Because I uploaded the audio ages ago, and because I love this single, I'm going to review it for old times sake!
Tracklist:
2. ストロベリー ファズ (Strawberry Fuzz)
3. 胡蝶蘭 (Kouchouran)
RAINBOWS is freakin' awesome! It's one of the best songs アリス九號. have put out! The opening guitar riff is absolutely killer, and the dance beat being made by Nao matches it perfectly. The piano accents and guitar work (including solo's) fit in perfectly, and Shou delivers one of his best vocal performances. Check out the falsetto he easily hits; it's crystal clear!
I'm going to attempt to not rave about the track because I'm sure you've all heard it before. (^.^)
Strawberry Fuzz goes back to the Switchfoot-y sound they used with Kiseki on their last single. It's nice, poppy, and full of summer fun, but nothing really new or original. Although these pop-rock tracks aren't really all so amazing to many people, I think you overlook the subtle touches that アリス九號. add to the tracks, like very good guitar work, and balance as a band, as well as just the really great melodies.
The last track, Kouchoran, is a ballad with a R&B feel to it, not something that I've heard from アリス九號. before. It's actually a good mix up, and has a sexy, classy image, but retains the emotion typically heard in アリス九號. ballads. Again, it's not quite as awesome as RAINBOWS, but it's still solid.
To sum up, these three tracks are all above average, have great production, instrumentality, musicianship, etc. RAINBOWS is the only one with the "Wow" factor, but it's still a satisfying single. I hope アリス九號. keep on pursuing this vein of creativity~! (But after hearing the preview for their upcoming single, CROSS GAME, its just another lame pop-rocker though, so I'm a little disappointed.)
Note: アリス九號. have only been around for 4 years since their formation, so the progress they've made is actually really amazing. Just wanted to bring that up!
Rating: 4.5/5 - Great!
I just want to pop by and thank everyone for their 1000+ hits! I didn't imagine I'd get this many people that would come read what I have written for this site, so really, really, thank you! There have been a great deal of great releases and great music put out, so I know there is a lot of potential catch-up review material. I MAY put up a review of a release that is really great, so if you want to hear my opinion on a certain release, just post it as a comment, or in my shoutbox, and I'll be sure to write about it~!
Although this technically IS my Jrock review site, I just want to recommend some other music, so everyone should go check out miaou. They're a really great Post Rock band who put out some really amazing music. Listen to "Hello World"
I think they're great for mood music, and for making you relax and whatnot. I'm still alive, be sure to ask for a review if you want it!
またね〜！
Unfortunately, I'm back to post, and it's only to announce I will probably no longer update this blog for a while. Maybe next summer? Vacation?
By no means does this mean I'm dropping out of the J-rock community, or will stop listening to it. If you still want to give me a holler in the shoutbox to chat, I'll still check around every so often.
But as for reviews, and other posts, I'll be gone for now~!
I've decided to change this blogs name to something more definite rather than just "Sho's Blog", so people can refer to it easier, (eg. jrocknyc, あさり). I picked the name Nemureru Mori (眠れる森) or Sleeping Forest, because I liked the name. I know there are many other things named "眠れる森", such as a Plastic Tree song, and some group in the manga Air Gear, and a dorama, among some items.
I hope that I can make my blog to become one of those many things. My old URL, (sho-daybreak.vox.com) will redirect to my new one, "sleepingforest.vox.com".
I know there's a huge slew of releases these coming days, as well as on 6.8.08, but my internet where I am (which is not at home) is too slow for me to post lots of things - I'll be covering all that when I get home, which should be on Friday.
じゃ、ね〜！
*If you're a SuG fan, I suggest you didn't read this.*
I'll start off by giving a brief "history" of SuG.
They started off promising, debuting with their single "Scheat". It started off with a soft twinkling, and then the band came in, playing with KISAKI-band type feeling. Takeru's vocal delivery was quite nice, as well as the stylish instrumentation. The song plateaus a bit at that point, lacking a really strong chorus, but it showed maturity from the band. It wasn't really original, and wasn't really AMAZING, but it was strong release.
Their next single, Alterna, opened with a bit more poppyness, and some playful rapping (which was not necessary, but tolerable.) The instrumentation remained strong, but this time, there was a really nice chorus, and although Takeru's range didn't really impress me, this song was just as good as Scheat. They played their first couple lable-led gigs then, and were met with quite a bit of popularity. They had a unique enough sound and for the fangirls, some nice dress.
At this point, the story goes bad.
They took a 3 month break to record some new material. But where the horrific, sugar-high I SCREAM PARTY mini album came from, I don't know. It's as if the band discovered LSD and started making hyper songs and dressed like they were from a children's TV show. And Takeru stopped singing straight, and twisted every syllable in his mouth into crack-influenced twitterings. What happened?!!
Look at the Vi-Vi-Vi PV!! If you want to be Nyappy, do it with musicianship and grace, like AN CAFE, NOT like this!
Another 6 months passed, and I thought, oh, perhaps they decided to go back to sounding good, like their first 2 singles. Who knows, if they changed that fast, maybe they could still make it out of the dark water.
But no, unfortunately not. When one song on their album Noiz Star began with a promising beginning, Takeru came in to trample on and crush the song, spray paint "CANDY, LOVE, LSD!!" all over it. Only a couple tracks were actually tolerable, but none of them actually could be considered "good" music. Oh, and congratulations on selling a measly 2,682 copies on your first week.
Now, I consider SuG possibly the worst Japanese band ever. Even if they really actually are trying hard to be these LSD-freaks, I wouldn't think I would want to be remembered for these kinds of songs. It would take a miracle for them to pick themselves back up. I genuinely hope they do, (aka, get a new vocalist), or else I don't know how much worse they could get!
