MIYAVI - MIYAVI

[Zeus 7997]

Score: | Ever see a performance with one nervous girl with talent that starts out shaky, then eventually finds it's groove and ends on an okay note? Yeah, this album is like that.

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Reviewer note: For clarity, I will refer to the artist as Miyavi and the album as MIYAVI.

Miyavi is the artist responsible for getting be back into music in general - and Japanese music in particular- when I was burned out on music and jaded about any artist being able to do anything new and interesting. He is not the artist I would choose if I were searching for technical abilities, innovation or impeccable vocal talent, but what Miyavi is good at is maximizing his strengths and minimizing his weaknesses. His period of inactivity slowly caused me to stop following him, but I never forgot the energy and spark behind his music. So seven years later, are the qualities that I liked in his music still there?

Yes and no.

MIYAVI's weakness is it's inconsistency. It blends a lot of styles, some that Miyavi is comfortable with and some he isn't. You can hear it too, because these styles don't always mix. The first half of the album is a good example of this. The style, the attitude, and the presentation turn me off. At points, he sounds like a one-man boy band with a guitar, which would be fine...if everything clicked. Musically, the guitar clashes with the dance music and Miyavi cannot hold it together. All the tracks come off as one botched mess.

But then 'Guard You' comes to turn things around right at the halfway point. It's heavily acoustic nature is something Miyavi has always done well and for the first time I feel as if everything gels. This is the turning point of MIYAVI. The rest of the album is presented from a more mature angle even if it is no more complex. There are more funky bass licks, more acoustic passages and more "garage dance rock", but he makes it work. At the end of the album, where the second half is clearly superior to the first, you just have to ask yourself "What happened here?"

In a way, this heavily reminds me of his "Neo Visualizm" era, because a lot of the tracks that work well are the first tracks he's released. He crafted a sound that worked well for a few cuts and then stretched it out to where the new offerings are not up to snuff. Realizing this, he does not amortize the album and lumps all the good stuff together instead of cutting the fat. You are then left with an album that should be half as long and suffers for it's bloat. This album would be so much better if elements weren't included in songs just to be included because they don't work well and he can't force it to. You would think he would get this by now.

He doesn't.

And perhaps MIYAVI is an inner reflection of this struggle. He's got ideas. He's got ambition. He can pull it off, sometimes. But overall it's the mark of a confused artist with too many ideas that make it through the filter.

[nekkichi 6042]

this is the 2nd miyavi album after myv pops that I see no reason to listen to for the second time.

every other major miyavi album, while being equally messy, still had a track, in some cases two, to keep in my playlist.

if what's my name got this sort of recording and this album has been scrapped completely, his overal discography would only benefit from that, as well as his sales.

[Augie1995 325]

I don't know, I personally loved this album. Then again, it doesn't matter what his past discography was like, how un-majestic his vocals are, and how some songs have the lyrical genius of Lil' Wayne (I'm looking at you No One Knows My Name). Nevertheless, this album did what I wanted it to do: Give me some new Miyavi material and have those awesome, pumping guitar riffs that he is famous for (even though in some songs it seems like it's the same 3 riffs).

 

Is this album perfect or amazing? Not really, but it's way better than his previous album, the single songs are better this time around are better than his previous album, and I really love the production this time around.

 

The thing I most thoroughly enjoyed about this album was how all the songs were able to pump me up. With all the songs, I found myself dancing to the melody, randomly grabbing my guitar and playing along, or just jumping up and dancing and playing air guitar (Don't Judge Me). I actually just had a party with some friends, had this album playing (None of my friends know Japanese music), and this was loved and danced to at the party so it's not bad.

 

 

[Shmilly 519]

If Miyavi is well known for one thing, it's not sticking to one thing. Despite his ever-changing style, I applaud the man for the enthusiasm he pumps into each new project. From his darker roots with Due le Quartz, through his acoustic, hip-hop and completely stripped down eras, he's managed to hold my attention. I agree, he's not the most brilliant vocalist or the most original composer, but nearly every song on this new album is so damn catchy it's hard to get it out of your head. And despite myself, I love it. The lyrics are deeper (Justice), the choruses are catchier than ever (Ahead of the Light, Horizon) and he's still managed to be experimental (Secret). All in all, I really enjoyed this album, and while it's a completely different step from anything Miyavi has done before, I'll support him in his new dance-guitar hybrid mode. It's just too memorable not to.

