doombox

"Dir en gay" is probably one of the oldest ones I remember.
"Gay-zette" Too easy tho...
"Giruga-mess"
"Fuck-Dick" for Buck-Tick
"suck-it-kyo" sukekiyo
 
There's also a joke for Spanish speakers when you call LM.C by their full name as Lovely Mocochang because it translates to "Lovely booger-chang".

It's amazing how polished they are, musically and visually. I really can't say I know another band doing this style as well as they are and a full album of originals would send me over the moon. Not that I even knew that they were in fact covers in the first place but shhhhh.

Artist: DEZERT Album: 「タイトルなし」 Score: Sometimes, you just want some DEZERT before dinner.  
 
DEZERT fall under the umbrella of “up-and-coming” visual-kei bands influenced by earlier acts— “homage-kei,” if you will—with “friend bands” Grieva and AvelCain. Grieva is on the far left of the spectrum, providing the most old-school-meets-modern-day sound; DEZERT is on the far right, as they are the heaviest of the three and mix later influences, such as Merry, Lynch., and D’espairsRay with nü-metal; AvelCain is in the middle, drawing on influences from turn of the century~mid 2000’s bands while remaining as a happy medium between the two styles of the other groups in question. All three have similarities, such as dark themed music and resounding feelings of angst, which provide a modern twist on the visual stylings of days past. In addition, these bands appear to tour with each other quite often and have even participated in some beautiful photo collaborations. Of this trinity, DEZERT is actually the least discussed aspect on MH, even though they are actually the oldest (and last to release a full LP). So, how does 「タイトルなし」 hold up to other visual-kei releases of this year?
Originally, titled “嘔吐ニ関スル勅語(outo ni kansuru chokugo)”, an abrupt name change to「タイトルなし」 ("Untitled"), generated a bit of anxiety amongst fans. As this band has released a handful of singles and 2 mini-albums before now, I was fairly concerned that an uninspired album title would pave the way for an album taking a page out of 朱’s (Suzaku) book—in case you’ve gotten, they had a whole album with only 4 new songs, 1 of which was a short intro. Thankfully, this album did not fall for the enticing, lowly hung, fruit and pulled a lynch. by releasing an album made of entirely new material out of nowhere. From the get-go, it dishes out hard-hitting tunes in their Sunday best nü-metal style, presented in a way that is 3~4 steps above the quality of their previous releases. As someone who didn’t care for their two previous works, 精神科医(拒食症)のスナッフフィルム集 (Seishinkai(Kyoshokushou)no SNUFF FILM Shuu) and 特製・脳味噌絶倫スープ〜生クリーム仕立て〜 (Tokusei・Noumiso Zetsurin SOUP～Nama CREAM Shitate～), and somehow always found something preventing me from really digging these guys, I went into this album rather aloof. With the start of “----,“ I immediately lost my jaded / faded disposition. Finally, this had done it for me.
One of my immediate thoughts while listening to this album was that fans of early Mucc will probably dig this. The first two songs, “----“ and “「嘔吐」“ (Outo) are both short, but heavy, numbers with a ton of emphasis on bass. It’s nice to hear a visual-kei song, let alone two songs, with this dynamic—usually there is a lot of guitar wankery and soloing for the sake of soloing. Here, SaZ steals the show, while キラ-Kira- supports this bass-driven melody with brooding guitar harmonies. In terms of vocals, those lovely aesthetical vocals from “「眩暈」” (Memai) are back, but quickly turn turbulent at the start of “「嘔吐」,” which I suppose is where 千秋-Chiaki- vomits his feelings, aptly happening in song who’s name translates to “vomiting.” What works really well here is that after guttural part, the melody of the song returns to the original theme, showing that these songs are of the same idea.
