3 posts tagged “luna sea”
So, I’m now in a series of retroviews due mostly to my own sickness of reviewing newly released singles. Expect to see a lot of classic bands such as LUNA SEA, GLAY and even DEAD END.
Instead of two years ago, let’s go back about 14. This was LUNA SEA’s fourth album and they were still in their visual kei era. My personal favorite is probably Eden, but on this album was possibly the most epic LUNA SEA song in their discography and remains a solid fan favorite to this day. Obviously I’m talking about Rosier. The only thing better than Rosier recorded is Rosier live.
Another footnote is that LUNA SEA has, of course, re-released all their albums. The CD+DVD version of Mother contains PVs as well as English translations to the songs, and an awesome slipcover.
LUNA SEA
Mother
Genre: rock, metal, visual kei
Release Date: 10-26-94
Price: 3,000 ¥
Released By: MCA VICTOR, INC.
Tracks: 10
01 LOVELESS
02 ROSIER
03 FACE TO FACE
04 CIVILIZE
05 GENESIS OF MIND ~Yume no Kanata he~ GENESIS OF MIND～夢の彼方へ～
06 AURORA
07 IN FUTURE
08 FAKE
09 TRUE BLUE
10 MOTHER
Loveless is up first. I love the combination of ethereal guitar over a rumbling bass line. The drumming goes from slightly annoying with the disco beat, to fantastic with the breakdown halfway through
Let’s not waste any time getting to Rosier . Well now this still might be my most favorite LUNA SEA song ever. I know everyone says that, but it really is fantastic and even better live. Again, J’s bass is dominating. But I also like Ryuichi’s use of his lower register initially. He sounds better there, generally. But of course the part that always gives me chills is the chorus. He is so fast at singing those lines, it never fails to amaze me. The guitar solo is…there. I have to admit Sugizo’s solos rarely impress me, and this is no exception. This song is all about J and Ryuichi. Awesome.
I love how Face to Face starts out with some heavy drums and of course, bass. The guitars are kind of background noise at first, though they kinda come in more by the first chorus. The whole song has a slightly industrial feel, which is cool and further indicative at how innovative and genre-hopping LUNA SEA was.
Civilize takes off right away with squealing guitars and a fast beat. Again, J’s bass is easily discernible. When the song started, it was heavy right with the drums, but it takes off in a sort of syncopated melody when the song mellows out. This song is a bit disjointed as a whole though. It sways between being incredibly noisy to being sparse and bass-dominated. So, half of it I like and the other half, not so much.
Genesis Of Mind is next. You know there is really nothing like an 8-minute LUNA SEA song. The start is some fantastic acoustic strumming and Ryuichi sounding nice and low. His low register is really lovely and if I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, I wish he’d use it more. Well, Sugizo’s violin makes an appearance here, and I still only hear one guitar, so I’m assuming it’s Inoran. Another thing I’ll admit to, I love Sugizo’s violin playing, but not so much his guitar playing. This song sort of meanders its way to a climax, never rushing, and it comes at around 6 minutes, going until about 7 before the rest is falling action. Then the last seconds are essentially revisiting how it started. If any band does long songs right, it’s LUNA SEA.
Aurora starts out with some static and Ryuichi fading in and out on a distorter. Bass dominance again, and in fact the guitars are a little lost in this song period. There’s a lot of piano and the occasional violin instead. I can’t say I mind terribly though, as I love when J’s bass takes over a song.
After some odd sound effects, some guitar chords start In Future out. It’s another speedy one, a la Civilize. Ryuichi has the vocal distorter gong full on here too. Ah and there’s J’s bass again, it’s always the perfect backbone, taking the song where he wants it to go. Guitar solo is one Sugizo’s typical whammy-bar fests. It always seems like he’s trying to make it sound like a violin, which tells me he should just play the violin. Anyway, I definitely prefer this song to Civilize, it never disintegrates into pure noise.
Fake is almost just a typical LUNA SEA mellow-rock track.
But, Ryuichi is in that low register almost fully throughout, and that
gives it points right there. There’s also more violin and a pretty
righteous drum breakdown at around 2:30.
True Blue is next and I like how the guitars mirror
Ryuichi’s opening melody right after he finishes singing it. But again,
we have a song that is a little bit typical, and I start getting the
impression that these last songs are filler.
And here’s the title track, Mother. Call it odd preference, but I always like when album title tracks are at the end. This one is pretty obviously a ballad, which isn’t entirely unexpected at this point either, since I wouldn’t call any of the previous tracks ballads, and there always has to be one. It’s not…bad, but Ryuichi is definitely at his most dramatic. And the music isn’t exactly the most interesting either. I wouldn’t say it’s one of their best.
I like this album a lot, it’s one of my favorites simply because of Rosier. But I also like a lot of the thematic elements. It feels very cohesive. It sways a bit between ethereal and almost industrial, sometimes both at once. Ryuichi also doesn’t spend a lot of time screeching, which is always a plus in my book. There was a lot of violin as well. Overall though, I’d say I really like the cohesiveness. There isn’t a bad track on here, even if I did feel the last three songs were a bit on the filler side, and Civilize is far from my favorite song.
