Worst To First: Dir en grey

[kuyashii 124]

My favorite album by them is Uroboros. Don't have anything else to say, it's just that good.

 

It's a bit hard for me to choose their worst album since I really dislike both Kisou and TIW, but going by the circumstances each one of those were released, I think TIW stands out negatively more. Kisou is an album by a band that is still trying to find their sound and is expanding their sonic palette by trying new things, but while the ideas are good on paper, it often fails flat when it comes to executing them. Saying that, I think Kisou succeeds at what it tries: to be a weird, experimental and off-putting album, which the strange-sounding production definitely adds to the atmosphere of the record.

 

The Insulated World, on the other hand, was released when the band already reached significant success and following, after a string of three records with very positive reception, and after the biggest interval between LP releases so it was a highly antecipated album. While Kisou at least has some originality, I feel like TIW is a rehash of ideas and formulas that already had some mixed reception at the time of their releases (see The Marrow of a Bone). The production is terrible and definitely doesn't add up to the album, the track order and pacing of the album is really problematic and the stand-out tracks are very by-the-numbers. Stuff from Kisou like "Jessica" or "Embryo" (and even though I don't like the studio version vocals, "24 Cyllinders" is an awesome composition) were legit stand-outs. I like "Ranunculus" a lot but I don't really think it has the power of their previous power ballads, and while the single tracks are fun to listen to, they are really underwhelming compared to the stuff that came before it. 

 

So yeah my complete list would be: Uroboros>Vulgar>DSS>Gauze>Arche>WtD>Marrow>Macabre>Kisou>TIW

[Nowhere Girl 189]

On 10/25/2019 at 6:58 PM, Zeus said:

But who actually considers "Hotarubi" legendary? I haven't heard a fan say "damn, I was spinning some 'Hotarubi' the other day and those firefly buzzes spoke to me spiritually". It's just...okay to me. On an album from an era with no shortage of ballads to pick, "Hotarubi" doesn't come to mind first. And "Zakuro" is so boring OMG.

Hotarubi is my favourite song on MACABRE.

I also really like Taiyou no Ao.

[nekkichi 6043]

#stopbullyingkisou just saying

[Tokage 5930]

raison d'etre is among the top 3 catchiest songs on gauze and i will fight anyone who disagrees (but only verbally because violence is a sin in the eyes of the lord)

[AverageS 19]

Someone really doesn't like instrumentals lmao, I personally think some of them help enhance the album's tone quite a bit with an easy example being Arche, "and Zero" really helps setting the mood that the album needs to flow better and I personally always place it as the first track in my personal playlist just before Un Deux or Tefu Tefu (still figuring out which track transitions better from it).

Also why do you not like "Ware, Yami, Tote..."? That thing has always been one of the album's highlights for me.

 

 

[Zeus 7997]

11 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

Hotarubi is my favourite song on MACABRE.

I also really like Taiyou no Ao.

We found the heretic! /s

 

 

3 hours ago, AverageS said:

Someone really doesn't like instrumentals lmao, I personally think some of them help enhance the album's tone quite a bit with an easy example being Arche, "and Zero" really helps setting the mood that the album needs to flow better and I personally always place it as the first track in my personal playlist just before Un Deux or Tefu Tefu (still figuring out which track transitions better from it).

Also why do you not like "Ware, Yami, Tote..."? That thing has always been one of the album's highlights for me.

 

 

Fun fact: "and zero" was there but I removed it because I couldn't figure out which of those two tracks to put first.

 

It's not that I don't like "Ware, Yami Tote...". I just think almost everything else on UROBOROS is better.

[nick 10212]

我、闇とて… is always my go-to track every time I want to listen to something on UROBOROS. It's a great ballad.

 

Now I kinda agree with the poll that TIW is their worst album ever. Just didn't want to judge an album I barely listened to. THE MARROW OF A BONE is much better for me after I have given TIW more listens.

Edited October 31, 2019 by nostalgia

[nick 10212]

4 hours ago, Tokage said:

raison d'etre is among the top 3 catchiest songs on gauze and i will fight anyone who disagrees (but only verbally because violence is a sin in the eyes of the lord)

And ZAN is the #1 catchiest song.

 

Yeah, totally agree that GAUZE is full of catchy songs. It'd be nice if one day they came up with an idea of forming an alter-ego band that went back to their old school VK roots and released GAUZE 2.0 lol.

 

[libertine 125]

.

Edited December 12, 2019 by libertine

[EvilHippy 142]

2 minutes ago, libertine said:

Thb, they should just flip and start acting like their very serious metal band phase never happened.

