摩天楼オペラ - 隣に座る太陽

[Zeus 7997]

Artist: 摩天楼オペラ Album: 隣に座る太陽 Score: One bad apple makes the whole bunch rotten.

I paraphrased the saying but you get the point.

I have a philosophy about classifying music I like and music I don't like that goes as such. Good music that I like has a lot of elements that come together and work well. Music I do not like has one or more elements that stand out so much it outweighs the positives. One such element is the concept of "doing too much". It could be a guitarist that prefers noodling to melody, a drummer who only drums at supersonic speed, etc. "Doing too much" has been a problem with Matenrou Opera for a while and 隣に座る太陽 is no different. There are a lot of well-executed ideas on this single, but there is one consistent flaw which makes this single - and this band - impossible for me to listen to.

I'll preface the rest of this review by noting that it's been a while since I've listened to Matenrou Opera. My last exposure to them was the controversial album Justice, which I hated so much I stopped listening to them altogether. Today I saw that they released a new single and decided to make a return to their music. Part of me has some morbid curiosity to see how I feel about this band now. The other part of me wants to know if dropping them off the side of a cliff after Justice was well-deserved.

隣に座る太陽 starts out on an energetic foot featuring MO as a cohesive unit. This is a major plus for me because one of the reasons why I hated Justice was Ayame's omnipresence in every song. Now, Ayame focuses on maintaining the melody. He still has his time to shine, such as メインキャストは考える's emotional solo, but overall he is much more restrained. I would prefer he stick to the pure electronic sounds and stop trying to substitute real instruments for keyboard imitations, but improvements like that that can be made when the band's budget can make it a reality. Even more props goes to the bassist for nice presence in the mix and the drummer for keeping everyone in time. Bass is often the most forgotten about instrument in power metal but You has crafted impressive bass lines for both tracks. The drummer and the guitarist are both present, but they fail to keep my attention for long periods of time due to neither one of them doing anything interesting. The only positive is that neither does anything unnecessary that would detract from the experience.

Despite my praise for the performance of the band, the actual music is forgettable. I had a hard time writing this review because ten minutes after listening to the music I couldn't recall a single thing. If I struggle to remember a song I just heard, it's a problem. I can remember most of GILIA or Anomie despite not having heard it in three years, so that means both tracks didn't do a single memorable thing. It's not good. It's not bad. It's just not good.

Actually, the above paragraph is a bit of a lie, since I was speaking from an instrumental perspective. There's one thing I do remember from both songs, and it's not positive. Sono's contribution to Matenrou Opera has always been a sore point. On one hand, it's his band. On the other hand, his faux-operatic vocals, inability to harmonize, and overuse of vibrato makes my ears hurt. He alternates between flat and off-key with a nice sprinkle of whining mixed in. He tries too hard to sound powerful and operatic and misses the mark on both. Part of me is amazed that he hasn't improved at all. It's almost as if him sounding this terrible is a defining aspect of Matenrou Opera's music...and then I realized it is. Sono's vocal performance is the very definition of doing too much, which makes music unenjoyable for me. It's so overdone that it negatively impacts this release to a noticeable degree.

By now you're wondering why I haven't mentioned anything about production values. That's due to the nature of the rip I'm listening to. I never feel confident talking about production unless I have a lossless (or close to lossless) rip. Since my rip is much below that threshold, I cannot accurately discuss the production beyond the one note I have already mentioned. I will say that there are no obvious flaws, which helps the single gain a couple of pity points.

So, another release comes and goes and I'm more than confident that leaving Matenrou Opera behind was not a bad decision on my part. This is another one of those releases that isn't bad but will leave you struggling to say anything good about. Your mileage may vary, especially if you do not share my sentiments on Sono. If you love his vocals (how could you?) then I suppose this is another fine entry in Matenrou Opera's catalog. If you're like me, spare your eardrums this torture. This single is not for you.

[JukaForever 758]

It's been a couple years since the last time I tried Mantenrou, I was only interested since they were tied to versailles somehow. After listening to their live in full, I came to conclude Sono would be the reason I won't listen to Mantenrou anymore. Something about his sound vocally doesn't jive with me. The rest of the band sounded great though. Anyway, cool review.

[Ada Suilen 652]

Oh... i am sorry that you don't enjoy Matenrou completely... and it is not the first time that i read of people who doesn't like them... it is your opinion i won't blame you... but i think that they are a band hard to listen for most of people, because of Sono's voice, that i believe that is very powerful and particular (imo!)                

 

About this single I've enjoyed more the a-side than the b-side and i think that it's a single in average, who can be a good introduction for Avalon, which i am looking forward to

[ShanethVarosa 1209]

I struggle with my thoughts on this release because it isn't as bad as the previews made it out to be, but it's hardly memorable. I think Sono does have some powerhouse vocals on him when he wants to... But I just don't see him using them here. He tried to use them on Orb, but it just wasn't working. Being that Kassai to Gekijou no Gloria was the album I've always wanted to hear from them, it leaves me to believe that Avalon is going to be an enormous step down. Of the four songs released prior to this album, Dracula was the only good and memorable one and that was because it was SO different from what they normally do. 

 

As for this single, its really hard for me to even write a review. Tonari ni Suwaru Taiyou was pretty run of the mill, but the "shout it out" parts of the chorus were highly annoying and the rest of the chorus didn't make up for it. Main Cast was, as a whole, better than the A-side but it didn't leave a lasting impression. So all I can really say is that I hope the album tracks leave a better impression on me than the singles for the album. Stranger things have happened.

[dannemannen 69]

Matenrou is awesome recently, their last album kicked ass as well.
New single is cool, 8/10!

One of the most interesting japanese bands out there

[Ada Suilen 652]

Matenrou is awesome recently, their last album kicked ass as well.

New single is cool, 8/10!

One of the most interesting japanese bands out there

Agree

[Elazmus 1873]

This is not an amazing single by any means, not by Matenrou's standards. While Tonari ni Suwaru Taiyou had slightly more to offer than was let on by the previews, I must share the particular sentiment that after repeated listens I still cannot recall anything about it lol. Now, In recent releases Sono has dialed back his vibrato quite a bit, presumably in an effort to diversify his style and not develop a permanent image of a one-trick pony. IMO He has done quite well to do this, it is a more satisfying experience to hear notes finally allowed to vibrate during the emotional high point of a given track (rather than just endlessly throughout). This single does not follow that ideal, which only adds to my belief that this is not a groundbreaking one in the way it is written, thus putting pressure on the performance side. AS a whole It really isn't good or bad. Main Cast on the other hand is quite nice. While I do believe they have better songs of this kind, the progression towards the end was more emotional than I had expected. Listened to that one quite a bit but I am still fairly sure the album will impress.

 

6/10

 

I wasn't really aware people were turned off by Sono to such a degree, I have never been overly into symphonic VK bands compared to others but Sono and MO has always been the exception. They have made it difficult for me to enjoy bands like Versailles, who just don't evoke much from me.