New donzoko arrangement is probably to make it about the same length of the hzm track or something.

This album is really not good, likely her worst. But I guess that's better than being completely eh like Sunny.

Ma Cherie is best song though, but this arrangement is garbage, the live version annihilates it

All of this.

Here is mine (thanks Lena :lol:):


Niwatori to hebi to buta 8
Kemono yuku hosomichi 3
Ma chérie 7,5
Kakeochisha 6,5
Donzoko made 7,5
Kamisama, hotokesama 8
Tokyo 7,5
Nagaku mijikai matsuri 2
Shijou no jinsei 6
Isogaba maware 6
Jiyuudom 6,5
Menukidoori 3
Anoyo no mon 8

Score: 6.12 However, I'll rate it 4. She had 4,5 years to make a new album, and comes with this compilation disguised as album? And some of the singles are horrid and simply don't fit on this thing. Easily her worst.

When I first went through the discussion after listening to the album, I was thinking about raising points in defense of the album, but I'm not going to do that. What's the point? Listening to it last night, having already heard 90% of the material and going in with no expectations as to how it's all going to come together, I was truly taken aback. This album really has been in the making all this time.

I'm just going to mention two things that come off the top off my head - the songs are in fact arranged symetrically and work in tandem, like all the previously released singles. "Kemono..." and "Menukidoori" make sense as a tandem, as do "Ma Cherie" and "Jiyu-dom". But I'm pretty sure that's just regarded as laziness here.
"Tokyo" is a showtune as much as "Shun" and "Ima" were, only both of those were highly praised and this one was pretty much dismissed immediately, when in fact they're all companion songs.

I feel like genuinely liking a new Shiina Ringo album is unacceptable in this fan community and there's never going to be a truly intriguing conversation, which actually could be had. If I went on with what I like about the album I would feel like a Holocaust denier at this point. thespidereggs mentioned the word "apologists" earlier and that's exactly right. It's crazy.

But one thing I'd genuinely like to hear is what album you all would like to hear. Musically, conceptually, track by track. Because whatever she puts out is just not up to some standard everyone has in their heads, but I'll be damned if I ever heard a real argument about that. I'm interested in constructive criticism and I'm just seeing cheap shots instead. It's been sixteen years since KZK came out and we all had plenty of time to reconcile with the fact that it's not happening again. Kate Bush's The Dreaming and Hounds of Love were once in a lifetime thing too, and I don't see anyone dumping on her for never quite reaching the same level of genius again.

There was a discussion about other musicians earlier too. If you want to hear another true musical chameleon from Japan, listen to everything Akina Nakamori put out between 1985 and 1989. That gives you seven full-length albums, two singles compilations (the second one qualifies as another full-length album by itself) and a bunch of b-sides. Skip the English album, let those records grow on you and thank me later. It's going to keep you busy for months.

Peace!

But.. you're doing what a lot of new people do (I know cause I did it too, my early posts are so fucking precious to read back on ughh), just cause a few of us (myself included, admittedly.) don't think much of TOKYO (I think Ma Cherie is a great song, but this studio arrangement neuters it) doesn't represent EVERYONE here. To be honest the reception has been fairly decent here for the album given it is what it is (not so much on Twitter and JPS though). I am working on something a lot more in depth but I don't think you're going to agree with me at all on most things. I also used to be like you, I've supported her right through a lot of the most rough patches- I still even like Variety, so what. There is a mountain of great conversations and in depth discussion archived, just look through it. Yeah it's quiet now, but that's cause there was a period offline that wiped out a lot of the key members. A new album hasn't made them return, and that to me speaks volumes. Ringo's fanbase HAS changed, sure. A lot can happen in 5 years. But it still doesn't mean the old fans don't have the right to enjoy/not enjoy her work. Hell, some of the people I most respect on here came from massive threads of disagreeing with each other.

So on that note, I'll post my review when it's ready. I like making lots of jokes but my review is strictly no cheap shots I promise.



