monkeybanana4

In the spirit of Halloween
 
 

The tracklist has been posted before. Art cover and DVD details are available, so I pasted the CD tracklist in here again  
 

 
Limited Edition Type A
 
CD Tracklist
1.ィーアーゾンビ!! 
2.紅 
3.ウィーアーゾンビ!! -instrumental- 
4.紅 -instrumental-

DVD Content
1.2018.8.25 Shinjuku BLAZE “青井ミドリ生誕祭「ミドリの日-2018-」”バックステージ オフショット
2.「ウィーアーゾンビ!! / 紅」アー写撮影オフショット
 

 
Limited Edition Type B
 
CD Tracklist
1.ウィーアーゾンビ!! 
2.紅 
3.ウィーアーゾンビ!! -instrumental- 
4.紅 -instrumental-

DVD Content
1.MV「ウィーアーゾンビ!!」
2.MV「紅」
3.「ウィーアーゾンビ!!」MV撮影オフショット
4.「紅」MV撮影オフショット
 

 
Regular Edition
 
CD Tracklist
1.ウィーアーゾンビ!! 
2.紅 
3.ウィーアーゾンビ!! -instrumental- 
4.紅 -instrumental-

I understand your problem! Even though I used to live in a good area for concerts (a huge city one hour away), it was rarely possible to go there because there were no trains running late. Also, Japanese bands mostly tend to tour in the same cities (Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne) that are not that close. So as a teenager with little money and no car, I rarely got to see any concerts. I could only attend my ancafe concert in 2009 because it was on a Saturday, and my family had relatives close on Cologne that my parents wanted to visit. So they took me (plus a friend of mine) by car.
 
You don’t have to speak Japanese to go to a Japanese concert though! They try to communicate with the audience in English  If you ever get the chance to see a visual kei band live, you should go for it!
 
what is your favourite song?

Your stories are very interressing 😊.
 
I discover An Cafe with French Magazine Rock  and it's a magazine who  belonged at my little sister .  In this magazine, they had a interview and a presentation of the band with Bou. And I read this during the time turned up the familial computer. Then I listen their music on Youtube. In this time I am very very shy , so I ask to my parents buy a CD of the band 2 or 3 years laters and it was with Yuuki and Takuya. And later by their olds CDs ( excepts two album and any singles). I never the band in  lives  because their lives are in Paris ou in the South France and a day , who it's impossible to come.  I have no money and I don't  understand japenese very much 😔, so iI never seen them in Japan.I have two DVDs lives of the bands ( those 2010 and those 2014).
 
And I love Lc5, but Miku did not hold his promise.
 
My first of them is Escapism or Tekesuta Kousen , I don't remember exactly 😁 . I discover Snow Scene more later and it's a very sad song.

their best release, imo

Sounded like a totally good standard D song and THEN OUTTA FUCKING LEFT FIELD THE WTF

Oh! I found this video online ^^ I think it's a part of their live Have you seen it yet?
 
 

Ah! I swore it was there when I lasted watched it ;w; It was a funny video program of them being on NicoNico, but yes! They are such a quiet, funny band! I love watching them interact and play silly jokes on each other, haha. Their concert lives are also a lot of fun to watch  

The first video is deleted,  but the second video is funny 😁.

Same here ^^ Liked the original one more. Haha, a friend of mine, one time asked me, if I was ever going to listen to anything else XD
It makes sense - perhaps he was trying to make a statement to people that he wasn't simply a 'happy' oshare singer. I've just been re-listening to their music, and there's nothing wrong with it. It's solid. But it does feel a bit lackluster - like there's something missing despite it being "darker" than An Cafe. I can't put my finger on what it is, though.
Wow! That's cool! How were they live? I'm super curious ^^ Omg, that's sooo awesome that you were able to catch it! Those are so hard to catch  

Oh, nice! Smile Ichiban Ii Onna and Escapism were the other songs I discovered on YT. Aurora is another personal favorite of mine~ I had that song play on repeat in my younger years, lol. Did you like the original Smile Ii Ichiban Onna or the remake they released in 2015?
Haha, that's a pretty apt description of their music after Bou left 😂 I always described their works as becoming "lighter", but I think glittery sounds better XD Did you ever get a chance to listen to Miku's other band, Lc5? I felt the look of that band was far from the happier/lighter sounds of AnCafe.
You were able to go to the tour they had in Europe? That's so cool! I've never had the chance to see them live. It must have been amazing! I feel the same way. They were one of my first visual kei bands, so I will definitely miss the band!

