ShanethVarosa

I'll probably check it out, I generally enjoy their music. 

Kind of basic cover art, but I'm still excited for the single. Their last A-side was boring, but Augie I really liked their B-sides more than the A-side too.

I'm so torn who to be excited more for but I guess it's GG in this case? Idk though there are a few 2NE1 songs that I really really like (I Am The Best, Follow Me, Can't Nobody, Fire, SCREAM) I haven't enjoyed a full release by them yet. GG is basically the same for me when it comes to their Korean releases (because their Japanese albums just slay in every way imaginable) but for some reason I know GG will at least have a title track that will be really fucking great.
 
So yeah, I'll see what this'll bring.

^ TBH i'd be super pissed if it's just a mini album. After all this waiting, we get just a little mini album with 5-6 tracks. Fuck that. I think Blackjacks deserve a full album because 'To Anyone' was released.. what.. 3-4 years ago? It's time, 2NE1!

Sounds great, as per usual!!

I adored their singles earlier this year a lot. Looking forward to the new music, it's gonna be great!

Congratulations to DIV!  Having just formed last year, this is HIGHLY impressive for a debut album.  In fact, it’s just a good rock album, period!  And this is coming from someone who started off with a very lukewarm impression of the band; I didn’t care for their debut mini-album much.  The following singles showed progress, even if it was a bit inconsistent.  But this album is a totally different story.

Early on in their career, I remember thinking DIV had some composition issues (夏の行方 and its B-side had almost identical choruses; unacceptable, especially on a three song single!) and that their electronic arrangements were uninspired and lacking (especially when compared to labelmates, UNiTE).  Both of these problems seem to have been addressed over time and I can say that the band is in top form on this album.  From start to finish, it’s a pretty cohesive listen.  There’s plenty of variety with well-composed, bright pop-rock tunes like “ZERO ONE” and “Place,” as well as heavier, more melancholic tracks like “ASTERIOS” and “VANISH.”  Unlike many other VK bands that make it to the full album stage, DIV didn’t feel the need to pad their tracklist with the obligatory “experimental” mainstays we all know like out of place “jazzy” track or “heavy-repetitive-track-with-growling/screaming-throughout.”  I honestly congratulate that restraint, haha. 
 
Regarding the electronic arrangements, they’ve shown some massive progress!  Whereas their mini-album featured a totally pointless “SE” track with aimless chiptune bleeps, there’s a lovely “galactic” synth sound that permeates most of this album. Sometimes, it lends an “epic” quality to the music, while other times, it creates a fun, light atmosphere like in “Chocolate Prayer”.  As Shanethvarosa mentioned, the way “interlude” leads into “ASTERIOS” is beautiful and the subsequent chaotic screeching and “wub wub” dubsteppy sounds are actually quite nice, mainly because it's used very sparingly.  That and the autotuning (another thing I generally find obnoxious) in “Teddy” are tastefully done.
 
One of the things that really sets DIV apart from most of the VK world is Chisa’s voice.  He’s not your typical, nasally, whiny, over-exaggerated VK singer.  He has a very “normal” (yet capable) voice and somehow that works for the band and keeps them grounded.  He’s able to serenade us with dramatic ballads like “I swear,” get us moving to catchy tunes like “Chocolate Prayer,” and bring some emotion out in heavy tracks like “VANISH.”  If there’s one thing that could still use work, it’s his growling.  He sounds like he’s straining himself a little bit, sometimes like he’s “barfing” out his words, haha.  But once again, the band doesn’t overuse these screaming/growling parts, so it’s hardly a problem.

If I have any real complaints about this album, it’s the choice of old singles to include.  夏の行方 is a solid enough choice (though as unrealistic as it is, I would’ve absolutely preferred B-side 蛍火 [hotarubi]), but I find SEASONS and ANSWER to be the band’s two weakest single tracks.  “SEASONS” has so much that I should love (the twinkly, soft piano throughout), but the “hooo-oooh” background voice annoys me and I find the bouncy guitar riff that leads us into the verse (starting at about :38) to be so meh.  As Shaneth said, “TASTE OF LIFE” might’ve been a better fit, since there were some other poppy songs on the album and they worked just fine.  “ANSWER” is a track I find decent at best.  It could’ve benefited from an arrangement overhaul, considering the band’s newfound mastery of the synths, but alas… This rerecording doesn’t sound much different.  In fact, none of them really do…  The only major difference I could detect was the background arrangement of "SEASONS" sounded (unfortunately) more subdued in certain parts.

But if the album’s biggest weakness is its old songs, that’s probably a good sign of the pure progress the band is making!  

