Thursday, April 18, 2002

NEW SUGIZO ALBUM Well, I don't see any mention of this on Sephirot, but according to CD Japan, Sugizo is going to be releasing an (untitled) album on May 9th. This is an all instrumental album with him on guitars and violin. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=HDCA-10096 - Gerald - - Comment - hide: "Oi! It's 04:41 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Wednesday, April 17, 2002

VOCALIST COMPARISON: PART ONE This is the first part of a two parter post highlighting some of the most popular vocalists of jrock. I've reviewed them here in several categories, giving them scores from 1 (worst) to 10 (best) in tone (smooth, scratchy, etc), range (how high/low can you go?), support, vibrato, accuracy (flat or sharp?), and musicality (overall effect). These are of course my own interpretations and are open to debate, but I consider most of these categories (range, support, accuracy, vibrato) to be pretty accurate (I have perfect pitch *grins evilly*) ATSUSHI [Buck-Tick] tone: 9 range: 5 support: 8 vibrato: 6 accuracy: 10 musicality: 9 Atsushi has a great "dark" tone to his voice which adds depth and richness, but he's very versatile, screaming and growling when necessary. Lots of bass quality to his voice, but he doesn't try to strain his range at all, staying comfortably in the lower octave. Not bad for a guy who used to be a drummer. GACKT [solo/ex Malice Mizer] tone: 8.5 range: 9 support: 10 vibrato: 7 accuracy: 10 musicality: 10 I've reviewed Gackt's voice on "Gackt vs. Hyde," but suffice to say that he, like Atsushi, has a wonderful bass quality to his voice. Unlike Atsushi, however, he has a broader range, which maintains that bass quality but doesn't lose dimension as he sings those higher notes. Gackt also makes great use of a classical style vibrato, which is nice when he's singing his usual fare, but not so great for more rock or pop oriented songs such as Another World. Gackt does get another point for the drummers-turned-vocalists club. FUKUYAMA YOSHIKI ("Nekki Basara") [solo/ex Humming Bird] tone: 4 range: 10 support: 10 vibrato: 9 accuracy: 10 musicality: 9 Not too many people have heard Fukuyama Yoshiki sing or even known who he is, but mecha anime fans will tell you a different story. Fukuyama Yoshiki is the voice and guitar of Nekki Basara on the anime Macross 7, and what a musician he is! Forgetting the guitar for a minute (even though he is also an awesome guitarist), the strongest suit of his voice is the range. The highest I've heard him sing is a high A two octaves above middle C (Angel Voice). That's soprano range. He also has great vibrato, though his voice is quite scratchy and doesn't have much body to it. HAKUEI [Penicillin] tone: 6 range: 7 support: 7 vibrato: 5 accuracy: 6 musicality: 7 Here's the convulsing one. I give Hakuei a point for trying to use vibrato, but it doesn't quite work out. Instead of simply tremolo-ing the note, the vibrato moves his notes up and down, usually almost a whole step up or down (thus making him sound like he is "convulsing".) However, that does make him very recognizable and gives Penicillin a unique sound. He does hit most of his notes, if you discard the convulsing effect, though he has a tendency to go sharp at times (which is odd, since most vocalists go flat.) HIDEKI [Siam Shade] tone: 5 range: 7 support: 6 vibrato: 7 accuracy: 10 musicality: 7 Hideki is one of those vocalists who is almost always dead-on-accurate with every note that he sings, but whose tone falls flat. His voice is very thin and nasal, with a raspy quality that doesn't bode well on the ears after a while (though I guess there are people who like that sort of thing.) Good thing he has kick-ass guitars Daita and Kazuma to back him up. HYDE[L'Arc~en~Ciel] tone: 7 range: 7 support: 9 vibrato: 10 accuracy: 6 musicality: 8 Again, Hyde's voice is reviewed on "Gackt vs. Hyde." Hyde has a tendency to go really flat at lives after he's sung for a while, which is why some of his scores are lower in tone, range, and accuracy. Recently, it seems to have gotten worse. Must be all that smoking. KAMIJO [New Sodmy/ex Lareine] tone: 3.5 range: 4 support: 3 vibrato: 6 accuracy: 5 musicality: 9 If I were to give a prize for "most nasal voice," Kamijo would be it. He gets a cookie for trying, but even though he is a great and inspired musician with lots of creativity and vision, Kamijo can't sing. He has very little range to speak of, goes flat pretty much on any note above F (above middle C), and misses quite a few notes above and below that. Unfortunately, he keeps trying to sing above his range, which is a no-no for any vocalist. KEN LLOYD [Fake/ex Oblivion Dust] tone: 6 range: 6 support: 6 vibrato: 3 accuracy: 7 musicality: 6 Ken's voice doesn't really strike me one way or the other. It's mediocre in pretty much all categories. During fast and loud songs he hits his pitches, but in slower songs such as Alien it's obvious that he's struggling to keep that pitch up. He's also not very musically oriented in his style, but that's probably because he's trying to copy American rock singers. KIYOHARU [Kuroyume] tone: 5 range: 6 support: 5 vibrato: 8 accuracy: 6.5 musicality: 6 Kiyoharu sounds like a cross between Kamijo and Hakuei on crack. The end. No, really...though he's a little higher on his scores, his voice is very reminiscent of Kamijo's - thin and nasally and also has Hakuei's convulsing in there. Sample and see for yourself. KLAHA [Malice Mizer] tone: 8 range: 5 support: 5 vibrato: 9 accuracy: 8 musicality: 7 For all that Malice Mizer tried to find something different after Gackt left, they ended up with a vocalist who is probably the closet you can sound to Gackt without actually being Gackt. Klaha has a great, full, baritone sounding voice that doesn't really have Gackt's range or support, but that's because he hasn't been singing as long as Gackt has, nor is he as crazy and anal as Gackt. His voice is very weak up in the higher registers, but hopefully he'll get better with practice. KOSHI INABA [B'z] tone: 7.5 range: 9 support: 9 vibrato: 9 accuracy: 9 musicality: 8 Koshi is one of those vocalists whose voice works for the music he sings, but taken by itself would be evaluated quite different. He's the obvious right choice for B'z, as his naturally hoarse voice lends itself very well to the blues style. He has a large range and knows how to use it, as well as putting a lot of expression into his music. MAKOTO ("Okouchi Sakuya") [Lucifer] tone: 7 range: 5 support: 5 vibrato: 6 accuracy: 5 musicality: 5 Makoto is the voice of Sakuya from the anime Kaikan Phrase, which actually does star the real Lucifer. I don't know how many of you have seen the anime, which lauds Sakuya as the best vocalist in Japan, but those reviews have to go. Makoto's voice is quite nasal, though not as much as Kamijo's but that's not where the problem lies. Makoto has a narrow range and very little support to his voice, which causes him to go flat almost 50% of the time. Not too great of a score for someone who's supposed to be the best singer ever. It wouldn't be too bad if he wouldn't try to sing out of his range, which he does often, to our dismay. - Gerald - - Comment - hide: "Oi! It's 08:11 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Wednesday, April 17, 2002

