A bit of fun

[deadgrandma]

OK so I watched Terminator Genisys and while lol'ing at the ridiculousness- the alternative timeline got me thinking about Shiina Ringo. Yes, WTF's are warranted. But anyway.

How do you think we would perceive her now if she had released SUNNY after SS instead of KZK? And only released KZK last year. Do you think all interest would have worn off or do you think we would have been absolutely fucking face-melted by KZK after years of what we thought was her highest creative peak?

I really do wonder if I would have ever gotten into her so much if KZK hadn't been around...

[gekokujyo]

SUNNY before KSK would have seemed quite illogical to me because nothing on SS or MM sounds like it would really be on SUNNY, but you can hear on KSK hints of the sound that she would blow up and make a whole album out of on SUNNY.

I actually wonder if KSK would seem as fresh and as original if we had heard SUNNY before it.

[deadgrandma]

It doesnt need to be SUNNY exactly- what I'm getting at is if she'd released all the icky stuff first. Kept KZK for when the creative well had dried up (like now)- saved KZK locked up somewhere for a rainy day.

It's truly the album that really sticks out- perhaps even defines her/sets her aside from the rest. Sure MM and SS are great- but they're not KZK great- which is a different kettle of fish.

I feel she suffers like so many other artists out there from peaking way too early. She did however, for me personally, have a really nice run of fairly decent stuff post KZK that wasn't worth getting too upset over- albeit if you look back on this forum it seems many people didn't even like those releases- particularly the big bad V :-p

Ideally if something like Sunny had come out earlier in her career, I don't think I'd ever be so underwhelmed and bitter about it. Treading water like that upsets me and feels quite personal. Maybe I'm just getting old and overthinking things waaaay too much- but I just can't believe people actually being fine with her doing solely commission work -it all feels a little too kpop for my liking. What happened to the fanbase that would lay into her for doing ANYTHING like this? Has everyone just gone 'eh well, fuck it' and it's just me who's taking too long/is too stubborn to simply let things be?

I do wish those users that I used to get into serious fights over Jihen (when I praised the hell out of them) were still around- would love to hear what they think about Shiina now being a Coke jingle writer...

Weird. Hard to fathom.

[gekokujyo]

I dunno man I think I've been pretty consistent with my tastes all this while. She wrote good songs in 2000 and she still writes good songs now, therefore I still like her. In terms of being a Performer, I'd say she's become arguably better, so I like that aspect of her even more now. The kpop reference isn't even a negative for me because it takes an incredible amount of artistry to do pop music the way that they do.

Never really thought that KSK was -that- much better than MM or SS, but can see why people consider it her creative 'peak'.

I mean, people are all entitled to feel what they want to feel about her. To me, she hasn't changed much apart from having 2 kids and becoming a lot more self aware about herself, how she comes across to the public, and the entertainment industry in general. I'll ding her when she writes a song I don't like but for now she still continues to be one of the most engaging pop artists for me.

Question: What's the 'big bad V'? Lol.

[deadgrandma]

The big bad V

[gekokujyo]

oh THAT one lol......

tbh.......yknow I think if some arthouse director that I like took that and used it as the score for some kitschy movie I'd probably like it a lot more. Lol. I still listen to quite a few songs from it (Kingyo no hako, the 2 singles, METRO, Shiseikatsu) but yea it's definitely one of the weakest pieces in her career.

[deadgrandma]

I like it a hell of a lot more than Sunny though.

It has Sake to Geko on it, which I think is quite underrated/overlooked by everyone also. That chorus is so "epic". It's also IMO, the best piece of Izawa playing in all the Jihen albums haha.

[gekokujyo]

Tsukigimehime is pretty good too. Actually it's not really that bad an album.

I think when it came out it just sounded like such a huge departure in terms of rhythm and hooks compared to ADULT that (for me at least) it was quite difficult for me to digest or understand it. But it's definitely enjoyable on its own terms.

[deadgrandma]

I think it's reputation of being awful really supersedes the album itself. I think it's also one of the most unique sounding albums she was part of. I think if you're gonna pick on a particular Jihen album for being the worst, it's gonna have to be Sports or Daihakken- either choice is fine, they both sound the same.

Anyway, back to the original thread topic:

WHAT IF... Jihen was first and she went solo later? How do you think this would have fared? Less or MORE popular?

[gekokujyo]

More or equally popular. Lol.

She would be like, YUKI vs JAM. And I think the breadth of sounds used in her solo career would be seen as a sort of progress or evolution (and to many people, an improvement, though I don't necessarily see it that way) to Jihen's sound.