MERRY (f.k.a メリー)

[crossparallel 180]

I wonder if say Happy Life will even be on the next album? I always perceived it more as a part of the NO SMART era, but they do have a history of jamming singles into albums regardless of whether they fit or not  Recording a more straightforward album like NOnsenSe MARkeT feels right for the time, and they got to stretch their songwriting muscles a bit too with it and Beautiful Freaks, but I also miss retro guro Merry. And it's not like they have given up on that, take a song like [collector] for example! That hits all the right spots, but ended up only as a single b-side,  as have all their most out there songs really [Oriental BL Circus, Charlie, stupid x cupid...] I wonder how much of it is label pressure and how much - self-censorship. Good thing we have the concerts at least. If you're asking about current favorites, I'm so stuck on the '09 Shinjuku Loft Concert (Identity/BURST EPDVD).

[crossparallel 180]

@midi:netteCan you handle this? Can you?

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited October 29, 2016 by crossparallel

[suji 8317]

NO

 

NO I CAN'T

 

CAN'T HANDLE THE CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE

 

💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

[crossparallel 180]

Well have some more
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited October 29, 2016 by crossparallel

[suji 8317]

C R Y I N G

[Tokage 5930]

wtf they're doing Midori cosplay now? Ayyyy bring back that eroguro & retro-influenced realness

[crossparallel 180]

That was for Halloween but... Gara's been having Suehiro Maruo phonecases and such for years, he's basically "eroguro4life", and he chose to perform covers of old pop songs all through his birthday live this year, so we can just wait and hope. I'm not sure I want old Merry back exactly - no point in repeating themselves, and I appreciate the newfound light and resolve in their music - but bring back that originality and shimmering intelligence.

Edited October 29, 2016 by crossparallel

[PsychoΔelica 648]

Poor Tetsu.

[Tokage 5930]

I agree that bands constantly retreading their old sound gets boring fast (lookin' at you, lynch.), but at the same time they've carved out a sort of niche sound for themselves that not many other bands are really doing in the VK scene, outside of acts like Kyokutou Girlfriend, Happysad, Marco and maybe Monokuro Kinema I guess. Especially cuz the whole retro/nostalgia-influenced angura kei scene kind of has been bleeding to death since around the time when Guruguru Eigakan stopped activities.

 

Basically, as long as they don't either go full-on "generic heavy '' like The Cry Against... I'll be happy, that's kind of my biggest fear in the VK realm these days, cuz the scene's already oversaturated with generic bands playing that type of sound. The world needs more stuff like 千代田線デモクラシー imo

[crossparallel 180]

Aye, 千代田線デモクラシー was great, and I thought 平日の女 was a step in the right direction too. It sounds like it could be from one of their old albums, only with that added weight in Gara's voice that comes with experience and the arrangement was beautiful too. Wherever they head to, I don't see them going back to The Cry Against... and such, that was an identity crisis of epic proportions.

[Tokage 5930]

Pure conjecture on my behalf, but that track always felt like a case of ''contractual obligations'' to me...

[Bear 1817]

I don't really mind what they do as they don't seem to know how to fail, but I would love for them to do something in the line of the proper retro rock tracks they did a few years back. They did two retro covers, didn't they?

[crossparallel 180]

@TokageEither that or Kyo's influence. I mean, there was this joint interview with Gara and Kyo from around the time MERRY changed labels that just infuriated me. It was all about how MERRY had lost their way according to Kyo, and how he was always keeping an eye on them and ready to help. So as they didn't have much other support from inside the industry (leaving Victor, not being constantly featured in Fool's Mate any more etc.) and as their popularity was on a downward slope, they finally gave in and signed to Firewall Div., and started taking his advice. (Seems like Gara has/had? this respectful-slash-competitive attitude towards Kyo that I just hope he outgrew, as I think he is the more interesting artist out of the two). Anyway, Kyo oversaw the recording of Beautiful Freaks. If you combine that with MERRY genuinely looking for a direction to change and grow, I can see The Cry Against... materializing from that even without supposed label pressure.

 

@BearYesss, the Gekisei b-sides, eternal favorites <3

Edited October 29, 2016 by crossparallel

[Tokage 5930]

... I missed that particular interview, but what the hell. I always thought it was more a case of Dynamite Tommy trying to push them into a more Dir en grey-esque direction to get more of that delicious yen. I guess one should never forget the influence of the dreaded senpai... I knew Kyo and Gara have been connected in some way for a longer time (wasn't Gara a roadie for Dir en grey at some point or something, or am I mixing him up with Daisuke or Satsuki here?) but I didn't know Kyo was THAT influential on Gara.

