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Old 2007.09.06, 06:25 AM   #3
Glathannus
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alleon86,

I've played the piano maybe half as much as you have, but seen four times as much of HZM on video. I have a lot of respect for his ability, and I've even met the guy and got his autograph personally, but there's a few things wrong with his playing.

1.) HZM has no dynamics. Simply put, the man is a machine. He'll hit all kinds of notes in a split second, that would be impossible for us mere mortals, but there's no feeling for how he hits those notes. His tone might often be different from one song to the next (unlike someone who makes a lot of fans angry), but within any individual song, his tone has no variables.

2.) HZM likes to steal the show. Now don't get me wrong, because I love it when he does that. The problem is that the style of PE'Z is much more accommodating (and encouraging) for individual members to have their moments, than Tokyo Jihen. Listen to Funny Day & Hard Night (the latest PE'Z album) and you'll understand why HZM left Tokyo Jihen.

3.) This never came up in Tokyo Jihen because Shiina Ringo keeps a short leash on everyone except her guitarist(s), but I've noticed (and I don't think I'm alone here), that HZM doesn't take his concert performing as seriously when he's on a keyboard, versus when he's on a real piano. Contrary to this image of perfection you may have in your head, HZM actually gets quite sloppy on the keyboard in PE'Z lives. The only part of PE'Z Realive 2005 I actually enjoy, is the third quarter of it when he's on grand piano, and the rest of it I pretty much skip, though many of his keyboard performances are epic in studio.

Simply put, I like the man, but he's much more valuable to PE'Z than he ever was to Tokyo Jihen.

Then there's Izawa, who is nowhere near as fast and complex, but he has the creative urges to hit notes which are much more... "groovy". His performances (from a solo point of view) are much easier for us to duplicate than HZM's, but it's not like either one of us could actually compose Tegami or Kaban no Nakami. And with Himitsu (Adult ver.), you have to take into consideration not only the complexity (or lack thereof) for his notes by themselves, but also the very special sense of timing of how he hits certain chords inbetween what the other band members are doing.

The only thing I miss about HZM not being in Tokyo Jihen anymore, is his stage personality.
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