Review Breakdown:
+Great compositions; restraint shown when necessary
+Almost all of the new songs are better than the three old songs
+Cohesive sound throughout album, but with enough variety
+Chisa is a highly capable vocalist
+Wonderful improvements in the synth/electronic arrangement department
 
-Chisa could work on his growls
-Old singles are the weakest tracks; shame that two of these songs end the album

   
An extremely solid debut! Certain to make an appearance on my my Album of the Year list!

http://hiphopvomit.blogspot.ru/2013/02/index-div.html
 
 
again

We could spend all night talking about the controversial albums Madrigal de Maria and Beautiful Deformity, or we could discuss how amazing Div's debut album is. 
 
Sure, the reason why we all loved xTRiPx is because their songs walked the line between hip-hop, hard rock, and pop-rock so, so well. But let's be real. Yo-Shit's vocals have become somewhat obnoxious over the years. Where he used to sing beautifully, he mostly just rap/screams lyrics and isn't the vocalist he used to be. Meanwhile, Chisa has a beautiful voice that he utilizes in every song. He can scream lyrics well, but doesn't overdo it for no reason. 
 
Not all of their singles have been as perfect as Natsu no Yukue and Taste of Life, but I can tell they have saved their best songs for the album. From beginning to end the album emanates brilliance.
 
Vanish is an incredible way to start of the album, with beautiful vocals and a great composition that is found throughout the album in songs like the title track, Chocolate Prayer, and Place. They have some slightly more experimental songs as they get really electro-rock influenced on Teddy and Asterios, the latter of which is probably my favorite song on the album. The flow from the interlude to Asterios was perfectly executed. 
 
Their catchier songs, Miseinen and Sekirarara, are a ton of fun. I don't see too many hook-oriented songs in J-rock, and they still don't fit the bill for that, but you'll be singing the melodies and saying "Sekirarara" after listening to these songs!
 
The choices for what singles to put on the album... I totally approve. Natsu no Yukue is my favorite of their singles so far (especially considering their INCREDIBLE B-Side Hotarubi). Seasons I would've liked to see replaced by Taste of Life, and Answer is a great choice due to it being their debut promo song. 
 
Finally, they have the power-pop-rock-ballad, I Swear. The song is huge. It's long, about as long as Seasons, but the difference is it keeps you interested the whole time. It's beautifully sung and interestingly composed. 
 
Overall one of the BEST albums I've heard from any J-Rock band this year. Or the last few years. COMPLETELY out of this world.
 
5/5
 

We could spend all night talking about the controversial albums Madrigal de Maria and Beautiful Deformity, or we could discuss how amazing Div's debut album is. 
 
Sure, the reason why we all loved xTRiPx is because their songs walked the line between hip-hop, hard rock, and pop-rock so, so well. But let's be real. Yo-Shit's vocals have become somewhat obnoxious over the years. Where he used to sing beautifully, he mostly just rap/screams lyrics and isn't the vocalist he used to be. Meanwhile, Chisa has a beautiful voice that he utilizes in every song. He can scream lyrics well, but doesn't overdo it for no reason. 
 
Not all of their singles have been as perfect as Natsu no Yukue and Taste of Life, but I can tell they have saved their best songs for the album. From beginning to end the album emanates brilliance.
 
Vanish is an incredible way to start of the album, with beautiful vocals and a great composition that is found throughout the album in songs like the title track, Chocolate Prayer, and Place. They have some slightly more experimental songs as they get really electro-rock influenced on Teddy and Asterios, the latter of which is probably my favorite song on the album. The flow from the interlude to Asterios was perfectly executed. 
 
Their catchier songs, Miseinen and Sekirarara, are a ton of fun. I don't see too many hook-oriented songs in J-rock, and they still don't fit the bill for that, but you'll be singing the melodies and saying "Sekirarara" after listening to these songs!
 
The choices for what singles to put on the album... I totally approve. Natsu no Yukue is my favorite of their singles so far (especially considering their INCREDIBLE B-Side Hotarubi). Seasons I would've liked to see replaced by Taste of Life, and Answer is a great choice due to it being their debut promo song. 
 
Finally, they have the power-pop-rock-ballad, I Swear. The song is huge. It's long, about as long as Seasons, but the difference is it keeps you interested the whole time. It's beautifully sung and interestingly composed. 
 
Overall one of the BEST albums I've heard from any J-Rock band this year. Or the last few years. COMPLETELY out of this world.
 
5/5
 

OMG
 

 
                             

Just saw this now. 
 
I actually am pretty much disemboweling Aoi Mochi and RoseOfHizaki. Y'all bitches better pay homage to the true God of this world.
 
The album is amazing, better than your faves tbqh. 
 
And Nick you know BETTER than to mention that whiny dog in this thread.

I would like to second nekkichi in the wondering who is shaping their artistic direction because it seems like such a weird... off-the-deep-end translation of sound, which didn't work on recent releases for me, but...
 