A good chunk of this album is in the band’s typical style—still in the realm of nü-metal, mixed with a bit of –core and angsty “ZETSuBOu!!!” delirium we’ve all come to know and love from the early 2000’s. If bands like Mucc, Kagerou, and Vidoll—groups that often used heavy verses and a poppy chorus, sometimes paired with mumbling or frantic breathing—spark some feelings of nostalgia, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. “「殺意」,” (Satsui) the promo track for this album, falls into aforementioned category, is typical DEZERT in a slightly more disjointed form. One strength here is that “「殺意」” has quotable lyrics. However, the flow of how he says "satsui" eight consecutive times is awkward: with a 4/4 time signature over a chorus in a different tempo and key, it sounds disjointed. Since the pv showed up, I was not into this song for whatever reason. Listening to it in the context of the album, I do like it a bit better, but it is far from the best track on here.
“Infection”, “「教育」,” (Kyouiku) “脳姦少年,” (Noukan Shounen) “doze.,” fall into this category as well, ordered from least preferred to most. “Infection” felt like a filler track to me; “「教育」” is more of the same heavy verses with poppy chorus –core song that I’ve heard before that is almost redeemed with some neat riffage; “脳姦少年” has some interesting Merry-like guitar work going on, albeit the chorus is really weak; and “doze.” sounded like something off of –OZ-‘s Versus, which was cool. I would also like to note that “doze.” has the frantic mumbling motif going on during one of the breakdowns. Nothing like a breakdown in your breakdown |D
DEZERT also threw in some lighter songs here as well, which is fairly new for them. I personally did not care for them myself, but, if those are your cup of tea, be sure to check out “さぁミルクを飲みましょう。” (Saa MILK wo Nomiamshou) (a more melancholy ballad about drinking milk), “「軽蔑」” (Keibetsu) (fairly straightforward indie / ojisan rock song), and “-26時の冷凍庫-” (26ji no Reitouko) (which is a decent piano outro). Without these tracks to break up the flow, this album would have undoubtedly been exhausting to listen to.
In addition to the first two songs, there were a few songs that I did really enjoy. The first is “胃潰瘍とルソーの錯覚” (Ikaiyou to ROUSSEAU no Sakkaku) : where did this Matina-styled riffage come from? From the get-go, this song has a mesmerizing draw. What’s interesting here is that this isn’t just an old-school revival song, it actually mixes a few different genres around in a way that I haven’t often come across before, especially in visual indie bands. Somehow “胃潰瘍とルソーの錯覚” sounds like a mix of Madeth Gray’ll and 鴉 (Karasu) and it works, gawddamit. I enjoyed the airy and wistful chorus, as well as how this song played on some new ideas that are not just dissident chugging. “「擬死」” (Gishi) is another powerful track. This song is one of their slower ~ mid-tempo’d numbers that brings back what DEZERT does best: creepy atmospheres that build into an angry mash-up of rage and smeared eye shadow. My favorite part is the guitar riff paired with a vocal melody that gently progresses upward in pitch as the tension in the song swells – phrasing like this is something visual-kei is in dire need of. Every so often, “「擬死」” gets quiet and then explodes into a break down with千秋-Chiaki- freaking the fuck out. Not to be shady, but Kaya could not.
Overall, this album is a decent debut for DEZERT, especially as a band who isn’t actually new and has quite a few releases prior to this. On the plus side, none of their earlier material is featured on here. On the down side, there isn’t enough of a change in style amongst the songs presented here that I never felt like “yeah, I’ve heard something like this before.” In comparison to the rest of their discography, the maturity they’ve shown here is enough to not feel like this was more of the same, but I would have been far more impressed had I not heard their earlier works before. With that being said, this is one of the best visual-kei albums I’ve heard this year. If you’re in the mood to feel your angst-kei oats, give this one a spin.