And please, get a better name! (Sug? What the hell?!)
Note: pronounced "Eye-o-light", not "Eo-lee-tay". And my first review for about a month, gomen ne~ (See my last post for explanation - here.)
Tracklist:
2. 勇-Yu- [Audio]
3. 約束の詩 (Yakusoku no Uta) [Audio]
Duel Jewel finally decide to release another single, after their great last album BULLET. Was it worth the wait?
Well, Iolite's certainly different to begin with. The guitars are heavier and more aggressive than their past singles, and there's a bit more chanting and screaming being done by Shun, their guitarist. Hayato's vocals, are for the most part, not put in the spotlight for all of the song. The refrain, however, is classic Duel Jewel. The solo is also really cool, the instrumentation for the rest of the song is much more sophisticated than their much earlier works. In the end, Iolite isn't terribly original, but it certainly serves as a big refinement of their sound. (The PV is also really reminiscent of es.)
The next track, 勇-Yu-, begins with the hard rocking guitars once more, but the rest of the song is just the normal Duel Jewel sound. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table that Iolite didn't, if you don't count those guitar squeaks during the riffing. And there's a pretty metal style solo thrown in.
約束の詩 uses synth sounds to create a positive atmosphere, but the same loud, rockier guitar style from the last 2 tracks is still there, oddly. Its as if they forgot to change around their pedals. A decent track, nothing special.
Opting for harder, louder sounds and mixing, Hayato's voice is no longer all over the front, but in the middle of the rest of the band. Perhaps they wanted this kind of sound for the whole time, and got a new producer, or their old one got better. But other than the Despa-thick guitars, its really not so different from their old music.
Rating: 3/5 - Good
As you all know, I'm really terrible at consistently updating, but I have to excuse myself for the past 3 weeks - I was away. Unfortunately, I'll be away for the following two weeks after this one, so I've pretty much been on a one month hiatus. Don't worry though, I'll post up some things this week.
I also know I have a problem in that I seem to review a lot of the things I like, and not so much stuff I don't like. So with my responsibility as a reviewer, I'll try to start reviewing lots of releases, like them or not. I also might start expanding the content I review, so not just J-rock and visual kei, but many other more indie and shoegazing types of music. (Don't worry, I'm definitely not going J-pop, there's enough people doing that out there~)
Back to updating~!
I'll try to spend this lapse in major releases in June by making up all the reviews I skipped and I might add in a couple classic reviews too, depending if I decide to stop being lazy or not =.=.
Tracklist:
1. BRILLIANT
2. Cocoon [Audio]
BRILLIANT was the first D'espa song I had heard, and it impressed me to no end. Beginning with a quick buildup of white noise (which kinda stays for the entire song), the guitars and driving bass rage on and on, never taking their feet off of the gas pedal. Hizumi provides a solid vocal performance for the entire song, leading the group through the big anthem. Kayru also slips in lots of strong riffs, which are somewhat covered up in the thick wall of sound. The track just keeps on pounding on until the end.
The next track, Cocoon provides a slight change in pace, with more growling, and slightly more subtle verses, and despite the fact the song plateaus a little bit at the refrain, it's still another strong burner.
I would definitely gave this single full marks......until I heard their album MIRROR. Almost every song on that album has more fire than Cocoon, and although BRILLIANT, my favorite of the two songs, does possess a bit more uniqueness, I've come to see that D'espairsRay is quite good at churning out these kinds of anthemic rock songs, and that BRILLIANT really doesn't say all that much.
Although this is really a good single, and had it been the groups debut release, I would have given it a full score, I'm forced to take off a couple points for the slight lack of originality.
4/5 - Good
I've been inactive for a month, and I have no excuse, except that I've been listening to a lot of other kinds of experimental music, as well as a lot of Radiohead as always. And that I'm a lazy person (whose been out of school for almost a month.) But here's my LONG overdue review of this single~!
Tracklist:
MIRROR BALL is like a mix of TSUBASA and Velvet. Except it's more TSUBASA then Velvet. It takes the poppy melodies of their more recent work, and fuses it with the rockiness of some of their older work. It keeps the same refined quality (some would say TOO refined) that their newer music has.
It's quite a pleasant, energetic song, without straying too far down the pop road. However, they've already released a similar song like this for their last single (TSUBASA) and I hope they'll released some more dynamic singles, ballads, and maybe hard rock songs (FANTASY and Kowloon).
Then next track, 奇跡, sounds immediately like a Switchfoot song from the beginning, but turns back into alice nine. for the refrain, then goes back to sounding American. I had to check my iPod the first time I heard it to make sure this was really an alice nine. song. The beginning riff, and the thick, distorted instrumentation all reminded me of Switchfoot. But especially the ending, with the screaming feedback and wah-wah pedal at full blast, before dying out REALLY had a Switchfoot feel.
We then get a re-arrangement (not a remix, it's not different enough) of their song on Alpha, Eraser. It's slightly softer, featuring some piano accents, and a more acoustic arrangement. The only real change to the progression of the song is probably the falsetto vocals near the end (which work out quite well), and the ending itself.
I think my biggest gripe with this single, which is a minor thing, is that there seems to be a lack of real original material. MIRROR BALL resembles TSUBASA, and Eraser -Memoire d'une Fleur- is a re-arrangement. However, I know that if alice nine. changed their sound from 2006-2007, I'm sure they'll be massaging it into something else soon. Overall quite a solid release:
4/5 - Good
Watch this first.
Then....this.
Radiohead are just amazing live. Simply amazing. I mean, in that second video, look at that amazing bassline by Colin! And the great vocal style! And the out-of-time riffs?
Don't forget the effects pedal of Ed!
Hahaha~
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