sai

I personally think that's mainly Japan when it comes to Asia. Taiwan can be a bit more expensive than for example Korea or Singapore, but it doesn't come close to the high CD prices that Japan knows. I can't speak of other world countries, but I know that here in the Netherlands, when a CD is new, people usually pay 17 or 18 euros for it, which is approximately 23 dollars for a full album. For five dollars more, you have a Japanese album. That's mostly due too the economic crisis though. If only they'd make the new CD prices cheaper, then so many people wouldn't refrain from buying the CD eventually. What I heard is that in Japan pretty much everything except for what is necessary to live is taxed with a ridiculously high number. I think they just have one height of tax percentage, while here in the Netherlands we have three: 0%, 6% and 19%. So it's probably the high amount of tax. Well seeing as the Japanese are used to their CD prices, I don't think they'll order Korean versions of the same albums online if they can get the Japanese versions in a shop. I personally would order online, but I think it's just that the Japanese are used to these prices. Also some Japanese bands actually do have Korean versions of their CD's, which are around 15 dollars cheaper compared to the Japanese version.

You never dislike anything, do you?

LOLOL I think we found the second Zoro. The autotune So yeah I thought this preview was pretty bad. It actually made me laugh a little.

Reviving for something that happened last night. I was just lying in bed with my headphones on, when suddenly I felt this huge presence in the room closing in on me and I even got a small glimpse of a dark shadow hovering above me. Its face was incredibly close to mine and it seemed as if it had its hands on either sides of my shoulders (you know, that awkward position). It scared the hell out of me because it kept being there. When I asked in my head softly if it could move away a bit because it was frightening me, it did. I still felt it in the room afterwards though, but nothing happened after I fell asleep. I'm still wondering what it was and if it was hostile or friendly. I always kind of believed that I had a protective spirit with me because sometimes when I asked this person something it would happen in some sort of way. I'm not saying who it is because you'll probably laugh at me, but since the presence from above me disappeared so soon, it is also possible that a protective spirit got rid of it?

Hehehe. Also did anyone notice this? I had to keep in the laughter because I was watching with other people but lol that dude's face.

Vontography sounds like a normal business name to me, nothing lulzworthy or silly. Though I second Itography or Monochrome Toaster Photography

I tried this album with no expectations whatsoever. I've never been overly fond of NEGA, the main reason being Jin's vocals. All in all, I have the advantage I can get used to more unique or annoying voices rather quickly if I like the rest of the music, but with NEGA's it has been damn near impossible. I'll just warn you beforehand, this will not be a very positive review. The first problem with VANITAS is that the quality of it hasn't been divided properly. The more decent tracks follow eachother in the middle of the album, while all other bad tracks are at the beginning and the end. If they would've split them it might have sounded a bit less worse and obvious what tracks they actually tried on. Tracks like DELUGE and PURGATORY are absolutely horrendous with their BRAAAHBRAHHBRAHHH, PERESTROIKA-like breakdowns and that awful CLICKCLICKCLICK, though Yuu really toned down his bass drums for this album it seems. That's at least one positive thing. Another problem with VANITAS is that it's just not very clear what they wanted to do here. Their concept for this album was the "VANITAS world view" (and seriously if someone dares to bring up DIR EN GREY with their VANITAS world view I will shoot you in the face), but if one would make an album of a "world view", wouldn't that mean that they would try different things and different styles? For an album that shows a "world view" there isn't much of diversity here. The PV track was perhaps the closest they got to expressing their concept (with different sections in a song, but that's also rather obvious when you're making a long song. No one's waiting for a 12-minute chugfest), the rest just falls flat. You have three categories here: the BRAAHBRAAHBRAAAHH songs (such as PURGATORY, DELUGE and REASONANCE), the more melodic songs with some BRAAAAHBRAAAH sections (the 12-minute one, the one that followed before that and FABLE IN THE COLD BED and 2012) and the "what the fuck were they doing" category (GOODBYE HUMAN, 2012, V-ROCK IS DEAD). What remains is WILL, which could've been a decent ballad if only Jin didn't sound as if he's choking on a tennis ball. GOODBYE HUMAN is that attempt at metal-swing, which has gone horribly wrong. There are only few bands who can pull off this jazzy VK thing without sounding like complete retards, but it's not that bad that I'd put this in line with Lycaon's EROS. 2012 I expected to be the MOST APOCALYPTIC THING EVER BRAAAH but it was just kind of a standard pop song which once again COULD'VE been good if Jin actually bothered taking singing lessons. But then again, I do not know what the budget is that Kisaki has reserved for them. The only song that stood out for me was the 12-minute song, it had some interesting parts and I didn't find it as boring as the rest of the people, but I'm quite a sucker for long songs anyway. This is definitely not very good, so I'd rate this a 4.5/10, and then I'm really being generous. It's bad, but not yet in line with 12012's self titled, that still holds the title of worst album of 2012 for me. Seriously, you'd have to fuck out really badly if you want to equal 12012's album.

