MUCC - THE END OF THE WORLD

[Pretsy 1343]

As we might already know it, Mucc will -never- return back to their 'aggressive/depressive' roots - and some might have accepted the changes, and some (read: most) are still crying wolf (even if they had released pretty ~solid~ releases after their 'departure' - say, what's wrong with Gokusai/Shion/Kyuutai trio for instance?). So let's take this into account and try to see/review this album without nostalgia-tinted glasses...

 

But before that, I will skim through single tracks and have my say about them (album order-wise):

 

ENDER ENDER - cookie cutter metalcore with wubwub. Very cheap, Miya.

HALO - the best singe track out of TEOTW. Ingredients are pretty much in place here - solid rocking with good riffage, Tatsurou having varied vocal parts and ofc, catchy chorus

World's End  -  I didn't mind this during its single release, and I still don't mind this as a new take (despite its tacky autotuned part - and people should seriously stop with "oh my god animu song this suxxxx"-pretexts). Solid 8/10-er of this album  

 

 

Now, a few words about non-single songs: unfortunately, unlike in Shangri-la, most songs were just poor revisions of their earlier, perhaps superior experiments ("Ms. Fear", title track, "Hallelujah", "Japanese", the last song) and ONLY SOME were actually something, what MUCC should have emphasized / tried further - indie-ish but still hard rocking in "Tell Me", groovy and solid funk in 369, and silly but sweet 'Lemming-meets-punk' revision in "999". Hey MUCC, you had like 1 year and a half time to do refreshing experiments instead of relying on stripped, rushed revisions - what's with the rush?

 

I am not sure how I should rate this, seeing as one round is clearly not enough for MUCC releases, as we can see. For that sole reason, I refrain from giving final, numerical rating to this album - and sum up a few things:

 

+ Some fresh parts

+ HALO and revised World's End still sound great

+ 'Tell Me', '369' and '999' are fun to listen to

- Some revisions weren't really needed

- They should stop doing lousy metalcore a la "ENDER ENDER" and "Ms. Fear"

- Ballad numbers weren't really well-thought

[TatsuSan 7]

This Album sounds too forced.. It's a pity. At some points it sounds very fresh,edgy and almost unfamiliar with the "recent mucc style". But i don't know.I think it's one of their weakest albums so far. Almost all of these songs sounds like "uhm we need to do something new,something fresh,the audience is expecting this from us.Let's put in there some more whoa whoas and huu huuhs.Oh and don't forget to increase the speed in the refrain.." For me there is no harmony and little human emotions. And what's going on with the bass control btw?My headphones almost died. There is so much going on in lots of these songs.What a mess. Miyas' guitars are way too much in the front. This Album in it's whole is a disappointment Best Song in my opionion is Japanese [Pls excuse my bad english xD']

1 - The End of the World         8/10
2 - Ender Ender                       6/10
3 - Ms. Fear                             7/10
4 - Halo                                    5/10

5 - Tell me                                6/10

6 - 999 21st..                            8/10

7 - 369                                      5/10

8 - Japanese                             9/10
9 - Hallelujah                             7/10
10 - Worlds End (Album edit)    6/10
11 - [The Person you want to die] 7/10

Overall barely a  7/10 

[Furik 832]

MY OWN OPINION: I've only listened to it once but this album was pretty disappointing compared to Shangri-la. I've accepted they won't go go back to their dark roots. I'm content with their pop sound now but this album was just a bore. Maybe they released it too soon. Maybe they didn't put too much effort into it but everything on it was lackluster. The singles were boring. Too much filler.

I'm going to give it a fee more listens throughout the week and see if my opinion changes but I just felt it was stale. I do have to say I like MS FEAR so far and ENDER ENDER is growing on me but that's it. I'll update once I listen to it a few more times.

[dannemannen 69]

Arent you guys a bit harsh?
I think its a great album... well ill come back with a detailed review later!

[mopkins 42]

I definitely don't think I like it as much as Shangri-la, but I'm really into the general folkiness of it

 

gotta give this one a few more spins, but for now it's like an 8/10, I guess??

[Shmilly 519]

I've never been a super MUCC fan, but I really liked Kyutai and Shion was pretty good too. After Kyutai I kind of lost interest like many people, but I thought I'd give this new album a try after seeing a clip from the Ender Ender PV on TV a few weeks ago. I have to say in my absence from MUCC's releases I was pleased to hear the heavier sound back on a few tracks. It starts off pretty strong, Ender Ender is too catchy not to like and the opening title track has some interesting things going on. There were some good tracks in there but so far I only listened to it through once, on the train, so I don't know any of them by name yet. Not their best album but for me it's at least worth a listen. Also I'm a little amused(?) that no less than 3 of the songs seem to use "Hello" in the chorus (although on second thought one of them could have been the single 'Halo' instead since I didn't listen to that before the album).