I was browsing through YT and I found these old funny videos of them. I couldn't stop staring at Mirai's hair in the Nico video, lol.
 
 

| Dir en grey's tenth album is something special indeed.
 
Few artists can bring the scene together and elicit responses from everyone the way that Dir en grey can. They can make you pause your habitual listening routines to check out their newest single or album, even if you don't like them. This is because Dir en grey is one of the few bands where we can sense the progression and self-improvement from release to release. I don't think that Dir en grey aspires to impress anyone but themselves from three years ago, and now more than ever I see and feel a band that has graduated from copying trends to setting them. As a concept, and after listening to the album several times, I believe The Insulated World refers directly to them, their view on the world, and the inspiration for where the music they wish to create comes from.
 
The Insulated World feels like a journey into oneself, and the album feels separated into two parts. The first half of the album feels like a turbulent descent into madness, while the second half feels like the madness has yielded to tranquility as the listener floats towards personal understanding. I prefer the second half to the first half. This is a far cry from literally every other album of theirs, where tracks were arranged haphazardly and the experience suffers for it. I can hear various influences from each of their previous eras and albums - some more than others - but one of the most redeeming points about The Insulated World is that it doesn't sound like anything in particular.
 
In the past, I've felt that Dir en grey bit off more than they could chew, and failed to deliver on their own expectations. I felt this most when listening to DUM SPIRO SPERO, where the band used progressive elements for the sake of being progressive. The Insulated World has the progressive elements applied more sensibly, similar to ARCHE. Songs morph and change direction on a whim, but there are hooks and motifs that the band returns to that gives each song coherency. Vocalist Kyo reminds us once again that he's the king of vocal manipulation - just in case you had doubts - but he's embraced his mid range more. Focusing on the extremes of his vocal techniques leaves an immediate and lasting impression at the expense of it sounding very binary. I prefer the vocal extremes for specific emotional climaxes and using other vocal techniques for specific feelings at the appropriate times. "Values of Madness" is the best example of what I am describing, where we get screeching, rapping, singing, and more in a compact four minutes. The re-recording of "The Deeper Vileness" is another great example, and also highlights how well some of the ideas they explored in The Marrow of a Bone translate into their new style ten years later.
 
Complaints about the terrible production job for the singles "Utafumi" and "Ningen wo kaburu" were founded and make more sense in hindsight, with the new versions sounding less congested. Die and Kaoru no longer compete with Toshiya for total control of the low end frequency, Shinya's drum kit sounds less robotic, Kyo doesn't feel tacked on top of the mix, and there's plenty of room left for the guitar distortion techniques and electronic samples to breathe. For the most part, I like the tone chosen for the guitar and the way everything comes together in each song, and I would rank this among both their best and least obnoxiously mixed albums to date. I wish they could get their singles to this quality.
 
The Insulated World is not a perfect release. "Devote My Life" is not listenable due to the piercing, unrelenting tone of the guitar. Sticking it in the second slot does a lot to turn away people who only have once chance to give Dir en grey. They should have gone with a guitar tone closer to "Downfall". "Ranunculus", while a great song and a good note to end the album on, has an atmosphere which doesn't fit with the album. I get the impression this track was conceived either very early or very late in the production cycle, because it stands well on its own. I also am unable to find the hook in the album opus, "絶縁体" (Zetsusentai), which I find difficult to wrap my head around. They've done this style of track more effectively with "Vinushka" and even "Diabolos", and it doesn't hold a candle to the pure atmosphere of "MACABRE". Speaking of Macabre, I also find the new version of "理由" (Riyuu) slightly inferior to the original version. The cover of the song does justice to the original by not straying too much from the melody, but they reined in the emotion of the song and the guitar solo with only a cleaner sound to compensate,  and the original version of the song sold itself on its emotion. They didn't ruin it, but they didn't improve it much. The new version of "鬼眼" (Kigan) falls into the same camp, but the much better production values edges it out ahead in the end. For the record, I much rather these safe reinterpretations than ones that butcher the song beyond recognition.
 
