A foreign exchange student turned me on to Hotei back in the 80s, with Guitarhythm (1988). The lyrics were mostly in English that only a Japanese person could sing. The musicianship was up beat, technically crisp, and moving. So, I bought this album to bring me a little up to date. While, in my opinion, not as good as Guitarhythm, there are four excellent tracks here, particularly the first two, and lonely wild, which remind me of Guitarhythm. In this collection, the lyrics are mostly in Japanese, with a few English phrases sprinkled in, which, for an American, makes these songs different and fun.
Fans of Hotei's song on the Kill Bill Vol. 1 soundtrack will be severely disappointed by this collection of jaw-droppingly mediocre pop songs. There is no real guitar work of note, and what little stands out isn't that impressive. The pop songs are to pop what Barry Manilow is to standards...they make all the right sounds, but you've heard it before, and likely turned it off. As an afficiando of guitar instrumentalists, my advice is to back away from this one.
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