Ok, so this is a new feature we’re going to try to do every week. A few staff members will review and rank the #1 songs for the week on Oricon, Recochoku, and iTunes. We’re also going to give a cross reference so you can see how the #1 song on one chart did on the other charts as well. We’ll then turn it over to you, the readers, to pick your fave for the week. Feel free to write as much as you want. Check out the staff’s reviews after the jump!

Oricon #1: EXILE – NEW HORIZON (Recochoku #2 / iTunes #2)

Ronald: WTF happened to EXILE? I used to like them quite a bit. I couldn’t even finish this single when I first got it. It’s just such… generic pap. The only good thing about this is ATSUSHI. Speaking of him, I really liked his solo album this year. It reminded me of how EXILE used to be. His solo album begged the question: Is this the music he really wants to do or is the music EXILE does what he really wants to do? The man needs to go solo already and ditch the ever-expanding troupe of background dancers. It was ok at first I guess. But then more came, and now there’s more. Enough already. Stop adding in random background dancers and make good songs again. 3.5/10

Ryan: I have never really paid attention to EXILE so I can’t compare this any of their other work so my review is just from an outsider’s perspective. The song is definitely nothing interesting or memorable for me. For me visuals are just as important as the song itself, and this is a nicely done video. In Japanese music these days, I feel like we rarely see music videos with visual depth on par with a big budget film. This got me interested though so I’ll probably check out more of their videos from here assuming they have a similar level of quality. 5/10 (only because of the video)

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Recochoku #1: Takako Matsu – Let It Go ~Ari no Mama de~ (Japanese Version) (not released physically as single but the soundtrack has already sold over 900,000 / iTunes #3)

Ronald: Ughh, Frozen… I honestly don’t get its appeal. It’s just so corny to me. The epitome of cheesy. Maybe if I was a 10 year old I’d like it? 1.5/10

Ryan: Let me start this out with the fact I LOVE FROZEN. With that said, I’m not really interested in Let it Go nor the Japanese version but it’s probably because I had the soundtrack on heavy rotation from January to May. Don’t judge me. 4/10

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iTunes #1: ONE OK ROCK – Mighty Long Fall (not released physically as a single or on Recochoku until 7/30)

Ronald: Confession: I don’t like ONE OK ROCK. It falls into this category of music that I refer to as “Hot Topic music.” It just reminds me of that store so much. And I remember reading netizen comments on the band and they pretty much confirmed by beliefs, saying that the band makes music for delinquents. That being said, I don’t completely hate this song. There are some nice elements to it but those elements are not enough to make me say that I like the song. 4.5/10

Ryan: This reminds me of a song Skrillex released before he was Skrillex called Mora (which had a Japanese version called Kai Sui for some reason). I’ve seen a lot of fans complain about the vocal production and compression used on Taka’s vocals but I quite like it. They have a very international sound now and I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. The ground collapsing around them was really visually interesting. 5/10

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Ronald’s rank:

1. iTunes #1: ONE OK ROCK – Mighty Long Fall

2. Oricon #1: EXILE – NEW HORIZON

3. Recochoku #1: Takako Matsu – Let It Go ~Ari no Mama de~ (Japanese Version)

Ryan’s rank:

1. Oricon #1: EXILE – NEW HORIZON / iTunes #1: ONE OK ROCK – Mighty Long Fall

3. Recochoku #1: Takako Matsu – Let It Go ~Ari no Mama de~ (Japanese Version)