Featured Review #26: 35xxxv by ONE OK ROCK

[doombox 4421]

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Artist: ONE OK ROCK Album: 35xxxv Score: With a little help from their friends, this album is more than just OK.

The "3xxxv5" intro SE isn't anything particularly special. The only thing remarkable about it is the slight notes of electronics sprinkled in. This is a new addition in ONE OK ROCK's repertoire for 35xxxv and important if you're not fond of the bleep bloop trend in mainstream music, because it's sprinkled all throughout this album. As the hype train rolls into the station, "Take me to the top" welcomes you with a punch to the face. It slams into your eardrums abruptly and screams this isn't going to be like any ONE OK ROCK album you've heard before.

If you're already a fan of ONE OK ROCK, the first thing to catch your attention will be the giant jump up in English skills. Working with producer and album co-writer John Feldmann - whose voice can be heard seconds before the song starts as he chimes in, "...hold on, that's exactly what I'm talking about," - has done wonders for vocalist Taka and taken him well out of 'Engrish' territory where he's unfortunately been treading water for the last handful of albums. Their dream of attaining the sound of their American and European music idols has come to pass with the catchiness and content of "Take me to the top", along with the rest of the record, which is as good as anything you'd hear on American rock radio today. The band has thrown down the gauntlet with this high octane album opener. It houses just the right amounts of guitar phaser, tasteful autotune, and gang vocals to get your fist pumping mightily in the air.

The album has its fill of heavy hitters. This includes not one, but two, Rurouni Kenshin movie themes: A main theme in "Mighty Long Fall", and endroll theme "Heartache", respectively. "Mighty Long Fall" works well as the all encompassing flagship song for 35xxxv. The EDM influence is heavy in drummer Tomoya's stuttering hi-hat during the verses and a spacey synth heavy bridge. "Heartache" sits against it back to back in the tracklist, which I'm sure is gut wrenching for the movie fans as it's quite a beautiful song. While it's stripped down to acoustics for the first half it's not a typical ONE OK ROCK ballad, it branches out bigger and grander towards the end than their previous works with orchestral and electronic accompaniment. It's easy to imagine it bringing the theater audience to tears. The thirds single from the album, "Cry Out," rounds out the promotional tracks that carry the brunt of this album stylistically. It's a nice mid-tempo number, but that is also a double edged sword that aids it in remaining the least memorable of the three.

After this, it feels as if the tracks ping pong back and forth between the more classic ONE OK ROCK feeling and the songs that have John Feldmann's stronger influence in them. And it doesn't always sit 100% within the bands musical abilities, unfortunately. Feldmann is famous for being the vocalist/guitarist for the band Goldfinger, producer and co-writer for albums by: Sleeping With Sirens, Papa Roach, Hilary Duff, Panic at the Disco, Ashlee Simpson, and Good Charlotte, among a long list of others. "Cry Out" and "Mighty Long Fall" sandwich the less dynamic and more straight forward "Suddenly", which is one of the weaker songs on the album and justifiably needed the stronger songs to help keep things moving. The rebellious punk inspired "Memories" is situated directly between two down-tempo tracks, "Heartache" and the dismal Cool Fool Rock theme "Decision". The latter felt as if it also was written with the intention to have a punk flavor, judging by some of the guitar transitions in the chorus, but were toned down to almost a Nickelback "Someday" vibe... which makes every fiber of my being cringe in unison. It's already horribly overdone and too trite for a band as young as ONE OK ROCK. I know the boys wanted North American mainstream appeal, but this is not the way.

However, for every boring and stale decision made in the previous song, they absolutely make up for with the Kellin Quinn (vocalist for Sleeping With Sirens) feature track, "Paper Planes". Kellin, being the only guest vocalist I can remember in ONE OK ROCK history, helps this song stand out. But it's such a huge departure from the signature ONE OK ROCK sound that it demands an intense fan reaction of immediate love or vehement despise. "Paper Planes" is a party starter with loads of electronic drums. The guitars get pushed back in the mix as to not compete with the dual vocalists, but the riffs are still bouncy and just as catchy as anything the vocals have going on. One major complaint is Kellin's voice is higher than Taka's, and thusly cuts across more in the mix. It's hard to tell if this was intentional or not, but Taka joins Toru with the guitars in the back seat of this song. In spite of that, the song is so out of left field that it's hard pressed not to be the most memorable earworm on 35xxxv and possibly ONE OK ROCK's entire discography so far. It's just a pity Taka's voice isn't the one that's going to be stuck in my head for weeks with this track.

