What is your Shiina Ringo/Tokyo Jihen fav album??

[Kasanagi]

Originally Posted by Hedofloe

Yeah, it is unfair to the albums if you try to say which is better. I don't know about everyone else, but my hierarchy is just meant to show which I like more and in what order. Not necessarily which is better. Whenever I have discussed what is better than something else, it usually just comes down to what each party likes more so I try to never say what is better but just what I like more. Unfortunately, there is no symbol on the keyboard that represents "likes more", so we just use ">" .

Maybe it should be KZK <3 SS <3 Adult etc?

[justriiingo]

Originally Posted by zach

My problem with A > B is that it is unfair to both A and B. Every album (no matter the artist) has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. Comparing one aspect of A to B might give you A > B, but if you compare a different aspect, you end up with B > A.

I think doing an objective comparison of the albums in its different aspects might be easy for you since you're a trained musician and all (your posts clearly show that you have superior music analytical skills compared to most of us here), but to many of us here the reasons why we like one album more than another is more fuzzy. We might not have that kind of knowledge/background to quantify/qualify why we like this particular album so much, we like it because it makes us feel good.

I any case, I think Variety is the weakest of all TJ albums, and Shousou Strip remains my favourite since it is the album that got me acquainted with her Majesty. KZK is, brilliant but depressing and heavy, not something I'll listen to most of the time. Unlike other SR releases, I prefer to listen to KZK through headphones. It's more... intimate. MM is fun, with a few tracks I'll skip here and there. Kyouiku I would skip and go straight to Dynamite Out (because sadly Kyouiku is maybe only 3% of what TJ Phase 1 could have achieved, and it's heartbreaking that that band dissolved before they could further refine their potential brilliance. hmpf.) Adult is rather cogent but a few tracks sound tired and weary (Kenshou Naoshi, Superstar, Blackout). And don't get me started on how much of a disappointment Variety is.

[zach]

^ I didn't think those reasons were fuzzy. In fact, the analysis you gave is exactly what I'd prefer to a simple hierarchy. Comparing music shouldn't be linear, as though somehow everything falls on a 1-D spectrum from Good to Bad (or even Like to Dislike). It should be subjective and multi-dimensional, like the music it purports to evaluate. Stringing together albums with >'s and ='s attempts to force nonlinear music into a linear mold.

I just watched Dynamite Out again tonight and dang. They really had something magical that night.

@Kasanagi: Haha, I love it.

[HEDOfloe]

Yeah, I was watching DO on my way home from school and it really is awesome. Hirama is such a great performer, jumping around everywhere and waving his guitar around, it's really fun to watch.

[Positron]

Taking into account the nonlinear nature of music, if you would like to know why things are weighted as they are...

If memory serves me right, Shouso Strip was the first Ringo album I owned, and out of all the albums released I believe it's still got the best ratio of dramatic to frenetic. Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana's tracks were strung together quite well, not to mention the fact that it was very different and seemed like it possessed an inordinate amount of depth and creativity, all things considering (not to knock her other works, but it was more moving). Adult appeals somewhat to my predominant mellow and jazzy side and has a good tracklist order similar to KSK. Heisei Fuuzoku was a solid collection of rearranged old favorites and fun new songs, enough to give it legs as an album and not just a "best-of plus". These four make up my top tier of albums; SS gets a nod as the better of the four overall, but KSK's grandness puts it not far behind. HF is a good compilation of her talents despite being all orchestral, and Adult actually falls toward the lower end because it can be too mellow at times.

Kyouiku and Muzai Moratorium are both firsts for their respective eras, but experience helps the former slightly edge out the latter, although just barely. Kyouiku has some of my favorite stand-alone songs (Sounan, the Genjitsus, Omatsuri Sawagi, etc.) because of this, even if the album as a whole feels a little shoddy and was designed as a live or sorts. Meanwhile, MM is more solid overall, but a little bit too wistful for my taste (though Akane sasu kiro terasaredo... still kicks ass) and it was testing the waters somewhat.

((At times, Kyouiku and MM beat out Adult depending on the mood, but I love Himitsu, Tasogare Naki, and Tegami so much that neither of them can ever permanently wrench Adult out of its shaky straddle position between upper and middle tier.))

Variety... having listened to it, I can't say the album is completely horrible. It does have the songs I listen to the most - OSCA, Killer Tune - as well as the respectable Kingyo no Hako, but on a good day, with the possible exceptions of Fukushuu, Kronekodow, Boutomin, Tsukigime-Hime, and Metro, most of the songs come off as mere afterthoughts more than anything. ((I'm reluctant to put Monthly Princess on there because it reminds me of Teen Titans at times, but I'll give it a chance.))

[madpawn]

certainly KZK, even though I listen to it less frequently than any of the others. it's for special occasions. I still get shivers when I see the cover.

the album I listen to the most, though, is probably a tie between heisei fuuzoku and muzai moratorium.

[Inaudible-Whisper]

Originally Posted by BanFan

I picked Variety

[MBF]

I'd have to choose Utaite Myouri - I totally LOVE well-made covers and this a double-album filled with those... AND I think, it's telling a lot about Shiina herself...

[imkookoo]

It was hard choosing between SS and KZK for me. SS has all the power singles (Yokushitsu, Gibbs, and Yami Ni Furu Ame being my favorite SR songs), but KZK has such a distinctive, unique flavor and showcases SR's talents to the max. Being that I can listen to either album enjoyably, I picked KZK because of its experimentalism.

Genjitsu Wo Warau and Himitsu are up there as my favorite SR/TJ songs, but I would hardly consider Kyoiku my favorite album. And even though I like Adult, SS/KZK overshadow Adult.

So my hierarchy if I had to rank them:

KZK = SS > Adult = MM > Kyoiku > HF > Variety > UM

[Osiris12345]

I find KSK to be the pinnacle of her work. It is the climax of Shiina Ringo IMO. Every song is great and flows together seamlessly. There's not a weak link in it. Not to mention the production is phenomenal.

When I first heard Shuukyou, I was blown away. And Souretsu is such an emotional piece of music. I get chills every time I listen to it, especially in the ending. A truly fitting way to close the album as well as her solo career. Though if I had to pick a favorite track, I would say Yattsuke Shigoto. There is just so much going on in that song that every time I listen to it, I hear something different. The little flourishes and nuances are perfect. Amazing song, amazing album. If Shiina could make another like this, I would be amazed.