Tackey & Tsubasa - To be, To be, Ten made To be

On February 26, 2003, Tackey & Tsubasa released their debut single To be, To be, Ten made To be on AVEX records. The single quickly climbed to #3 on the Oricon charts, selling over 107,000 copies.

Sotsugyou ～sayonara wa ashita no tame ni～ kicks the single off; it's a melancholy pop track, leading into a gorgeous introduction of piano, guitar and flutes.The boys rotate the stanzas, giving the listener ample time to listen to each of them belt out the lyrics. As the song progresses, harmonic background singers begin to croon, building the song to its chorus, which bursts to life as Tackey and Tsubasa sing in unison, their backup vocals humming behind them. Past the midpoint of the song, listeners are greeted with an enchanting guitar solo before the instrumentals taper off to focus on the vocals. Then the song explodes in emotion before the final stanza. While Sotsugyou ～sayonara wa ashita no tame ni～ is a sad song, its enjoyable melody will have you humming the tune long after it finishes.

Much like the dramatics of Shakespeare, To be, or not to be blows us out of the water with all of its surprises. An incredibly catchy track only seconds in, To be, or not to be starts with the boys' echoing vocals, sounding as if they were singing in a giant stadium. Just forty seconds in, the song begins to fly back and forth between speakers before exploding into its catchy electronic melody. The song includes unique sound effects, with loud drums, muffled shouts and a delicate orchestra stanza as the boys belt out the lyrics. With the song's high and low points, it is hard to sit still - by the captivating chorus, you too will be dancing everywhere.

Brand-new song medley is a very special song, with three songs strung together in the form of one five minute song. Brand-new song medley starts with a wild electric guitar opening as the boys begin to sing, their vocals clearer than on the previous two tracks. Singing in unison, they move into the second stanza of lyrics and the guitar builds us up for a wild rock chorus complete with a heavy drum beat that is perfect for headbanging. The chorus paves the way for a guitar solo before the entire track falls silent and transitions into a different song, one that is much calmer with emotional lyrics, a whining guitar and cheerful background singers. The song only gets a minute of playtime before it is thrown into the third and final movement, another noisy rock track with Tackey and Tsubasa singing in unison accompanied by the catchy alternative beat. Joining the guitar and drums is a tambourine that follows the melody through the entire track, accenting the clashing cymbals during the chorus. Wrapped up as three songs in one, Brand-new song medley is creative, exotic and addictive.

To be, To be, Ten made To be makes it very clear that Tackey & Tsubasa will strive to outdo themselves with each track, and they definitely do. The single is satisfying and one that you can listen to on repeat many times without losing interest.