the GazettE BALLAD BEST ALBUM 「TRACES VOL.2」2017.3.8 RELEASE

[Euronymous 325]

5 minutes ago, Saishu said:

Okay so they actually DID give Reila a proper ending this time! It's just... man, I know the band is older now, but it sounds like it's being played by an older band. The tempo is slower and the performance is polished to the point of "perfection" so that it sounds like they didn't enjoy doing this at all. 

wow...realized the same thing...ruki is kinda "robotic" in this album,they trimmed the edges very much

It seems that re-recording was only a requirement of the label.there's no natural inspiration,like dir en grey's deconstruction/re-record

[Visutox 188]

The only thing I've been telling myself when listening the best album is "humm okay but the original version is way better" after each track. And that pretty much sums-up what the best album is, it's like an average band tried to make a cover album.

Edited March 10, 2017 by Visutox

[TheZigzagoon 670]

I think a lot if people are being very overly negative and overly critical about this release.

 

I mean it's not the best gazette release, but it's also not the worst.

 

The reason this lacks the youthful energy these songs once had is because they're not in their youth anymore, they're in their mid-30's, and this album shows how they've developed as musicians over the past 15 years. I like that the tracks have been polished, the track list could've been better (they really missed out on Okuribi, and why pick 'UNTITLED'?) 

 

I dunno...maybe just picking out every single flaw in a gazette release rather than highlighting the good stuff about it is just the trend now.

[platanity 99]

i know its not the appropriate location for reviews , but i need to say that

 

1. i appreciate them trying to hi-def-ing the old tracks into modern style (especially with the tracks from mid 2000's, tin-can snares were the worst)

 

2. i appreciate them trying to re-arrange and spice the old and new tracks to give them difference 

 

but

 

3. they literally murdered all tracks. the dead cold bodies were drowned to death by making all tracks sound a little 'slower',

 

4. and those little details in guitar tracks were snipped (those little accents in reila, without a trace, pledge, etc). it's like "oh what? weren't there suppose to be a →↗↘→")

 

5. i was dying to hear the new kare uta. . .. which happens to be the most decent re-arranged track amongst the rest of them. but the solo had that little off-melody end that disturbs me

 

but all in all, kudos ! 

Edited March 12, 2017 by platanity

[Aeolus 220]

@platanity

you can go stick flaming q-tips in your ear as well

 

3. pretty sure all the songs are the same tempo

 

4. that's the whole point  of re-recording, to rearrange and give songs new life.

I feel that with these new recordings maybe they'll play them live with an orchestral arrangement. I would love to see them preform these songs with an orchestra at like the Royal Opera House or somewhere similar.

 

5. i think you mean you don't like the time signature change at 2:10-2:13? it's just one note, he held back one measly note! that's a problem, really!?!?

 

Pledge sounds amazing, it's got a softer fuller sound, I even love how I can hear the pedals on the piano.

白き優鬱 sounds the same though and I hate that they took out the bridge in 紅蓮 at 2:47. Ruki whispering  in my ear, sploosh!

Edited March 12, 2017 by Aeolus

[platanity 99]

26 minutes ago, Aeolus said:

@platanity

you can go stick flaming q-tips in your ear as well

 

3. pretty sure all the songs are the same tempo

 

4. that's the whole point  of re-recording, to rearrange and give songs new life.

I feel that with these new recordings maybe they'll play them live with an orchestral arrangement. I would love to see them preform these songs with an orchestra at like the Royal Opera House or somewhere similar.

 

5. i think you mean you don't like the time signature change at 2:10-2:13? it's just one note, he held back one measly note! that's a problem, really!?!?

 

Pledge sounds amazing, it's got a softer fuller sound, I even love how I can hear the pedals on the piano.

白き優鬱 sounds the same though and I hate that they took out the bridge in 紅蓮 at 2:47. Ruki whispering  in my ear, sploosh!

 

 

i am so sorry if i offended you (no sarcasm) ,

 

but i think you are mislead with my opinions even tho i actually liked this !

 

altho i understand your rage since i suspect you as a hardcore gazette fan (i could've done much worse if you bash on kuroyume),

 

but you are overreacting on this  

 

i am actually disappointed right now cause i thought the notification was on about high-def version of this album :/ haha

 

Edited March 12, 2017 by platanity

[Aeolus 220]

@platanity mislead yes, over reacting no. your comment about 枯詩 confounds me, how can one note make that much of a difference to you?

If a Hi-Res version appears on Mora i'll be sure to tag you when i share it haha.

[Saishu 1589]

Some of the songs are definitely a bit slower, especially Reila and Shiroki Yuuutsu. 

 

And I can't even say this is making the original songs "hi def" because they all have that awful production that every rock album has now where everything is brick walled into oblivion. No dynamics, all the parts just bleed into each other. And the drums sound terrible! Were they recorded in a bathroom?

 

I guess I'm the weirdo that loves Shiroki Yuutsu, and I hate the way it sounds here. It's too harsh, too mechanical. The DIM version has this gentle airy feel to it, and the string section is more prominent in the mix. 

 

The other problem is this is a tough album to get thru. 70 minutes. Almost every track is 5 or 6 minutes each. All ballads (except Taion. Never considered that a ballad at all). I don't know, it's just like... I love Gazette, but goddamn I hate them so much sometimes. 