 

Anyway, yeah, that Beautiful Freaks era was definitely.. messy, to say the least. Its honestly quite weird, considering under-world was far from a bad album, and the more raw, straightforward punk sound actually worked quite well imo. I enjoyed under-world a lot more from the get-go than I enjoyed M.E.R.R.Y. (tho that one's grown on me by now too) That whole Beautiful Freaks era saw Gara doing far more harsh vocals than ever before at any point up 'til then.. From what I recall, his voice actually sounded somewhat weaker or more strained than usual in live footage from that era. I honestly wonder if he was pushing himself too hard with those songs. I actually haven't really been keeping up with their live performances since then, but have things improved?

 

Also yeah, those old song covers were cool. I'd honestly like to see Merry do something akin to Shinjuku Gewalt's Kaizou Tape, where they just give their own spin to some retro tunes.

[crossparallel 180]

It may be the case that the Kyo connection was emphasized for the purpose of rebranding MERRY and selling them to the Diru fanbase, we'll never know. But to retell that interview, yes Gara was their roadie, and he also used to brainstorm with Kyo, bouncing ideas off of him, when Merry were just starting. Kyo thought Gara's vision was all wrong and backwards , but he let Gara do as he please, as he thought Merry were forming to be a fascinating band. They stopped talking music when Merry signed to Victor. Gara would send Kyo his CDs, Kyo would say stuff like "it sounds like karaoke" (this specifically was re:Ringo to Uso), so of course Gara would be too stubborn to ask for his opinion later  Until the critical year 2009, and the rest is history. For the record, I also love under-world, it was a really fresh direction for them and they pulled it off wonderfully, but I guess the fans didn't take to it, punk, noisy production and all.

Re:lives, Gara's voice sounds fine in the recordings we have from 2012 and 2014, but he's been hit-or-miss again recently. At least he seems to be more careful now, no more shouting at the top of his lungs when he reaches his limit as he used to. And just performance-wise, their concerts have more color again compared to Beautiful Freaks era.

A MERRY cover album will be a dream come true. I love about all of their covers.

Edited October 29, 2016 by crossparallel

[Tokage 5930]

A MERRY cover album with new oldies covers would honestly be good as hell, I doubt it'd ever happen, but I'd like to see them cover Maki Asakawa, Kan Mikami, Morita Douji, INU or something like that..

 

Would love for them to some day cover "Virgin Blues" as well, in a way I'm actually genuinely surprised they haven't already done that one yet.. It feels so "them".

[*littlelamb 78]

Oh wow, life in the Merry thread. Needless to say they are my favourite band ever, the only one I've been a proper fan of. Their music just hits all the rights spots in my brain and never seems to get old. Maybe because it's pretty "old" in the first place, not tied to some fad. I'm really happy with their current direction and I feel like ever since NOnsenSe MARkeT they've gone back to being themselves so to speak.

 

What happened with the Beautiful Freaks era is a combination of things I think. I sort of blame Kyo as well for some of their bad decisions, I mean he was credited as producer on their releases back then. Kyo and Gara weren't even speaking for years, but then Kyo reached out to him after Merry had left Victor and were in disarray, and I think him caring and wanting to help made Gara a bit too prone to his suggestions. I do think Kyo is brilliant in his own way and I appreciate him helping Merry get started on their career, but he really shouldn't be meddling in their music at this point. That's why I'm happy he started Sukekiyo, since he clearly doesn't have any time or interest in getting involved anymore. Thank heavens for that! It's not all his fault though. From what I've read in interviews, the members were well aware that they'll never be able to outdo the brilliance of their eary compositions, so that's why they were trying to find a new direction, but it didn't really work out. Heijitsu no Onna is the product of realising you should stick to what you're good at. The period around the switch to Free-Will was also a generally miserable time for them. They didn't particularly want to join Free-Will, the fans absolutely hated it, Gara was having constant problems with his back, people close to them were dying and just when things started looking up, Tetsu broke his neck and was out for years. It's not like BF is even close to unlistenable, the basic song-writing is still there, but the arrangements are just too simple and the sound all muddled and boring. Merry is not the kind of band who should be sending their tracks to Sweden or where ever to be finished either. It's of no benefit to them.

 

I think they sound better than ever live at the moment. At least based on the two lives they've already broadcast on nicovideo this year. They were pretty stellar. The only song Gara struggles with is the A-side of Heijitsu no Onna, but it's no wonder, since it goes so high. Thankfully the B-side version is made for lives. In case someone didn't know, they're broadcasting their 15th anniversary White Sheep/Black Sheep live tomorrow, as in 16 hours, so don't miss out! Put it on timeshift beforehand, if you don't have time to watch live or pay the 540 yen for premium membership. Epic acoustic versions to be expected. http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv280746643

 

BTW, I noticed the other day that someone had upped the entire nico live this summer on Youtube . The acoustic versions of Makka na Aoi Haru and Happy Life are so good!