 

Not going to give it a real score since as I said I've only listened to it once, but it's by no means a distaster. Maybe I'll pick it up if I see it pre-owned somewhere in the next couple of months. Overshadowed for me this week by Cardia's new single.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

As someone who has only listened to two albums (Shion and the one with the Ageha and Sora to Ito PVs) and their song "Ryuusei" back in '08-ish, what is an example of "when Mucc were good?"

 

Asking since any discussion related to this band seems to be just complaining that doesn't mean a whole lot to anyone who hasn't really followed them.

[Zeus 7997]

As someone who has only listened to two albums (Shion and the one with the Ageha and Sora to Ito PVs) and their song "Ryuusei" back in '08-ish, what is an example of "when Mucc were good?"

 

Asking since any discussion related to this band seems to be just complaining that doesn't mean a whole lot to anyone who hasn't really followed them.

Check out Homura Uta, Zekuu, Kuchiki no Tou, and Tsuuzetsu in that order. I lumped the first three together because they follow the nu-metal sound they started with Homura Uta, so they shine best when listened in order. Tsuuzetsu is last because that's more of an angura sound and it's the only album of theirs with it, so it's worth checking out.

[bonsaijodelfisch 328]

As someone who has only listened to two albums (Shion and the one with the Ageha and Sora to Ito PVs) and their song "Ryuusei" back in '08-ish, what is an example of "when Mucc were good?"

 

Asking since any discussion related to this band seems to be just complaining that doesn't mean a whole lot to anyone who hasn't really followed them.

also generally still considered "good MUCC" probably, but without the angsty vibe of the early releases are the two albums that you already have (shion and kyuutai) plus Gokusai (which is very much worth checking out if you like those you already have...)

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

I'll take a look into those releases mentioned, as well as this new album, and will report back at some point (4 albums is a lot to digest).  The general consensus is that this band fell apart from Karma onwards? 

[nekkichi 6043]

As someone who has only listened to two albums (Shion and the one with the Ageha and Sora to Ito PVs) and their song "Ryuusei" back in '08-ish, what is an example of "when Mucc were good?"

 

 

anything pre-2005. they should've shifted into vocaloid chiptune pop instead of embarrassing derivative crap that followed. 

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

I'll take a look into those releases mentioned, as well as this new album, and will report back at some point (4 albums is a lot to digest).  The general consensus is that this band fell apart from Karma onwards? 

Karma is probably the first album that got just completely shat on. I belong in the camp that thinks they started sucking from Zekuu onwards and that their best releases are those up to Tsuuzetsu, but a lot of people like them up to Shion or so. Gokusai is an album that many seem to like from the post-Kuchiki no Tou period.

[Pretsy 1343]

I'll take a look into those releases mentioned, as well as this new album, and will report back at some point (4 albums is a lot to digest).  The general consensus is that this band fell apart from Karma onwards? 

Many users liked their previous effort, "Shangri-la" (including me) - at least that's what I found out from the review thread on that album.

 

So yeah, Mucc might become pretty much an "up-and-down" band, who knows.

[nullmoon 784]

At least they're not like Nightmare.

[Juka08 23]

Loved every album they've ever done.

[platanity 99]

Loved every album they've ever done.

 

same here .

 

altho ive had personal affection toward mucc since mid 2000's , 

and it peaked when they've release 'kukichi no tou' and then the new era with 'saishu ressha' single ; mucc has never disappointed me .

 

as for this album , there were many people expecting post 'shangri-la' album but on the contrary ,

this album came out something totally different "once again".

every track has their own purpose and style for this album and i've got to say that they are still trying

something 'new' , although it might still sound as "trying" instead perfection-ing .

and yes i did notice they have tracked some songs with heavily low bass (so whenever i play those songs ,

my computer crushes the sound hah) , but i do like this as well somehow . 

all tracks of this album are gold

 

score : 7.5/10

[dannemannen 69]

Alright here we go:

1. The end of the world - Such an epic song with an awesome atmosphere! Gotta be one of the best songs in recent years holy shit. 100/10
2. Ender Ender – Wtf is lousy metalcore? This is a top notch high quality kick ass tune that gets me pumped up. 9/10
3. Ms.Fear – Another hard tune with a catchy chorus, love it. 8/10
4. Halo – Never liked this one too much, but still a decent track. 6/10
5. Tell me –  Love all the various parts of it, catchy and nice. 8/10
6. 999-21^st Century World – Well, there has to be one or two fillers. 5/10
7. 369 – Dat funkiness! Mucc is a band full of ideas. Great melodies! 8/10
8. Japanese – Alright here we go again, epic shit. Got totally blown away. 10/10
9. Hallelujah – Like the dark atmosphere, reminds me of semishigure. Awesome chorus. 9/10.
10. The worlds end – If you took all possible melodic/catchy elements of music and put it in one song this is it. Mucc, I love you… 9,5/10
11. Shinde Hoshii hito – Blown away AGAIN, this song is so fucking beautiful. Muccs best ballad ever? 10/10

All in all 9/10
Mucc, you have done it again.

