3 posts tagged “12012”
This is not my first review of 2009, I thought it was for a second. I'm reviewing this one because it's the only one of the three albums I received recently that I didn't know what to say about. After a few listens even, I was like, I don't know. Do I like this? Do I hate it? Am I ambivalent? So basically a review might help me decide. Is what I'm hoping, anyway, lol.
12012
Mar Maroon
Genre: rock, vk
Release Date: 03-11-09
Price: 3000 ¥
Label/Distributor: UNIVERSAL MUSIC K.K./NAYUTAWAVE RECORDS
Tracks: 13
01. THE WORLD
02. DNA
03. As
04. スマイルアゲイン
05. MERRY GO WORLD
06. PSYCHO VIRUS
07. 逢いたいから....
08. SYSTEM [0] DOWN
09. 太陽
10. GENERATION
11. I DEAL
12. Hallelujah -Album Ver.-
13. 願い
THE WORLD is a happy-sounding intro track, though a rather long one at two and half minutes. Wataru's vocals are electronically enhanced and he sort of repeats the same lines. DNA follows with a heavier beat and a liberal amount of turntables. It has an unfortunate resemblance to a Gazette song, to be honest. Melodic chorus and heavy breakdown, isn't terribly interesting. As was previously a single, and a very catchy one at that. It was probably my favorite title track of the four singles. However, coming after DNA, it doesn't have very much oomph of its own, sounding too similar. スマイルアゲイン is next, and again, it sounds too much like the previous songs. Same structure, same light sound and overly melodic/uplifting chorus. Another single, MERRY GO WORLD, follows. And I think I'm starting to see my problem with this album. They simply made too many similar-sounding songs and stuck them all in a row, and this one, again, great by itself, boring when coming after the previous three. Now PSYCHO VIRUS is something else entirely. It seems like people either love or hate this song, and I'm going to admit I loved it. Why? Because I love jazz and anything jazz-tinged is almost always win for me. I loved Wataru's scream to get it going with a bang, and then his mostly deeper vocals throughout. The scatting could have been better, but I think this is the first time I've heard him do it, so maybe he'll get better if he tries it again down the road. Fun song and a welcome reprieve from the first half of this album. 逢いたいから.... is another single track and is basically a ballad. It's not bad, although a little long, and sort of boring coming after PSYCHO VIRUS. SYSTEM [0] DOWN is next and I love the methodical way it starts with a little trippy guitar riff and some bass. The riff continues running around in the background, which helps give this one a unique sound. You definitely miss it when it disappears. Fortunately it sticks around for most of the song. One of my favorites for standing out. 太陽 is yet another single song. Are you counting? There's five. Anyway, I found this song boring while in single context, and it still sort of is, but benefits from better placement vs the other single songs on here. It's amazing what placement can do for songs on albums. Especially considering the next song, GENERATION. Nice, crisp drumming, a prominent bassline, and some well-placed background orchestration makes this song another keeper. I DEAL is almost reminescent of their older stuff, especially when it goes into that more minor sound, and the way Wataru's vocals are mixed. The chorus sounds appropriately mournful, and this is another one of my favorites. The second half is obviously turning out to be better than the first. The final single song is Hallelujah, and you know how "album versions" of singles are rarely much different? Maybe a different opening and couple more seconds tacked on or trimmed off, well, this one is actually quite a bit different. For one thing, it's over a minute longer, but it's also quite a bit more epic. I can't say I liked the change though. Part of what I really liked about the single version was its understatedness and relative shortness for a ballad. But I guess it had to take ending duties. At least, if you got a DVD-version. For me, there's one last song. 願い. I'm glad this song is an actual song though. The bonus track in Diamond was a short ending song, kinda lame. On the other hand, this is actually one of the best songs on here. It has a great, bright catchy riff, and a big full solo halfway through.
My problems with this album are still hard to pinpoint. The production sounds rather muddy throughout, and that doesn't help things, then the first half of the album is so mind-numbingly homogenous, and worse still, there are really no truly standout songs. With Diamond, there were at least four, and the placement of the singles on Mar Maroon was terrible in relation to the other tracks. Though, part of the problem could be that they had so damn many singles this time. So it's not so much that it was a bad album, just a frustrating one. And not, I feel, a worthy successor to Diamond.
FINAL WORD: that is a reluctant three stars, it should be more like 2.5 ★★★☆☆
_______________________________________________________
Key:
★★★★★ = Excellent, flawless, perfecto
★★★★☆ = Very good, has some minor flaws
★★★☆☆ = Good, maybe a few boring moments, but overall enjoyable
★★☆☆☆ = Fair, bad outweighs the good
★☆☆☆☆ = Poor, possibly offensive to your ears
OHP: http://www.12012.jp/
Last FM: http://www.last.fm/music/12012
Ichini’s second single release this year. Or the ongoing drama as to whether they’re getting more and more mainstream and further from their Under Code roots. I’ve generally found their post-UCP stuff enjoyable though, so let’s see what this one brings.
12012
Taiyou [Type B]
Genre: rock, visual
Release Date: 08-20-08
Price: 1143 ¥
Released By: Universal Music
Tracks: 3
01.Taiyou
02.Kaleidoscope
03.Hello Seventeen
Taiyou - this is a mellow sort of rock song with nothing particularly fancy in it. However the progression in the chorus is nice and Wataru has moments where he sort of sounds like Teru of GLAY. In fact, the whole song has that sort of simple complexity that GLAY is known for, as well as the catchyness. The chorus definitely stays with you, and if that falsetto at the end is Wataru, it sounded very nice for once. I’m not going to deny that it will probably be considered poppy by most fans of this band, but that is not the pit of despair for me. For what it is, it’s good.