[suji 8317]

9 minutes ago, *littlelamb said:

What happened with the Beautiful Freaks era is a combination of things I think. I sort of blame Kyo as well for some of their bad decisions, I mean he was credited as producer on their releases back then. Kyo and Gara weren't even speaking for years, but then Kyo reached out to him after Merry had left Victor and were in disarray, and I think him caring and wanting to help made Gara a bit too prone to his suggestions. I do think Kyo is brilliant in his own way and I appreciate him helping Merry get started on their career, but he really shouldn't be meddling in their music at this point. That's why I'm happy he started Sukekiyo, since he clearly doesn't have any time or interest in getting involved anymore. Thank heavens for that! It's not all his fault though. From what I've read in interviews, the members were well aware that they'll never be able to outdo the brilliance of their eary compositions, so that's why they were trying to find a new direction, but it didn't really work out. Heijitsu no Onna is the product of realising you should stick to what you're good at. The period around the switch to Free-Will was also a generally miserable time for them. They didn't particularly want to join Free-Will, the fans absolutely hated it, Gara was having constant problems with his back, people close to them were dying and just when things started looking up, Tetsu broke his neck and was out for years. It's not like BF is even close to unlistenable, the basic song-writing is still there, but the arrangements are just too simple and the sound all muddled and boring. Merry is not the kind of band who should be sending their tracks to Sweden or where ever to be finished either. It's of no benefit to them.

 

the way you worded this just gives me chills

 

with all the shit that they've been through, it's a MIRACLE that they're still together; most bands would disband over the slightest thing that goes wrong. Beautiful Freaks was my first album and I love it to bits, but now I truly understand the stigma around it; it was a complete change to their style that they weren't completely cool with. So glad Kyo's kinda out of the picture...

 

Happy life was bland af, but Heijitsu no Onna was great, so I'm glad they're being themselves again~

Edited November 6, 2016 by midi:nette

[crossparallel 180]

Oh yesss littlelamb!  <3 Sorry for the over-familiarity, ever since I fell for Merry and started looking up things on them I've just happened on so many old posts by you around the internet. Just thank you for loving them, ok? 

 

The way I remember that interview, Kyo and Gara were still speaking, just not about music. May be mistranslation or just information getting corrupted along the way, shouldn't really matter now. I agree, it is miraculous how Merry survived everything and... do I have the right to say I am proud with them, or at least proud of being their fan? Because I am. I also love NO SMART, there's just so much humanity and integrity to that album. [ @midi:netteNah, I loved Happy Life too. Straightforward songs like that are also needed, and the message is just right. Though my favorite song on the single is 臆病者の眠り方 by far.] I also believe Merry can still grow. So many new songs by Nero and Tetsu! And they did eventually get better at writing songs out of their mold. Time will show on that one.

Still about the lives, I may be misjudging here. I do feel Gara's voice hasn't been at his strongest (even as his control is stellar), but I have been watching the '09 concerts a lot recently, so that may be setting the bar too high and screwing my perspective. The fact that we are talking about a niconico recording (and a crappy rip in the case of the last DVD, as I can't afford to buy it at this point) isn't helping. I really hope you are right, as it is something I've been worried about - at this point I have reason to believe they can survive anything else. 

So hyped up for tomorrow!

[r... 720]

Happy life is a banging single, y'all. One of their best, actually and it totally fits with their current mindset. Plus, the acoustic version MERRY's been playing live recentIy? Pfff... talk about gorgeousness!

 

You can tell MERRY are in a really good place musically and mentally. They seem to be really happy with the band and themselves. You should've seem them live, especially now that テツ is back. They are always smiling, laughing, cracking jokes about each other. The mood seems to be excellent. Confident in their habilities, but still hungry to prove people that they are still relevant. NOnsenSe MARkeT was such a big step to them and quickly became one of my favorites. MERRY is a band that I've loved since the beginning and this one I can say from almost the very beginning. I've been following them for over 14 years (since 個性派ブレンド!).

 

They always had good and bad moments, ups and dows in their career. When MERRY went major in 2005 was a bit wierd, they had some cool songs here and there, but there was something off. Then, joining sun-krad and FIREWALL DIV., and trying to become a DIR EN GREY clone was also a baffling mistake (from an artistic standpoint and maybe even a financial one, it just didn't make sense to alienate your fanbase like that...), Still, I think they created some good albums during the Victor-era, especially revisiting some of them now. For exemple, I love M.E.R.R.Y. and I think it's criminally underrated among the western fanbase. And, Beautiful Freaks, while uneven (and, truthfully, not very good) had some really, really great MERRY moments, so yeah, they recovered.