[Manabu 144]

I wasn't expecting much from this, the previews didn't fill me with hope but Miyavi is interesting and I trusted there would be 1 or 2 hidden gems. Although I can't say they were 'gems', just the decent songs. The vocal effects really put me off the whole thing, I can understand if he's using it to cut out/down on some bad english, or to enhance the english parts he does well but it's just... overpowering, too produced, it sounds too unnatural.

Chase it, though sounding like the music for a sci fi stage in a racing game (not just because of the name) for me is one of the stand out songs of the album, electro garage rock I guess, the shouting seems to come out of nowhere and is too loud but the song is alright, it's interesting with some nice guitar parts but suffers from more vocal effects.

A lot of the songs are just boring, too predictable or similar. There are nearly always funk styled riffs and with all of the electro stuff he was doing I'm surprised he didn't do something more interesting on guitar. Horizon sums up the album pretty well, it doesn't go anywhere other than a bland predictable cheesy radio friendly chorus and sounds like the boyband stuff you hear on the radio. Sure there are funky and random guitar parts but a lot of them are similar and that's not enough to save the album.  A lot of people have been saying it's intended for radio play and frankly it does that great, most of the songs I can picture being played on main radio stations but that's the problem too. I can't say whether this will alienate his fans because with his ever changing style it's hard not to get alienated. I'm still a fan and appreciate all of the hard work he's done, whilst in my opinion it's his worst album at least he tried something new.

[Pandabear 414]

Yeah, I find this to just be an okay album. There wasn't any song that caught my attention or made we want to go back to listen to it. I could play the album from start to finish and completely tune it out because of this. I don't get the overwhelming pop influence on this album. I like pop, when it's done right, but here, it's just meh. And even Miyavi's acoustic guitar playing isn't that great, it again is just meh. It took a back seat to the pop when it should have been one of the highlights of the album. The guitars weren't used in any unique way or had any engaging riffs or passages. There are lot of worse albums out there, while this album is just okay. Nothing special, which in of itself is a bad thing and it's greatest weakness.

 

6/10

[Jigsaw9 6783]

I was really curious to listen to this album after I've read about & heard bits of the direction he was taking, and it didn't disappoint!

 

Right off, Justice is a killer start, one of the best non-single tracks on the album actually. Speaking of, it's interesting to hear how much some of these songs changed compared to when he was playing them two years ago on tour - they suit the poppy polished atmosphere much more now, and have been "buffed up" both musically and lyrically, especially said opening number and the immensely fun and kinky Secret, another highlight for me. While most of the songs didn't come as a shock really, I have to mention the track Cry Like This - it just sounds so typically radio-pop it's uncanny (something Maroon 5 and the like would play). This would be one of the few songs that couldn't grab my attention, tho I have to admit the chorus is an "earworm", heh. I originally felt it was nice that they included Day 1 on the album too but ultimately I don't like the album version as much, I dunno, it just sounds a bit weird and out of place. Still, a rockin' song in itself. The ending track left a thing or two to be desired as well - I thought it was too happy-happy and cheesy but I could've expected that I guess - but all in all I almost thoroughly enjoyed this album, song-wise. Everything's just so catchy!

 

I also have to take note of the cool sound/production, they really hit the spot with this in my opinion. The added synths, effects and electronic beats combined with the superbly polished guitarsound work well together and mold the whole thing into an end product that's very easy and seamless to listen to. It's good that they didn't let these tweaks and add-ons overwhelm the actual songs and Miyavi's signature guitarplay of course. Overall, this is simply a fun and energetic album with just the right length and catchiness to make me wanna start it again as soon as it's over. Gotta applaud Miyavi and his crew, they did a brilliant job with this one! Can't wait for the tour to experience it live.

 

| slick sound, awesome songs, catchy hooks and only a few duds - an immensely fun experience!

[kevinmaccioly 7]

Well, he got himself a pretty famous american producer, I guess he was trying to make his style more mainstream. And he archieved it. Some songs, though you could clearly see MYV in it, felt like they could be sung by those uberpop american "artists".

[Pretsy 1343]

MIYAVI - S/T

 

Back when I listened to Miyaviuta (sister album to MYV POPs?), I thought he was certainly -original- on some kind of level vk-wise...

 

By comparing S/T and Miyaviuta in this case ( Kavki Boiz album is okay, WNM was plain bad while Samurai Sessions had WMN ideas done RIGHT), you could hear how big is the loss of Miyavi's original sound - compressing of guitar playing into plain, same-riff slapping and drowning it with "Pitbull"-pop /mediocre club music resulted in THIS...wow.

 

Everything sounds like a huge mess of same slapping scattered throughout with cheesy dance BGM and lyrics by the courtesy of Dan Priddy (google him) - MYV, you shouldn't have really left concepts you dabbled with in Miyaviuta/MYV POPS and Kavki Boiz album. We know you really want to gather new audience by "expanding" your genre pool into the West. But lemme give you a tip: you cannot hide your dried-out guitar-slapping ideas with all this "catchy dance pop". It's not your thing, really. Even your "colleagues" (say, L'arc or Utada for instance) know better which western "novelties" they can utilize in their own music.

 

AHEAD OF THE LIGHT was sort of a decent, passable track (okay, was in my top 10 of 2013 and everything but I couldn't come up with better stuff - it didn't ooze with "bad" pop tho)...and then "Secret" pops out. I am not surprised if MYV desperately hired Timbaland with his last collab pennies just to produce this exact piece of "something I could've heard in Justin Timberlake record" - and to repeat myself, same key guitar-slapping in a different tuning doesn't save MYV  from the low levels of "generic" I sense in this gorgeous "ripoff". 

 

You can apply my views on his "new sound" to "Horizon" and other songs as well.

 

All in all, listening to "MIYAVI" was such a pain in the butt, and I can't come up with any better statement about his music (nothing personal though, MYV fans):

 

MYV, you are not the "Michael Jackson of guitar playing", but just another Pitbull-copycat...with a guitar.

 

4/10. Ouch.

[nekkichi 6042]

I didn't find a miyavi artist thread, but here's PV for secret 

 

I love the subtle metaphors of him playing the guitar as if he was slow roasting merodi rait there.

it's been a long way down from his awesome indie PVs, but miyavi had the nerve to walk it through.

 

http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/263818/ranking/cd_album/

unless global album release gets some extra marketing & few more sales in Japan, this flop is a well deserved flop.

[relentless 254]

I didn't find a miyavi artist thread, but here's PV for secret 

 

I love the subtle metaphors of him playing the guitar as if he was slow roasting merodi rait there.

it's been a long way down from his awesome indie PVs, but miyavi had the nerve to walk it through.

 

http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/263818/ranking/cd_album/

unless global album release gets some extra marketing & few more sales in Japan, this flop is a well deserved flop.

 

 

Are those overall sales, or opening week sales?

[nekkichi 6042]

it has only been on sale for one week so far, but his previous effort went to # 2 in that chart directly.

 

does anyone remember when oricon is updating their weekly charts? I recall it is on wednesday?

[Zeus 7997]

I believe it is Wednesday.

[nekkichi 6042]

disappointed in this terrible album outselling garyu through week 2, hoping it fails off charts next week.

[clow_eriol 240]

Awful, the worst thing I've ever listen from him

[Yadora 32]

I figured I'd try this album out. I haven't listened to Miyavi for a while but I remember liking some of his songs years ago... but I was unimpressed.
I used to be somewhat impressed by his guitar-slapping and his talent of making songs sound 'fun' despite his not-so-great voice, but this album just bored me. His English pronunciation is good, but the lyrics are so bad I wish I couldn't understand what he's singing. The music itself seems kind of all over the place, like he tried being cool and adding all sorts of elements but didn't think of how they went together at all.

Honestly though, it's not horrible, it's a listenable album, I just can't think of any reasons to listen to it again.

[greatest_dane 15]

All this album did is make me go listen to this iz japanese kabuki rock again and realize how good and catchy he used to be.

 

 

 

Not impressed...

[YuyoDrift 1540]

How can you guys listen to this??? lol

 

I have never had any interest in MIYAVI and his music. Feels like he's all hype.

 

Gave the album a try because I thought ''maybe this one won't suck.'' 

 

I was wrong.