Let's take this from the beginning. If you did a simple japanese language search you'd discover most of these terms are actually used in some fashion. Maybe not as distinctly as foreign fanbase likes to think, but that doesn't make them useless. Maybe just slightly more narrowed than originally intended.
 
In any subgenre in any country.... they are only "pure" in the beginning when they are very small. After they spread they are going to begin crossing over and taking influence from surrounding scenes that they meet along the way. The genres can't help but to cross-pollinate. I don't see how trying to distinguish visual kei genres is any more useless than trying to pigeon hole modern metal or punk or indie rock. They're all all over the place these days. Secondly, certain genres listed have to do with the region they came from, ex. Nagoya kei... a huge portion of the "nagoya kei" bands I listen to are "kurofuku kei" bands as well. Since the location has very little to do with the actual style. The thing is, nagoya kei became it's own thing when bands from that area became known for certain things like dark/heavy music, dark images, and intense live shows. And this doesn't mean any band from nagoya has to follow suit. coldrain for example isn't even a vk band but falls under nagoya kei.
 
Per your example, Diaura then falls under the crossover genre of "koteosa". I don't understand what's hard to understand about crossover bands? They aren't exclusive to visual kei either, I mean metalcore as a genre was born from heavy metal and hardcore punk crossover. But Diaura can't have oshare and kote visuals? hmmm...
 
Over-labeling of genres also isn't a problem exclusive to visual kei, either. I feel like you contradict yourself here. You admit that scenes exist where certain quirks define that scene, then you turn around and say it's all just rock or it's all just visual kei. That's the entire meaning behind a "subgenre" in the first place. Yes, it's all rock, but it can be further defined by certain things, and the argument comes from who defines it and why. People who come from different regions will always argue this. 
 
I fail to see how subgenres detract from the larger exploration of the heritage of visual kei as a whole? That's an entirely different discussion, tbh. Each one of your questions could warrent it's own thread but it's definitely off topic from what's being discussed here, which is simply which subgenres of vk people enjoy. Maybe some people are taking this poll far too seriously...

I still love most of the ones in the 'bad' sections but supporting and upping both Jun Togawa and Shinsei Kamattechan as well for such good WTF-inducing vocals! Love them so much, I was already prepared to bring them up until I read through the thread ehe.
 
As for contributing, I do have a 'bad' one. As soon as I saw the thread, I thought, 'I actually have one I can safely say even I can only listen to for a bit and then must take one hell of a long ass break from it.' xD
Tokami's Agato, newest vocalist. He sounds just.. so bad... And not only to me either, he seems quite popular to the fans for being pretty bad as a singer haha. And yet, we still love it. xD

The Worst
ミサルカ (Misaruka) - Rosary
This song was made for this thread. As if watching what's-his-face's over-acting (yes, even for VK) weren't enough, the vocals on this new track are even worse: so confusingly terrible. Here's a summary of some of the most egregious parts:
-Pathetic growl that goes on for waaaaaay too long
-"Having a seizure" vocals at :54
-Forced deep vocals at 1:02
-Awful VK vibrato at 1:50
-The sneeze (??) at 3:10

The fact that the production simply plops the vocals on top of everything just makes it worse.

At the first oneman they played a total of twelve songs

Well, these are the ones it has listed... I'll try my best to translate their descriptions a bit(some of the names are changed around a little):
 
kote-kei: Short for kotekote visual-kei. Visually characterized by gorgeous clothes and thick makeup. Musically, there are beautiful melodies and profound performances. There's often a member who disguises themselves as a woman and is called the oyama(female impersonator).
 
osare-kei: Derived from the word "oshare", meaning "fashionable". Visually characterized by bright/glittering makeup and colorful clothes. The style is heavy with poppy, danceable music.
 
soft visual(sofuvi): Abbreviated term, meaning "soft visual-kei". Though it looks like osare-kei, it's closer to street fashion. They use natural makeup and wear brand clothes. Vocal melody is highly valued in the music.
 
missitsu-kei/basement-kei: This term comes from cali≠gari's label "Missitsu Neurosis". It's a sort of generic term for bands with a similar atmosphere which played alongside cali≠gari. A defining feature of these bands are their surreal performances.
 
kuro-kei: Generally speaking... BLACK! BLACK! BLACK! Enamel, rivets, and leather all over. Most of the bands intensely perform loud metal music.
 
cosplay-kei: They wear clothes that look like they've leapt straight out of anime and games. Whether by armor, kigurumi(animal/mascot costumes) or any sort of uniform, they are always excessively decorated.
 
shironuri-kei: White grease paint and makeup like the work of an artist is used. Traditional Japanese clothes and Showa-era clothing are often worn. It has a very distinctive atmosphere.

I have to vote 9mm. I think they are way foreigner friendly if you're not used to voices like TK's. I know that was the case for myself, anyway. I prefer deeper voices as a general rule. I think 9mm also has a little more pop appeal, though I'm not as well versed in Sigure to say they don't have it, I just never heard it as much in their singles. They're both really great bands though so this is one of those kind of questions where there is no wrong answer. 

Gravitation was the best thing I've heard from girugamesh in a while now. I was kind of expecting more of the same from them and it was nice to hear them branching out a little bit and  getting kind of heavy again. And it spawned Ryo making those hilarious "covers". That was one of the most entertaining things I've experienced in jrock all year. lol.