 

No.
We don't need second Grieva.

[nekkichi 6043]

1 hour ago, libertine said:

Thb, they should just flip and start acting like their very serious metal band phase never happened.

this basically.

 

in retrospect everything they did up to wtd was impeccable with a fair share of random mistakes, but tbh there's no one in the scene right now capable of doing things right on the same level Deg did it back than.

[Saishu 1589]

12 hours ago, AverageS said:

Someone really doesn't like instrumentals lmao, I personally think some of them help enhance the album's tone quite a bit with an easy example being Arche, "and Zero" really helps setting the mood that the album needs to flow better and I personally always place it as the first track in my personal playlist just before Un Deux or Tefu Tefu (still figuring out which track transitions better from it).

Also why do you not like "Ware, Yami, Tote..."? That thing has always been one of the album's highlights for me.

 

 

A while back I re-sequenced Arche and threw And Zero and Tefu Tefu in there, which only succeeded in making the album even more long winded. Anyway, I had And Zero in the middle. 

[Ro plz 1290]

Dir en grey butchered Ware Yami Tote 2 out of the 3 times they've performed that track on DVD. I don't think I can ever forgive Shinya for fumbling the bag so hard on the Mode of Uroboros performance....

 

I can't lie and say that didn't sour my love for the track tbh...

[Saishu 1589]

That’s pretty fucking weird, dawg, because the studio track is still right that as it always was. 

[AverageS 19]

5 hours ago, Saishu said:

A while back I re-sequenced Arche and threw And Zero and Tefu Tefu in there, which only succeeded in making the album even more long winded. Anyway, I had And Zero in the middle. 

I can see that, but it didn't feel that way to me because I removed a lot of the filler to make space for those tracks.

Oh, Arche... that album could have been so much better if Dir en Grey actually gave a shit when organizing the tracklist.

 

15 hours ago, Zeus said:

Fun fact: "and zero" was there but I removed it because I couldn't figure out which of those two tracks to put first.

 

Well that's interesting! I didn't know so many people struggled with the placement of "and zero".

 

14 hours ago, nostalgia said:

It'd be nice if one day they came up with an idea of forming an alter-ego band that went back to their old school VK roots and released GAUZE 2.0 lol.

 

I'd be down for that, but would they be able to pull it off?

[Ro plz 1290]

10 hours ago, Saishu said:

That’s pretty fucking weird, dawg, because the studio track is still right that as it always was. 

 

Its really an easy song not to mess up. He has switched up some parts of Vinushka and Red Soil so he thought he could do the same here and it backfired. 

[Saishu 1589]

8 hours ago, Ro plz said:

 

Its really an easy song not to mess up. He has switched up some parts of Vinushka and Red Soil so he thought he could do the same here and it backfired. 

He pulls this shit live all the time, and honestly the changes he makes sometimes stink more of Lars Ulrich style laziness more than anything else. 
 

– not playing the double bass pattern in the last few bars in the chorus of Red Soil 

– skipping the hi-hat accents in the verses of Audience Killer Loop

– whatever the fuck he’s trying to do in the Shitataru Mourou intro

 

Hell, wasn’t he even not bothering to play the rimshots in Ware Yami Tote? Changing parts/ad-libbing is one thing. Just not bothering and simplifying is another. 

[robkun 4184]

Team Macabre, all day!

[Tokage 5930]

i will say some shit right now.... feel free to agree or disagree with this onion: riyuu/wake belongs to the top 10 greatest songs these dudes ever recorded 

[Ro plz 1290]

3 hours ago, Tokage said:

i will say some shit right now.... if you disagree, kiss my ass: riyuu/wake belongs to the top 10 greatest songs these dudes ever recorded 

 

Facts. BIG facts.

[Seelentau 884]

+1. Wake is super-underappreciated and the rework is amazing. I love it.

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

Can't believe I'm alone when it comes to asunaki koufuku, koe naki asu. One of my favs.

 

Anyway everything up to uroboros slaps. 

[EvilHippy 142]

7 hours ago, Takadanobabaalien said:

Can't believe I'm alone when it comes to asunaki koufuku, koe naki asu. One of my favs.

 

Anyway everything up to uroboros slaps. 

You're not ❤️

[Saishu 1589]

23 hours ago, Seelentau said:

+1. Wake is super-underappreciated and the rework is amazing. I love it.

Guitar solo in the rework sucks

[Ro plz 1290]

Its lazy as fuck.