Originally Posted by Lustau
If there is one thing that Sanmon Gossip is missing that is essential to Shiina Ringo, it is hubris. Stoicism had it. KZK had it from beginning to end. Tokyo Jihad said that KZK explicitly came out and said “I am interesting!”, and this is exactly right. It was a self-conscious attempt to be interesting and provocative, and as such it was pretentious and egotistical and flawed and stunningly beautiful. My feeling is that KZK was an Icarus attempt to capture something Ringo was unworthy as an artist to capture, and SG simply doesn’t aim as high. Insofar as KZK fails to express what it’s hoping to express, I would far rather listen to a failure like KZK than a success like Clandestine. Hubris is essential to SR’s appeal for me, and SG’s one glaring flaw is its lack of it.
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I read the whole review and liked the points you made. I found this especially interesting though. While I don't necessarily agree that KSK was a failure, except commercially in comparison to MM and SS, I really enjoy seeing different views about the album because it's fun to interpret. My feeling with KSK is that it is riddled with ambiguity. Its expression is that there is no expression. There isn't any right answer to interpreting KSK and that's why some teacher trying to teach a History of Rock course at a local community college can't tell you what it's all about (though the fact that he probably wouldn't be able to understand Japanese might also be a factor) like he would be able to about Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon". KSK may have similar themes: death, symmetry, life with its monotony and beauty, anxiety, and even lust. However, Ringo has never said explicitly what message the album is supposed to convey to the listener. I'm actually curious about what you feel she was trying to express and how she didn't quite make it.
About Sanmon Gossip needing another Stoicism, I would have to say I agree. I honestly think Bonsai Hada is the closest thing to Stoicism just because it's so sonically different and experimental in comparison to anything else on the album. But something quirky and definitely Ringo would have been really nice to have.
@ papilionidae: Wow! That was really fast! Today I learned that Mummy-D can't dance!
Kind of a meh PV though. Ringo walking on a catwalk with TVs on the walls? Okay, I guess. HZM seriously should have been in there. And who was playing guitar anyway?