Final verdict: 9/10 ★★★★⋆˙⟡
“Saravah!” is just quintessential city pop. It does everything is sets out to do perfectly and it’s overall very difficult to point out any major flaws regarding it… or is it?
I first checked this album out sometime last year, I reckon – can’t remember when exactly. But in any case, it left a really bad first impression. I don’t know what it was about it, but I wanted absolutely nothing to do with this record. Looking back, I suspect it might’ve been the vocals, since Takahashi’s voice took a fair amount of getting used to, for me at least. The man just constantly sounded like he was practicing his ventriloquism and I was not very fond of that fact.
However, I’m only human, and I was admittedly very wrong about this album. I’ve since seen the light, and I now recognize that “Saravah!” is not just a good album, but rather, a way of life. That may sound like a hyperbole at first, but really, I like this album so much, that I have time set aside every week for a “Saravah!” worship session, a tradition I never dare neglect. So yeah, it’s safe to say “Saravah!” did grow on me a tremendous amount, and I’m also not as opposed to Takahashi’s vocals nowadays – in fact, I acknowledge his voice may be quite charming in its own right.
“Saravah!” boasts a 9 song tracklist, and as such, it has no weak tracks. It’s a pleasure to listen to all the way through, though some songs border on pure excellence – those being “Saravah!”, “La Rosa” and “Present”.
On top of being filled to the brim with beautifully written songs, “Saravah!” also features some real clean production. Everything sounds crystal clear and immeasurably tasty. Those strings are the single sexiest thing I’ve heard in my entire life. Very, very nice.
P.S.: The swag on the cover art is unreal. What’s up with the YMO boys and their exquisite sense of fashion? And most of all, how do I dress like this?
Silia 
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