 

I think they have complete freedom to do whatever the hell they want now, and also a level of maturity that makes sure that, since 2014 with NOnsenSe MARkeT, they are able to combine all the aspects of their catalog and create some cool things. 平日の女 is kinda like that, it has the retro-feel and モダンギャルド-ness that I love, but with their current production values (that I'm not really a fan, to be honest, ネロ sounds like crap and 健一 and 結生 sound too fuzzy. But that might be a stylistic choice, albeit a poor one). All in all, I'm happy that MERRY seems to be in such a good place and I'm really looking forward to their new album next year. (or maybe even THIS year, who knows... there's still time!) It just makes me glad being a fan.

 

Edited November 6, 2016 by r...

[crossparallel 180]

32 minutes ago, r... said:

You should've seem them live, especially now that テツ is back. They are always smiling, laughing, cracking jokes about each other. The mood seems to be excellent. Confident in their abilities, but still hungry to prove people that they are still relevant.

Smiled so much while reading this - it is true! Preach, preach, preach.

[Tokage 5930]

its still wild to me how fucking crazy good that live dvd that came out around the same time as the BURST EP is, that one's like... unreal

[*littlelamb 78]

2 hours ago, crossparallel said:

Oh yesss littlelamb!  <3 Sorry for the over-familiarity, ever since I fell for Merry and started looking up things on them I've just happened on so many old posts by you around the internet. Just thank you for loving them, ok? 

 

The way I remember that interview, Kyo and Gara were still speaking, just not about music. May be mistranslation or just information getting corrupted along the way, shouldn't really matter now. I agree, it is miraculous how Merry survived everything and... do I have the right to say I am proud with them, or at least proud of being their fan? Because I am. I also love NO SMART, there's just so much humanity and integrity to that album. [ @midi:netteNah, I loved Happy Life too. Straightforward songs like that are also needed, and the message is just right. Though my favorite song on the single is 臆病者の眠り方 by far.] I also believe Merry can still grow. So many new songs by Nero and Tetsu! And they did eventually get better at writing songs out of their mold. Time will show on that one.

Still about the lives, I may be misjudging here. I do feel Gara's voice hasn't been at his strongest (even as his control is stellar), but I have been watching the '09 concerts a lot recently, so that may be setting the bar too high and screwing my perspective. The fact that we are talking about a niconico recording (and a crappy rip in the case of the last DVD, as I can't afford to buy it at this point) isn't helping. I really hope you are right, as it is something I've been worried about - at this point I have reason to believe they can survive anything else. 

So hyped up for tomorrow!

 

Haha, I cringe just thinking about my old posts and even more so someone reading them now, but I'm glad if they've been helpful! And no need to thank me, Merry is pretty easy to love. It is almost unreal that they are still going after all they've been through and it just shows how dedicated they are and how much they love their band. It's not like they even have a big fanbase as in a monetary incentive to keep going, pretty sure they're broke most of the time. The fact that they're still making music and letting me watch them live every now and then from my sofa for a nominal fee is something I will never take for granted. They are special!

 

As for the lives, "better than ever" may have been a slight overstatement, more like better than for the past 6 years. The BURST EP DVD is still my all time favourite. That Gekisei! Must've listened to it 50 times at least.

[Ro plz 1290]

Merry is a band that i leave alone for long chunks of time and then when i revisit them its always a pleasurable time. They also are a band that I purposefully try not to know much about the older stuff in their discography because I absolutely love randomly coming across gems like this one  

Speaking of their recent material, I think im maybe the minority that enjoys Beautiful Freaks a lot. Its the first album that i really sat down and listened to through out and it was very appealing. Hella good gems on there especially Zaa Zaa and The Cry against me. I need to listen more to Nonsense Market but i remember my initial opinion on it was that it was just an okay album. It didn't grab me as much.  Either way, MERRY is a pretty special band in terms of sound and band chemistry. Their live stuff radiates this kind of genuine feel and you can tell that these guys really enjoy each other and what they do. 

 

Side note: That recent single of theirs is ballin. 

[crossparallel 180]

@*littlelambOh no, your posts were very helpful and not cringey at all! There was this one about Gara's radio dorama that still makes my day any time I think about it. (If you remember that, would you happen to have a link to the actual recording still?)

By the way, recently made subtitles for the BURST EP DVD concert, the translation a mix of my imperfect efforts, mitsu's and Dely's (Russian) translations. If it could be useful to anyone, here (video here).