ShanethVarosa

I'm EXTREMELY curious about this. First of all, if UCP isn't closing until March and this release is in December... Then is this single going to be released through UCP? If it is, then I'm guessing the new songs will be a lot like Chariots's previous releases (of which I liked almost 100%). However, if it IS on UCP then what is the fate of Chariots after UCP ceases activities? Will Riku abandon that too? And if he does and Kisaki is no longer producing for Chariots anymore then will Riku have more free range to try and experiment with new styles? Personally... The Hikari Hai Yami single releases and the Ashu single did nothing for me. So I'm kind of hoping it's more like the Yuigadokuson-themed releases. Before I ramble too much though, I'm glad to see the project back whatever the circumstances. I could probably listen to Riku sing the phonebook.

I WANT ANOTHER mar maroon PLEASE!!! Another mar maroon!? Please god no! As bad as their self-titled. Another SEVEN or diamond please. I don't think Mar Maroon was bad at all. In my opinion, it was an album that was totally out of left field for them, like their self-titled one was, but Mar Maroon was much better because pop/rock is better for me than pseudo-death metal. BUT, I digress. As much as I like Mar Maroon, I would also prefer another Seven. That album was super cool.

Honestly, I didn't read the whole topic. I'm just going to say my piece and see what people have to say about it: I am personally in to both, but I think K-Pop is a natural progression when you're into the Asian culture AND into dance/pop music. I know that in my life, having fun and going dancing is one of my favorite things to do so I like having nice beats and rhythms to dance to. I much prefer Japan to Korea on any day of the week, but J-Pop never captured me the way K-Pop did because I think there's better producers in Korea or something. Or Korean women are better singers than Japanese women. I don't know for certain, it has a je ne sais quoi that J-Pop just does not have. But I will say this: the boy bands in K-Pop are NOT my thing. They're gorgeous, yes, but overall their talent is extremely questional. SHINee has to be my favorite (oh and CNBlue is pretty awesome), but other than that... Every guy group fails me and I think it's because they make women's ovaries explode and it isn't about the actual dancing, fun-having, or music anymore. Whereas with the women groups (and BoA), they have lightyears more talent in terms of singing where there is, on average, less abhorrent use of autotune. And I mean come on. 2NE1 is just fucking cool. My love for VK is completely unrelated to my (extremely mild) K-Pop fascination.

Dir en grey all the way. They have more albums with better material. the GazettE always has that potential for greatness (works cited: Ruthless Deed, 13 Stairs - 1, Chizuru, Cassis, Filth in the Beauty, Distress and Coma, Headache Man), but consistently lets me down on a more grand scale than they impress me. Every single Dir album has at least 5 tracks that are fucking fantastic.

Really digging the new look. Hopefully this means a new single and a totally new era for this band. That las album was just a total shit mess.

Holy shit balls!! I can honestly say I'm extremely surprise. I truly hope to see Megaromania and Rin move on from This to other labels and continue making music. Highly anticipating further info.

Ever since I read about Kyo's complaints about God (to give it a soft name so to speak) I stopped lstening to Dir en grey. I mean one can agree or disagree, believe or not believe in God, but that doesn't give us the right to cross the line whether it be about christianity, buddhism and/or any other beliefs. So is it safe for someone so concerned about this topic to get this material by Lin? You have the right to express your honest opinion, you can't blame the artist for criticizing a god, making fun about one or whatever the case is. It is your fault if you happened to be offended, nobody forced you to listen to the song. Since he/she isn't going directly towards YOU, but just religion in general, there's nothing to be offended about. Fine if religion is to be respected, no problem, but so should the right to speak of your mind. And if your mind isn't on line with the whole god thing, then so be it. *applause*

Judging by Kisaki's alleged ego, I don't know it's 100% respectful. But a psalm is a song, so I'm thinking it's not religious commentary. Just... Ya know.... What it really is.

I pick Versailles because they're 100% more powerful than Lareine. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Lareine fan, but they don't get me excited nearly as much as Versailles does. Their music is if I want to chill out. Versailles is to get me pumped and excited and... let's face it, out of bed in the morning.

Finally got around to reading the translation. That really is an enormous shame, the man had such incredible talent.

