I don’t wanna feel Blue anymore...
I did several fundamental posts but there was one obviously missing. The one about the music. Well, actually it's not that I forgot and stuff, I just wanted to listen to all of their discography properly before giving a verdict. Which is a lot. I still can't recognize many songs and surely my preferences might shift but I think now I can give a proper evaluation.
In general I really think Alice Nine aren't outstanding in terms of music. Most of their songs are pretty average and sound very similar. But I also think they have some real jewels such as GEMINI. Now I want to take a closer look at some of the aspects.
Every time I think I've seen it all, heard it all. But every new band I get hooked on shows me a new different side to music and I think it's amazing.
First of all, I was surprised to find out they had so many songs. They only released 4 albums so far but the trick is they often release singles and don't include the songs in them into the albums. I've had their 1st album on my PC for a long time but I didn't realize they already released about 30 songs before that. They also have only one singe with instrumentals. No acoustic versions either so that means no fillers. I really like that. I mean I always wondered whether people who buy all the singles feel cheated since when the album comes out it has all the single songs anyway. That says a lot about them as a band.
I mean, according to my calculations L'Arc~en~Ciel have released about 133 original compositions in 20 years and Alice Nine has 102 in just 7.
They did re-release a couple of old songs last year which I normally don't approve of but it this case I understood their reasons perfectly. They were the songs often played at concerts and these songs grew and evolved naturally so it seems appropriate to record them in their new form and give them a second life.
Before I never paid that much attention to who wrote what song song. Well, except for Laruku maybe. But now I always check it. I can even identify who wrote the song sometimes. Like, Tora's early songs are often heavy and American-ish, Hiroto's are kind of bursting with life force and ballads mostly belong to Saga. I like to analyse how a person's character is embedded into the song.
J-Rock also introduced me to the awesomeness of having 2 guitars in the band. It's especially amazing to watch live. The guitar battle is probably my favourite part in Budoukan DVD. It's just so cool. Needless to say it made me realize how much I missed guitar solos listening to pop music. Even in songs that I don't like much the guitar solos always stand out. And when I hear one listening to music I try to remember which of the guitarist plays it. Also it was only recently that I realized the rhythm section includes bass as well as drums. This little idea changed my perception of the band structure and the music structure.
Now the vocals. There are very different opinions on Shou's vocal skills. Some hate it and some love it. As for me, I think they're ok. His voice is quite generic for J-Rock and I don't especially like it even now. He received a lot of criticism early on. And yes, I think some years ago he really lacked a lot, especially live. He knew it himself but didn't give up and he worked really hard. I've seen a lot of vocalists but I don't know anyone who worked half as hard as Shou. And I admire him for that. He will never get as good as Hyde or Jaejoong but when you listen to GEMINI you feel he really did it. He found his own niche and up there he's the king. Also even though I'm not that good at Japanese yet I can say that Shou's lyrics are very beautiful. He really puts a lot of effort into them, not just words but also kanji and it's a whole new world I'd love to explore gradually.
I'm sure there shall be more discoveries later on and I'm looking forward to their new releases.
For now my current preferences (by release date):
My Top 20
アリス九號. - Gradation
アリス九號. - Gin no tsuki, kuroi hoshi
アリス九號. - Yuri wa Aoku Saite
アリス九號. - Fantasy
アリス九號. - Akatsuki
アリス九號. - Velvet
アリス九號. - FANTASY
アリス九號. - THE LAST EMPIRE
アリス九號. - 9th Revolver
アリス九號. - Gekkou Yoku
アリス九號. - KOCHYOURAN
アリス九號. - Mugen -electric eden-
アリス九號. - the beautiful name
アリス九號. - RAINBOWS
アリス九號. - Kiss twice, Kiss me deadly
アリス九號. - 昴
Alice Nine - SLEEPWALKER
Alice Nine - 閃光
Alice Nine - KING&QUEEN
Alice Nine - GEMINI
In general I really think Alice Nine aren't outstanding in terms of music. Most of their songs are pretty average and sound very similar. But I also think they have some real jewels such as GEMINI. Now I want to take a closer look at some of the aspects.
Every time I think I've seen it all, heard it all. But every new band I get hooked on shows me a new different side to music and I think it's amazing.
First of all, I was surprised to find out they had so many songs. They only released 4 albums so far but the trick is they often release singles and don't include the songs in them into the albums. I've had their 1st album on my PC for a long time but I didn't realize they already released about 30 songs before that. They also have only one singe with instrumentals. No acoustic versions either so that means no fillers. I really like that. I mean I always wondered whether people who buy all the singles feel cheated since when the album comes out it has all the single songs anyway. That says a lot about them as a band.
I mean, according to my calculations L'Arc~en~Ciel have released about 133 original compositions in 20 years and Alice Nine has 102 in just 7.
They did re-release a couple of old songs last year which I normally don't approve of but it this case I understood their reasons perfectly. They were the songs often played at concerts and these songs grew and evolved naturally so it seems appropriate to record them in their new form and give them a second life.
Before I never paid that much attention to who wrote what song song. Well, except for Laruku maybe. But now I always check it. I can even identify who wrote the song sometimes. Like, Tora's early songs are often heavy and American-ish, Hiroto's are kind of bursting with life force and ballads mostly belong to Saga. I like to analyse how a person's character is embedded into the song.