[mopkins 42]

yeah, after a few listens I think it's a very good upper-middle-tier MUCC album, maybe Houyoku-tier

 

overall it feels a little lackluster and some of the songs feel shorter than they should be but I legit enjoy every track and I haven't been able to say that about a MUCC album in a while~

 

JAPANESE and Hallelujah are definitely the major standouts, real good songs

[Ada Suilen 652]

Alright here we go:

1. The end of the world - Such an epic song with an awesome atmosphere! Gotta be one of the best songs in recent years holy shit. 100/10

2. Ender Ender – Wtf is lousy metalcore? This is a top notch high quality kick ass tune that gets me pumped up. 9/10

3. Ms.Fear – Another hard tune with a catchy chorus, love it. 8/10

4. Halo – Never liked this one too much, but still a decent track. 6/10

5. Tell me –  Love all the various parts of it, catchy and nice. 8/10

6. 999-21^st Century World – Well, there has to be one or two fillers. 5/10

7. 369 – Dat funkiness! Mucc is a band full of ideas. Great melodies! 8/10

8. Japanese – Alright here we go again, epic shit. Got totally blown away. 10/10

9. Hallelujah – Like the dark atmosphere, reminds me of semishigure. Awesome chorus. 9/10.

10. The worlds end – If you took all possible melodic/catchy elements of music and put it in one song this is it. Mucc, I love you… 9,5/10

11. Shinde Hoshii hito – Blown away AGAIN, this song is so fucking beautiful. Muccs best ballad ever? 10/10

All in all 9/10

Mucc, you have done it again.

I am listening to it right now and i must agree with dannemannen, it's a various and rich album, where you can find the song made for each one of us.

 

Most shocking songs: The End of the World, Tell Me, 369, Hallelujah and Shinde Hoshii hito

[Wonrei 108]

Overall some nice ideas, but there's no way I can think of this as anything else but a poor man's Shangri-la. Shangri-la's takes on different genres were a lot better than this. The ballads sound bland(there's no track as emotional as the self titled from the last album, though the last track does try decently), the agressive songs sound derivative... I'd give them a point or two for trying on tracks like "999", "The End of The World", "Hallelujah" and perhaps "Japanese"... those four are pretty enjoyable. Shangri-la's weakest track was probably Yozora no Craypas, while this one has stuff I just don't get, like "Ms. Fear" and "Ender Ender", and I generally enjoy their metalcore stuff. Average release, but considering they're on a roll right now and already announced their next single, I guess I'll just wait to see what they give us in the future.

[TrentReznor 362]

Im the only one that thought that they were going to start to sing Welcome to the Jungle aftere the first seconds of Hallelujah XD?

[Ada Suilen 652]

Im the only one that thought that they were going to start to sing Welcome to the Jungle aftere the first seconds of Hallelujah XD?

No mate, i thought that too

[Licio123 181]

After almost 1 week of listening, I'm really enjoying this album. It's not better than Shangri-la, but really good tracks like Hallelujah, Japanese and Ms. Fear make it much better. No bad track, but I find Halo and  Shinde Hoshi Hito a bit bland.

[Bear 1817]

As someone who has only listened to two albums (Shion and the one with the Ageha and Sora to Ito PVs) and their song "Ryuusei" back in '08-ish, what is an example of "when Mucc were good?"

 

Asking since any discussion related to this band seems to be just complaining that doesn't mean a whole lot to anyone who hasn't really followed them.

 

 

Tsūzetsu, Zekū, the two EPs and Hōmura Uta in that order. You'll find some decent stuff on Kuchiki no Tō, Hōyoku and Gokusai as well, but I find them all to be very uneven, so as full albums they're not recommended IMO.

[Fin Paulux 17]

One or two things: it must be me, since the songs most of you pointed out as good (hence, I had certain expectations) just don't do the trick. 

I'm listening at the moment, so I will be brief. In random order:

 Hallelujah: on first listen it doesn't lack anything - strong vibe,nice vocal parts for Tatsurou, screaming for whoever's into it, catchy chorus, guitars...However it's not something that I'd remember 5 minutes after listening. Good for BGM. 

Halo - started off somewhat messy, but it got better. Overall, good track. 

Japanese: I really liked that one, but I think I've heard only a live version, so the emotional performance might have balanced out other small weaknesses. 

死んでほしい人 - This one I need to listen few times more, I'm undecided whether I like it, or it scores ''average''. 

The end of the world - pleasant surprise, the rhythm reminds me of something else, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe a tad cheesy, but I'm perfectly fine with it. 

I think I need more time with the rest of the album. 
So far I'm not impressed, since MUCC definitely have had better releases in the past. On the other hand, the past is in the past, I can't expect them not to change over time. Nostalgia aside, "The end of the world" is not a bad album - it's not mind blowing, shiver- inducing either, so maybe a solid 7/10 for me.