You wish. I love how everyone was so optimistic, but I knew from the start from the way they've been playing lately that it wouldn't just work. The Netherlands have a team filled with ego's while Germany actually has a team. Not to mention that the Germans actually play decent football. So even though I'm Dutch I support the Germans. And guess what: it's already 2 - 0. It took van Marwijk long enough to trade in van Bommel and Affelay for Huntelaar and van der Vaart. Waiting really wasn't smart especially when your offensive side is almost flatlining and your defense isn't that great either.

^ That is true, but if they're continuing their current direction I do not want another PLEDGE or UNTITLED. I find it to be quite strange how they split it up. Splitting it up in 2 "themes" on 2 discs fits the name DIVISION, but why only on the limited edition? Would that make the original CONCEPT of the album limited? I mean the only things that are different that you don't have the SE's and one disc, but why also switch the tracklist? Wouldn't that mix it up? Also forever disappointed if DERANGEMENT is not a four-minute chugfest.

CAT makes the best topics. Anyway can't comment on the subject since I honestly dgaf about DIR EN GREY anymore.

Have fun <3

62lSseMEBpY Full version is not yet on YouTube but it can be downloaded. This makes me want to get drunk and go dance (and eventually fight) in an Irish pub.

Welcome to the forum! Great to see another fan of A I love them! Cool to see you're into basketball, I love it but I kind of suck at it, haha. What bands do you like the most and do you have a last.fm? Also remember, you're always welcome in the mini chat

I listen to none of your listed artists, but welcome anyway! Hope you'll enjoy your time here Feel welcome to take part in the discussions in the General section!

Hope he gets better soon!

New look doesn't necessarily mean new single. I was already thinking it was for alice in pictures III.

GAZESTEP WUBWUBWUBBBBB OH MY GOD WUBWUBWUBBBB

Sounds nice! Wasn't impressed with their work after THEATER (minus SINDRA) but this sounds good! Excited for the full version!

And so is Megamasso's version, haha

Visually, yes. Music wise, please God no.

I didn't like DORADORA at all (except for the title track) so I was kind of disappointed with them. I personally think The Special for KISSme's is a huge step forward from DORADORA. Believe, Te Amo (my favourite), 인연인가 봐 and Let's Get are all good songs and even the instrumentals sound really nice! Definitely a step up

They're called opinions, but that aside I'm sure you never heard Boris' Missing Pieces? (Though I have a hard time figuring out if you perhaps forgot God Palace -Method of Inheritance-). About the song, I'm not that big on it. Instrumental wise it's ok, a bit messy sometimes but I'm glad Jin doesn't sing as much as usual.

