-cursive-style as well.

Anyway, before I digress further, let us move on to the tracklisting. The question we were all (at least several of us?) dying to know was whether the limited/Tales edition of the CD would include anything extra – Chain, for instance, did not – but as the official BACK-ON website confirmed (screenshot), there is an additional track called: flyaway 『テイルズ オブ』Remix or flyaway (Tales of) Remix!

So the official tracklisting is as follows (with the Remix version only available with the limited/Tales edition):

1. flyaway
2. where is the future?
3. Re:Start
4. (flyaway 『テイルズ オブ』Remix)

And if it wasn’t clear before,

flyaway is the OP and
where is the future? is the ED

for the game, although it’s a little beyond me at the moment why the remix version is called flyaway (Tales of) Remix rather than just flyaway (Tales) Remix , but according to the info on BACK-ON.com, the remix is a:

スペシャルヴァージョン (Special version) as it involves the voice cast behind the main characters of the game and also some of the background music (BGM) that features during the battles!

You can watch some of the trailer videos at the official Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 website but seeing as the musical styles of the BGM and BACK-ON‘s usual musical style is really quite different, it will be VERY interesting to hear this remix imho! Of course, one mustn’t lose sight of the fact there are 3 brand new songs by BACK-ON on this single, where the titles of all the songs seem to have connotations of creating a new beginning… I think. What are your thoughts?

I am really liking this potential ‘return’ to what appears to be themes of light and hope, as they were, I believe, something that the band were aiming for with several of their songs (more noticeable in some than others) and am very much looking forward to hearing previews of the new songs!

Before I forget… the brand new official profile photos for 2009 and to promote flyaway!
Here’s the official group photo:

And ones of each band member:

I love Gori‘s new look in particular this time round, although he looks awfully serious; Kenji03, sadly, is missing the glasses from the promotional photos of YES!!!, although Teeda is still sporting some very nice sunglasses this time round!

We might even see a new official BACK-ON website redesign – the team behind BACK-ON have a pretty good track record so far when it comes to new single releases – and with the single (both editions) out on January 28th 2009, just a day before the launch of Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2, we will hopefully have more news and song previews early into the new year, although there is time for one more message:

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR 2009 AND ENJOY THE CELEBRATIONS!

Thank you to everyone who has been so helpful and supportive to our site this year. It has been a great 12 months for BACK-ON and ourselves, even if the updates on our site have been a little sporadic, but the band have really gone from strength-to-strength, especially with the release of their first full album, YES!!!

We would also like to say a very special thank you to the fans who have contributed their talent, time and their energy both on our main site and on the Forums. We will see you next year with lots of BACK-ON related updates and very much hope you will all continue to support both BACK-ON and ourselves in 2009!

The song definitely has a very cheerful and summery feel, and I really love it when it comes on on my playlist, but message for kidz does feature a strange if funny ‘chicken’ rap (as coined by Sesshy) in the middle, which adds that extra bit of playfulness. I’m still in two minds about it though!

We have to thank Sowon for kindly providing the romanised lyrics on the BOO forums, and allowing us to post it on the site! The lyrics for the bridge part of message for kidz, like fifty/50, was not available with the single, and was completely transcribed by Sowon!

As always, if you spot any mistakes, please let me know either by commenting below or via the contact form. If you would like to post these lyrics elsewhere, please link back to this page. :)

JAPANESE (Romaji)

[Verse 1]
You better return to hajimaru
Ikeba tashikani You can remember your dream
Ima ni naccha tooge kake no seji
A-You gotta grab your ippai ni
Don’t use the atama no monosashi
gaki no koro HERO mezashi chanpara
Ima wa RAP de mezasu saki NO.1
Dekiru nante hoshou mo nai mama Around the world
Kanousei wa zero ja nai kara!

[Chorus]
Never forget our shining message yeah
When you lost on your way
Take you to the shining place
Everything’s gonna be all right
It’s the shining message yeah
When you lost on your way
Take you to the shining place
Everything’s gonna be all right
song for kidz!

[Verse 2]
Hajimari wa itsumo fuan to tonari awase
Shigarami no naka Vision dake hirogete
Sou yume no naka e …
Ekaku egaku eizou to Passion
Nani yori ippo fumidasu Action
Tobidashitara igai to Reaction wa rakushou
Sassou to mado ake nuke dasou

* Repeat [Chorus]

[Bridge]
Yo! Touch the sky te wo nobashite
We Gonna break the sound system!

