TRACKS

PASSPO☆ have a store that sells records AND balloons? They're going to be bazillionaires!

It's day five of PASSPO☆ Week - and today was a confusing day for me, as it was a real battle to pick the next album to listen to. You see, the obvious choice was to go with their 5th studio album. But after some careful thought, I realised that going with the b-sides compilation I put together possibly makes more sense. The first song on it is Tracks - which was kind of the graduation song for Pink. And then tonight I'll be watching the 2015 Tokyo Dome City Hall concert, which was also Pink's graduation concert. And the majority of these b-sides are 9-member PASSPO☆. So while there will be 1 song that comes in before it should, the rest make the most sense to listen to now. Plus, I only put this together in the last few months so have listened to these songs the least, and being at work means I will get to listen to them more than I would tomorrow. I've got to try and cram in 2 Godzilla movies AND a 3 hour PASSPO☆ concert special! It's hard working being lazy...

Full Throttle! [Tracks]
This is the opener for the Tracks compilation, so I figured it worked as the correct opening track for my Tracks compilation. As I said last time, these are getting better with each album - this one rocks pretty hard and the "TAKE OFF" at the end seems a bit different to the usual.

Tracks [Tracks]
Clearly a single to serve as both promotion for the Tracks compilation AND the graduation of Pink. It's a kinda fun power-ballad and it is awesome.

燃えてろよ [Collaboration with Urbangarde]
I have no idea who Urbangarde are, but if this song is an indication of their work, then I don't care. It's like some weird arthouse dance track. Picture Lady GaGa circa-Born This Way era, but without the awesomeness.

バスタブ [Next Flight B-Side]
This is probably their purest ballad and as you would expect from something recorded during the One World sessions, it has a seriously strong 80's vibe. I could totally hear Roxette or Def Leppard doing this track. But not as great as PASSPO☆. Because my gawd this song is beautiful. Cheesy - but beautiful.

ダムダムフリーダム [WING B-Side]
Another hard rock fun track from the One World sessions. It starts off kinda weird, but the chorus is a great hook.

無題 [妄想のハワイ B-Side]
This is a fun pop-punk song. Seemed to be quite the staple of PASSPO☆ concerts.

サンキュバスディー [Truly B-Side]
And this one is even more fun. I like that I can hear some of the girls that I wouldn't normally pick out. Straight up pop-punk good times.

Cosmic You [Growing Up B-Side]
This is a little less rock and bit more dance. And for some reason the title always makes me think of Spice Girls - just because they had a song called Outer Space Girls. It makes no sense, but since when has that stopped me?

RUIN [君は僕を好きになる B-Side]
Strange how I was going in somewhat of a chronological order for a bit, but then jumped back to 2012. This is a lot darker than anything else that was on CHECK-IN. I think it could have been recorded better, but that's just me.

No.1 Boy [サクラ小町 B-Side]
This is one of those classic PASSPO☆ songs (oh shit, here we go...) where the verses are fun pop-punk but then the chorus is more electronic and dancey. The bridge is a bit more pop-punk. It slays. Whoever does the solo "賭けて" coming out of the bridge needs a hug from me (spoiler alert: it was Yellow).

Musical Party [Mr. Wednesday B-Side]
And now we'll fast-forward to 2016 briefly for the ONLY b-side during the Cinema Trip era. I remember the first time I heard this, I was like 'WTF? WME? WWF? BBQ?'. It's really very different to almost everything else in the PASSPO☆ discography - feels like a vamped up glam song (but still with heavy electric guitars, because that's what PASSPO☆ do). But now I love this number.

はっちゃけセンセーション（はっちゃけ隊#2）[Beef or Chicken? First-Class Edition Bonus Track]
The はっちゃけ隊 girls are back! More high-energy madness and nonsense that will make even a grump old jerk like me very happy.

少女飛行（結成5周年記念ver.）[Tracks]
And we close out with the closing song from the Tracks compilation - a re-recording of their biggest hit. Which is cool, because now we can get rid of Green. This version is a little rockier/better produced with a different guitar solo. I couldn't tell you which I prefer. Either way, re-recording a song that's only 2 years old feels like a totally Ayumi Hamasaki thing to do. I approve.

There are only 2 songs missing; 若者たち - a cover song they recorded for a drama or something that was only released digitally in Japan and is proving to be completely impossible for me to track down, and Blue Bird with Scott Murphy. Because it is the worst fucking PASSPO☆ song in the entire galaxy and I place all blame on Scott Murphy. Stupid fucking American that lives in Japan and plays punk music with Ellegarden and jams with PASSPO☆. Motherfucker has the life I want so I will hate him forever and go cry into my PASSPO☆ CDs.

Highlights:
Tracks, バスタブ, No.1 Boy

Lowlights:
萌えてろよ

5.5 / 7 Glowsticks