Post-Mortem Classic
 

If, retrospectively, one of the post-Adult albums were to achieve 'classic SR status,' which one do you think it would be? On EMF at least. Because people can get it wrong at the time. It always happens.

I wouldn't be surprised if Heisei Fuzoku were to win this poll, for several unfair reasons:
1.) It borrows material from SS, ZCS, (especially) KSK, the Ringo no Uta single, and Kyoiku.
2.) It's the only album with an instrumental version thus far, which means it's the only album we can judge independently of what the vocals sound like.
3.) The studio recordings raised the bar too high for any live performances to meet or exceed that.

Sanmon Gossip would be the clear choice for me, if they had used the Ringo Expo version of Yokyou instead, and not included Marunouchi Sadistic.

If you are a Ringo fan, then you should choose either HF or SG. (Or even Doku Ichigo, but that option is not there). For anyone who has known me for more than a day, you should already know what choice mine is.

If you prefer Tokyo Jihen, then you should choose Sports or maybe Daihakken, afterall, they are the same album.

I chose SG as a Ringo classic because of that dense sound. Tokyo Jihen albums are more enjoyable to me.

Gonna go with Sanmon Gossip on this one. I don't consider HF to be a classic, to be perfectly honest. It's a bunch of rehashed KSK songs with orchestral arrangements and a few new tracks. I'd sooner tell someone to listen to KSK than pick this one up. While I like most of the new tracks (not too big on Sakuran, but eh), they're really not enough to make me see this as a great album. It's more of a collector's piece.

Sanmon Gossip, on the other hand, is basically Ringo in the modern era. It is a piece of history. It's also got the tracks to back that claim up. The first four songs are completely solid, you've got Tsugou, Shun, Togatta, Bonsai Hada, and Yokyou. And there really isn't a song on the album that's terrible, per se, so what we've got here is a pretty solid collection. I've also found most of the tracks improve with age rather than become dated. Even some MM and SS tracks make me roll my eyes a bit. But that isn't really the case with this one. It's got my vote.

SG is the clear choice here. HF would be an "unfair" choice indeed since it only stands on the backs of past classics.

I disagree. SO HARD.

HF reinterprets and reimagines many of her prior compositions. It places them in an entirely new context. Comparing the different versions of the songs are unfair. HF shows Ringo's versatility, and how she deserves to stand as a great Jazz artist.

And it's a gorgeous, haunting collection of songs. It's also one of her tightest albums, I think, in that all the songs flow into the next and fit together so well. It's hard for me to listen to a full album from start to finish (I usually get bored and switch 3/4 way through). Not with HF. That shit's on replay.

In my mind it *nearly* achieves that (Gamble, STEM) -- but Ishiki, Poltergeist and Meisai not being THAT different from the originals drags the album too far into KZK clone territory. And Frankenstein Yokushitsu could have been better tbh.

Sanmon Gossip sounds like Ringo doing a cover album of a bunch of other people's songs. I know that makes absolutely no sense but I get the same derivative, eclectic, and technically brilliant vibe from Utaite Myori.

HF is KZK 2.0. Instant classic.

Meisai not being that different? Uh, KZK Meisai is awesome because of the distorted telecaster and that screechy violin. Which HF Meisai does not have.
And as I said before, HF Poltergeist is waltzer-er. It makes the song more grandiose. KZK Poltergiest is cloying while HF Poltergiest is... listless?

But I've just said that's not the point! Get HF. Start playing it with headphones. listen to the WHOLE THING. Isn't it amazing at setting a mood, creating a flowing soundscape? Listening to that album makes the time just fly. By the end of it I just want to listen again.