Posted in Uncategorized on December 31, 2012| 1 Comment »
Lately I formed a band and we’ve been writing dumb music.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SagesOfficial?feature=mhee
http://www.facebook.com/Sagesofficial?fref=ts
We made a short film as well. It’s similarly dumb.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT7xKHuwlo8
And I made a youtube channel where I cover Radwimps (and occasionally other japanese songs) in english. I may do an Aqua Timez song (probably something from 2005-2006) eventually.
Posted in Uncategorized on December 31, 2012| 5 Comments »
For the past year or so I’ve been listening mainly to Radwimps (listen to them) and English bands, so I haven’t really paid a whole lot of attention to Aqua Timez.I know it’s been a while since the album came out, but I thought I’d give my opinions. Spoiler alert: I don’t really like it.
Onsoku no Fuukei
On its own, this song is a pretty good intro to the album. The only problem is that it’s too dramatic for the rest of the album; the songs that follow it just aren’t that good.
Aurora no Furu Yoru
This is a great song. Futoshi’s voice doesn’t really work that well for these songs anymore, but I’m still glad they tried. With a different singer, it would work really well. The guitar solo is nice, and the song is quite short, which is refreshing to see. It ends before it has time to start to drag on.
because you are you
One of the first things I noticed about this song is that Futoshi’s voice doesn’t sound as high-pitched and annoying as it has been sounding recently. At least not in the verses. The song is a little generic, but I’ll let this one pass. The chorus about halfway through is just creepy though.
Tsubomi
After because you are you, we get this song, which starts to reveal my main problem with the album. This song is also very generic, and when it was released it just annoyed me. A lot of it sounds like a rip-off of Niji, and it’s very repetetive.
Wa ni Natte
Same idea as Tsubomi, though slightly better.
Lost Parade
Finally we get to a different sounding song here. It’s not great, but it’s more dynamic and interesting than the others.
MASK
I liked this song. It conveys emotion quite well (without getting too annoying), and the instruments are somewhat interesting. I only realized it now, but the song is actually pretty reminscent of Velonica. I wonder if that was intentional.
good sleep
K, this song is just annoying. Bad.
Namari Iro no Fikushon
Well, this song has some interesting lyrics. But the song itself isn’t that good. It’s not a rehash of everything else on the album, but it’s… not that enjoyable.
Kimi to Nara
The best part of this song I’d say is where the other singer comes in at the end. It gives the song some variety that this album really needs. Also, the rhythm of the song, as well as the guitar (especially the fills) becomes much more driving. It makes up for the fact that the rest of the song is somewhat boring. The female vocals just sound out of place though. She should have stuck to harmonies.
Usagi no Shippi
Bad.
HOME
I’ll give Aqua Timez some credit for the verses here; they’re a bit different from what you normally hear from Aqua Timez. Not really my thing, but at least it’s not the same thing over and over. The chorus is very effective, and there’s a decent guitar solo. Still, the song is nowhere near as good as previous album enders.
Overall, the album has some good moments, but it’s still their worst album. 4 minutes into the album and just about everything you hear follows the same structure, is the same tempo, and just isn’t that great. After writing this, I accidently stumbled upon Obaachan, A song I had completely forgotten about. Even a short, simple bonus track like that which sounds like it took 5 minutes to write sounds much better than most of this album.
Translations and Stuff 