First of all, why do people see only the negative things I post.
I actually said this album had 3 solid tunes, albeit not solid in the old SR manner. Nobody's going to agree with me that those 3 tunes are good? Nobody's going to applaud Uki (and everyone knows I can't stand that dude) on writing a successful R&B tune? Don't call me a hater when all you read is the negative part of my posts. Also, calling an album "generic" is not the same as calling an album "shit". Taking generic drugs isn't the same as eating shit. Get your facts right before you trod all over me.
I listen to this album, and I don't feel Tokyo Jihen at all. Instead, I hear bands like Every Little Thing, The Brilliant Green, DAI, especially in beginning, more rock parts of the album. (Sorry the references are so old, I haven't been bothered to listen to Jpop in a while.) This is what I mean by any band could have made this album. Old SR/TJ tunes had that special quality where if you made someone else do the vocals, it would sound totally wrong. Utada Hikaru tried to imitate Tsumi to Batsu at one of her concerts before. She did a great imitation, but the feel is essentially Utada, not SR. However here you can put Mika Nakashima, Ai Otsuka, or even one of the PERFUME girls on vox, and no one would think, no that's not right. This is the point that I want to get across. A band should make their tracks feel special. A vocalist should own her melody, impart her life into the tune. It doesn't feel like it here. It feels detached. And no, I don't need lyrics to tell me that. I don't even need good quality audio to convey that to me. SR's demos weren't exactly audiophile material but you can hear the passion, sincerity, the drive. You don't hear that anymore.
If you want to know what I listen to, head over to the CLT thread. I put stuff I like in there. Admittedly, no one's commented on it, so I take it that no one has really taken to the sound. That's okay. But if you really want to know the yardstick in which I judge TJ, there is
José James, and
Air (no, not the french electronic duo). SR used to write the kind of songs which have the same emotional weight as the Air tune. Not anymore.