The tail end of this album brings back more of that old ONE OK ROCK feeling. The upbeat songs are reminiscent of Nicheシンドローム, and slower ballads bring to mind the more recent 人生×僕＝ which ONE OK ROCKers should enjoy, though, with upgraded language pronunciation and more straight forward lyrics. I believe it was smart on the bands part not to alienate their core fanbase entirely with this album. But it was certainly a blast to hear all the new elements that they included, giving Feldmann so much free reign and making a lot of these new elements feel like their natural progression. It may be hard hearing that this is the album the band has always intended to create once they gained the ability to do so, but I think the band is on the right path to making a footprint in the global market. And with the new friends made on recent tours, they have the right connections to take them wherever they want to go next. It's clear they aren't letting anything stop them now. This is the new and improved ONE OK ROCK and they're holding nothing back.

[Original Saku 1593]

I have mixed feelings about this album, on one hand the album as a whole has grown on me more and more with each listen and I have come to enjoy more than a few tracks, On the other hand I detest the fact that there is absolutely no Japanese tracks whatsoever on this album. Look I'm glad that Taka's English has improved even more (who'd thought that was even possible) with this album, but to have no Japanese sung songs at all? To me it just feels like a lot of these song are what I would call "Americanized" and seems like they are trying to hard to make it big in North America... Because of that a lot of the songs are overly polished and feel not as unique as older English sung songs on older albums, that's not to say that these songs are bad, but I can't help but feel kinda like wtf when listening to the album.

Still why is there no Japanese songs on the album? I'm a fan of OOR's English songs and always thought it was cool that they have both English and Japanese sung tracks on their albums but by no means are they my favorites. I feel a bit alienated because of it too... and if I feel that way I wonder how their Japanese fans feel?

Good review though <3 I really enjoyed reading it and for the most part I agree with you. It's funny though... like I mention above the album has indeed grown on me over the past few weeks, but on my first listen I was really not feeling it at all. If you were to ask me my opinion on the album at that time I probably would of told you it was there worst album ever xD but that's not the case anymore.

EDIT: My bad there actually is a part of Heartache where Taka sings in Japanese for around a minute or so, but still that's one songs out of thirteen and it's not even the whole song.

[doombox 4421]

 To me it just feels like a lot of these song are what I would call "Americanized" and seems like they are trying to hard to make it big in North America... Because of that a lot of the songs are overly polished and feel not as unique as older English sung songs on older albums, that's not to say that these songs are bad, but I can't help but feel kinda like wtf when listening to the album.

I definitely feel the void their Japanese songs left too, but they've been really public about this album's purpose being to fulfill their dream to sound like their Western idols, and I think this is the direction they want to continue in for the time being. That's why they had an American producer co-write it. As far as I know this is the first time they've had a co-writer as well? 

 

But I'm really glad to hear the album is growing on you. It took me a couple of spins to get into it as well.

 

Edit: All the singles and "Stuck in the Middle" have Japanese parts. I thought you meant songs entirely in Japanese. oops!

[Original Saku 1593]

Yeah this is still better than any American radio rock band that's playing on my local rock station so...

[saishuu 3220]

I've only listened to this once and I'm sure I need to give it some more spins, but I felt it was mediocre at best and I doubt my mind will change. The only song that grabbed my attention was Cry out and I think it was due to the fact that it sounds like a link to their older sound, which obviously pleases me. I don't know, their album prior to this one was already filled with stadium-rock blandness and only a few standouts here and there, and now this one follows the same path - just more upbeat. I really, really dislike how they're treating Taka's vocals with all those effects because he does not need it. His voice was the main thing that carried their music and now it's just stuck in an uninspired soundwall failing to stand out like before. The rawness of their music is gone too and that's so disappointing; it used to pack tons of emotion (geez, this freaking thing still makes me sob to this day) and now it's just... there. No excitement and no other feeling whatsoever.

