A dosis of Spitz for everybody !

Hi everybody ! Today I thought about introducing you to rock quartet "Spitz", one of my favorite Jrock bands. They have been around since 1987 but debuted officially only in 1991 with their self-titled album. They would achieve massive popularity four years later, with the release of the album I'm uploading for you this time around: "Hachimitsu" ("Honey").

This CD is one of their best, in my opinion. It's their 6th album and it included their 11th & 12th Singles: "Robinson" (considered their breakthrough hit) and "Namida ga kirari", respectively.

The album was released on September 2oth 1995 and sported a very easy-going rock sound in songs like the title track, "Ai no Kotoba" or "Robinson". Their melodies are infectious and, well, I have to admit that "Y" is one of my favorite ballads ever. As a first taste of their music, here you have the clip to the opening song of the album, also entitled "Hachimitsu", courtesy of Azil14 @ YouTube:

The group is composed of Masamune Kusano on vocals & guitar, Tetsuya Miwa on guitar, Tatsuo Sakiyama on drums & Akihiro Tamura on bass. I'm a big fan of Kusano-sama's vocals; his voice is very expressive and has some range ! ^_^

Their songs have been featured in Japanese TV shows, though up to recently not in animation at all. That was until the release last year of the anime series "Hachimitsu to Kuroubaa" ("Honey & Clover"). This show -which had a run of 26 episodes in Fuji TV from April 14th 2005 to September 26th- had several Spitz tracks as Insert Songs. An "Insert Song" (IS) is a song featured as background music during a certain scene, but that it is neither the OP nor the ED of the show itself. In the case of Honey & Clover, two tracks from the album that I'm presenting to you today were chosen: "Hachimitsu" in episode 1, & "Y" in episode 14. The latter track is one of my favorite ballads ever. Here you have the clip of the series featuring that song, courtesy of shadow03422 @ YouTube:

Try to check out the anime; it has received rave reviews from the public and I personally think it's one of the best for the season 2005.

And here's the album. Let me hear your thoughts on it: