featured review #91: CRADLE OF ETERNITY by 鈴華ゆう子 (Yuko Suzuhana)

[Zeus 7997]

 

 

 

 

| If the gimmick works farm it; don't ditch it for something boring.

 

It's no secret that I fawn over everything Wagakki-Band has done. Let it be known that I also encourage musicians to have side projects and fully express their creative tendencies. But given the timing of it all, I could be forgiven for viewing Yuko Suzuhana's solo career as a power play. My gut reaction was that Wagakki-Band was still too young of a band for her to tire of the traditional aesthetic - even considering her past activities with Hanafugetsu - and deduced that CRADLE OF ETERNITY would break from the aforementioned aesthetic completely. I never doubted Suzuhana's vocal excellence, and she sounds beautiful on every song. But without the traditional bend to her music, something different but equally as compelling has to take its place. CRADLE OF ETERNITY is too safe; a cold, calculated, manufactured slice of unoffensive corporate pop that doesn't stand out.

 

There's a lot of competition in the pop scene. If you want to make it, you have to stand out. At one point in time, Jun Togawa, Shiina Ringo, and most recently Seiko Oomori have broken into the mainstream by bucking the trend, but remaining accessible. CRADLE OF ETERNITY  does the complete opposite; it's musically excellent but devoid of spice. There's no excitement, no surprises, and the album plods along at the same pace for ten tracks. At the end there's a piano solo of lead track "永世のクレイドル" and an even slower version of "Remains" - the most interesting songs on the album - because what the album needed to do was go even slower. There was plenty of room for experimentation with darkwave, electronic, the traditional influence she is purposefully shunning, or even classic rock, but CRADLE OF ETERNITY settles for only the safest brand of pop. It's shallow and one-dimensional, if not superficially pretty all the way through, and that's about it.  

 

I want to like the release more based purely on who is involved and how good she can be at her best, but CRADLE OF ETERNITY does Yuko Suzuhana no justice. She needs more than tracks that sound like generic anime openers on Prozac. This is a modest start to a solo career that won't take off until the music direction changes. At the very least, it's money for her and I'm happy about that. For me, it's the newest entry to the pile of music that I'll forget about soon.

 

 

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[helcchi 942]

for those interested, Leda played guitar on the title track.

[Zeus 7997]

2 hours ago, helcchi said:

for those interested, Leda played guitar on the title track.

Unfortunately, that little fact doesn't make it any more interesting. But get that money Leda.