PREVIEW:「忘れないから」 [GACKT] First of all, I'm basing this preview on the version he played on his radio show (I think) so it's going to be very rough. It's not the clearest copy in the world but people have been asking about it so... If my thoughts change after the single comes out, I'll write an addendum or re-review it then. The first 2 seconds reminded me of a beefed up version of Mr. Children's "Youthful Days" ... it was a similar opening chord. The rest is similar to "Marmalade" with lots of bouncy guitars. It wasn't too bad until the vocals came in. ^^;; I know Gackt has a beautiful voice but it sounds like he's using some sort of distortion on this. Either that or he's deliberately choking the high end of his normally warm, full tone. As a result, his voice sounds slightly lower and the notes seem flat. I don't think they are (Ger, double check that?) but they just don't sound right for some reason. Once he abandons the sound effect, like during the refrain, it sounds MUCH better. The verses are slower than the refrain, with a kind of "floating" or "speeding" feel to them. At least I think that's the effect he was going for. It's mostly just the distorted vocal over keyboard chords, minimal drums, and the guitar strumming once every measure or so. It's a little livelier in the second verse; there are some other sounds thrown in, including a rather jarring one of a motorcycle racing by, but the basic idea remains the same. The refrain is like a harmonic version of "Marmalade" with more voices, but less melody. The most solid parts are the bridge and guitar solo. Very standard Gackt style: a slowdown on the bridge headed by an elegant descending piano scale, vocals that start slow and end up soaring, and the speed uptempo as the guitar picks up the melody and takes off. The solo sounds like an acoustic or spanish-style guitar backed by the other instruments and more electronic noises. Very nicely done. The rest of it... is poppy and repetitive. There are quite a few sound effects thrown in during the last repititions of the refrain. This disconcerted me for a while since it was taking away from the vocals but then I realized that that was what it was supposed to do- give the listener something else to focus on while the words repeated over and over again until the end. I suppose this is a rather creative use of effects but Gackt hasn't felt the need to add sounds to take attention away from his music before. It's just rather... unsettling. I can see this as bgm for a motorcycle commercial or something. I know it was already used on the CMs for the new Fujifilm Digital Camera. ^^;; There are even engine sound effects used, after the first refrain and after the guitar solo. It's like the beginning and end of "Another World" but this time the effects were during the song. All in all, this is a rather mediocre song from Gackt. Compared to "Mizerable" and "Story," it lacked in artistry. Compared to "Cube" and "uncontrol," it lacked in emotion. Compared to "Another World" and "kimi no tame ni dekiru koto," it lacked in energy. Maybe it was because of the bad copy. I don't know. In any case, I'm rather lukewarm to the thing and the added distortion and sound effects just kind of brought it a notch lower for me. Again, if the single is better when it comes out, either I or Ger might review it then. It might be totally different, you never know. ^_~ For now though, I'm not too impressed with this and I'm hoping the c/w, "Doomsday," will be better. Gackt hasn't disappointed me with his b-sides... yet... 「忘れないから」 (Wasurenai Kara) - 2002年4月24日 - (2002.04.24) CRCP-10025　定価1,200円 (approx. $9.17 US) 1.忘れないから (Wasurenai Kara) 2.Dooms　day 3.忘れないから (Wasurenai Kara)（Inst.) - MS - - Comment - hide: "Oi! It's 01:51 a.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Tuesday, April 16, 2002

