[SR] 2007.02.21 - Heisei Fuuzoku (CD) [Album]

[Scribble R]

I prefer this version of Gamble. Also, my new found love for Kuki after that dream I had extends to the HF version. I mean, it's very self-indulgent, especially the part where she goes, "PresHUSS LIES" but this arrangement does squeeze every last drop of goodness out of the song. I've always been ambivalent about HF, but I do like the effect that Hatsukoi Shoujo and Oiran have on the overall style of the album. Someone here said that the former reminds them of the Greek muses or something, which is spot on, IMO. The electronic touches give HF's jazzy-diva-singing-in-a-smoky-bar a kind of metaphysical edge -- as if the album's also incorporating, musically, the worlds depicted in the paintings hanging on the walls of said smoky bar. I wish there were more of this. For the record, I still haven't seen Sakuran =/

[Osiris12345]

Agreed, Scribble. This album has atmosphere in spades even if the bulk of it is cuts from her previous albums. I stand by the fact that all of the original material is good and the rerecording of Gamble just kicks ass with the orchestra. It really gives the song new bite. And I've always loved Oiran.

[orphic okapi]

Maybe a dumb question, but how does one go about finding the original version of Gamble?

[deadgrandma]

@orphic_okapi: Zecchoushuu, track 2, disc 1.

[TurtleFu]

Does anyone know the details regarding the orchestra used in this? Like, the size of it (or if there are credits for the orchestra or the individual musicians). I'm interested in how large it is.

[FadedSun]

I finally listened to this album. I know, I'm a bad fan, I'm not sure why I avoided it for so long. I noticed a lot of these songs seem to be arrangements of previous songs she's done. It doesn't say anywhere that they are remixes or arrangements, so I'm wondering if these are arrangements of the originals, or if these are the originals of some of these songs.

[Tokyo Jihad]

They are rearrangements of songs in such ways the suck the life out of the materiel.

[Glathannus]

The origin of the tracks is as follows:

01. ギャンブル (Gamble) [re-arranged from ZCS - was also cut from the official release of Gekokujou Ecstasy]
02. 茎 (Kuki) [the first studio rearrangement after KSK]
03. 錯乱 TERRA ver. (Sakuran TERRA ver.) [new composition to 2007 - different arrangement than the KYNK B-Side]
04. ハツコイ娼女 (Hatsukoi Shoujo) [new composition]
05. パパイヤマンゴー (Papaya Mango) [cover]
06. 意識 (Ishiki) [the first studio rearrangement after KSK]
07. 浴室 (Yokushitsu) [hybrid of the original arrangement from SS, and the rearrangement (called "la salle de bain") from the Ringo no Uta single]
08. 迷彩 (Meisai) [the first studio rearrangement after KSK]
09. ポルターガイスト (Poltergeist) [rearranged from KSK]
10. カリソメ乙女 TAMEIKESANNOH ver. (Karisome Otome TAMEIKESANNOH ver.) [new composition to 2006/2007 - different arrangement than the DEATH JAZZ version (which was an iTunes exclusive at the time), and the KYNK B-Side]
11. 花魁 (Oiran) [new composition, but came from Ukigumo]
12. 夢のあと (Yume no Ato) [re-arranged from Kyoiku]
13. この世の限り (Kono Yo no Kagiri) [new composition to 2007 - same recording as the A-side of the KYNK single]

A few extra things to note:
I was deliberately inconsistent when for some songs I said, "first studio rearrangement after KSK", versus "rearranged from KSK". The difference is, Kuki, Ishiki, and Meisai were all bundled together into one single just before KSK came out, while the only studio recording of Poltergeist was in KSK.

Also, you have to understand that for KSK songs, most of them have been performed live with Saito Neko in either Baishou Ecstasy (same year KSK came out) or the Ringohan concert (performed in late 2005, but released in 2007). So for those of us who were already familiar with Baishou Ecstasy, the releases of Ringohan and Heisei Fuuzoku (on the same day) felt like we were getting some of the same arrangements 3 times. Even the messageboard administrator we had back in early 2007, who would normally retaliate against people who said anything bad about Shiina Ringo, went so far as to admit that some of the Heisei Fuuzoku tracks were like "carbon copies" of the Saito Neko concerts.

[FadedSun]

Thanks for the run down, Glathannus. I've had this album for a long time, but I never listened to it in full, instead preferring KSK, MM and SS. It's an okay album, but I felt the arrangements were inferior to their originals and they only made me want to go back and listen to them.

[Glathannus]

I like the new Gamble as much as the old one. They're both great. This is how slow and electric guitarish HF Meisai should've been.

I like this version of Kuki/Stem better than the one found in the single and the PV. Plus let's face it, any version of this song manages to justify itself with Shiina Ringo's vocals during the last minute.

The B-Side on the Stem single, is still my favorite version of Ishiki. It's got the minimalist instrumentation of KSK's version, plus it's got the coolest ending.

It's difficult to say if this is my favorite version of Yokushitsu. This is certainly better than la salle de bain on its own, but on the other hand, I think those sounds distract us from noticing and appreciating more of what's happening within the Shouso Strip version on its own.

Meisai has a nice calm-before-the-storm kind of start, as if we're in for some epic followup, but then the rest of the track fails to live up to that promise. I could more easily appreciate the rest of the arrangement for what it is, without the intro hyping up my expectations. Shiina Ringo's vocals are better in the 2003 studio versions, because she's slower there and we can savor the rolling of her R's, while she's going too fast in the HF version. I also value Ukigumo's participation in those versions of Meisai more than most-anything he ever did in Tokyo Jihen.

I'm a little biased toward the original Poltergeist, because of how nicely it segues into Souretsu and prepares you for it. HF doesn't have that much cohesion between the tracks. Plus the KSK version is more delightfully weird, which isn't an excuse I would use to defend every KSK track.

As with Kuki/Stem, you can't judge Yume no Ato fairly, according to the instrumentals alone. It's how the instrumentals and the vocals come together, which makes or breaks any given version of this song. Sure, there's no Phase 1 Tokyo Jihen (with HZM in particular) backing her up, and it would be unthinkable for Phase 2 to attempt this song, but her vocals are mostly what carries this song, and the backing isn't as weak as oh, say, Gyakutai Glycogen (the combination of instrumentalists involved with Gekokujou Ecstasy and Zazen Ecstasy).

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So I'm split about 50/50 on whether I like the remakes at least as much as the originals. Gamble, Kuki/Stem, and Yume no Ato are definite winners, while Yokushitsu is an honorable mention. Ishiki, Meisai, and Poltergeist are losers.