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The Most Curious Thing · 2016.01.05, 05:50 AM

Had time for another listen this morning!

My second impression is that the arrangement is more culpable—for what I see as the noisiness of the album—than the production (which is still typically solid Avex fare). Tokei Jikake no Jinsei is a good example—the entire horn section blares away on offbeats and does nothing else apart from a few solo riffs; if it were a big band or jazz number they'd be torn apart by critics. A lot of it just feels plum lazy: Taylor ni Narenai yo is static chordwork and the same rhythm drilled into my head for three-and-a-half minutes, while Watashi Machigatteta and Otoko no Saga have the backing bands play...more or less the same thing? Overall, I'm looking forward to my copy getting here so I can compare arrangement credits with Theatre Theatre (and also because, well, the case looks gorgeous

).

My first impression that it's a thoughtless jumble of songs feels even stronger. Theatre Theatre and even Futae no Rasen flow smooth as butter. The track placement on Theatre Theatre is so thoughtful it has the feel of a concert; even the reused songs feel more at home there than in their original context (I always forget Mustafa is one of their earliest songs since for me it's most memorable as the lead-out from 71 Million Piece Puzzle Game on Theatre Theatre). On Onna no 46-pun the A/B-sides are plopped-down misfits. Anata no Kuni no Merry-Go-Round tries its hardest to be an album climax, but instead it's stuck awkwardly between a short gimmick track and a Jewish folk song.

"No restraint" was unfair of me. The lowkey Milk Tea → Suki Doushi duo is phenomenal and the highlight of the album for me. Last night I was too fatigued by the end of the first half to care—and really, there isn't a individual track I outright hate in the first half anyway. It's just...when I first heard Anata no Kuni no Merry-Go-Round last year, I overwhelmingly thought "this is next-level." Instead of merely codifying their own little niche of a genre they were doing something special. In that sense, I agree with you that Onna no 46-pun is "samey to a fault" and think that they're spinning their wheels with an album less thoughtful than Theatre Theatre.

2016.01.05, 05:50 AM	#58
The Most Curious Thing Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 432	Had time for another listen this morning! My second impression is that the arrangement is more culpable—for what I see as the noisiness of the album—than the production (which is still typically solid Avex fare). Tokei Jikake no Jinsei is a good example—the entire horn section blares away on offbeats and does nothing else apart from a few solo riffs; if it were a big band or jazz number they'd be torn apart by critics. A lot of it just feels plum lazy: Taylor ni Narenai yo is static chordwork and the same rhythm drilled into my head for three-and-a-half minutes, while Watashi Machigatteta and Otoko no Saga have the backing bands play...more or less the same thing? Overall, I'm looking forward to my copy getting here so I can compare arrangement credits with Theatre Theatre (and also because, well, the case looks gorgeous ). My first impression that it's a thoughtless jumble of songs feels even stronger. Theatre Theatre and even Futae no Rasen flow smooth as butter. The track placement on Theatre Theatre is so thoughtful it has the feel of a concert; even the reused songs feel more at home there than in their original context (I always forget Mustafa is one of their earliest songs since for me it's most memorable as the lead-out from 71 Million Piece Puzzle Game on Theatre Theatre). On Onna no 46-pun the A/B-sides are plopped-down misfits. Anata no Kuni no Merry-Go-Round tries its hardest to be an album climax, but instead it's stuck awkwardly between a short gimmick track and a Jewish folk song. "No restraint" was unfair of me. The lowkey Milk Tea → Suki Doushi duo is phenomenal and the highlight of the album for me. Last night I was too fatigued by the end of the first half to care—and really, there isn't a individual track I outright hate in the first half anyway. It's just...when I first heard Anata no Kuni no Merry-Go-Round last year, I overwhelmingly thought "this is next-level." Instead of merely codifying their own little niche of a genre they were doing something special. In that sense, I agree with you that Onna no 46-pun is "samey to a fault" and think that they're spinning their wheels with an album less thoughtful than Theatre Theatre.