FOREVER TO ME The Brilliant Green's new single, Forever to Me, comes out on the 24th of this month. If you go to the "Discography" section of the official site, you can listen to a 30 second clip of the song. I've also found a really nice English BuriGuri homepage. Check out terrafirma. It's chock full of info and has a great layout too. - Gerald - - Comment - hide: "Oi! It's 04:19 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Tuesday, April 16, 2002

EVE OF DESTINY LIVE A huge thank you to Darkfrozenmind who provided us with this report. Read up on KOZI, Haruhiko Ash, and the Eve of Destiny lives last weekend at Pixel Power. - MS - - Comment - hide: "Oi! It's 10:08 a.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Sunday, April 14, 2002

NEXT B'Z SINGLE It's still two months away, but B'z has announced their next single, Atsuki Kodou no Hate, which will be released on June 5. For more information and to pre-order, visit CD Japan. Also, I thought I should mention that the B'z official site has a section called...Hi There!. Don't ask me. -_- It's an archive of sorts for live reports but there hasn't been anything added (that I could find) since 1999. So...Hi there! -_-;; - Gerald - - Comment - hide: "Oi! It's 09:17 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O

Sunday, April 14, 2002

ARTIST: WYSE Like Glay, Wyse blurs the lines between jrock and jpop. Their sound ranges from hard rock to jazz/pop, and everything in between. They contributed a song, "replay" to a "GLAM POP" compilation a few years ago and that's a good a way as any to describe their music. Their songs are solid and have a clean, polished edge that few bands today even come close to. Wyse was formed in April 1999 by vocalist, Tsukimori, guitarist, Mori, and former drummer, Natsu. Natsu left the band in December that same year and Kenji was brought on as support. He later became a formal band member. The current lineup is: Tsukimori (v), Hiro (g), Mori (g), Takuma (b), and Kenji (dr). Takuma is the youngest of the group but makes his presence well known. He is considered the "leader" if there is one, writes most of the music and lyrics, and also provides backup vocals. The first thing that struck me about Wyse was how HAPPY their music sounded. Without understanding the lyrics, the music itself was upbeat, mostly in major chords, very singable, and largely appealing. Tsukimori has a high voice, vaguely reminiscent of Takui or Janne Da Arc's Yasu. It's still a little raw but time has improved it and he's getting better and better. The two guitarists play well off each other, some of the riffs vaguely reminiscent of something L'Arc~en~Ciel or even Siam Shade would do. As can be expected, Takuma's basslines are prominent in most of the songs and there's even a short bass solo in "Countless Trigger." (I'm a bass fan, so sue me. XD) Takuma also plays keyboards (he was a support member of JILS for a while) so there's a fair amount of that in their songs as well. I have to admit, I was surprised when I first started listening to this band. Almost every single song was good, and even those I didn't like at first, slowly grew on me. That's surprising considering they're such a young/new band. They just went major the end of last year, a little over two years after they first formed. That says something I think. There's not too much about them online so it's hard to get a fix for how popular they are both at home and overseas. One thing for sure though, this band is GOOD. One of the best I've heard in a long time. It's only a matter of time until the rest of the world realizes it. Official Website: W・I・T・H... Recommended Songs: It's Not Like Me, It's Not Like You - 1st major single. Excellent mix of talents. Trust - Pretty ballad. Definately a must hear. Perfume - If "Way of Difference" is representative of the typical Glay sound, "Perfume" is the same for Wyse. Light, sweet, happy, perfect. ^_^ Countless Trigger - A little faster, a little harder, and contains that awesome bass solo. *_* Thoughtful Day - Jazzy pop ballad. Mostly acoustic guitars. Think of a breezy day at a white sand beach... or a lazy afternoon in the park. With ducks. *L* - MS - - Comment - hide: "Oi! It's 02:31 p.m., and Yoshiki's stripping again!" O_O