JUPITER - Arcadia

[Zeus 7997]

Artist: Jupiter Single: ARCADIA Score: A band haunted by it's ghosts tries their hand at an exorcism with mixed results.

Before I begin the review, I must note that there is a lot of bias in this review. The final score is a direct result of this bias. I will remain as neutral as I can in my assessment of the single, but I should explain where it comes from and why I ultimately can't get rid of it.

As you may have guessed, this is because of Versailles. I don't like everything they've done and I have some choice words to say about their last two albums, but I like enough of their music to call myself a fan. Their disbandment tore through my emotions like a chestburster from the Alien franchise ripping through some poor sap's chest. When I look at pictures of Jupiter I get irrationally upset. I'm looking at four of the five faces of Versailles wearing almost the same outfit scheme, yet I can't connect with their music. I know that they are two separate bands and should be treated as such, but this is one of those continuations (like school food punishment and la la larks) where the similarities are so numerous that I can't accept that. The way the band mobilized after the dissolution of Versailles, announced a new vocalist and started releasing music suggests to me that they jumped into this band with no intention of stopping activities or reconsidering their approach to music. They are in their own world, releasing their music, yet sometimes I don't know if they truly consider Jupiter to be it's own entity or a continuation of Versailles without Kamijo. This confusion bleeds into their music.

I first blamed my lack of enthusiasm on the new vocalist Zin, who has all of the makings of a good power metal vocalist but none of Kamijo's charisma. After listening to ARCADIA, I think it's something different. In order to become their own entity, Jupiter has to make music that shatters the ghost of Versailles. Right now, there's spark missing from Jupiter that was snuffed when Jasmine You was buried and extinguished when Versailles called it quits. Jupiter has tried very hard to recapture the magic with CLASSICAL ELEMENT, but lightning rarely strikes the same place twice. Even with all the boisterious riffs, regal pomp and technical dazzle that prove the members of the band haven't missed a beat, I don't even think I cared enough to finish the album. There was an element of inventiveness when Versailles attempted this first that Jupiter doesn't have now and it's a detrimental force that I don't see them working past easily. The title track ARCADIA takes some steps towards this, but ultimately it's not enough. It's another Hizaki styled power metal song that flows through the same tired canyons and grooves. There's a distinct Jupiter twist in it that is hard to put into words but easy to hear in the music, but that twist alone is not enough to differentiate this song. Combined with a vocalist unable to leave a lasting impression, this comes off as "just another power metal track" and the tunes will fade from your memory sooner rather than later. I can see this working well within an album but not as a single. Previous Jupiter fans will eat this up. For me, this is a continental breakfast.

And then there's Darkness, the example of "shattering conceptions" I alluded to earlier. As a track with entirely harsh vocals, the band moves in a direction they could have never executed well under Kamijo's direction. It's a good experiment with mixed results. Zin does well enough to get by but I do not think he sounds any more or less appealing whether he sings or growls. The clash between vocalist and music is what makes this track an interesting listen at first but once it loses it's novelty for being different there's little else to differentiate it from the wealth of other tracks Jupiter has made and will continue to make. This will disappear off of my radar even faster than Arcadia.

So once again Jupiter leaves me at a crossroads of doubt unable to puzzle out what I want from them. My score of average reflects how I feel about this band: great ideas, average execution. This band may have gotten all of the members, but Kamijo has all of the magic. Jupiter have made no moves to reveal their trump card. They can only ride on Versailles' coattails for so long before they fizzle out. To recapture the magic that they no longer seem to have, they have to take a look at themselves as a band and find out what inspires them and how they can channel these emotions differently. They're in a race against time to do so before my interest in them fades away.

We'll see what my opinion is when the second album is here.

[ShanethVarosa 1209]

I have to say, I don't disagree. As anyone who knows me already knows, Versailles was everything to me. I hadn't connected with a band so well since Evanescence debuted and then even at that their cheesier songs have almost become guilty pleasures while I'm still very proud of my love for Versailles. It still kind of amazes me that Versailles split into these two separate projects and you're right to say the ghost of Versailles is still there. 

 

When I listen to most of Kamijo's solo music I can really feel that he was the heart and soul of the band even though I find Yuki, Teru, and Hizaki to be some of the most amazing musicians on the planet. So when we had lead singles "Blessing of the Future" and "Louis -Enketsu no La Vie en Rose-" out at about the same time you saw where the real influence of Versailles was. BOTF was such a tired excuse for a song and it's b-sides were no better. They were all these really basic power metal songs and then they released an album of almost entirely forgettable music (save for Nostalgie and maybe like three other songs) where Kamijo just keeps progressing and getting better and better and now his solo debut album has previews that sound totally amazing beginning to end. 