Final Word: some minor black marks, but Rosier is and always will be a fantastic song. ★★★★☆
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
Ryuichi Kawamura. I've given him a hard time over the years. Mostly for his blindingly dramatic vocals and tendency to really overuse that high register of his. However, for reasons left unsaid, I've been listening to a LOT of Luna Sea lately, as well as watching them. And, well, I've come to the conclusion that he is actually very good and very talented. His control live is pretty amazing, and he has a lot of power. And his technique is right on, because he sounds just as good at the end of a live as at the start. I do wish he'd use his lower register more though. It's very attractive and smooth.
But overall, it's hard to fault him much, unless it's his delivery. Some of his best songs though, are not the "popular" ones, but like Claustrophobia, Feel, Into the Sun, Rain, Be Gone, etc. Lives, I will continue to maintain, are the best "tests" of a vocalist's ability. Things like bad pitch can be tinkered with in a studio, and of course, you get several takes to get it right, so breath control and proper technique doesn't necessarily come into play either. Live, I generally look for the pitch thing, and secondly, how well their voice holds up for a 2+ hour show. If a person is singing properly, they should not sound any worse at the end of a show than they did at the start.
And one thing I must admit to liking about, yes anyone, but since I'm talking about Ryuichi, him, is that he doesn't run all over the stage constantly. He's pretty focused on his singing about 90% of the time. I am definitely not one of those who needs a "show" and constant antics to not be bored. In fact, I hate antics, it distracts me from the music, generally. So I have MORE admiration for a singer that doesn't spend a lot of time amping up the crowd, but just sings.
Ah so, in conclusion I'll also add that those fans who think his voice was actually better at the beginning are wrong. He's improved exponentially as the years have passed. He was pretty amazing in the 1998 Revive live, but even better in the 2007 One Night Deja Vu live.
I've always liked Inoran. Especially when I was obsessed with Luna Sea. I'm not sure what it was. His understated, quiet presence onstage, his decision to play rhythm, even though he was one of the original founding members of the band (along with J), or how subtly intricate his rhythm playing actually is.
When Luna Sea disbanded, I sort of tried some solo stuff here and there. That included Fake? and eventually Tourbillon. I never liked either of them. The latter, especially was terribly boring. I initially felt the same way about Inoran's first solo album, Fragment. Well, technically second, but since his actual first one didn't have him singing, I don't really count it.
Flash forward a few years to 2007, and Luna Sea has reunited for at least one concert in the Tokyo Dome on Christmas Eve. I fell in love all over again. After dusting off all my Luna Sea albums, I finally gave J's solo the chance it deserved, and I gave Inoran's solo another chance. He'd released two more albums since I last listened, including one just this last year. Niraikanai was what I heard first, and then Photograph. It hadn't really changed since I first heard it, but I was hearing it differently, I think. And even this time, I nearly dismissed it again. Until, despite twice the amount of J listens, it was Inoran stuck in my head. I tend to pay attention to music that sticks in my head. It means that it grabbed me, even if only subconsciously.
His solo music is...different. That's the only word I can think of. It has layers, lots of them, but it also has simplicity. Especially in Inoran's singing. Nothing he does is particularly challenging vocally, but that's alright, because it's catchy, and his voice is just like his stage presence. Simple and understated. It's on the low side, not nasal, and with a pleasant raspy quality. Inoran's only problems are range, which may or may not be fixable, it's hard to tell, since he definitely knows where he's comfortable. And the other one is he doesn't open his mouth very wide, which affects his power and projection a bit, and gives his voice that drawling quality. It's a bit weird it doesn't seem to affect his enunciation however, he's very clear there for the most part. And he's actually gotten a lot better at that of late.
But otherwise, his pitch is on, he's hitting the right notes, his breathing is fine, and he's not absurdly nasal. Soulful, I like to call it. Or folksy works too.
It also goes well with the music, which is...as I said, different. It has elements of nearly everything. Rock, jazz, hip-hop, traditional Japanese, soul, folk, and probably more I'm forgetting. He also has probably the best use of turntables I've ever heard. Too often they're used in rock music as an attempt to sound "hip" so to speak, but he makes them make sense musically. They become more of a percussive, rhythm thing as opposed to just a sound effect.
When you compare his solo music with what he composed in Luna Sea, there are some definite similarities. Just look, for instance, how easily he performs Gravity, a song he wrote. But there are other things. The length. His songs for Luna Sea were often over five minutes, his solo stuff is the same. Acoustic guitar is also prevalent, and he seems almost more comfortable on that than he does the electric. His music also tended to have a very dominant bassline, and his solo is no different. There's a very strong groove in nearly every song. The low end and rhythms are often what you remember. And yet, he also has an incredible sense of melody. His songs are extremely catchy, even after only one listen.
As a solo performer, he is probably more magnetic than he was as the rhythm guitarist of Luna Sea. He doesn't even look lost without a guitar, as a lot of instrumentalists-turned-soloists do.
As a person, he seems very serious and more dedicated to music than anything else. Just look how many projects he had after Luna Sea. His own solo, Fake?, Tourbillon, and now he's back to more solo. I can't say I have much affection towards the other two though. Maybe because it's not solely him. His music, as quiet and understated, yet tightly composed as it is, is one of those rare things that doesn't leave, once you let it in.