Fucking awesome. I lol'd for real. I didn't check out the "band" with the "demo", but I sincerely do not doubt that people listened to it and thought it was good simply because it's VK. What people need to do is broaden their horizons and try and change their perspectives on artists as they grow. Art and music are never static. That's why when people started giving D'espairsRay shit I never understood why because it's not like Hizumi's voice is less good, it's not like Karyu forgot how to play the guitar it's just their sound changed a little... Try and grow with the artists you claim to be a fan of and if you're trying out new artists never strictly listen because you only listen to VK music. The genres one of my favorite because of the visuals, but let's face it. When listening to the music you don't necessarily see them. So the talent has to be there. Just some food for thought, but I totally applaud this trollfest!

Well fuck.

I have a couple of minutes before I head down to Philly so I figured I'd write a brief review to get the ball rolling. Personally I thought it was a good album, I mean not their best work, but definitely far from their worst. I did enjoy the concept of splitting up the more industrial rock (if that's what you'll call it. I'd even maybe say electro rock) from the ... somewhat ballad-esque songs. The SEs were pretty well done, for what they were, but I would say my favorite tracks are Kage Fumi, Yoin, Required Malfunction and Dripping Insanity with special mentions to Derangement and Kago no Sanagi which were both really good in their own way. Ibitsu, Attitude, and Gabriel on the Gallows were all also good in their own ways but need to grow on me through more listens. The autotune was much better placed on this album, but I think it might be trying to hide that Ruki's voice MAYBE is not as good as it used to be (just my humble musings). The aspect I enjoyed most of this album were there were no songs on the album that I said "Oh god no, this is terrible" to, but the part I liked the least is there were no songs that totally and completely blew me away in the way that Ruthless Deed, 13 Stairs -1, and Chizuru did from the last three albums.

^That would be fantastic if we had some variation. Don't get me wrong, I've loved just about every song this particular band has put out... Mostly because they've all had a degree of similarity to them. But as a musician, Kisaki is great and I know that if it is different style of music it won't be so different that it's bad and unlike him.

I didn't even think of that! Omg now I'm laughing in class.

Hmm. An EP entirely of new material... I am very excited by this.

I mean yeah, I totally get that, it makes the most sense; but I can't even believe he has the TIME for that ya know? Yoshiki is always tweeting about X recording for the new album and I honestly don't know what the hell Luna Sea is doing. (Touring then not, announcements that ALWAYS seem to be a tour and never any new material) I actually don't even listen to his solo project. I've tried a couple of times, but didn't like any of it.

Okay, I love this man and everything, but what the hell is going on? In the last few years he's done so much more solo than he has with Luna Sea and X Japan who are both rumored to be working on albums. Is there just something I'm totally ignorant of? If so, please enlighten me.

I don't think the photoshop in the regular edition is THAT bad, but the delux edition I a load of bollocks. I really don't think they're trying at all and can't wait to just be done. I really wonder what happened because they were always so good together.

Oh I see. Well I actually rather like the standard edition version. The delux looks sloppy to me.

Isn't that just a promo pix and NOT the album art?

I'm really loving that song "The City", shows that he has immense talent to bring to the table. I'm also loving all the other producers too. Zedd is a fucking God. If he were to be the main producer of the album, I'd love it. Furthermore, the song about pot I'm thinking was titled Gypsy Hotel... Or Hotel Gypsy. Or something. Or I'm totally wrong. One of the four.

I don't have the time right now to do a big, long track-by-track; but I will say this: I really loved the album. The thing about AYABIE and me is my fandom of them is incredibly shaky. They may, in my opinion, do a great song every so often. After Aoi left I really thought that was the end for the band, but then I heard Yumehito's voice on Virgin Snow Color -2nd Season- and was like... Okay, all isn't lost, BUT they need to do more than constant electro rock and ANSWER was the answer. (lol... punz) When each single came out, again, there were high points and low points (SICs I have to say is my least favorite Ayabie song, maybe in general). And the fact that this album was legitimately 13 tracks and 5 new songs threw me for a loop, but the singles were decent. Merry-Go-Round, Kakusei Sprechchor, Reflector and Ryuusei were all good songs in and of themselves; but probably my favorite parts of the singles were Season and Hero. Also, I loved the prelude to the album... I liked it's traditional Japanese feel. Then there was Koma, Love Song, and Niji. I liked them a lot, but they weren't my favorite. What I simply cannot get enough of is Paradise Paradox and Rise. I totally and completely love them and agree with Daggi_x that it's basically the successor to Cubic[L/R]ock. Overall, I'd say a 8.5 or 9/10 is in order for this.

*sigh*

Definitely very very good, very enjoyable. I'm not 100% on board with the voice yet somehow, but I don't hate it either. Leda is pretty much why I'm here.