Yo! Touch the sky te wo nobashite
We Gonna break the sound system!

Yo Touch the sky te wo nobashite
We Gonna break the sound system!

[Verse 3]
Mazasu basho e ikeru wa fu tashika da ga
Nanda ka ikeru you na ki ga shite kitan nara
Mazu wa Move On!
Me wo tojitta ii !
Ishi wo mae e
Itsuka yume mita ano sora no mukou
Chiisana karada ni ookina kagayaki…
Idaite So
Omoi dashite mi! kimi no Shining road

* Repeat [Chorus]

fifty/50 is arguably the most experimental song that features in Back-on‘s latest single Sands of time, and in addition to the song being of a more electronic-rap genre where Teeda seems to be the only singer, the lyrics are actually surprisingly dark for the band.

Nevertheless, it’s still a great song, and if you haven’t heard it yet, please refer to this page to find out how to listen to the entire single online. The lyrics are, of course, provided below.

Unfortunately, as with message for kidz, Back-on didn’t actually include the lyrics for the ‘bridge’ of the song (where Teeda‘s voice goes all electronic) so this is a transcribe of what I could hear from the song. I haven’t yet been able to figure out what the missing ‘—-’ is, so if you do know, please let us know!

You can find the original kanji below, romaji on page 2 and the romanised version on page 3, with page 4 featuring the hybrid/karaoke mix of kanji and romanji.

As always, if you spot any mistakes, please let me know either by commenting below or via the contact form. If you would like to post these lyrics elsewhere, please link back to this page. :)

JAPANESE (Kanji)

[Verse 1]
My brain separated どちらかを random に take it その時 my spirit was naked
まるで青天の霹靂 体一つ but I have two brains, that’s 超越的
Cuz I don’t wanna lose control so I handle it for myself so I’m gonna use my technique
螺旋状に響く衝撃…

[Chorus]
Where am I 目の前見えない my eyes are blind
I wanna kill myself in my mind
Get out of my mind
Where am I 目の前見えない my eyes are blind
I wanna break myself in my mind
Get out of my mind

[Verse 2]
手に取った 44 magnum I wanna shoot to my 爆弾 but I’m scared it’s like a 錯乱
また開こうとする my box of Pandora, I pained myself で抑制なんとか
I’m standing alone in the illusion 出来るかな? 頭ん中で fusion
悩めば悩むほどまさに 伸し掛かる gravity

* Repeat [Chorus]

[Bridge]
Stop thinking so much
I need —-
Killing me, it’s killing yourself
Some lies under the truth
Just go out
Let’s have some fun
Let’s have some fun

* Repeat [Chorus]

The design was actually quite different to what we had expected on the discussion thread on the forums, where members kindly (and enthusiastically) threw in their suggestions :) What do you think of it? The general consensus so far that people really like it!

Back-on then followed up this ‘sneak-peak’ by officially announcing the release of their new single on their official website, where they confirmed the May 21st 2008 release date. They also posted that the single (in line with their other single releases to date) will have 3 tracks, but so far, the only known title is the title track Sands of Time.

In addition, the band have also changed their Myspace profile picture for the occasion, which features Teeda wearing a necktie! :) You can see the image itself after the ‘cut’ (click on Read more…) but it is unfortunately a little small, so we can’t see much detail as yet, which is a pity! Hopefully they’ll release some larger pictures soon!

p/s: The news release regarding the new cover design and Myspace picture (see below the cut) has come courtesy of Sesshy via the Sands of Time + Keitai Sousakan 7 discussion thread! Thank you! :D

p/s2: Don’t forget you can download the TV Size version mp3-rip of Sands of Time from BOO!

Behold! The brand new Myspace profile picture!

After an uber-long hiatus (I have a good excuse!) I’d like to introduce the lyrics for Colors, which is from one of Back-on‘s latest singles flower. As with the other songs on this single, Colors is quite upbeat in style and has been part of Back-on‘s repertoire for a while (at least around April/May 2007) as it is also the main theme of the show Tokyo Mayokara.

We’ve had some help this time from aoi-sama, who kindly agreed to let us use his romaji version of Colors as a basis for the version here, so a big thank you to him!