[MikuKun 83]

This album disappointed me beyond belief, I've loved this band for a long time and have supported every change they made but this new sound is just so bad compared to what I fell in love with this band for. Allot of people will defend this album or blame John Feldman and say it was all his fault but I think they are all at fault, the song with Kellin Quinn especially doesn't belong on this album, the lyrics that Taka used to write used to mean something or have a deep undertone and on this album most of the song's feel dumbed down and are all love song's. I'm glad that they want to appeal to Westerners and that they wanted to play warped tour, I was happy that they did I got to meet them and see them at Warped tour but I never wanted them to become a warped tour band. They used to have such amazing energy and talent and would bring something new to the table but now they feel average, there are plenty of Japanese band's who sing in English and sound much more interesting and technical than One Ok Rock, Alexandros (Ex Champagne) is a great example. Not only that but Toru seem's to just regress as a guitarist, all he writes is simplistic boring guitar work, he shows promise almost all the time then immediately writes simple guitar instead of anything new or different. Taka is an amazing vocalist but he doesn't feel or sound like a great vocalist on this album, there's just zero vocal work like the vocal's we all know he is capable of.

 

   I was really hoping that One Ok Rock would make it big in North America and interest westerner's in Japanese music or show some difference in the warped tour line up but instead they just recorded a album that was made to appeal to american radio and kid's who like warped tour sounding band's, One Ok Rock didn't even play one song at warped tour that made them so amazing and well known in the first place, they only sung in English anthem rock song's, I expected at least Dreamer but no only radio friendly tracks. I just feel that they lost all individuality and worked with the singer of a well known American band to merge fans but in doing that they lost their sound and traded it for Sleeping with siren's sound which is just a tragedy, there are better band's who use the same idea and same concept but create their own sound with interesting and different sounding song's and album's. Sorry for the long rant but I really was destroyed with this album, it just sound's like the music I listened to in middle school, which is why I loved One Ok Rock in the first place, the energy and the creativity, the great vocals and the feeling that they were always improving and gaining more song writing ability. In the end I just can't listen to another copy paste "Emo" rock band in the endless categorized Hastings music section, I'll just listen to Niche Syndrome and remember the good old days.

[NICKT 147]

To put it simply, in my opinion, the album feels less like a One Ok Rock album but more like another musician's album that One Ok Rock covered or played on.

[Original Saku 1593]

Edit: All the singles and "Stuck in the Middle" have Japanese parts. I thought you meant songs entirely in Japanese. oops!

lol I didn't even notice those parts, which means they were short as fuck. But yeah for the most part I did mean fully (or mostly) sung Japanese tracks.

I've been thinking and I do feel like the band is more focused on becoming successful in the west then actually pleasing their current fans at the moment... I don;t want to call it "selling out" but it's kinda hard not to. I might not feel as devastated as some fans(like @MikuKun) over this album, but I do feel that it's somewhat sad to see them go this direction even though I still really like a few songs from this album.

btw didn't touch upon it yet, but I might be one of the few people that really liked Paper Planes. I love how different it is than what they are used to and really enjoyed hearing Taka sing with a featured vocalist.

[Shmilly 519]

I'm struggling to find much of the 'classic ONE OK ROCK feeling' on this album at all. It's alright I guess, but it's such a departure from where the guys have come from that I can't help but feel like they've missed the mark this time. The major factors I think made me feel this way are the Western influence, and the lack of Japanese lyrics, only appearing briefly in a couple of tracks. For me, a long time fan of OOR, it was the excellent use of English that helped my younger self get into their music. But they have always been an energetic, punk-inspired Japanese rock band. 35xxxv in comparison sounds like bland, mainstream Western rock with not a lot of soul.

 

There's a handful of good songs here, but for me these are sadly mainly the ones we've heard before. Mighty Long Fall is an excellent lesson in pacing that gets the blood pumping when the crescendo reaches a powerful chorus. Cry out retains more of that OOR sound than most of the other songs on this album, and it's pretty catchy to boot. Stuck in the middle was a good pick me up after the album began to lose my interest (and that collaboration song? Worst thing they ever did xD)

 

I really hope that the more I listen to 35xxxv, the more it will grow on me. But as it stands, this is perhaps the weakest album in OOR's now extensive discography, and because of that I am much more likely to go back and listen to the stuff I like than I am to spin this disappointment again too often.

[allisapp 303]

btw didn't touch upon it yet, but I might be one of the few people that really liked Paper Planes. I love how different it is than what they are used to and really enjoyed hearing Taka sing with a featured vocalist.