Day 3 - Girugamesh - Gravitation

Release Date: 2014-09-24
Label: Danger Crue
Genre: Rock/Metal
Impressions by @Ito

Impressions by

Sample song:

Buy the album:
CDJapan | YesAsia | iTunes

I like what I've heard from To overflow evidence - there's one song of theirs that I really love, but I'm not feeling the vocals from nim.
 

Artist: TK from 凛として時雨 Single: Fantastic Magic Score: Fantastic Magic? You bet it is!
TK from 凛として時雨(Rin Toshite Shigure), male vocalist of said band, presents his second solo album titled Fantastic Magic. 凛として時雨 and TK’s solo works are indie rock and alternative, but both units also utilize the genre of shoegaze, making them incredibly interesting. As TK breaks away for a solo effort from his band formed way back in 2002, he successfully creates a wild and dramatic ride sure to please all our musical needs.

The album starts with “Fantastic Magic.” Our ears are exposed to thrashing drums and quick piano keys playing along to strumming of guitars along with TK’s whimsical vocals calling out to us between the pauses. As soon as the song’s in full flow, it’s a manic musical racecourse, building up to the chorus where we hear TK’s sincerest shouts we’ve been waiting for. The single “unravel,” featured as the opening for anime Tokyo Ghoul is up next, the song many listeners look for. It gets any listener pumped up for what’s coming next. Thanks to the cluster of violins, drums and guitars playing together, and the emotional drive of TK’s helpless tone, “unravel” is a gripping song. Along with the tuneful build up to the end, we’re hit by TK’s desperate shrieks after the first chorus. Not only is it fitting for the anime tie-in, it’s a perfect fit to TK’s signature musical style with the mixture of high and low vocalisation, creating a quick, pulse-racing track.

Being a more beat oriented track, “kalei de scope” builds up tension and the emotional chaos is slowed down. The tiny taps of piano with small segments of drum beats, guitar strings, and electric beats all mix into a mesmerizing piece of music. The abrupt end makes you want more. “an artist” contrasts with previous tracks, sounding far more hopeful. TK doesn’t raise much of his voice in the song and it’s is definitely the calming point of the album. With piano backing the band, its melody is enchanting. In small sections, the music may completely halt so we can only hear TK’s echoing, breathy vocals. This creates a haunting tone, never stopping in dragging the listener in.

TK’s tone in “tokio” is just as emotionally breath-taking as his shrieks. He captures us, being entrapped and torn by his vocal work. An impressive acoustic track, it shows us just how emotional his unique voice is. A piano is used throughout this song which continues into the upcoming track. The stunning ballad “Shinkiro” features the equally child-like, innocent sounding singer Chara. The track is distinctive because of the added vocals and emotions. The fluid sounds of acoustic guitar, drums and bass doesn’t make the song overbearing or sleep inducing. The imperfection of both vocalists’ voices creates a modest and honest song which is chilling to the bone. There’s a sense of gentleness and warmth with the duo of sweet sounding voices.

The album version of “Dramatic Slow Motion” now begins to refill the tank after the few resting tracks, which is a thrilling ride, effectively building up throughout by the instrumental involvement to create a dramatic and racing tune that delivers an electrical current until the end. “Spiral Parade” is instantly a toe tapping number. Catchy and addicting. This track welcomes you to dance while rocking out. TK keeps his unique tune as the violin playing within the chorus adds another layer of chaos below the electronic beats and taps. The louder the music gets, the more instruments become involved, including random piano keys playing and steady beats from a drum.

TK takes on another soothing song, entitled “fragile.” The track is just as atmospheric as the ballads beforehand. What can now be noticed is how strained TK’s voice can be when he sings in a lower tone. This may put many listeners off the acoustic/ballad sounding tracks due to how piercing it can be. However, that’s where the source of magic can be most noticed. The irregularity of TK’s vocals creates the much needed melancholic feeling. “contrast” mashes various pieces of instruments very smoothly to create a tuneful closing. Starting off with only the piano, it quickly becomes very pleasing to listen to. We’re given everything TK’s offered us throughout the album in this final track alone. It’s atmospheric in the verses and bridges then energetic as soon as the chorus hits us. And when it does, it’s stunning. The instruments play harmonically together into a dramatic finish and TK’s vocals never slip up. It’s very worthy of being the album closer.