Since I always find it interesting to review these compilations, I decided to start a review thread for the new one: Counteraction -V-Rock covered Visual Anime songs Compilation-. This is basically bands covering bands who made songs for certain animes. Since I've never watched most of those animes that were on the list (and I'm absolutely not going to), all I have is the old originals. Seeing as most of these are pretty standard anime songs anyway, I'll probably manage. The compilation starts off with a cover by NoGoD called INVOKE (original by T.M. Revolution). Due too huge amounts of lulz and funny videos, my standards for T.M. Revolution covers are quite high. I of course expected this to have a typical NoGoD sound, because they are still a band that can pull off songs and give it their own sound which will make you think: hey, this is NoGoD! I am not in the least disappointed with the final outcome. My nerves were pretty much washed away after the intro. The only thing that bothered me was the guitar at some parts, it was a bit too overused in the background. I know it tried to match the synths of the original song, but it would've been better if they had left it out. The solo however is top notch. Props to NoGoD for this cover. Next up is ギルド (GUILD), covering Nightmare's THE WORLD. ギルド is band that has not done anything new, but they are a young, fresh band with nice ideas and their own sound. When I heard they would cover THE WORLD I pretty much knew this was a perfect choice. This is a song that ギルド can use their our sound on and transfer it to a song that they pretty much could've made up on their own. Hearing the outcome of it doesn't surprise me in the least, because I already knew it was going to sound exactly like this. Once again, I am pleased. Next up is アンド's (AND) ROCKET DIVE (original by hide). This has been covered on another compilation (by Megamasso), so I was quite curious how アンド would cover this and try to make it their own. The outcome of this attempt to make it their own is...absolutely horrendous. I don't even know where to start: the drums are awful and monotonous, the typical アンド synth has been used in the most horrible way possible and the way Ikuma sings the chorus makes me cringe in multiple ways. I think the way they interpreted the song was pretty bad as well. ROCKET DIVE is a fun, rocky song, but take that fun part out and the entire song falls flat. アンド did just that, they took all of that out and tried to make it more br00tal. Also whoever does the solo needs to be shot. Megamasso pulled it better. モノクロのキス is a song I really like, as I am quite a fan of SID. Seeing DaizyStripper cover it was fun. Yugiri sometimes misses the cue, but I love how they used their typical piano sound in the intro and in the other parts of the song. I will probably not listen that much to this cover as I still prefer the original, but it is a good attempt on which you can hear they really tried to make it their own and not totally butcher it. v[NEU] is a band I never really liked for their own songs, but I must say that they can do covers pretty well. They don't really change the original that much, but adjust it just enough to give it their own sound. 真夏の扉 is another example of this. The original is a standard anime song, so there was not much to work with here. It's just a fun song with not that much going on, so this might also become quite boring after a while, but we'll see. DIAURA has been quite popular among the new VK bands (yet not as hyped MEJIBRAY), but I never really got into them that much, even though I really like the sound of their vocalist. Seeing as this song mostly focuses on his voice, I am really fond of it. What I like so far about this compilation is that the bands on it are actually TRYING to make it sound decent and not completely butcher the original by trying to make it their own completely different version. Alright, I'll take アンド as an example of how not to do covers again, like ever again. Anyway, I like DIAURA's cover, deal with it. The next one I was quite curious about. GACKT is one of the artists that got me into Japanese music, and one of these songs that did so was Lu:na. GACKT vocally totally destroys this song (in the good way), so I was quite indifferent about the fact that an oshare band like HERO with a pretty bad vocalist was going to cover it (seeing as I expected a "heavier" band (like D for example) to be doing these kind of songs). The outcome of this cover is surprising. HERO decided to not make it their own, and it's damn good that they didn't. Another example of the fact that these bands this time around AREN'T out to make their original creators cringe out in despair. The vocalist is actually really tolerable here, and he even pulls off the difficult notes. Played it safe, but a good choice to do so. 1/3の純情な感情 is a song that has been covered countless times. I've never heard of FEST VAINQUEUR, but that intro was absolutely horrendous. It gets better afterwards, but it's pretty similar to the original and the other covers. Nothing outstanding, but still a good original song, so I'll let that awful section at the beginning slide. Eventually. I hope. URGH. I never liked LM.C. Rubbish compositions, bad choruses and a vocalist with a voice that annoys me every time I listen to it. That aside, I actually love the song 88. I am so incredibly happy that this group called EVE has a vocalist with a voice that doesn't annoy me, they actually changed the riffs a little (for the better, it makes it less standard) so it kind of sounds less like an anime song. I think the original will go to the recycle bin and I'll keep this version. Very happy with this. AYABIE I CAN'T. 堕天使BLUE is great. I honestly didn't expect AYABIE to do this cover so well. Yumehito sounds great on this track, and you can definitely hear that he's been receiving vocal training. I think there's not much more to say here. OZ have been kind of bad lately, in my opinion. ハルカ… however is a great cover, even though Natsuki still sounds pretty bad at some points. After listening to them for over two years now I've overcome this part, so if you look past that it's actually a pretty nice cover. Love the guitar work on this one as well. Seeing as アンド butchered this song completely (again) on another compilation it is now up to 樹威 (Jui, ex-Vidoll) to settle the score. This version sounds like a Vidoll cover to the max, and I'm certainly not complaining about this. Jui's version sounds more fresh and exciting than whatever アンド tried to pull on that first compilation. I didn't expect this cover to be as good as it is, so props to Jui. 宇宙戦隊NOIZ is a band I never really got into, though their songs seem good to me. I don't know why I never did, I think I found them to be...too standard? I have nothing against standard, as this entire compilation is pretty much filled with standard but this is like standard standard. It's not bad at all, but I won't be replaying it that often. I love the heavier character they gave this song without destroying it though, so compliments for that one. I never liked Awoi. I never liked FOREVER LOVE. I never even liked X JAPAN. So it's pretty natural that I find this boring and awful. I have spoken, nothing more, nothing less. Overall, if I had to rate this compilation I'd give it a 8.5/10. All songs range from great to pretty good, except for アンド, which takes the cake for worst hide cover ever and the FEST VAINQUEUR one, but that was not half as bad as ROCKET DIVE. FOREVER LOVE was boring, but that was the bad stuff.

OH MY GOD MAIKU THIS SHIT IS BRILLIANT.

Damnit you beat me to it.