As you can tell from the lack of updates on the blog, I've been pretty busy & tired lately. But this came in the mail today and it's too pretty not to try and get a quick unboxing out. :)So here you go....First, here are the photos of the jacket cover with the plastic wrapping on and off. Pretty nice, yah? I quite like all the photos for this release. Something about them reminds of their music producer & the composer of all their songs, Kajiura Yuki. I think it's all that line art... maybe. :)I had to take photos of it on the floor. I decided not to attempt to use the small table top studio I had set up for these and other purposes. This release is just too big and my table isn't large enough Unfortunately, there is some reflection on the slightly glossy jacket cover. :( It was hard to keep those reflections off given the shooting conditions in my room. :(As this is a two disc release, the jacket holding the two vinyl records open up like a book. And boy is it gorgeous. :)These are photos of the insert lyrics page and the mail away coupons etc. This time instead of a single sheet we get four pages for the lyrics. Nice photo of them again too. :)And finally, here are photos of the labels on both sides of the 2 records. This way you know the breakdown. It's three to four songs per side.I think one of the nicest things about getting these 12" vinyl record releases are that the cover art is BIG. It just makes everything look prettier. :PI can't say it enough times how much I enjoy this album. I am still looping it everyday. Yup, just this album alone. Occasionally, I may loop a song or two which I particularly like but I haven't returned to my usual playlist of music yet. It's still only songs from. You can pretty much tell that I like this album. :)still remains my favourite song. But I don't know if anyone else likes it as much as I do. Maybe Tomita-san, the host of the Niconico studio live, likes it as much as I do too? I'm not sure. All I know was that he was quite excited and happy when Kalafina choseas one of the songs they would play and talk about on the program. :) I was equally happy. :PI also really like Hikaru's recommendation. That, likeandwas instant love for me. My kind of stuff. I findreally different from Kalafina's usual stuff and I really LOVE the way Keiko sings this song. Really like the section when Hikaru comes in too, just after Keiko opens. It's also unusual that Wakana is pretty much just backup this time, she doesn't even get a bridge or short solo section etc which she usually does. This is pretty much a Keiko x Hikaru x electric guitar song. LOL. There is a whole jamming guitar section somewhere in the middle of the song. Not sure how many people like that part but I can totally imagine Keiko head banging to this bit. :)Initially, I wasn't really drawn to Keiko's favourite song on the album. She really likes. But after I heard the full song loop a few times, it really, really, really grew on me. I liked it so much that I was looping just that song alone for two days. LOL. The song starts pretty much immediately. Really, like no holds barred, immediately start singing. :) I think my favourite bits in this song are actually all of the lines when you can hear Keiko clearly. Okay, maybe I am bias... okay I AM bias... but I really enjoyed listening to her in this song. :P My favourite bits are probably about 3:15 & 4:20 min. The girls really combine well here and all of them get their time in the sun. It's a pretty fast beat for most of the song so I think I was tapping along to the beat of the song quite often on the train. Truth is, I can't really say exactly why I can loop this song for two days. I just like it. :)has a middle eastern / world music / ethnic feel about it. I know Kajiura Yuki has use these ideas before in her songs but I really am a sucker for these kinds of songs and I've liked every single one of her harder rock, more deliberately mysterious kinds of songs. I'm totally in love withetc.got a nice strong beat and the bass does come up nice and powerful on a nice pair of earphones.is also nice. I liked it from the start. Love Keiko's powerful opening line and then all that lovely harmony later in the song. Very nice. I shared it in a music group I administrate on Facebook and several non-Kalafina fans liked the song too. It isn't my favourite song on the album but I really enjoy it and am happy when it comes up on rotation on my player.is really nice too. Classic Kalafina / Kajiura Yuki stuff here. Kajiura Yuki seems to like to write these short interlude pieces in each album andis one of them. It harks back to theirdays, lovely ethereal harmony here. And since I fell in love with them because of theirsongs, there is nothing not to like aboutfor me. :PWakana's recommendation iswhich I think is a very pretty song and a song I had good feelings for from the moment I heard it previewed on Kalafina Club. But I generally prefer songs which I find interesting or intriguing and whileis really a very pretty song and Wakana's lovely in it and the harmony is heavenly and I think this would be an awesome song to hear at a live....I still can't place it right at the top because those positions are taken byand, which I either find interesting or they just suit my taste, hence my choice of my favourite songs on this album. :)Initially,was not one of the songs which made the biggest impression on me. But after Kalafina's live performance of the song on the Niconico studio live, I was in love with the song. It's weird how Kalafina is quite able to do it all the time with me. Some songs likeor, for example, I liked but only really came to love and appreciate more after a live. Maybewill be the same for me. I guess simple power ballad songs, no matter how lovely they sound, don't top my list that often because, perhaps, I think if it comes to ballads, I prefer rock ballads... I guess. :)I think the song that I find the least interesting is actually. Don't get me wrong, it's beautifully sung and it will probably sound quite powerful at a live, if they manage to get it correct. But this reminds me too much of the style of, hence, I don't find it as interesting as the rest of the album. Andwas a song that I didn't dislike but didn't love either. Till today, I can safely say that while I've grown fonder of the song since I've heard it sung quite nicely at several lives since 2010, the style of this song just isn't my favourite style.I won't bother to talk in detail about the songs that have already been released on other singles likeand. I like all these songs. The only difference being how much I like each song.is probably my favourite from these four song. Then maybeis second, whileandprobably draw level.Okay... that's enough rambling from me. :), the album, is doing pretty well on the Oricon charts so far. I think it's a really enjoyable album and I'm hoping that the album will continue to do well in the coming weeks.For those of you who wish to buy their newest album, please feel free to use these CDJapan links or any other links that you prefer.I think the vinyl version may no longer be available on CDJapan. If this is the version you want, you can try Amazon Japan or HMV Japan to see if they still have copies available. :)Okay, it's off to bed for me for now. :) Good night!!