In conclusion, what we have here is a gem. Listeners who haven’t given a shot at the genre should definitely give TK a listen. His individuality and uniqueness is expressed wonderfully and definitely deserving of more attention. Because of how the tracks are ordered, various songs contrast effectively with one another. While my personal preference disagrees with the placement of “fragile,” the ‘problem’ many may be turned off by is TK’s vocals in the slower songs. However, the tranquility of each and every song deserves recognition. It’s ‘Fantastic Magic.’

Day 2 - カメレオ - ハイカラ (Kameleo - High Collar)

Release Date: 2014-10-15
Label: Danger Crue Records
Genre: Visual Kei
Impressions from Linh-san

Impressions from fitear1950

Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgU3saRpiRw
Buy the album:
CDJapan | yesasia

Day 1 - 和楽器バンド - ボカロ三昧 (Wagakki Band - Vocalo Zanmai)

Release Date: 2014-04-23
Label: Avex
Genre: Rock/Folk/Visual Kei/Female Fronted
Impressions from :

Impressions from @Zeus:

Sample song:

Buy the album:
CDJapan | yesasia

It's amazing how polished they are, musically and visually. I really can't say I know another band doing this style as well as they are and a full album of originals would send me over the moon. Not that I even knew that they were in fact covers in the first place but shhhhh.

Their single Hanabi has my hopes raised. It's the same style as VZ with it's an original composition and not a rearrangement. They're so consistent that it's hard to pick up on the differences between the two. Plus, for a band that's not strictly visual kei they excel at having music and visuals that complement one another.
 

 
If their second album is as solid as their first, we might have a force to be reckoned with on our hands.

Vocalo Zanmai is one of the best surprises I've found in visual kei all year. Are we alone in thinking this?

Let's take this from the beginning. If you did a simple japanese language search you'd discover most of these terms are actually used in some fashion. Maybe not as distinctly as foreign fanbase likes to think, but that doesn't make them useless. Maybe just slightly more narrowed than originally intended.
 
In any subgenre in any country.... they are only "pure" in the beginning when they are very small. After they spread they are going to begin crossing over and taking influence from surrounding scenes that they meet along the way. The genres can't help but to cross-pollinate. I don't see how trying to distinguish visual kei genres is any more useless than trying to pigeon hole modern metal or punk or indie rock. They're all all over the place these days. Secondly, certain genres listed have to do with the region they came from, ex. Nagoya kei... a huge portion of the "nagoya kei" bands I listen to are "kurofuku kei" bands as well. Since the location has very little to do with the actual style. The thing is, nagoya kei became it's own thing when bands from that area became known for certain things like dark/heavy music, dark images, and intense live shows. And this doesn't mean any band from nagoya has to follow suit. coldrain for example isn't even a vk band but falls under nagoya kei.
 
Per your example, Diaura then falls under the crossover genre of "koteosa". I don't understand what's hard to understand about crossover bands? They aren't exclusive to visual kei either, I mean metalcore as a genre was born from heavy metal and hardcore punk crossover. But Diaura can't have oshare and kote visuals? hmmm...
 
Over-labeling of genres also isn't a problem exclusive to visual kei, either. I feel like you contradict yourself here. You admit that scenes exist where certain quirks define that scene, then you turn around and say it's all just rock or it's all just visual kei. That's the entire meaning behind a "subgenre" in the first place. Yes, it's all rock, but it can be further defined by certain things, and the argument comes from who defines it and why. People who come from different regions will always argue this. 
 
I fail to see how subgenres detract from the larger exploration of the heritage of visual kei as a whole? That's an entirely different discussion, tbh. Each one of your questions could warrent it's own thread but it's definitely off topic from what's being discussed here, which is simply which subgenres of vk people enjoy. Maybe some people are taking this poll far too seriously...

[CD track list]
01.アイノウタ(ai no uta)
02.SECRET NIGHT
03.BUTTERFLY DREAMER
04.JUSTICE
05.RAGE
06.ゴールデンキネマ劇場(golden kinema gekijou)
07.STORY (as track 08 in limited edition)
08.漂流彼女(hyouryuu kanojo) (as track 07 in limited edition)
09.you
10.TASTE OF LIFE
11.WING to HEAVEN (included in regular edition)
12.「Dearest」
13.STARS (included in regular edition)
14.Point of view
 
[limited edition DVD track list]
01.SECRET NIGHT (PV)
-TOUR FINAL "POINT OF VIEW" at AiiA Theater Tokyo at 2014.11.03-
02.BUTTERFLY DREAMER
03.hungry soul
04.蛍火(hotarubi)
05.線路(senro)
06.Point of view

I just changed the thread title from "subgenres of VK" to "styles of VK" since there seems to be some misinterpretation of the word "genre" here. I believe beni used the term "subgenres" in reference to the different "kei"s or "systems/styles" which seem to have more to do with the visuals and aesthetics and less with the music. Although , yeah, I guess some of the noted styles do share various musical nuances, albeit on a level too microscopic for the term "genre" to be applied in it's usual musical sense.

