I thought the tribute album was just alright, despite having been blown away by the lineup, which if I read correctly from that Morrie x Kiyoharu natalie.mu intereview, took upwards of a year to assemble.
I think tribute albums can fall into two categories, ones that try to faithfully reproduce the songs they are being covered and ones that try to actually put their own spin on a song. This album was mostly the former with the exception of the tracks written primarily by one person or band (Kiyoharu, Cali Gari and Boris). It was largely a cut-and-paste affair by the producer where the artists involved got to add their own flair but for the most part had to stay within the lines of what the original song was. You could almost feel like the musicians, while amazingly talented and varied in their own right across the Jrock / Vkei spectrum, weren't even in the same room together when recording these songs and just individually came in and recorded their parts. Maybe I'm wrong about this but considering the lineup, I'm a bit doubtful these sessions had everyone in the room at the same time.
So yea, it's enjoyable in an all-star cast sort of way but I think no artist really got to take control of the song they were covering with the exception of the ones mentioned.
That said, I did appreciate the vocals of Hyde, Tetsu and Baki, who I'm most familiar with, and the other musicians spotted throughout. Hyde is a dead-on replica of Morrie especially with the reverb cranked to 11 like most the covers off Dead End's first album. I'm a huge Tetsu fan and although I've heard him sing like that on some songs he rarely does so for a whole song. It either shows that he's trying too hard or just having fun with it. Who knows? I didn't care for the Serafine cover. It had no power to it and seemed like it was being different for the sake of it. "How would this sound with female vocals?!" Why not have Morrie sing a Utada Hikaru cover next!
And in defense of artists reliving their past glories or just leaving it behind, I don't think it's a fair to suggest they should leave it behind just because we personally don't think it sounds any better than the original. If anything, as fans, if we don't like newer renditions or newer work we should simply just leave the artist behind. Move on, that's it, no need to tell new fans they're stupid for listening to the artist now. There's plenty of bands that I only like a certain style of. It would be foolish, and ultimately frustrating, to think that one could possibly like every path of artistic growth of a musician or any artist for that matter.
Anyway, most of these artists are creating new work on their own and so what if they go back and relive or try to recreate their older work? Whether it's a cash-grab move or a legitimate artistic one, so be it. Sure, they don't have the power they used to and I totally agree that Morrie's voice is weaker now, Ryuichi doesn't sing like he used to, or Hyde doesn't wear white frock gowns, etc. but does that mean they can never touch the past again just because it doesn't please fans now?