Album Reviews

[eXo]

We need an album reviews thread, so here it is.


New album out that everyone's bound to have an opinion on, and you want one, too?

Old album you're rediscovering and want to tell people about?

Undiscovered band with an amazing CD that everyone should know about?

'Big-deal' album out that you just don't like and want to know why it's so good? ( see: new Green Day, AFI releases. )


Here's the place to do it, whether you do track-by-track ( which are always fun ) or just overviewed. If this gets popular enough, I'll sticky it or something. Just don't come in and say, "Yeah, The Decemberists are cool. They've got good songs. I'm gonna go feed the dog now."

[Naked Gackt]

Well I saw this thread a while ago and though it was a good idea, just that I had nothing to review. But now I do, I dubt anyone will actually be interested in it whatsoever but I'm doing this more for myself. I'm gonna review the new Morning Musume album "Sexy 8 Beat" (worst name ever) simply because I'm not sure what I think of it myself and so by doing this I might be able to figure it out.

Genki+ - From the first few seconds this seems like it’s gonna be some ultra trance song or something, I was relived to find that wasn’t quite true, but it does set the mood for the rest of the album which has more of a dance beat to it than the previous albums.

Although I quite enjoyed the song it soon dawned on me that this isn’t what Morning Musume are all about, they’re taking their self seriously? That shouldn’t be happening. Of course there have been the odd tracks in the past which haven’t been completely stupid, but they’ve come at the right time or been a part of the infamous shuffle groups. Kicking of the album with this song set my fears in place as it looks as though the fun days of old may be fading.

Maybe I’m being a bit of a purist here, but I don’t like the way things seem to be going here, after all it was the ridiculous nature that eventually got me into this band, the pure cheese dripping from every seam (yuck) that was so appealing. It’s good for bands to try new things but this seemed like a bad move, even though the song is by no means bad.

Aruiteru(ALBUM EDIT) – Well this actually sounds the same as the single version to be honest but okay. It’s slightly annoying that they released this on their last mini-album and they’re deciding to put it on here too, makes them seem a little desperate.

Anyway the song itself is another more serious one but it actually somehow manages to stay in the boundaries of what I’d call “true” Momosu, which is good to see. But maybe that’s because it’s a cover version of a Sharam Q song, which would mean this was written a while before any of the others, meaning I can’t really judge what the rest of the album will be like based on this song. It’s a bit too 80’s in parts for my liking but again it isn’t bad, just far from being one of the best either. I’ve got to persevere though, basically every Momosu album has one bad track as the first or second song, and this has only had two decent ones, so things aren’t looking too bad.

Mirai no Taiyou – This isn’t what I want to be hearing, this sounds more like Baby Vox or DDD, something like that. The thing that set Momosu apart from other idol groups was the fact that they were very different from any other around, but this makes them just seem like part of a crowd.

This is the typical JPop song I’ve grown to hate and so I simply can’t bring myself to like this song (ah well at least the band song came one track too late). When looking at previous songs such as “Mr Moonlight Ai no Big Band” and “Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari” it showed what Momosu were all about: incredible diversity and the ability to make stupid songs that actually were good. This is just your everyday JPop song, which for these guys is a major step backwards.

Egao YES Nude(ALBUM MIX) – Well a ridiculously named song if nothing else, and again this sounds the same as the single release. I’ll admit this song has grown on me slightly, but only slightly, and considering I hated it when it first came out that isn’t so good. There just doesn’t seem to be anything going for this song really, it’s just bland, and yet again it’s a step into the stereotypical JPop world which they really shouldn’t be doing. I can’t find much more to write about this song, it’s that average and bland, except that hearing the odd word in English is cringe worthy.

Haru Beautiful Everyday – Well thinks seem to have picked up a little here, the one band who’s managed to pull off the typical JPop style well is Every Little Thing and this song sounds quite similar to one of the slower songs they might do but it’s not quit a ballad. Has quite a catchy tune, but really the hook lines in what Momosu is what is so important, so it can’t be considered great, but it certainly wouldn’t look out of place on one of the older albums either and I certainly wouldn’t find myself skipping it.

After the last album: Rainbow 7, and its inconsistent nature then maybe this album is picking up from there, get some **** songs out of the way and get on to the good stuff? God I hope so anyway. My main concern being that at this point there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly original about any of the songs, something which certainly can’t be said about some of the earlier albums.

SEXY BOY ~Soyokaze ni Yorisotte~ - These names just get worse, at least when they were bad back in the day they made me laugh, not make me shudder. The song itself…well I’m not sure. It seems like it’s trying to be a genuinely good song, why I ask you? If this was a bit more light-hearted then it may have worked, but as it is it’s trying to be serious again and they just can’t pull it off so well.

You can se my song descriptions getting shorter as this goes along, that’s because it’s getting increasingly difficult to say anything about them. All I can say in this one is that the guitar work is pretty funky and the singing actually is quite good too, but like I said this needed to be much more easy-going than it is.

Ambitious! Yashinteki de Ii Jan – I’d head this one a while ago and back then I wasn’t too impressed at all, now though it just seems lie any other song on the album. The bass and guitar accompany each other very well actually in this one and the solo lines are done well. Again though it’s a song that fails with the hook which is what the primary focus should be for a band like this. Not a bad one, but again another average song, I wouldn’t really say bland as at times the background music is actually very good.

