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Old 2007.09.25, 11:39 AM   #56
kuro_neko
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okay, time for my impressions, everyone else had their turn and to my knowledge I'm the first one to post with an actual listen from the real cd, so as far as I'm concerned none of the previous opinions mattered, XDXD, since you STOLE THEIR MUSIC AND ARE THUS NOT THEIR FANS

okay, seriously though, let me say that the real joy in this album comes from the lyrics. Ringo, relegated to lyrics, really spent a lot of time on this album and the songs she wrote really do shine through. A lot of the emotional impact is in the lyrics and if you can't understand them, that obviously takes away. I'm not claiming to be fluent in Japanese by any means, so the fact that they still reached me through the language barrier says something. Shiseikatsu almost made me cry, the lyrics to that song are so beautiful. Kingyo no Hako is so badass, just the visual imagery it instills is so classic Ringo I can't help but laugh when you guys come here posting reviews about how crappy this music is and how you want another solo Ringo album...well, here your getting it, it is in the lyrics, so I guess that means you guys got to wait a bit until translations get posted by frecklegirl. (on a side note, knh was actually izawa, but that doesn't matter, its still badass and I understand why it got chosen for a really creepy movie, XD)

anyways, on to the album. I've only had one listen through, just finished.

ramp- have heard this a few times thanks to the blog. It is a nice little song, don't feel one way or another about it quite yet but it works very well as the opener to the album and I think in time it will grow on me.

mirrorball- well, minus the vocal work, here is what we have, this is pretty much the version I heard at Countdown Japan, with the elevated chorus. I'm not sure how I feel about this song, I was never initially drawn to it to begin with, but I think the reworked version certainly shows it off more than the JCHI and I wonder who is responsible for that.

kingyo no hako-okay, this song, seriously, lets talk about how awesome these lyrics off. fresh off of sakuran with all that goldfish imagery, here we have the antithesis of that. They were written by Izawa but are so classically old Ringo it isn't funny. They seriously could fit on Shouso Strip with the themes of her disgust for those dependent and insipid goldfish. It even ends with death, dun dun dun.

shiseikatsu- I heard Superstar comparisons and while I understand why Jihad and others would say that in the sense that they have similar sonic landscapes (no one argues that Tsumi to Batsu and Shuukyou have the same chord progressions EVER, in fact, they still are BOTH considered by many some of her best work, despite being pretty much the same song) but that is about it. The lyrics are completely different and this one almost brought tears to my eyes. The last line was particularly moving.

I'm going to skip OSCA and Killer Tune since they are old news by now

kuronekodou- this song is seriously badass and I don't get why anyone couldn't like it. just fun and out there, reminds me of Gogol Bordello

fukushuu- finally jihen actually does some more traditional straight up alt rock. some people have said that variety doesn't actually have as much variety as previous albums and the fact that you have a power ballad, a romanian gypsy dance song on crack, THIS, and then a kind of dirty ballad makes those statements kinda invalid if you ask me.

boutomin-this song has something dirty about that I can't put my finger on. The lyrics are a bit....not quite sure yet, but with the two guys and ringo on their its a bit like a threesome going on and while it sonically remains probably the least interesting on the album upon first listen, because I personally love any ocassion to think about izawa undressed there is an appeal there for me, XD

SS/AW- this song elicited another almost sob moment because it is a straight foward kind of romantic song about a guy and girl going through the 4 seasons and ending with a kind of will we be able to meet again? moment, very very cute

tsukigime-hime-lyrically this song was way too complex for me to piece together while listening to, but sonically it was very impressive.

sake to geko- this is an amazing song because in japanese traditional music sake plays a large role and I can think of many songs by traditional musicians who sing songs about drinking and start to act more and more drunk as they progress, such as Sayuri Ichikawa. Izawa taking this genre and updating it to modern tipsy rock is pretty damn cool if you ask me

metro- cute but the lyrics kind of make me want to throw up, no wonder why ringo said it kind of makes her sick when she thinks about it. it literally is just about a guy and a girl on a date and the guy thinking about the girl etc.

final impression:

more expansive than either kyouiku or adult, I think the tracks are over the place, which is what I personally like in my music. for most people that means a hate/love relationship. I personally liked OSCA and Killer Tune so I knew that was a good sign to begin with. I really think there is some great stuff on this album and rather frankly the reaction it is getting here doesn't surprise me in the least. I know a lot of people are going to either ignore me or argue with me, but that is just my opinion.

Last edited by kuro_neko : 2007.09.25 at 11:50 AM.
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