5 posts tagged “glay”

I'm stealing a meme, that's new.  Actually I just found this site with great music questions.  Maybe I'll try incorporating them more for inspiration.

3 songs you can't get enough of right now

1.Lucky Me - Vanness Wu (吳建豪)
Ok, this is not a style I listen to a lot.  Namely, male pop, and especially not this dancy, rappy, rnb-ish kinda stuff.   In fact, it's generally somewhere near the top of my hate list.  But this guy, Idk how he did it, but he made me fall for him. I'm really digging his music.  And this my favorite song for one simple reason.  That gunshot.  Lol.  But seriously, absolute best use of a gunshot in a song EVER.  I love it.

2.出神入化 – Fahrenheit (飛輪海)
I've always professed hate for boybands, and that mostly hasn't changed.  I figured Fahrenheit are good music that happens to be disguised in a boyband form.  But really, they're all really good singers.  Especially Wu Chun, and a lot of their music is not typical for that genre.  Sometimes they just sound like any other guitar-driven HK idolpop.  Heh, anyway.  I like this song because it's catchy and dancy and goes right along with that VW song I am obsessed with right now, lol.

3.Makes No Sense - Nicholas Tse
I've only been repeating this song because it goes with some scenes in a story I'm writing.  I first heard the song in Time and Tide, and it has that hard-to-pinpoint quality of a Bond song.  Slightly rocky, slightly trippy, funky, ridiculous bass, and yeah, that's really all that's necessary.  Plus, honestly.  I just generally have at least one Nic Tse song I'm obsessed with every week.

2 artists you'd like to recommend to us.

1.Vanness Wu
Especially to people who like that kind of music.  If *I* like it, honestly, it must be awesome, right?  This coming from someone who generally loathes it.  I can admit, I'm a bit biased because he's part of the Andy On, Philip Ng, Nic Tse ratpack too.  I'd recommend his greatest hits album first.  Mainly because it has Lucky Me.

2.Eunix Lee
I just heard her this week, and although she only has two EPs out, she's really awesome.  Not at all typical for a Cantopop artist.  Her music is edgy, rocky, dark, cool, and sometimes a little bit dancy.  It's hard to really box her in.  She has a great voice too.  Very soulful, edgy, low, smoky.  A lot of qualities I like.

1 album you can't wait to purchase

To be honest?  GLAY's Great Vacation or whatever that new, 3-disc monstrosity is called.  I've heard a lot of good things about the new songs, and on the other two discs are a lot of my favorites, including several from albums that are out of print now.  I'm pretty sick of Japanese CD prices though, so I'll probably be springing for the Korean version on YesAsia.  I've bought a few of those in the past, and I really don't see much difference.

This isn't exactly a standard review, because it's only one song.  But holy crap almighty is it an awesome song.  I won't even take forever to say this, because it's obvious right from the start that it's going to be awesome.

Let's start with the guitar fuzz that immediately launches into a grungy riff, and then suddenly, it's almost a full-on industrial rock song.  It quiets down briefly when Teru comes in with his characteristically soulful vocals.  The chorus is almost standard GLAY, but chill-inducing, nevertheless.  And don't fear, the awesome industrial rock beat comes roaring back as soon as Teru steps out.  Then there's some creepy "ooohs" in the background that could be a backing track for Castlevania.  The chorus returns and is then followed by a modified version of the previous part before some more grungy riffs take us out.  The closing is quiet, like the ending to a vampire film.

Yes, it's the theme song for one, in fact.  Last Blood or something, I'm not actually sure.  But, I'll tell you what, this is possibly the coolest song GLAY has ever come up with.   Maybe not technically the best, or the most moving, but definitely, hands-down, the coolest.

FINAL WORD: freaking awesome is my final word, yes.  ★★★★★

_______________________________________________________

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

As I’m sure you all know by now, GLAY is coming to California for three dates in August, and when they do, they’ll probably be playing something from this new single. So far this is their only release this year, other than a digital-only release a few months back. However, that digital release got portioned out between two versions of this single. The CD-only version got the song Starless Night, while the DVD version got Venus. I’ll be reviewing the former.

Both versions include a cover of With or Without You, originally by U2.

Alright, my first GLAY review for this site. It feels fitting that it should follow my L’Arc~en~Ciel review from last month. There has always been an unspoken competition between those two bands among fans. Though, for me, there wasn’t until recently. GLAY was one of the first bands I heard while getting into Jrock, and I didn’t like them. In fact, I thought they were awful. That is, up until last year when I had an epiphany after listening to G4. Since then, they absolutely rival L’Arc~en~Ciel for my affection.

This is their third single this year, and it features a Beatles’ cover and three new tracks.

GLAY
Ashes EP
Genre: rock, pop, alternative
Release Date: 10.31.2007
Price: ¥1,143
Released By: Toshiba Emi
Tracks: 4

01.Ashes -1969 -
02.Rosy
03.Sorry Love
04.Mother Nature’s Son (Beatles’ cover)

Ashes establishes right away that it’s one of GLAY’s trademark, upbeat classic rock tracks. I like how the bass comes in strongly for the first verse section and Teru’s falsetto is simply gorgeous. The breakdown before the bridge and minimalistic guitar solo (more like riffing) is really something they do well. I know they’ve always had a session drummer, but their drumming is still generally fantastic. It’s interesting how this song is typical and yet not. For instance, it doesn’t really have a traditional guitar solo. Nevertheless, it’s very strong and plenty catchy.