 

I think you can tell Jupiter is struggling without Kamijo too because they basically rush released this single and it was their first since Last Moment six months ago. Now I will say this about Jupiter: they ARE progressing, in my humble opinion. Last Moment and Arcadia are actually good, memorable a-sides. Furthermore, they actually managed to put out b-sides I will personally listen to again and again: Innovation and Darkness. Those songs really go hard and express different sides to Hizaki and Teru on guitar, but this is the one time where Zin will ever outshine Kamijo: he screams and growls way better than Kamijo would ever hope to, adding to the overall feel that Jupiter CAN go way heavier and be successful. 

 

I hate comparing these artists because I really want to enjoy Jupiter in a realm separately than that of Versailles and Kamijo, but like you said: 4 members of Versailles are still together and staring you in the face while they release music that just doesn't stand up to Versailles's back catalog. 

 

This single, though, gives me hope that Jupiter's second album will actually be a step in the right direction.

[nullmoon 784]

I haven't listened to this single but I agree with the general points made about the band. They certainly sound like Versailles but they just aren't the same. Although Kamijo is all on his own, his releases have so much more creativity and energy. His mini album in particular was just plain astounding.

[kyoselflove 2680]

Your review describes exactly how I feel.  Well said.

[dannemannen 69]

Its decent but something is just... missing.
I guess Kamijo was the one who contributed with the "magic" to their songs before,
when he left everything just got plain and generic.
Kamijo's solo releases are more "versailles" than the actual band is now.
I would give this 6/10.
It feels like they have nothing to come with, they are just boring..? Only me?
 

[Fin Paulux 17]

I can't say that agree with your opinion, but I can't deny that I don't even try to keep up with Jupiter's activities. To me, Versailles kind of lost it's magic even before the split, there was something missing. I do agree that Jupiter is still counting on Versailles' influence and name in many ways. Yet they are not Versailles. 

Kamijo's solo on the other hand - I wouldn't use the word "boring", but it really doesn't leave me with a lasting impression. ( And I've been "on board" since Lareine, New Sodmy, the less Fancy Lareine... )

What I liked about Versailles was their unique way of finding the perfect balance in their sound. The band had the skills, the technique, and Kamijo was the motor power, the spark. Versailles is not either Jupiter, nor Kamijo. I guess what both parties need to do is to find their own sound and (unfortunately) to drift further away from the past. Which doesn't mean I won't love to see them together on stage again. 

 

And Zin really isn't a bad singer, he just can't fill in for Kamijo. And he really shouldn't. 

[kasupaa 22]

Arcadia is the release which now convinces me of Jupiter, at last.

 

I do agree that there was, and still is, a confusion for what Jupiter actually stands for. A continuation for Versailles? I have been following Versailles' work since The Revenant Choir, and was a fan, but as Fin Paulux said, something started to fall apart even before the seize of their activities. Apparently it was something between Kamijo and the rest of the members, I assume this because of what happened. I was at first very surprised to see Jupiter forming out of the ashes of Versailles, but now I'm quite happy, because the members do play music very well together.

 

Blessing of the future and Classical Element were mediocre at best. I couldn't get thrilled even if I wanted to, the quality of the compositions were bad in my opinion, nothing spectacular, and the album seems just be a presentation of the band's technical skills as well as their new singer that did not sink in at all. Zin's voice seems somehow off, perhaps because they tried to do Versailles' music with a new singer. Then I heard Last Moment, which was good, really good in my opinion. There the pieces started to fall into place, and particularly Zin's voice started to go with the band's music, maybe there was something different with the composition, I dunno. The rest of the tracks on that single are again quite ok, slipping to the same category as Classical Element, but Last Moment shines bright.

 

Then came Arcadia, out of the blue. I didn't even know they were releasing a single, but boy was I blown away. First, I listened the clip of the MV from youtube, and then right away got the single from iTunes (I SOOO want it as a hard copy as well, if someone knows how to get one, tell!). As a song, I think Arcadia is just perfect. It certainly has the same feel as Last Moment, just perfected. The hard beginning, the building towards that awesome verse, the solo's just compliment the overall composition and aren't just displays of technical skills. There are a lot of so good pieces to this song that just sink in together seamlessly, making me want to listen it over and over again on repeat. If this song represents Jupiter, I really like what I hear and am a fan.

 

I must admit I did listen only to Arcadia at first, the baby screaming in the beginning of Darkness made me go blaaah but Darkness is what makes this single The Perfect Single. Something brand new, as has been said, something that Versailles could not have done, proving that Jupiter wants to be a band in their own right, not the continuation of Versailles. The song is just so powerful, melodic and hard at the same time. There even is a melody to Zin's screaming in my opinion, a feature I don't think I have heard before, to many other bands, screaming is just screaming.

 

I'm the kind of reviewer who wants to find something to do better every time, but even Zin's english in Darkness is very good. I love Arcadia. 10/10.