SHORTLY, and what my review is kinda sorta focused on (but not wholly):

I definitely get 'end of contract' vibes from the whole release and release cycle. Not to mention the picture of her from 20 years ago in the booklet...



Think she's about getting this over and done with more than anything else. I've never heard something supposedly take 5 years to make and sound so damn rushed. The whole concept sounds like a big distraction from the fact that she's completely dry musically. That's fine, it happens, but ffs just admit it instead of dragging it out.

Last solo album ever, calling it.

Thanks for keeping it civil (and constructive!) when I admittedly did go on a rant there. I just listened to the album last night, after a pretty exhausting trip, and I honestly did not expect to like it as much as I do. Perhaps it also had something to do with the fact that I didn't listen to Ringo all that much for the past few months, and especially the old singles sound kind of fresh to me again.

So having listened to Ringo for a little over fifteen years now (since I was fifteen, actually), I still like what she's putting out, and it's just so frustrating to not even see a discussion about the album. It almost seems as if everyone was waiting for the release date so they can REALLY shit on it. I went through the JPS thread last night as well and it felt like the Ringo Expo 14 release all over again. Stuff like this makes me really not want to engage in the fan community because it honestly feels like a battle, and that's the last thing I want.

Maybe my optimistic voice isn't even welcome here, and I don't even feel like I'm contributing anything to the conversation - moreso than that I'm the weirdo that likes something which is objectively horrible by the community's standards. It certainly feels lonely when you feel like you're the only person genuinely excited about the new album. And mind you that was not what I expected at all; I was expecting to have a convenient place for all the singles since Sunny and a couple of bonus tracks. But last night felt like we had all these puzzle pieces and they finally came together in a big picture (astrologically speaking, that is also a classic Saggitarius trait :D )
And really that's all I'm going to say right now. Oh, also I love Ma Cherie - I have not seen Ringo Expo 18 yet so the song was completely new to me. Excited to hear the live version somewhere down the line, especially when the general consensus is that it's better.

I'm fine with and actually want to read criticism that gives me different points of view, but all I've been able to read so far were personal assessments on which song is the worst and whether or not this is her worst album, and honestly it just made me really sad. Ringo's music still excites me and I have pretty much no one to share that love with anymore.

And feel free to make fun of my essayistic posts which I seem to be unable to keep short, and thanks for keeping the community going (yours is one of the few constant presences on the scene since years), even if I may not be the right fit for it, I do appreciate the fact that it at least exists, and that there is at least something to follow here.

EDIT: I am also looking forward to your review, those have always been concise and well-written regardless of how much I agree with them. That's actually what I would love more of.

Also looking forward to your thoughts deadgrandma!

Please share more about the “end of contract” thing. I had no idea.

I truly appreciate your optimism shirasagi!
It gets kinda boring here when everyone agrees on something, I really wanted to read more from the people who liked the album
I confess I was not excited at all for a new album, but I was REALLY excited for the possibility of having lots of intense discussions here /o/

About what kind of sound I would like for an ideal Ringo album to have, I think if you kept the opening and the closing tracks, Tokyo, and Ma cherie, throw in a track with a hatsukoi shoujo feeling, other with sakasa ni kazoete vibes, other with a little bit of somethingsomething no akatsuki, another with JL005 somethingsomething feelings, and maybe try different things with the other tracks?! Like a fusion of bossa-nova and eletronica, some 80s sounding RnB, maybe a little bit of ethereal hiphop, I would be happy even with Ringo trying out indie rock. Also, please, no more digital singles. I want at least 3 physical singles with 2 b-sides each, it's ok if they aren't actually physical as long as she puts the same effort into them as she would if they were physical releases.
And I want a concept.
A real one
and not just a poorly veiled excuse.

I personally consider a long, opinionated post by a new member to be a very valuable contribution.

Just listened to the album first time, Ma Cherie immediately stood out, but imo it's not the best song, the best song is the HZM song, very playful, reminds me of Shoujo Robot, I love the glam rock sound. Of course with more listens, that opinion could change. My least favourite is Tokyo, hate the autotune, plus a couple of disney songs I just skipped.