Shmilly

These guys disappeared from my radar after their first couple of releases, but this new preview sounds promising, if nothing especially unique.

Was literally about to suggest Miyavi. Despite the ever-changing style (and fanbase) I have enjoyed the vast majority of his music at some level. Props to this guy.

For the record, according to a post Yoshi made on the FC blog a while back, they are just making music the way they want to, which means they may continue down a softer path, or they may return to heavy metal again in the future, but nothing is planned out or decided. Toning down the screams on the heavier tracks on dadaism 3 was an intentional musical decision to achieve what he/they wanted to with those songs. TL;DR props to the band for just making the music they want to make. Also new single presale @ tour final, so I'll be picking it up then.

Sounds fine, I don't get all the hate from a preview of the last 50 seconds of the song. Look at Zouka to Kalashnikov, people complained it was too soft and then the full version came out with those brutal breakdowns.

Interesting read. I actually chatted to Matsumoto a little myself a few years ago but I had no idea of the history, or his history with the store.

Free download of 2 songs until June 9 @official twitter. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5l6u4htkkqthm0s/AAAWZWlSz1dPpINL0YW3mns0a?dl=0

And that's fair enough, everyone's entitled to an opinion. I'm hoping for better on their next release too!

I'm not going to disregard your opinion, but after the eloquent introduction the album review comes across as a thoughtlessly written rant from someone whose expectations weren't met. Did you even listen to it more than once before dismissing it as a disappointment? Case in point: the song with the rain sampling isn't 'Romance Grey', it's 'Ookami Shounen to Doku Ringo'. 'Itoshi teru' isn't even correct Japanese, so you didn't even take the time to check the romanization before complaining about the song. This is just sloppy writing. Yes, I'm a stalwart fan of DDRM, and while I agree that this isn't their best material to date, it isn't fair to write it off as repetitive songwriting just because it isn't as immediately appealing as some of their older work. Some albums take a while to grow on you, and while I was also a little underwhelmed by the third installment of 'dadaism', I gave it a chance and a few more listens and came to appreciate it for what it is. 'MASTURBATION.' is a catchy party rocker that was stuck in my head for days after I first heard it in full at Takashi's birthday live. I was on the side of the split that, rather than horror at this strange, all-English departure from the dramatic lead tracks we've come to expect, embraced Yoshiatsu's crazy side. I'm sure that out of the six tracks on this release, this opener will be the most divisive for long-time fans, but speaking personally I love it. In the same format as the other dadaism's, 'Aishiteru to Itte yo' is a slightly jazzy number that adds to the ever-increasing repertoire of this style that the band is putting out. I'll admit that it's sadly not as memorable as other times when they've done it better (like the raunchy 'Saishuu Densha' and the frankly erotic 'Urei Libido' that somehow still finds time for headbanging among its sensual imagery) but it's not necessarily a bad song. I personally didn't find it weak enough to press the skip button through multiple listens. 'NPD' is another brash synth-backed mover like 'Trend Identity' that is clearly meant to be enjoyed to its full potential in a live setting. (For those who are interested, my best guess at the acronym is 'Narcissistic Personality Disorder', which ironically fits Yoshiatsu's attitude to himself and his relationship with the band's fans pretty well. The lyrics also reference Hans Selye, a pioneer in biological stress, and the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria). It works well enough for what it is, and I enjoyed the energy even if it only lasted for around 3 minutes. At this point I feel like I'm going to go against the general consensus on 'Romance Grey' by saying that it might be my favourite track on the whole release. I can see why many people might immediately think of it as a bland rock ballad, but looking at DADAROMA's discography, this is not repetitive songwriting but something completely different for them. Going back to the basics with a strong riff, emotional vocals and a simple structure made this song the opposite of forgetful in my opinion - it stands out as a unique style amongst the combination of dramatic masterpieces, brutal headbangers, energetic live rockers and jazzy experiments that make up the rest of their discography. Rather than dismissing 'Romance Grey' as a standard ballad, I say bravo for trying something new. Now we come to the dramatic, fairy-tale piece for this album. 'Ookami Shounen to Doku Ringo' opens with another attempt to take a lens to society, telling the story of a young boy who was poisoned and how the media were far more interested in the perpetrator than the poor victim. It didn't immediately seize me in the same way as 'Oboreru Sakana' or 'Lucid Dream', but perhaps this is the track that has grown on me the most through multiple listens. The structure is a little different to their usual arrangements in this style, because it doesn't really get going until the sudden change into a major key after the oppressive opening for the contrastingly uplifting chorus. In fact, I think this is the first time one of their dramatic works has a lighter chorus, which caught me off guard the first time I listened to it. Unlike the aforementioned tracks too, it ends rather abruptly instead of with a lengthy instrumental fade out. Finally comes the obnoxious 'Watashi, Bangya ja nai wa' which is another song evidently meant to be enjoyed at a concert rather than sitting at home. At first listen this is perhaps the most throwaway track of the whole release, and as such a disappointing way to round off the regular edition, but upon closer inspection it's a surprisingly heavy hitter with some chugging downtuned guitar designed to lead the titular bangya in synchronized headbanging. For me this track treads a fine line between catchy and forgettable; what I mean by this is that it's not a song I would deliberately choose to listen to over any number of other offerings from DADAROMA, but nonetheless when it immediately starts up after the sudden ending of the previous track, I can't help but get caught up in the energy it brings. So that's dadaism number three. This review ended up a little longer than I expected, but I wanted to throw a contrasting opinion out there while it might still be relevant.

Heads up, this release was postponed to next week (5/10) because of production issues. However, it was sold in a limited quantity at their live on 5/1.

I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected from the previews. Took a couple of listens, but still. Hooked on MASTURBATION since I heard the whole thing at Takashi's birthday live, and I really like the direction they took with Romance Grey. And for those complaining they've lost their darker edge, Ookami Shounen to Doku Ringo has the same kind of dramatic atmosphere we've come to know DDRM for. Not their best ever release, but far from the disappointment a lot of people are calling it out to be (imho anyway). Looking forward to the tour final in July. (And hoping we'll finally see KIDS WAR even if it's a live dist single.)

Seems legit.

It's 'big mouth' not 'big mouse' lol Although to be fair they do kinda all dress like Mickey in that video XD

This

I know, DELUHI was and probably still is my favourite VK band ever. And WHITE HOLE is an amazing track. Just having a laugh. Also, +1 to 'more Japanese'.

It must be great material since they're charging the price of a full album for 5 songs.

Hi-res sounds better than iTunes, using Audio Technica studio headphones, a Dragonfly DAC and correct playback settings. 24-bit does not sound any different to 16-bit. This is because 24 or 16 bits refers to the bit depth, not the bit rate, and on the vast majority of recordings (excluding perhaps orchestral music) the only difference is 8 bits of noise. There is no way we could truly take in the full audio range of 24-bit music without turning up the volume so high it would essentially be fatal (because of course decibels refers to pressure). That's why when making CDs, the remaining bit depth is simply filled out with inaudible noise frequencies. And this is even before all kinds of filtering and editing that go on in the studio. Simply, there is no such thing as a perfect digital representation of music recorded in analogue sound, which is why even the studio files will probably sound no different to the CD itself. So those extra 8 bits of depth are incomprehensible to the listener. For recording music, go 24-bit. For listening, 16-bit is more than enough for 99.9% of listeners.

Awesome news, their first single was great and I can't wait to hear more!

New look is awesome. New song is... surprisingly catchy. It's weird to hear Yoshi singing cleans in English.