You Go Misono!

misono's first album had a bunch of good singles, but somehow ended up being a piece of garbage. This time around, the singles were mostly quite strong, but somehow most people didn't like them or didn't care or something. I'm not exactly sure what happened there actually.
I will admit without hesitation that misono's voice is, more often than not, completely brutal and painful. Yet somehow, I still find her easy and entertaining to listen to. This probably has to do with the 'rock project' singles she worked on for this album. Her voice and her attitude are much better suited for rockier pieces than the popish stuff of her first album. I'm quite glad she set out to work on a rockier style as it led her to release this surprisingly thorough, confident, and wholely competent album. Completely side-stepping the sophmore album curse, misono instead gives us an album that is mature and consistent.
There are still a few poppy tracks to be found on Sei -Say, but they're generally unobtrusive to the overall rock feel. In fact, I was thrilled to learn that Hot Time was going to be included in the album. There's no reason for its inclusion: it was a single from her first album, the other track from the single was on that album, and a version of the PV for this song was also on that album. But, who cares why? All that matters is that. Yes that. That the song is indeed included in this album. Now, the track in question is a rather....slimey attempt at an epic pop-ballad. It's a good song in itself, but misono can't do it justice vocally. Thusly she tends to sound extra excrutiating throughout. And yet, I still love it for some reason. I guess misono's vocals are somewhat like Ayumi Hamasaki's: they're nasal, annoying, not exactly strong (although both have their moments), the vibrato can be pretty forced and painful, they still manage to be interesting, exciting, and somewhat addictive.
There. That's what it is. :)
While the rock style isn't exactly unique, and certainly isn't innovative, it really works for misono. There are a couple tracks that don't exactly sit perfectly well, but generally the level of quality is surprisingly high on this release. However, the album can feel a touch long and draggy todards the end, and may have benefitted from some slight trimming. If misono continues to develope at this rate, she'll be outshining her sister in no time.