[nekkichi 6043]

new reila is 8 minutes fml

they figuratively murdered it, pissed on the corpse, set it on fire, and shat in the casket

((five massive fiber-rich dumps they had))

[Saishu 1589]

8 hours ago, nekkichi said:

new reila is 8 minutes fml

they figuratively murdered it, pissed on the corpse, set it on fire, and shat in the casket

((five massive fiber-rich dumps they had))

 

To be fair, it's only 10 seconds longer. It just seems a lot longer because it doesn't fade out. 

[nekkichi 6043]

hmmm you're right!

 

I was under impression it was around 6:30 originally because who got time for an 8 minute long PV, but that's not true either

 

(new version still blows tho, regardless)

Edited March 12, 2017 by nekkichi

[platy 3018]

I hate ballads, specially most of gazette ballads, but I still managed to enjoy this release.

I guess I just have been missing them recently and I got caught up in some kind of nostalgia trip listening to these songs. Even songs I hated before (cassis) are bearable now, I don't have to skip it in anger. 

New taion is amazing and turns out they didn't actually wreck D.L.N, it's actually pretty nice. I even found out that CALM ENVY does have some redeeming features to it (like that section after the guitar solo).

My main complaint is why the hell does everything sound so echo-y?

I don't hate this release, like I could put it in the background if I'm meditating or something. It's just really chill.

Yeah not the same as old gazette, but let's face it. They've been active for 15 years, something's gonna change in their energy/vibe/skills/etc. I guess, it just reflects the more polished and mature phase of their career.

 

reila and guren are still boring as fuck, regardless of how many times it's re-recorded.  I really enjoyed listening to 絲!

[Ro plz 1290]

http://www.gazebestfriends.com/2017/03/traces-vol-2-no-spotify-e-entrevistas.html

 

Our complaints with this album are justified. There was no sound engineer during the recording process. Seems as if Uruha who really doesn't know anything about this stuff, based on this interview was the one who handled the production and such.  This shows that this isn't an issue of people being picky as @TheZigzagoonis implying. It just further proves that this was some half assessed cash grab. 

[Saishu 1589]

Even worse, they listened back after all was said and done and were like, "yeah, kick it out the door. It's fine."

[Ro plz 1290]

Also, notice how terrible the drums sound and how Kai isn't even present with the other band members in the interview. 

 

I don't think its that far fetched to assume that his parts were programmed and then "mixed/Mastered" after. 

[Kiryu999 3336]

I don't find the mixing to be that awful but I hope they won't reiterate this experience for their next album

[platy 3018]

I went and translated the bit of the interview in that website if anyone is interested.

Quote

 

Aoi: hmm, how can I explain it... for the first time, we decided to do everything ourselves without a sound engineer.

That's right. This time we worked on the album all the while discussing several things among ourselves, and within the members
there was someone who kept saying it was our duty to take the initiative and do it. It was a big issue.

 

-Who was that person?

 

Aoi: That person over there with the face mask. (Uruha)

 

Uruha: Oh, I was only the person who did the final mixing adjustments. But that was done with everyone together.

 

-Did you have guidance from a conductor?

Uruha: That's right, the conductor would tell us various things...

 

Ruki: Wait, by any chance is that conductor you're talking about me?? But I didn't say a thing!!

 

Uruha: Lies, he talked plenty.

 

Ruki: The one who was unbearable this time was Reita!!

 

-What? Reita too?

 

Uruha: Yes. During my parts, sometimes I'd think "Ah, I wonder if it's good like this?'' and when it was time to check,
when Reita was testing the sound with the headphones he'd have the eyes of a crazy person and wouldn't shut up. I even dreamt about it...
He was like 'Raise this bass' and then "But you raised it too much", then I'd go and fix the sound, next day he'd say "Damn
this is too loud" and I had to go and lower it again.

 

Aoi: But hadn't we learned some time ago that this is no good?

 

Reita: I thought I had learned my lesson back in Madara, but not really (lol)

 

-And what did you do to fix this issue with Reita's bass?

 

Uruha: I stopped saying 'let's do it like this' and left all the responsibility to Reita. If I were to be responsible for his
sounds I'd be too stressed out.

 

Reita: That's why in the final stage of the recording, when I asked Uruha '' What do you think?'' he'd say ''I don't know shit about that''

 

Uruha: I don't know anything about it so do it the way you think it's best and stuff.

 

(Reita also said that after this, it ended up turning into a game where he and Uruha would bicker/play fight. The members said that
after this experience they wouldn't produce another album by themselves, but they'll be more thorough/picky in the next release)

 

-You didn't make a PV for this album?

All: No...

 

Aoi: And where would we find the money for all this?

 

-If you used Reita's savings...

 

Aoi: True!

 

Uruha: If we used his savings we could make a PV for all the songs!

 

Ruki: What a treasure keeper! (Reita)

 

Reita: No way, I don't have anything!

 

All: LOL!

 Uruha reveals that he always borrowed a 12 string acoustic guitar to record SEs
so he decided to just buy one to record the normal songs. Ruki tells him "Why don't you just buy one bruh" so Uruha takes money from his savings and buys it. Afterwards he was comparing his savings to the other members' and he was like "wah, mine went down by a lot"
Aoi feels jealous of Uruha and wanted to buy one of those guitars too. 

 

 

 

Safe to say they had no idea what they were doing 

Edited March 13, 2017 by Platy

[Saishu 1589]

 

1 hour ago, Ro plz said:

Also, notice how terrible the drums sound and how Kai isn't even present with the other band members in the interview. 

 

I don't think its that far fetched to assume that his parts were programmed and then "mixed/Mastered" after. 

 

Isn't Kai supposed to be the "leader"?