Let me start by saying that I was really excited about this mini-album. Ken, the singer and guitarist for S.O.A.P. is my second favorite member of L’Arc~en~ciel, and I always like his compositions the best. I also really wanted to hear Sakura’s drumming, since he’s been out of the spotlight after leaving Laruku. The third member is a German fellow named Ein. Oh, and the actual name of the band is “Sons of All Pussys.” There, I said it. Now, never make me type that again.

A cool picture of Ken-san.

1. GRACE
This song opens with some nice, mysterious guitar chords, then explodes into LOUDNESS. Yes, in case we’d forgotten, Ken is a ROCKER, damn it! His voice is nowhere near as good as Hyde’s, but we knew that, right? To his credit, he isn’t flat and his voice does have a certain strange charm. As for the lyrics… let me refer to the booklet. “I wanna get it enough, I’ll take you for a ride.” Ah, yes. Engrish. Most of the mistakes in this song are minor, but there are some great ones later, believe me. I don’t hold it against Ken though, his accent and grammatical mistakes are kind of cute, and the song still rocks. Sakura’s drumming is as dynamic as ever, and Ein is a pretty fair bassist. Ken’s guitar skills are as hot as ever. “Hello my blind belief, please go away” is a pretty cool line, too.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10

2. Every Second, I’m in ROMANCE
Whether you believe it or not, this song is all in English. Or some facsimile thereof. “I notice the truth and wrong when I met you in first glance.” Aww, Ken, at least you tried. Lyrics aside, this song is pretty upbeat, but a little more mellow than “Grace.” For some reason, Ken’s voice works very well here; maybe it’s the slight 80’s feel of the song. The real highlights are Ken’s TWO guitar solos, but the chorus is pretty memorable too. “Fly to you faster than the light ya!” More than anything, this song feels like classic j-rock to me. Good stuff, Ken.
Rating: 9 out of 10

3. A Song for You
Finally, we get a track with a substantial amount of Japanese. Not that I dislike Ken’s attempts at English, but they certainly don’t measure up to Hyde’s work on “Roentgen.” Anyway, this would be the album’s ballad. Ken’s voice is more serious and sounds quite a bit better. This REALLY sounds like a Laruku song; I would love to hear Hyde sing it. The instrumentation has more acoustic guitar, and the percussion is more muted. Sakura is truly a masterful drummer. There is a nice electric guitar solo for Ken near the middle, and he makes the most of it. Wow, he is good. This is an excellent piece of work, and proves that Ken is more than just another guitarist.
Rating: 9 out of 10

4. PRIVATE RELIGION
First off, I would like to make one last note to some…interesting English by Ken-san. Specifically, the way he spells the word “believe.” Umm…. Ken, there is no ‘a’ in this word. I am really sure “beleave” is not a word. Moving on, this is mid-tempo rock song about… personal belief. Shocking, right? Maybe it’s just me, but I like the fact that Ken is saying each person creates their own religion and it shouldn’t be criticized by others. The bass is a lot more noticeable in this track, and it’s very good without being spectacular. Sakura really nails the drumming.
Rating: 8 out of 10

5. S.O.A.P. YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!
This is a 48 second closing track. Ken screams, “S.O.A.P. YEAH!” and it ends with some drumming. I’m not going to review it or give it a score. But it is there.

Overall, I was very impressed with this mini-album. Ken’s solo work is definitely closer to L’Arc~en~ciel’s music than any of the other members’ work. While it may not be as artistic as Hyde’s album, or as mainstream as Tetsu’s… or as strange as Yukihiro’s, it has that certain Ken style that is so catchy. Do yourself a favor and pick this up.

Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10