*littlelamb

Shit. Also one HIM album I've played aproximately one time. They were the rage back then and I bought it without knowing what kind of shit I was in for.

Love that song!

Ohhh when did they release an album? I was waiting for it. Yayay. I'm still not sure whether the vocalist is a he or a she actually. I mean at first glance it looks like a drag queen (and the band is called Queen Bee), but the other members are female, so maybe it's just a very masculine female. No really, he/she confuses me.

This is Merry we're talking about. They make so many kickass songs they simply don't have room for them. They have songs they've never recorded and only play live from time to time that are awesome, their B-sides are amazing and even random songs attached to their history books and limited DVD's are unmissable. Anyway, they said this was made specifically for the tour and just recently recorded, so it's representative of current Merry. Hope we'll get to hear it.

Who are these people and why do they think this is a good idea? And why do they have a song called FREAKS A GO!GO!? Damn.

For me there's good music and then there's bad music and pretty much nothing in between. So I can't pick single bits and pieces. BUT -Power metal -Trash metal -Anything with pointless shredding. I mean making music should about MAKING MUSIC, not showing off how much you've practiced. Because I don't care. Either you're born with creative musicality or not, practice won't give it to you. -Trance -Sounding like other bands. Unless you can bring something new to the table or at least your own heart then don't bother. -Idiots. But I've yet to be drawn to anything made my those, so I guess it's impossible to hide.

What they have a new album?! Where have I been?

Közi: http://www.kozi-info.com/index03.html

Both of those covers are awesome. Anyway, Merry can only make this better. Interested in hearing more.

It sounds pretty amazing to me.

Yay.

Noooo! ;_; Well this sucks.

Everyone who? People with no taste? As for their sales, they were the highest during M.E.R.R.Y. (>10k in a week) and its singles (>14k for Komorebi), since that's when they were the "poppiest", and Saihate Parade was some anime ending song I think. But then they decided to head into the opposite direction much to the chagrin of their major label and the sales have been declining since. After the switch to FW they've sold the least since their indie days, well actually Yakou sold less than Tamerai Suffle/T.O.P. The long gap between releases plus all the changes drove away fans for sure. Though selling two versions of a single instead of three probably has an effect as well.

It's the same for most VK bands. Except the ones who've turned J-pop recently, they're selling better than ever. I don't know if you guys ever follow Oricon charts, but it's like the idol groups at the top sell 100,000-500,000 during their first week and then below them the sales drop exponentially. #10 is like 10,000, #20 maybe 5,000 and #50 is lucky to have >1,600. It's a crazy industry. Not sure who's making money off it, except SID, Dir and the Gazette.

Oh yay.

Someone needs to stop reading jrocknyc. That cover looks so cheap and cheesy. Perfect for VK that is.

Exactly this. I was such a big fan during their first two albums. Now I can't really stand Martin's voice or accent. That's really the only band I can think of.

This is one band whose songs should be listened to at least 20 times before reviewing. Because 90% of them are growers. That said, I really like Yakou. It's one of the least Merry-esque songs ever melodywise, but it works. As much as I love Gara, I always listen to the guitars most of all with this band, so this song pleases me. The guitars are clever, though differently than before. They also work so well with the drums. I know I'm listening to Merry, when I can't sit still for even a second. Lost Generation -replay- is really cool. I like how they made it sound so BALZAC. On purpose obviously. Can't say it's better than the original since the original is just so awesome, but it got a bit more oomph and it's punkier, so I dig it. When you have the best in the business mixing your stuff, you just can't not remake a song like this. TAIHAI -mix- is eargasmic. It's not even a remix, it's a totally different acoustic arrangement, so calling it a remix is inaccurate. I adore acoustic Merry and would pay shitloads for an album with just Yuu and Gara performing stuff acoustically. They are so gorgeous at it. And the guitars on this track are so so pretty. The beat is really sexy and having Gara whispering in my ear on top of that... life = complete. Oh and I love how they manage to give everything just the right amount of edge, which is the case with Gara's vocals here. So in short, single makes me happy.

Most visually pointless visual band ever.

I'm dead serious. There's the slow version and the faster version, but essentially they all have the same melody and that's my biggest pet peeve in music. Add to that the vocalist's weak voice that sounds like it's gonna go off the rails at any moment and I honestly can't see the appeal of this band at all. Well no, I get the fact that they put some traditional flair in their music that may seem original, but it stops being original fast when you do the same thing in each song. But good luck to them with whatever they plan to do.

I would get sick of making and performing the same song for 12 years as well.

That was disgusting. Sounds like every other American poppunk band with some godawful electronics thrown into the mix. *barf*

Yeah, still standing by the opinion that VK vocalists ruin their throats by not singing with their natural voice. All those peeps alter their voice while singing and I'm not referring to growling. Well maybe not Isshi, but he has a weak voice for a singer anyway. That said, lynch. is one of the instrumentally blandest, most hookless "jrock" bands out there. How in the world are they gonna perform without pretty Hazuki? This sounds like a terrible idea.

That was the funniest Kiyoharu impersonation I've ever seen/heard. I mean come on. Real deal (not that I'm even a fan): GSCOlHEFftE

What in the world are you on about? Not that I don't think he sounds good there as well, but go listen to the Budokan lives for example, their latest DVD, Kyo sounds pretty damn great these days. Compared to before. Compared to what you seem to dig, he sounds like a choir of angels.