Since a lot of the newer bands like them take a influence from multiple styles I just call them neo-visual and leave it at that. I feel like both bands take cues from koteosa and eroguro, but I wouldn't go so far is to try to define them as either. 

Let's take this from the beginning. If you did a simple japanese language search you'd discover most of these terms are actually used in some fashion. Maybe not as distinctly as foreign fanbase likes to think, but that doesn't make them useless. Maybe just slightly more narrowed than originally intended.
 
In any subgenre in any country.... they are only "pure" in the beginning when they are very small. After they spread they are going to begin crossing over and taking influence from surrounding scenes that they meet along the way. The genres can't help but to cross-pollinate. I don't see how trying to distinguish visual kei genres is any more useless than trying to pigeon hole modern metal or punk or indie rock. They're all all over the place these days. Secondly, certain genres listed have to do with the region they came from, ex. Nagoya kei... a huge portion of the "nagoya kei" bands I listen to are "kurofuku kei" bands as well. Since the location has very little to do with the actual style. The thing is, nagoya kei became it's own thing when bands from that area became known for certain things like dark/heavy music, dark images, and intense live shows. And this doesn't mean any band from nagoya has to follow suit. coldrain for example isn't even a vk band but falls under nagoya kei.
 
Per your example, Diaura then falls under the crossover genre of "koteosa". I don't understand what's hard to understand about crossover bands? They aren't exclusive to visual kei either, I mean metalcore as a genre was born from heavy metal and hardcore punk crossover. But Diaura can't have oshare and kote visuals? hmmm...
 
Over-labeling of genres also isn't a problem exclusive to visual kei, either. I feel like you contradict yourself here. You admit that scenes exist where certain quirks define that scene, then you turn around and say it's all just rock or it's all just visual kei. That's the entire meaning behind a "subgenre" in the first place. Yes, it's all rock, but it can be further defined by certain things, and the argument comes from who defines it and why. People who come from different regions will always argue this. 
 
I fail to see how subgenres detract from the larger exploration of the heritage of visual kei as a whole? That's an entirely different discussion, tbh. Each one of your questions could warrent it's own thread but it's definitely off topic from what's being discussed here, which is simply which subgenres of vk people enjoy. Maybe some people are taking this poll far too seriously...

I definitely understand the attraction to an album that is more emotionally raw and visceral in nature as KnT. And it's easy to hear those emotions were very real, they weren't simply put on to make a point. KnT was probably the first album they recorded where the band wasn't about to break up every other day as most of MUCC's early days were volatile. As far as I remember from articles, some of the infighting still went on through Hoyoku, but much less and I think the band let those emotions come through in the songs. But I've yet to hear any band that can keep that kind of rawness for more than an album or two. And I agree with the prior comments, sometimes albums like that become hard to listen to because a person isn't always in that frame of mind. At least, I can't relate to something that specific all the time. 
 
Shion covered a vast amount of influences and styles. I think it's a lot stronger not only in composition but in each members growth of technique instrumentally. Miya wrote 90% of KnT, but Shion had imput from all the members, Satochi's compositions were the most surprising for me in the amount of ground he covered. I mean, without Satochi's additions the album would have been good but he really took it to the next level and made the album great, imo. (I actually feel he did this for Gokusai as well). Also Shion was the first time I remember the electronic elements having a real presence on an album which made it further stand alone from the rest of their discography at the time. Which I can't say that KnT did, as I think that album was doing all it could to hold footing with Zekuu. Don't get me wrong, numbers prove that it did hold its own, but I just don't feel like it's remembered as MUCC's best album, just the end of their first era which most people hold dear for nostalgia's sake. 
 
Normally I don't join in on these discussions because I don't want them to seem biased. I truly just want to know how people feel about these albums and which one they feel is stronger. But I've been following MUCC for most of their career and I couldn't help myself this time. lol.