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Old 2007.10.21, 10:33 PM   #35
Positron
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Taking into account the nonlinear nature of music, if you would like to know why things are weighted as they are...

If memory serves me right, Shouso Strip was the first Ringo album I owned, and out of all the albums released I believe it's still got the best ratio of dramatic to frenetic. Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana's tracks were strung together quite well, not to mention the fact that it was very different and seemed like it possessed an inordinate amount of depth and creativity, all things considering (not to knock her other works, but it was more moving). Adult appeals somewhat to my predominant mellow and jazzy side and has a good tracklist order similar to KSK. Heisei Fuuzoku was a solid collection of rearranged old favorites and fun new songs, enough to give it legs as an album and not just a "best-of plus". These four make up my top tier of albums; SS gets a nod as the better of the four overall, but KSK's grandness puts it not far behind. HF is a good compilation of her talents despite being all orchestral, and Adult actually falls toward the lower end because it can be too mellow at times.

Kyouiku and Muzai Moratorium are both firsts for their respective eras, but experience helps the former slightly edge out the latter, although just barely. Kyouiku has some of my favorite stand-alone songs (Sounan, the Genjitsus, Omatsuri Sawagi, etc.) because of this, even if the album as a whole feels a little shoddy and was designed as a live or sorts. Meanwhile, MM is more solid overall, but a little bit too wistful for my taste (though Akane sasu kiro terasaredo... still kicks ass) and it was testing the waters somewhat.

((At times, Kyouiku and MM beat out Adult depending on the mood, but I love Himitsu, Tasogare Naki, and Tegami so much that neither of them can ever permanently wrench Adult out of its shaky straddle position between upper and middle tier.))

Variety... having listened to it, I can't say the album is completely horrible. It does have the songs I listen to the most - OSCA, Killer Tune - as well as the respectable Kingyo no Hako, but on a good day, with the possible exceptions of Fukushuu, Kronekodow, Boutomin, Tsukigime-Hime, and Metro, most of the songs come off as mere afterthoughts more than anything. ((I'm reluctant to put Monthly Princess on there because it reminds me of Teen Titans at times, but I'll give it a chance.))
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