The next track is Rosy, and it starts out a lot softer than the first one, but quickly builds. Again the drumming breakdown at 1:50 is awesome, and is followed by an actual guitar solo this time. I like the deceptively slow tempo, and there’s almost an off-beat accent in parts. I also like Teru’s progression to almost-but-not-quite falsetto, I had to warm up before I could do it correctly. I guess he still has some tricks up his sleeve. Definitely a strong follow-up to the title track.

Third up is the ballad Sorry Love. It begins rather like the other two, with Teru singing over some guitar. A string section comes in at about a minute in. Oddly enough, even though it’s the ballad, Teru’s vocals in this one aren’t nearly as exemplary as the last two. I would have to say though, that the guitar solo is my favorite thus far, it soars above the strings and is about 20 seconds long.
I wouldn’t say that this is an exceptional ballad by their standards though.

Finally, last up is Mother Nature’s Son. I admit, I have a soft spot for Beatles’ covers and was looking forward to this one by such an amazing band whom I feel is significantly influenced by the Beatles anyway.
It has some very strong acoustic guitar playing throughout, and Teru’s English is actually not bad. The first verse or so, particularly, but it gets a little shaky towards the end. He did the “doot doo doo” very well though. (I’m not being sarcastic, really, it sounded very happy and whimsical.)
I’d say it was definitely right on instrumentally, Teru had some problems, but overall, I’d say it was a worthy tribute.

Well, I was quite impressed with this outing from GLAY. Especially in the first two songs. Teru has never been a terribly technical singer, but I was delighted to hear that he is obviously still trying to improve. I’m sure it was hard to follow the epic ballad Kodou from earlier this year, but I still couldn’t help but be a little disappointed in Sorry Love. ★★★☆☆

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

(originally published Nov 7th, 2007 )

It's early for this (not even winter), but strangely this year has brought very little of that dark gloom I like to stew in until December.  As such, I'm already feeling Christmasy.  Which brings me to the music, of course.  I've never been fond of commercial Christmas music, i.e. non-choral, non-traditional, original Christmas music.  I especially dislike pop stars' renditions of things like "Here Comes Santa Claus".  Oddly, until a few years ago, it never occurred to me that Japanese musicians might have any interest in what is technically a Christian holiday.  Obviously this is an incredibly wrong assumption, because not only are they interested, but it's actually a big deal.  Over only two years, I've amassed eight 80-minute CDs worth of Jrock and Jpop Christmas music, some of it traditional, but most of it is original.  The latter is what amazes me the most.  Many of these original Christmas songs are gorgeous and moving, and very accurately portray the meaning of a holiday that it seems us Amerikajin have forgotten.  I heard very few original Christmas songs while listening to American music for years, certainly none that I remember fondly, if at all.

Take, for example, B'z's "itsuka no Merry Christmas".  This is now one of my favorite Christmas songs of all time.  The lyrics are incredibly moving and the song is so simple and full of soul that I cannot help but get a little misty every time I hear it.
Another band responsible for three of my favorites, is GLAY.  Even when I hated them, I adored White Road.  Christmas Ring and Winter Again are also amazing, and have the exact vibe I love in Christmas songs.  Dark, wistful, mystical and hopeful.
I only recently discovered the duo of Chage & Aska (thanks to Aie), and their Christmas album, entitled: Snowmail.  Done in a style reminiscent of Frank Sinatra and Barbershop groups, and with amazing harmonizations and jazzy compositions.  I think I would consider listening to them outside of Christmas, just because it's so rare to hear TRUE tenors in popular music.
There are also a couple of uniquely Japanese songs that I love to hear every year.  That is, songs with the traditional instrumentation intact.  Specifically "Poinsettia" by hitomi shimatani and "Harmony of December" by the Kinki Kids have this.  The former is a gorgeous song, and hitomi's voice is definitely traditional in delivery.
It's also a bit amusing to me that bands I cannot stand the rest of the year, happen to have Christmas songs I quite like.  Such as Psycho le Cemu's "inori", or Gackt's "12gatsu no Love Song", as well as songs by Vidoll, Wizard and Remioromen.  Also,there is, of course, always pop.  But Christmas is where pop shines, because it has license to be sweet and sappy and no damage done to reputations.

Generally, Japanese Christmas songs not only sound Christmasy (there IS a sound, people), but they contain a lyrical motif of love and often winter or snow imagery.  A particularly poignant song uses the opposite effect of all these warm, hopeful songs full of love.
Instead it connects the falling snow with lost love.  The snow piling up on Tokyo only reminds the narrator of his burdensome memories.  This all set to an upbeat jazzy tune courtesy of the one and only Retrock band in Japan, Merry.  If you don't know the lyrics, you'll have no need to feel sad, because the song doesn't suggest that at all.  But then, isn't that the point of jazz and blues?  No one understands that better than Gara, the vocalist and mad genius lyricist of the band.
Actually, I personally like the effect of this song among all the rest of my library.  It reminds one that not everyone has family and/or a significant other to share Christmas with, and how profoundly lonely this must be.  Leave it to Gara to point this out. XD

But you don't have to understand the lyrics to hear the Christmas in these songs.  Even without the requisite "Merry Christmas".  Trust me on this. ;D