So as usual, you can find the original kanji below, romaji on page 2 and the romanised version on page 3, with page 4 featuring the hybrid/karaoke mix of kanji and romanji.

As always, if you spot any mistakes, please let me know either by commenting below or via the contact form. If you would like to post these lyrics elsewhere, please link back to this page. :)

JAPANESE (Kanji)

[Verse 1]
What’s your color?
黄色？ 緑色？ 赤？
1人1人十人十色だから
But 必ず you can find your color
わかるかな？
You gotta make the rainbow with us

[Chorus]
迷わないでよ
手探りでいいから
夢見るだけじゃ
つまらないだろう？
僕らは別々の色を塗って
未来を鮮やかに
染めていくよ

[Verse 2]
Yellow plus green = like the 広大な草原
You know what I mean?
まずは挑戦！
それぞれの色持ち合わせ虹描け
Uh we gotta make the rainbow

[Chorus 2]
雨のち晴れるよ
想いは届くよ
ありきたりだけど
信じてるよ
君の言葉で
強くなれたんだ
最大に
翼広げ
飛び出そう

[Bridge]
メーデー メーデー！！
B to the A to the C to the K ハイフン ON (and) 的 message! で
Check mate! x 2
頭使わず まずcheck it out!

Repeat [Chorus]
Repeat [Chorus 2]

However, what Back-on have done is to package everything into an .exe file so if you viewed the CD content itself, all you see is:

So what does the interface look like? :) The background is literally Back-on‘s flower single cover, then on the top left of the screen is a video player with orange control buttons along the bottom. To the right is first Back-on‘s new logo (in orange) followed by the text flower, BLAZE LINE and a day dreaming… directly below it. These are clickable, so you would click on them to choose the video.

Having said all that, it’s probably better to show a screenshot, since a picture *is* worth a thousand words, so have a look at the thumbnail of the screenshot below!

The first images that we received (last week) were courtesy of avalonstar12/Tsubame, which you can find below:

which coincided with the preview clip release of the flower pv, and you can now see larger versions of the single covers in our Gallery by clicking on the images above or viewing some larger thumbnails below, courtesy of Amazon.co.jp!

I love both designs, especially after hearing previews of both songs – now available on Back-on’s Myspace! In case you weren’t aware of it already, flower is the new ED for the anime Eyeshield 21; and Butterfly is the theme song for the new j-drama Shinjuku Swan, where the latter is about:

Shiratori Tatsuhiko, a young man who becomes a scout for Shinjuku’s red light district

where the synopsis is from the D-addicts’ Wiki. Personally, I really do think that the two new singles will actually be even more popular than Back-on‘s most recent release BLAZE LINE/a day dreaming…, because if the previews are anything to go by: the songs are *really* good, particularly the chorus imho! Some fans have already suggested that the singles may build up to a full album release by Back-on, so hopefully that will happen soon!

The first is called flower and was originally scheduled for release on August 27th 2007 according to 3rd-party websites, but the release date has been pushed back, perhaps to coincide with the release of Butterfly, the second single.

The band have released the tracklistings of both singles, and in summary, each single will feature 3 songs, and flower will feature extra bonus promotional video music clips of flower, a day dreaming… and BLAZE LINE! You can find the tracklistings below, or on the updated Discography page in more detail.

flower

1. flower (ED 6 of Eyeshield 21)
2. ZERO
3. Colors (theme tune for the programme ‘Tokyo Mayokara’)

Butterfly

1. Butterfly (theme tune for the new drama series ‘Shinjuku Swan’)
2. Spark
3. DRIVE (Remix)

The CD covers haven’t been made available yet, and this is something that I am personally very much anticipating! However, we maybe able to derive some idea from the latest website theme featuring Back-on with a new style!

However, my favourite part of the new website has to be the content header that you can see below, particularly kenji03, who looks like a model imho! :D

So, anyway, whilst feasting your eyes on this new summer look, don’t forget to mark down September 19th 2007 in your diary/calendar/PDA, which is, again a Wednesday, true to the Back-0n tradition of Wednesday single and album releases!

p/s: For a preview of flower, you can now check out Back-on’s Myspace and listen to the track! We’ll also write a bit more at a later date about where you can purchase the singles!