Customer Reviews

Fiction

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I started listening to Yuki Kajiura's music over a year ago when I started watching .hack//SIGN. I know that there is no better music out there in the world. I have searched for so many CDs, but there is no possible way to surpass these songs. Yuki's songs touch my soul in a way that no other artist can and I wish she would produce more solo CDs, because one is not enough, even with all her heavenly soundtracks.

If you like this album, check out songs like "the world", "aura", "in the land of twilight, under the moon", and "obsession" (to name a few) on Yuki's .hack//SIGN soundtracks. I also recommend her .hack//Liminality soundtrack, as well as the Noir ones.

I can not believe that there is one person in the world who can possess so much talent. When you listen to these songs, you have no worries in the world...

some of the reviewers seemed like they didn't know yuki kajiura is NOT the vocalist(s) for these songs. these songs are sang by emily bindiger, Deb Lyons, Kaori Nishina, and Yuri Kasahara. Yuki composes the music, not sings it :)
ja ne!

Didn't notice the tracks listed anywhere for this excellent CD.
TRACK LISTING
01 Key of the twilight
02 Cynical world
03 Fake wings
04 Fiction
05 Vanity
06 Canta per me
07 Zodiacal Sign
08 Awaking
09 Open your heart
10 Winter
11 Salva Nos

It's rare to come across music that actually reaches the core from within and moves the soul but Yuki Kajiura is one of those blessed enchantments. There's a strong presence about her that affects me like few artists do. When I listen to 'Fiction' the emotions in which she is trying to convey wash over and become a part of me, such as joy, hope and sadness, which are feelings we've all experienced many times in our life. One moment the power in her voice will elate my spirit while the next I find tears forming in my eyes from the conviction in her deeply expressed words and in the beauty she sings them in (FYI: Yuki Kajiura wrote all the lyrics for this album, including all the keyboards & programming, proving to be more than just a pretty voice). Lately I've been feeling very depressed but "Open Your Heart" touches me like no song ever has before. Whenever I'm down in the dumps, so to speak, it always seems to bring me back up. The melody is absolutely gorgeous and I love the passion heard in the uilleann pipes. I also have a fondness for the whimsical dance beats found on "Key of the Twilight" and the New Age meets rock-edge with an electric guitar on "Cynical World" but it's really difficult to pick favorites for every track is magical to me.

What initially drew me to this CD was the tranquil cover art and so I read some reviews and found out that this was a release of songs by Yuki Kajiura sang in english (well, mostly) and that they were taken from various anime's like .hack//SIGN and Noir which naturally intrigued me. However, it wasn't until I heard the 30-second samples for this album that I knew in my heart that this was going to be something special and so when I played it for the first time I knew it would not disappoint. Actually, every time I put this on I enjoy it more than before.

With a mixture of upbeat tempos and stirring ballads and a vast array of instruments (violins, piano, drums) this is music you can become blissfully lost in.

Srry bout that. I am really hungry. Anywayz, When I first saw .Hack//Sign, I fell in love with the music. So much, I wanted to see who sung it. When I found out about Kaijura Yuki, I went and listend to samples of her songs. I loved them so much, I waited for nearly two weeks after I ordered it just to have it in my hands. ^__^ YAYNESS!

Kaijura is unlike any other J-Pop atist I have heard. She combines a lot of Techno and Classical Music in her songs. I mostly enjoy hearing the Violins, while my friend loves the Piano in it. I told her that Kaijura played to Piano and she was even more amazed. The story starts there I guess. Kaijura's CED is the one I take most care of. It is always either in my CD player or back in it's case. No where else may it go.

Kaijura's CD isn't one of those ones where You only like one or two of the songs. I swear, you'll fall in love with all of them the first time you listen to them. Trust me, I should know.

Great CD. I am very impressed. However, most people think it's Yuki singing, when she's actually composing and performing the Music. Singers on tracks 1-5, 9: Emily Bindiger, 6, 10: Deb Lyons, 7-8: Kaori Nishina, and 11: Yuri Kasahara.

Many of the tracks remind me of the music of Opus III and Delerium, with its dreamy feel. It's hard to genre-ize "Fiction." It would be more like New Age meets Classical with a dash of Techno. The music is enchanting and the lyrics are uplifting. It's definitely music to create to.

Unfortunately I never saw Ms. Kajiura's performance at Anime Expo since i live on the East coast, but am familiar with her work in Noir, Hack and Blood the last vampire. Fiction is a good CD, a very good CD. Some of the songs from hack//sign and noir appear on this cd as well as a few new songs written for this album. All the songs were very harmonic, accompanied by lovely vocalists and beautiful lyrics: some haunting, some nostalgic, but they all paint pictures with words.

Her music does focus a lot on atmosphere and mood, thus if you're looking for something with wild off the wall beats and in your face music, this may not be the CD you want to buy. One of the nicer improvements on these songs is the emphasis on the vocals, which if you were familiar with her work in hack and noir kind of blend into the music. sometimes the voice gets drained out and the music overshadows the vocals. in this CD however, they've made an effort to make the vocals distinguishable and clear from the music, and the music is more low key and harmonic this time. this works well with songs like key of the twilight (heck everything works well with this song, it's just that good), fake wings, canta per me, salva nos, and basically almost all the songs. the one song where I have a hard time with is "open your heart", not because the lyrics are not good, but because many of the effects are lost when, for example instead of using the saxaphone for the segment following the intro, she used strings instead. that song just didn't flow right with strings, but a lot of it could b based on my bias for the hack//sign version of Open your heart reprise.

overall, this is a very well packaged CD. Yuki Kajiura rocks. even if you're not into or know nothing of her style and her previous works, it's a cd you can still enjoy. even if it's to calm you down after a long stressful day.

(on a side note, i completely fell in love with this new version of key of the twilight...that is all ^ ^)

Well her concert at Anime Expo was defintely the best of all concerts Ive seen, I was like almost in front row. ^^ Anyways, I HIGHLY recommend her cd, it cheers me up after a hard day. It's good to listen to anytime, anywhere. I better stop sounding like I'm doing a commercial or some sort, but however, Yuki Kajiura is one of the best I know. Why I'm into her music isnt just because I'm a total .hack freak, its that the music gets in your head and your heart, then your soul, etc etc. Like I said again, I highly recommend this cd.

During the 4th of July Weekend, I attended Anime Expo in Anaheim CA. Yuki Kajiura performed there as the start of her Solo-Career. It was excellent. I had bought the cd at the concert and I fell in love with it the moment I listened to it when I got back to my hotel room. Worthy Purchase. Especially for those who love .hack//sign and Noir music

If you're a casual fan of Ms. Kajiura's work, then you have to ask yourself if you think it's worth buying an album that contains remixes of some of her previous works. There IS new material, but the majority of the tracks are songs that she said that she'd always wanted to re-do. She used "Fake Wings" as an example, stating that when she composed the song, she imagined the use of strings, and didn't think the .hack/SIGN OST version was complete.

I had the pleasure of hearing Ms. Kajiura perform her first live concert in Anaheim, and she was accompanied by her English vocalist, Emily Bindiger. While the studio recordings have her voice electronically "enhanced", she has a VERY clean and powerful voice in person, and any "enhancements" made in studio were in no way a "crutch". These are truly talented people and any vocal alterations were done deliberately but only for stylistic effect.

For those that unfamiliar with Ms. Kajiura's work, she's done a lot of soundtrack work for Japanese Anime. Her portfolio of work includes music for Noir and .hack/SIGN, both of which are available here on Amazon. Her music is haunting, and I look forward to hearing more and more from her in the future.