J-Rock also introduced me to the awesomeness of having 2 guitars in the band. It's especially amazing to watch live. The guitar battle is probably my favourite part in Budoukan DVD. It's just so cool. Needless to say it made me realize how much I missed guitar solos listening to pop music. Even in songs that I don't like much the guitar solos always stand out. And when I hear one listening to music I try to remember which of the guitarist plays it. Also it was only recently that I realized the rhythm section includes bass as well as drums. This little idea changed my perception of the band structure and the music structure.
Now the vocals. There are very different opinions on Shou's vocal skills. Some hate it and some love it. As for me, I think they're ok. His voice is quite generic for J-Rock and I don't especially like it even now. He received a lot of criticism early on. And yes, I think some years ago he really lacked a lot, especially live. He knew it himself but didn't give up and he worked really hard. I've seen a lot of vocalists but I don't know anyone who worked half as hard as Shou. And I admire him for that. He will never get as good as Hyde or Jaejoong but when you listen to GEMINI you feel he really did it. He found his own niche and up there he's the king. Also even though I'm not that good at Japanese yet I can say that Shou's lyrics are very beautiful. He really puts a lot of effort into them, not just words but also kanji and it's a whole new world I'd love to explore gradually.
I'm sure there shall be more discoveries later on and I'm looking forward to their new releases.
For now my current preferences (by release date):
My Top 20
アリス九號. - Gradation
アリス九號. - Gin no tsuki, kuroi hoshi
アリス九號. - Yuri wa Aoku Saite
アリス九號. - Fantasy
アリス九號. - Akatsuki
アリス九號. - Velvet
アリス九號. - FANTASY
アリス九號. - THE LAST EMPIRE
アリス九號. - 9th Revolver
アリス九號. - Gekkou Yoku
アリス九號. - KOCHYOURAN
アリス九號. - Mugen -electric eden-
アリス九號. - the beautiful name
アリス九號. - RAINBOWS
アリス九號. - Kiss twice, Kiss me deadly
アリス九號. - 昴
Alice Nine - SLEEPWALKER
Alice Nine - 閃光
Alice Nine - KING&QUEEN
Alice Nine - GEMINI
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14.01.2012 в 23:02thanx for this post!
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14.01.2012 в 23:15I was planning to write this a long time ago and I write these thing mainly for myself but I'm glad you found it interesting.
Now I'll start making posts requested by you))
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14.01.2012 в 23:48waaaaitiiing ^^
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15.01.2012 в 00:05I'll make several posts within a few days. Almost done with selecting pictures for picspam)
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15.01.2012 в 00:10-
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15.01.2012 в 00:13But I hope to post at least one tonight)
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15.01.2012 в 00:54что греха таитьмальчиков обожаю и довольно пристально стараюсь за ними следить, я не слушаю их песни часто. Вернее, я почти не слушаю их песни. При этом я точно знаю, что люблю их музыку. Мне нравится их стиль начиная с Альфы. Конечно, и до неё у них есть песни, которые весьма хороши. Но слушая именно этот альбом я могу с уверенностью сказать: "Да, это те А9, которых я люблю". Сейчас у меня в плеере только три их трека: бессменная Rainbows + новые Shinkirou и KING&QUEEN. Сомневаюсь, что к ним скоро добавятся ещё какие-нибудь. Я очень люблю Eraser -Memoire d'une fleur- и потрясающе красивую Kousai, они тоже долгое время были у меня в листе. Мне нравится большинство их работ, на которые сняты PV. Говоря о голосе Казумасы, - действительно видно, как он его совершенствует. И всё же, ещё когда я впервые увидела и услышала Вельвет, меня поразил его вокалпрямо в сердце я проклятый романтикКогда на экране японский ангелочек с огромными глазами начал петь так неожиданно глубоко и сильно, меня подцепило на крючок. Благодаря А9 я в своё время безумно полюбила гитарные соло. Теперь моя любимая игра заключается в том, чтобы угадать, кому же звучащее в песне соло принадлежит. Я до сих пор считаю именно гитары (кроме вокала) одной из сильнейших сторон группы. Барабаны и бас не настолько очевидны, хотя я обожаю их соло не намного меньше гитарных (учитывая, что любить барабаны меня научил Шин из СВ). Мальчики постоянно пробуют что-то новое, но при этом остаются верны себе и узнаваемы. Это я ценю.-
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15.01.2012 в 01:24Вернее, я почти не слушаю их песни.
А я вот уже полгода усиленно слушаю - приучаю себя к ним. Ну и вот ознакомилась более-менее и пост дозрел.
Кстити, на момент начала увлечения прошлым летом у меня на компе из музыки оказался только Zekeishoku и The Beautiful Name, зато клипов обнаружилось большинство!))
Velvet - это весч! Я его услышала еше лет 6 назад наверно и впечатление было похожее) Ну и Fantasy тоже полябился. Вот они две-родные и поселились у меня на плеере и живут там и по сей день)
в своё время безумно полюбила гитарные соло.
О, гитарные соло! Бля! *побежала дописывать пост*
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15.01.2012 в 01:36О, гитарные соло! Бля! *побежала дописывать пост* Е-ей! Вот видишь, что бы ты без меня делала?!