Album Review
Title:  AWAKE
Artist:  L'arc~en~Ciel
Release date:  June 22, 2005
www.larc-en-ciel.com/

    Surviving is not what L'arc~en~Ciel is doing with their new album, AWAKE.  Like the first scents of spring after a barren winter of music, L'arc~en~Ciel is reborn, alert and awing its fans. 
     "New World" opens fast and upbeat with a hint of "Stay Away" thrown in for kicks.  "LOST HEAVEN" starts up with a catchy little bit of synthwork that is such a throwback to the 80's you almost pull your hair into a side ponytail before the first verse drops you back into the 21st century.  The guitar solo in the middle reinforces the blend of old and new.  The soft beginning of "Jojoushi" gives an excellent example of how L'arc reinvents sounds by having itself repeated, achingly familiar yet different, in the chorus. 
     "Killing Me" doesn't smack you until halfway through the album.  Though its fast and energetic feeling wants to jump to number one.  It could also just be running away from "AS ONE", the hardest and most metal sounding track.  A soft ballad, "My Dear" takes you by surprise in an album full of pleasant surprises.
     The rest of the album, like that wonderful first cup of coffee that gets you out of bed, doesn't disappoint.  L'arc~en~Ciel uses siren songs that pull the heart because of their sweet taste of sounds used long ago, while still feeling new and fresh.  AWAKE will pull those sleepy fans still wandering the elysian fields of L'arc's past into the present, future and beyond.