Kaleidoscope - is a nod to their older sound, but without Wataru’s uneven and harsh vocals. That isn’t a criticism either, because Wataru is sounding better and better these days, and as someone who critiques vocals pretty stringently, this is most definitely a good thing. Again, this song reminds me of GLAY by the time the chorus rolls around. There are definitely worse bands to sound like. I like the sparing use of the vocal distorter as well. The drum breakdown stands out, moreso than the solo, of which there really isn’t one. So it’s old 12012 with a slightly more poppy twist.
Hello Seventeen - but this is the real gem of the single. Starting first with that funky guitar riff and going right into the driving beat. Wataru’s vocals are still smooth and on the low side, and just slightly mixed into the background. It’s pretty hard to ignore the music though. That guitar riff should have you bobbing your head right from the outset. So far in this single, I love Wataru’s sense of rhythm. His singing accentuates the beat, rather than takes away from it. There’s an actual solo in this song too, preceded by a quick repeat of that main riff. The excessive hi-hat use detracts just a bit, and the solo itself is rather short. But that by no means cancels out the rest of the song.
My favorite thing about this single is that I only had to buy one version to get all three of the songs. That doesn’t happen very often with this band, let me tell you. My other favorite thing was the last track. The middle track was probably the weakest. It certainly doesn’t have anything catchy in it. But, all things considered, this is a good single. More interesting than their last release, and again, if you don’t care about dvds or live tracks, you only have to buy ONE.
Final Word: Catchy, mellow and polished. ★★★★☆
Key:
★★★★★ = Excellent, flawless, perfecto
★★★★☆ = Very good, has some minor flaws
★★★☆☆ = Good, maybe a few boring moments, but overall enjoyable
★★☆☆☆ = Fair, bad outweighs the good
★☆☆☆☆ = Poor, possibly offensive to your ears
This is 12012’s first single of the year, and comes in the usual
annoying three types. Two with alternate third tracks, and one with
only two tracks and a bonus DVD. I’m going to be reviewing the regular
edition, but I’ll throw in comments about the third track of the other
limited edition as well.
This single, of course, comes after their somewhat controversial last
album. People seemed to either love it or hate it, and the talk of a
“softened” Major sound has really been around since early last year.
So, is this more of the same, or are Ichini continuing to improve?
12012
Merry Go World
Genre: rock, metal, visual
Release Date: 04-16-08
Price: 1,200¥
Released By: Universal
Catalog #: UPCH-80072
Tracks: 3 + 1
01.Merry Go World
02.Lovers
03.Miraizu
*04.I Believe…
Merry Go World starts with Wataru singing the title before launching into a mostly upbeat rock track with perhaps a tiny undercurrent of darkness. The hook, however, is undeniably poppy. The drumming is oddly flavorless for Tohru, and though the bass is definitely holding up the background, it’s never prominent. For a song written by their bassist, the guitars actually hold sway for a majority of the song. Even Wataru’s singing is more or less typical. Not much new here.
The b-side is Lovers, and it’s more of a ballad. It
reminded me oddly of L’arc right away. Possibly the high bass line.
Wataru starts out singing pretty low, but goes into his more
comfortable mid-range soon. The thing that caught my ear right away
though, was how he finally, FINALLY pulled off a near perfect falsetto
in the chorus. As a singer, he certainly has talent, but is a little
rough around the edges, and one of the things that has always bothered
me is his inability to correctly falsetto. He does it here, which is
incredibly promising to me.
This isn’t a bad ballad, but other than Wataru’s falsetto, it’s pretty typical, again.
The regular version third track is Miraizu, and it’s
actually written by Wataru. I’ve recently realized that he actually
writes some of their more unique songs, including my favorite from
Diamond, 24Hours. I like how this one establishes the melody with the
bass right away, with the guitar dodging in and out, adding some
counter, but it’s definitely the bass running things. Tempo change
fairly quickly too, and finally Tohru’s drumming is more interesting.
Wataru’s singing is on the low side again here too, which I like. His
lower register is actually smoother than his mid or upper.
This song has a far more complex and interesting structure than the
previous two. There’s a lot of balance between all the instruments.
If you got Type B, the third track is I Believe…, and although it’s not written by Wataru, rather, Sakai, it’s more similar to the other third track than the first two. At least, until the chorus, where it almost reuses nearly every element from the chorus of Lovers. This is unfortunate, because the rest of the song is quite good. The bass and guitar growling out a low rhythm while the other guitar provides half of a melody in the background, is particularly effective and something 12012 is very good at. I also liked the rather thrashy solo, even though it was criminally short.
Ok, the thing with this single is, well, two things. One, the 3rd
tracks are quite a bit better than the first two. Unfortunately, you
can only get both if you buy two singles. Either way, it makes a 1/3
situation. Two, I’m not one to complain about so-called “poppyness”,
but both first two tracks seemed almost recycled to me. I didn’t mind
last year’s Shine and Cyclone, but I don’t think I need to hear them a
third time. On the other hand, as I said, the third tracks were very
good, and certainly more indicative of 12012’s talent.
If I had to recommend a version, I would definitely say go with the
regular, because Wataru’s track is the best of the four. ★★★☆☆
Key:
★★★★★ = Excellent, flawless, perfecto
★★★★☆ = Very good, has some minor flaws
★★★☆☆ = Good, maybe a few boring moments, but overall enjoyable
★★☆☆☆ = Fair, bad outweighs the good
★☆☆☆☆ = Poor, possibly offensive to your ears
