Originally Posted by Tokyo Jihad
That's always been Jihen's heel. They never had focus. They would sample from 60's popular music from everywhere, reconstitute it completely straight, and hope that wide sampling would meet wide audience. Jihen would sample from disco, jpop, hard rock, broadway, etc and just make a disco song, a jpop song, a hard rock song, and a broadway song.
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Why would you want focus when the album is called "Variety'? The literal translation of the album title is actually "Entertainment"? Wouldn't you think that making ten songs that have a "focused sound" (whatever that means) would make the album less entertaining?
I disagree that Variety doesn't have a focused sound, sure the songs may come from different genres, but the whole album is basically psychedelic organ-driven pop. And it's awesome.
In terms of style, Ringo's music is never focused. She seems to be more concerned about writing good songs rather than making some kind of coherent concept masterpiece. Consider Shōso Strip, we have the Depeche Mode influenced "Bathroom", the grunge influenced "Identity", and "Instinct" which has a lounge sound, but the album is definitely not "uncrafted". I also feel the same way about Variety. I think it's masterfully, unpretentiously arranged, simple yet effective.
I call it one of the greatest pop/rock albums, and it's just an opinion. My ears honestly feel that way. I am biased because I am attached to Ringo and love every album she made. There is no need to repeat your negative view on the album over and over, as I read plenty of old posts.
Finally, if you were to make a list of the best pop/rock albums, what albums would you choose?