Sono Deai no Tame ni – Good to see them sticking another slow song in, shame it sounds like the introduction to a Koda Kumi song. There really isn’t much to say about this one at all, it isn’t quite as bad as a Koda Kumi song but it isn’t fantastic…kinda fits with the theme of the album really…

Shanimuni Paradise – Again, they disappoint me again! Another song that could have been so much better if they hadn’t tried to be serious about it! This one seems like it really could have actually had potential as it’s a decent song anyway, it’s definitely something new for Momosu as this probably has the most of a dance beat out of all the songs on the album and it’s one of the best songs on there, if not the best.

Thankfully this song is a bit more ridiculous than most of the other on here so it doesn’t come across so bad. It’s good to see that a decent song can come out of this new style Momosu seem to have adopted, my only worry is that (even in these early stages) this new style will restrict them from ever making the kind of songs they did in the past.

Housekibako – Not bad, this sounds very much like it could have come straight off Ai no Dairokkan, which is no bad thing. Again this is one I probably wouldn’t find myself skipping if it had been on one of the earlier albums which is a very good sign, this isn’t really in the style I’m used to, but it’s very good to see them moving to a new style and me actually enjoying it.

Not sure who’s taking the main role in this song but it reminds me a lot of Kago Ai (ex-member) which again, is certainly no bad thing. I’ll have to remember to find out who it is and listen out for them more.

BE Positive! – The cheese just got knocked up a notch for this one, if I didn’t know it was Tsunku singing at the start I have no doubt I’d hate it, but hearing him say “Be Positive” in his Engrish is pretty amusing. Still not up to the pure stupidness factor of the likes of “Happy Summer Wedding” but then, what is? I have to say one thing though, cheese doesn’t mean good, this is probably one of the weakest tracks on the album and that isn’t what you want as the last track. I was hoping that the last track would instil some hope about the next album being a good one, but now I couldn’t care less.

Well that’s it in a nutshell, I think it’s pretty obvious to see I’m not the biggest fan of this album but to be honest it did have a lot to live up to. I’m most disappointed to see such a dramatic style change as I don’t think they’ve managed to pull it off so well, for fans being introduced to the band via this album it may not seem so bad, but after familiarising myself with the other albums this really does seem like a step backwards and it just puts them a little closer to being any other generic JPop band.

Well hope you enjoyed reading that (if you bothered), I doubt it though. But anyway that’s about it.

[Saint]

J-Pop Overload! *head explodes*

I hate J-Pop.

Anyway, I'll go ahead post a short review for one of my favorite album's ever: Sufjan Stevens' Michigan (The Great Lake State)

This was Stevens' big ticket to being known. He had previously released A Sun Came, and Enjoy Your Rabbit, a totally electronic album. This was his first release for his so called "Fifty States Project", a project to record an album for each of the fifty states, and we think he's only half-joking. The album oscillates back and forth between multi-instrumental, upbeat pieces, such as "All Good Naysayers Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!" to quietly picked guitars in "Wolverine", and "Vito's Ordination Song", as he references state landmarks and history. The album is not as differential or as ambitious as (Come On, Feel the) Illinoise, but could be considered by some to be more coherent than Illinois. It is subtly laced with Christian themes as with all of Stevens' work, but this will be almost unnoticeable by any casual listener.

[Naked Gackt]

Hm, may give that a try, simply because I'll give anything a go. Strange to hear you say you hate JPop though, well actually it ain't people have a stereotypical view of pure cheese right throughout their music industry which just ain't true at all. They have **** loads of genres just like any other country.

[eXo]

Okay, confession to make. Lately, I've been listening to one particular album over and over again, and it's driving my family nuts.

The album? Duran Duran's Astronaut.

Before you make that face, you should definitely give it a listen. For the pop band that Duran Duran is, this might be their best release since Rio. It's the kind of CD that makes you try to dance in your car; the beats are good, the music itself isn't bad, and nearly every track has catchy lyrics. "Bedroom Toys" is one that might kind of blindside a person, and it sticks out like a sore thumb in the other tracks, but every track is definitely listen-able. So if you're not too afraid to embrace that which is Duran Duran, back with their original lineup for the first time in how many years, this is definitely a release to check out. My mother's hated Duran Duran for a long time and just can't get into this, but my best friend ( who's a T.I., Mike Jones, and Nirvana fan ) even admits that this is "okay."


For what it is, I give it a 5/5.

[Shakan'Dar]

I want an opinion on the new Dream Theater album Systematic Chaos. I know The Man was/still is a DT fan. Have you heard it yet?

I think it's some of their best stuff, but imo they're yet to top Scenes From a Memory.

[The Dude]

I own the album. It's particularly good. Some of my favorites on it are In the Presence of Enemies, Forsaken and Prophets of War. If you like DT albums, you'll like Systematic Chaos.

[The Dark Messenger]

I tried starting something like this previously with the use of album artwork and stuff but no one replied to them so I didn't bother anymore.

[Shakan'Dar]

Presence of Enemies was awesome, but I particularly liked Ministry of Lost Souls, and the piano chords in Repentance are pure genius.

[KMcPansy]

you guys should check out a band called Monty Are I they're Cd is called The Wall Of People. I love it. Its all i've listened to for a while now.