These interpretations are subject to change as I spend more time with The Insulated World, and perhaps catch them live one day to experience these songs in person. Even a month later, I still think I wrote this review prematurely, as there are songs still growing on me and others that I am unsure if I like or not. I am pleased overall with how this album turned out, and I can see myself listening to this album in a few years without the songs wearing thin. Dir en grey did well, and this is an album I can recommend to both long time fans and the curious, but if ARCHE did nothing for you then this won't either.
 
 
Support the artist!
iTunes | CDJapan

I like the original more, but they remake was cool as well! And yes to having aurora on repeat 😂
I did, yes. Their sound was definitely darker, and I think it was Miku’s way to move away from ancafe’s image to pursue something completely different. I liked their music, but for me, there was no spark there. What do you think?
Yes, I saw them live twice! Once in 2009, and the last time in 2014. In 2012 I decided against going to their concert because I would have had to skip at least one day at uni. A friend of mine, who lives in Berlin, went to the show, and said it was amazing. In hindsight, I think I should’ve taken the chance.
I once even accidentally caught takuya’s guitar plectrum! I just saw something flying my way and caught it out of instinct. 
I never got to see a lot of Japanese bands live, but I’m glad I had the chance to see ancafe. 

Oh, nice! Smile Ichiban Ii Onna and Escapism were the other songs I discovered on YT. Aurora is another personal favorite of mine~ I had that song play on repeat in my younger years, lol. Did you like the original Smile Ii Ichiban Onna or the remake they released in 2015?
Haha, that's a pretty apt description of their music after Bou left 😂 I always described their works as becoming "lighter", but I think glittery sounds better XD Did you ever get a chance to listen to Miku's other band, Lc5? I felt the look of that band was far from the happier/lighter sounds of AnCafe.
You were able to go to the tour they had in Europe? That's so cool! I've never had the chance to see them live. It must have been amazing! I feel the same way. They were one of my first visual kei bands, so I will definitely miss the band!

The Not So Illusive Chanteuse

I own a hamster named Rito. <3 And I lived together for some years with my sisters cats ;3; (they are CRAZY) 
 

 
 

Len is in Dadaroma huh, sweet. Also tomo looks like he jumped out of mortal kombat lol

well JUPITER were looking for a frontman just like this year, she wasn't bothered to apply

WTF (Rap Kei ) (Hip Hop Kei )
 
what wrong with the band this days XD

Sadly, I don't own any pets due to time and financial constraints, but my sister has a cute tabby cat. He's a couple of years old now, but he's still quite adorable and quiet. He's also super shy around strangers.
 

 

Hello and welcome! Great band choices, although there are just too many VK bands, aren't there? Lol.
Many people here share the same interests in lots of bands, so you'll find plenty here  If you ever have any questions, just ask around. Enjoy! 

The other two songs were smile ichinan II onna and escapism  another mixtape followed soon, introducing me to all of these amazing b-sides (ese uranai, super rabbit, Aurora, hisokyo, ame no hankagai, etc). I think that most of the songs that had not been released on one of their studio albums were among their best.
Their music definitely changed, but I had the feeling it had more to do with them trying to appease a wider audience? I think that their songs were less heavy (which is probably why they hired a keyboard player in the first place.) I’mnot saying that their old songs were less sparkly, but their third album (and first without Bou) felt more...glittery? 😂 
Me too...but I don’t have the money nor the time to travel to Japan atm. I’v been waiting for another Europe tour since 2014, and I still have got to come to terms with the fact that this is seriously it, and they will not continue to bring this joy into my life. This may sound dramatic, but their music was always with me in my teenage and young adult years, and they will be missed!

The band looks great as always! And Gara looks super snazzy in that new outfit. Too bad won’t be able to go to that live...

Whoa, that's cool. (Out of curiosity, what were the other songs on there?) A friend of mine introduced me to them with their song, Wagamama Koushinkyouku. It was later on that I stumbled across Snow Scene, and I was hooked to the band thanks to it.
 
Same here! I had only discovered them right before Bou left. I was quite shocked to find that he would leave all of a sudden. I also wonder what he was doing afterwards since he seemed to have disappeared from the music scene. Nonetheless, I'm sure he's doing well in whatever he's decided to do ^.^v  I still liked the band after he left, but their music wasn't quite the same.
 
It makes me wish I could have seen them live before the group basically disbanded. I'm sure it would have been a lot of fun.