I thought THIS release was excellent. Maybe it is mediocre by some standards, when you compare it to some of 12012's greatest songs... Obviously it doesn't really compare, but I think this is a huge improvement from their most recent atrocities unto my eardrums. I was highly skeptical of Chaboo-Chaboo... Or whatever it is. Because I think it's a dumb name and the preview showed the worst part of the song, but even that was good to me. Like, the title track, EP opener, and Door to the Sky really did it for me. Sorry if this ends up being the unpopular opinion, but if they did more like this I'd be down.

Limited edition best come with a handy j.
 
I am just not here for artists charging so much for their albums. It tasted like acid when I bought Versailles's albums for like 40$ a pop. Bought Hora's for about that too..... It's just like... Unreal. Seriously, is there some really awesome bonus to the Limited and that's what it's like 85$

This single is going to take a massive, steaming, curly dump all over Jupiter's entire album.

This single is going to take a massive, steaming, curly dump all over Jupiter's entire album.

Well..... At least they look fantastic!
 
Nostalgie is way better than Scarlet which is absolutely boring as hell and sounds exactly like Aria to me.

Really excited about this. Idec I love cheesey vampire goth tranny shit. I'm so ready.

chorus......   

Just wanted to throw my two cents in, but I gotta say I almost 100% agree with Sai on the details of how Kamijo's voice evolved, but I found that Holy Grail was his worst period and I don't know what that was attributed to. But I think for the last era of the band his voice was fine. I mean yeah maybe average, but average was definitely accepted over Holy Grail which just had a LOT of bland moments where Kamijo didn't sound as totally GLORIOUS as it did on the first two albums and EP. Regardless, his work on the self-titled last album was flawless. He sounded great, just in time for him to start up his solo project with the voice he used on either Jubilee or Versailles.
 
Like someone else mentioned, I really don't think "Versailles" is dead, I think they're just doing other projects and in the future they may reunite. Who knows? I don't. But for now let's enjoy Kamijo's solo project and Jupiter.
 
I was taken aback by this news at first because it was so soon after Versailles initial disbandment, but I think this really did test my love for the musicians themselves apart from the name of "Versailles" if you know what I mean. Like of course I loved V's theme and atmosphere, but it wouldn't have been what it was if it didn't have the amazing individual musicians. 
 
That being said, a what-is-essentially-Versailles without Kamijo is going to be different and interesting, but I am totally ready to hear a full song and hear how the voice sounds. Hopefully he's at least good because I already KNOW I'm going to love the instrumentalists.

lol, that's not what i was talking about silly
 
@shaneth nice summary!

The Flawless:
Matenrou Opera's Kassai to Gekijou no Gloria
m-flo's Neven
 
The Wonderful: 
Tegan & Sarah's Heartthrob
A's Shiroi Akuma/Sakura
Demi Lovato's Heart Attack
NoGoD's V
Sori's Dual Life
alice nine.'s Daybreak
Fall Out Boy's My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark/The Phoenix
Azealia Banks's Barely Legal (with The Strokes)
Rin's Reflect of Killing Fleur
Luminous by Satsuki
Avalon by Mejibray
 
The Good:
Satsuki's Luminous
Div's Sotsugyou
Koda Kumi's Color the Cover
Galeyd's Revolution
Namie Amuro's Big Boys Cry
30 Seconds to Mars's Up in the Air
Sadie's Soukoku no Tsuya
2NE1's We'll Take the World On
Selena Gomez's Rule the World
Boomerang by Nicole Scherzinger
Scums by Nightmare
Die Kusse by Mejibray
Disturbance by BoA
 
The GOD NO:
Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience
SNSD's I Got A Boy
TVXQ's Time
Azealia Banks's Yung Rapunxel
Lil Wayne's I Am Not A Human Being 2

Not gonna lie, this has been my favorite alice nine. single in years upon years. The sound of this single makes me think of the Alice in Wonderland EP they did like... what 6 years ago now? It's melodic and a little pop/rock and a LITTLE bit dance rock, which I always ALWAYS like. I think this one is way more memorable than any of the singles from "9" or Gemini. While both of those albums were pretty decent, they didn't hold a candle to Alpha for me and I think that if we get an alice nine. album this year, it may be on par with Alpha with a lead single like this. I'm not even ready for Shadowplay because I'm still so in love with this song.
 
Fantastic job a9, 5/5

Oh.
My.
God.
I'm actually tearing up from excitement. PLEASE COME BACK TO ME!!!!
/weeaboomoment
Sorry but this is incredible news.

Sure, here it is:
 

 
Couldn't find a way to download it from their OHP, so I've just captured the whole page with print screen and edited out the rest. Hopefully someone can deliver a better version later.