 

Awesome! I am so glad I wasn't the only who likes Paper Planes. First time I listened it, I had a huge WTF-reaction, but a listen after listen the track was getting to me. Now it's my favourite track from the album.

 

Paper Planes wasn't the only thing I liked - I must admit that I really like this 30 Seconds to Mars -sound, but I guess I am the only one who does... XD One of the best tracks was the intro, which is weird, because I have never liked intros before. This really got my blood pumping, such a great starter. Take me to the top was quite nice as well, though I don't like how... suddenly it starts. It took me a while to get into Cry out, and I still only like (partly) the chorus and the start of the song.

 

Loved Suddenly, but didn't like Heartache at all. Memories was quite nice as well, but I still haven't totally warmed up to it. Same with Decision. Liked One by One and Stuck in the Middle.

 

I guess the slow songs weren't hit for me in this album. Maybe the sound had something to do with it? Also, I couldn't help but notice how short the album seems like?

[beni 2149]

So, I had given this album a listen during the times I went over your review, and I must say, I would have definitely rated it lower. It's as many have already pointed out, this album sounds far too American produced to me to love as much as their previous works. I'm most certainly mega fond of their fourth and fifth album, and what stood out to me most with them, was their Engrish songs. I do have a major soft spot for Engrish, but in this release, this most obvious and favoured feature of theirs felt pretty... not special, really. I also have this weird dislike for the track I instantly enjoyed most and remember most; 'Paper Planes,' because, as you said, it's not Taka I'm thinking of. My other favourite tracks, at the moment, are 'Heartache' and 'Good Goodbye.' Beautiful tracks, to me. Not their best to me, but certainly a step in the right direction for what they desire as a band, I guess. It'll grow on me. That I can be sure of.

[Visutox 188]

Now that I'm at my 4th listening, I can say that 35xxxv is a good album. I was kinda like "meh" after my 1st listening but it has really grown on me since then. Y'all guys saying OOR's trying to sound like western bands, wasn't it the case already before? Their sound started changing since Nicheシンドローム relatively but in all cases, they've always had that Americanized sound if I may say so. I'm not feeling like they're trying hard to sound like any other shit or something, I just have the feel that they do their best to sound as awesome as they always did. They have always done it right. And with regard to the big amount of songs sung in English, everyone can have their own opinion, but it's a shame to sum up the very essence of OOR's music to the language. Taka is a fantastic vocalist, so let's just enjoy his amazing talent regardless of the language he chooses to sing in.

 

Now speaking more concretely about the new album, as I said, it's a good one for sure. Btw, good review, ! I agree in all points except concerning Suddenly, not that it's not a weak one, but I feel like the whole album keeps an invariable level all the way through. From the first track to the thirtieth, I have enjoyed each track the same way (though I still have doubts including Paper Planes). They are all good and that's what makes the album seem a bit short, as @allisapp pointed out in the following quote. A very relevant point and almost a totally neglected one.

 

Also, I couldn't help but notice how short the album seems like?

 

All in all, OOR delivered a good album. I'm joyfully looking forward to see what this band will become in the future! And yeah, before I forget, I consider that you just overrated the album, . I'd give it more like a 7/10, but that's just my very absolute and incontestable opinion.

 

As for Paper Planes, I consider that everything concerning the song has been said in this section of the review so I'm just gonna quote it as well.

 

However, for every boring and stale decision made in the previous song, they absolutely make up for with the Kellin Quinn (vocalist for Sleeping With Sirens) feature track, "Paper Planes". Kellin, being the only guest vocalist I can remember in ONE OK ROCK history, helps this song stand out. But it's such a huge departure from the signature ONE OK ROCK sound that it demands an intense fan reaction of immediate love or vehement despise. "Paper Planes" is a party starter with loads of electronic drums. The guitars get pushed back in the mix as to not compete with the dual vocalists, but the riffs are still bouncy and just as catchy as anything the vocals have going on. One major complaint is Kellin's voice is higher than Taka's, and thusly cuts across more in the mix. It's hard to tell if this was intentional or not, but Taka joins Toru with the guitars in the back seat of this song. In spite of that, the song is so out of left field that it's hard pressed not to be the most memorable earworm on 35xxxv and possibly ONE OK ROCK's entire discography so far. It's just a pity Taka's voice isn't the one that's going to be stuck in my head for weeks with this track.