[Tokyo Jihad]

I have owned NBA 2K13 for four days now and have yet to play it because busy. I finally have a moment free, and I'd rather reply to this thread.

What is wrong with me?

Back in the day, I thought Adult was better than Kyouiku. The parity is close though. Not too long ago, probably around the time Dai-Hakken came out, I put Adult and Kyouiku on for the first time in years. What struck me most was just how much of Adult had stuck with me. I knew and anticipated every moment with Adult, like picking up a basketball for the first time since the ground froze. It all comes back in a moment. I was big on Adult when it came out, but that is not to say I slept on Kyouiku either. Everything about Adult stood out better, and it all swirls around Kyouiku's old bugaboo. I wouldn't call Adult's production anything to write home about either, it is probably the best sounding Jihen release, but it's awfully sterile. Kyouiku however, just sounds worse as time goes on. I have listened to my share of garage rock, lo-fi, DIY recordings and none of them worth any salt sound as bad as Kyouiku. To give Kyouiku a pass because "that's the aesthetic they were going for" is to not give any credit to these production styles. What I hear is Adult's hospital aesthetic with every track playing hot and just compressed until you have to reconstitute it by mixing in a cup of water. It sounds like an idea hatched by executives who don't know a thing about sound. There are fantastic songs on the record, but the way these songs are presented sell every single one short. No moment stands out on this record because the only thing that stands out is how thin everything sounds and how everything is covered in this nasty digital distortion. It all comes out as a wash to me, which is a bummer. I dream one day some pre-masters of Kyouiku will leak.

Yet I say the parity is close between it and Adult. Adult may be not as consistently well written as Kyouiku, sterile as I said, and stuffy at times. Adult features very good performances from Hata and Kameda but its hard to compare to Kyouiku's performances. The only discernible things at times, besides Shiina's vocals, are Hirama or HZM depending on which is playing the highest note. Adult -pops- and is an overall better package. I'm going to have to disagree with Maou a little bit here, good songs can make good albums, but good songs can get hindered by bad presentation.

I haven't talked about SG. SG is probably the best sounding of the three, but it doesn't have much else on Kyouiku or Adult.