Curaga Posted January 18 Posted January 18 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Subomie said: Oh, and first up is a track from an album we haven't seen any cuts from yet Isn’t Fantome the only one left? Edit: OH WAIT **** DEEP RIVER NO Edited January 18 by Curaga
poki Posted January 18 Posted January 18 Pleasantly surprised Deep River seems so beloved! Album cover feels a bit Witness-ish but overall the music is cool. 1
Graves Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 5 minutes ago, Hey Dude said: Pleasantly surprised Deep River seems so beloved! Album cover feels a bit Witness-ish but overall the music is cool. Don't you ever let me catch you saying that **** again 4
Graves Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 Anyhow... HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 1 (Reverie) LOWEST SCORE: 4 x 1 (Aria0327) MY SCORE: 6 An odd one, this one. Jinsei Saikō no Hi, or 'The Best Day of My Life', is a surprisingly upbeat track for this deep on Fantome. It makes sense, really. Despite the personal setbacks and issues Hikaru faced during their hiatus, there were surely amazing times too. I mean - they got married and had a kid after all! Those are the kind of events that seem to be the inspiration here, especially with Hikaru noting how quickly they can fall in love. This is a nice, pleasant track, but it's place on the tracklisting is a little odd to me. On one hand, it might've made an interesting bookend to have this and Michi opening and closing the record, but then in reality Sakura Nagashi is the actual closer... so this song kind of feels out of place, stuck between two deeper and denser moments on the musical palate. Though I do think this is one of the lesser tracks on Fantome, I also think it's place on the tracklist kind of contributes to that reputation... it's also really short, feels like it's over before you even get a vibe with it. But it ain't bad! Curaga is living for the VocalistTada: "Cheesy opening, especially after the previous song, but it’s not bad. Kinda fun. Their vocals are still delivering 👏🏻". While AMIT is in need of a pick-me-up: "a bit boring I fear."
Cruel Summer Posted January 18 Posted January 18 A wonderful track, love it, something from Deep River should have gone instead - but being serious, it’s not that shocking to see it gone first. It’s probably my least favorite from the album. That still means I really love it, because Fantôme is immaculate, but I can take or leave this one track. 2
Curaga Posted January 18 Posted January 18 Oh wait I’m ok with that actually. Definitely the weakest track on Fantome sadly. 7 minutes ago, Hey Dude said: Pleasantly surprised Deep River seems so beloved! Album cover feels a bit Witness-ish but overall the music is cool. GIRL WHAT I always thought the Deep River cover looked like a really classic, old piece of Japanese photography. It’s one of their best covers! 2 2
Graves Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 5 minutes ago, Curaga said: GIRL WHAT I always thought the Deep River cover looked like a really classic, old piece of Japanese photography. It’s one of their best covers! 1
Curaga Posted January 18 Posted January 18 Speaking of Deep River and good cover art, I think Sakura Drops takes the cake for me. STUNNING. COLORFUL. FANTASY. 4 2
nostalgic Posted January 18 Posted January 18 Question for those that know more than me on this: which pronouns are appropriate to use for them? I used she in several of my comments and I hope it didn't seem as if I was intentionally misgendering. 1
Graves Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 Just now, Curaga said: Speaking of Deep River and good cover art, I think Sakura Drops takes the cake for me. STUNNING. COLORFUL. FANTASY. The whole era! I love this cover art, as well as travelling's, Final Distance... even the simplicity in Hikari's artwork is so pretty! Just now, nostalgic said: Question for those that know more than me on this: which pronouns are appropriate to use for them? I used she in several of my comments and I hope it didn't seem as if I was intentionally misgendering. Good question! Hikaru goes by both they/them and she/her pronouns I believe! 2 1
Graves Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 Oh yeah! Eliminations! HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 1 (Ewan Chaos) LOWEST SCORE: 4 x 1 (Curaga) MY SCORE: 8.5 Man, the back half of Distance gets weird in places, huh? Following right after the insane Kettobase! is the equally deranged Parody. What can I say? Parody is a nice slice of lounge music with a fun chorus backing that devolves into a guitar-led rock interlude somewhere in the middle, all before jumping back on stage and closing out the song with some killer ad-libs. I wasn't sure what to make of this at first, but it's really stuck with me as I've gotten deeper into the discography. Off-kilter Utada is always a delight. Parody is a self-aware lambasting of Hikki's own life, by the end of which they vow to "read the sequel from here on". It was actually released to Japanese radio as promo in the lead up to Distance's release date. Imagine having this, Wait & See, Can You Keep A Secret? & Time Limit all blasting on the radio around the same time? The GP must've been wondering what kinda album they were gonna get... Answer: a fucken' banger. Curaga serves stunned speechless: "This song is very strange to me. I really don’t know what to say." What's wrong queen, has Parody GAGGED you to silence? Oh-oh-oh-ohohohohohoh... 2
Curaga Posted January 18 Posted January 18 Just now, nostalgic said: Question for those that know more than me on this: which pronouns are appropriate to use for them? I used she in several of my comments and I hope it didn't seem as if I was intentionally misgendering. Utada uses she/they pronouns, so no big deal. I thought the same thing after submitting my ballot (even after trying and failing to proof it to change everything to they/them/their), but I feel better seeing other people using both. I would imagine they prefer they/them, and want to be gracious and give people a break for still using she/her, but who knows for sure. 1
Graves Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 Anyhow, next up is a lead single! And if you're mad about it leaving so early, there's two users in particular you can blame
Graves Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 2 (gingguu, Hey Dude) LOWEST SCORE: 1 x 1 (AMIT, Suilen) MY SCORE: 7 Literally translating to "A Bouquet for You", this track was the first (official) taste of Fantome that fans got. Arriving as the joint lead single in April 2016, Hanataba o Kimi ni represented the end of Hikaru's long-standing hiatus and a return to active album campaigns (and not just standalone singles). Of course, hype was high and the track charted at #2 on the Billboard Digital charts, selling over 750k copies and being certified triple platinum. A pretty resounding success as far as a comeback is concerned, no? The song got two music videos: a short animated papercut style video, released in April, and a more traditional video shot in black and white, released closer to the album in September. The latter video is quite pretty, and I'll certainly take a video like that over no video or one of the tragic in-studio videos from the Heart Station era, but... it's a little plain. Now, while this song is certainly pretty, I can't help but feel that it's a little... slight for a comeback single? I mean, they released two singles at once so perhaps it could've been paired with a more outwardly epic song or even an upbeat track (Michi?) to give some sense of duality? A Sasha Fierce chai, perchance? But nah, Manatsu no Tōriame, the sister release, is a pretty chilled song too, so it seems a weird release strategy to me. The best I can make of it is that the titular bouquet is a gift for the fans, thanking them for such a long wait... and telling them they'd have to wait just a little longer to get the good stuff. Idk tho! Curaga is a fan, through and through: "Pretty. Love the contrast between the tender, breathy moments and the rock drums coming back in." AMIT? Oh, we're in hater land now: "awful, completely killed my hype for the album although I still like the album. plus she had already attempted this sound (and better) for arashi no megami and even then it was just ok."
Graves Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 No, no, don't all comment at once now. How about we stop bullying good albums for a bit? HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 1 (scenekiller) LOWEST SCORE: 3.5 x 1 (Meloetta Carey) MY SCORE: 6.5 The title track for This Is The One, and really what should've been the lead single. ...Anyone else? I mean, I doubt this was gonna light up the charts either, but it does make for a better first impression than Come Back To Me, right? Low bar I know, but they are kind of aiming for the same sort of sound. See, I don't use this all that much, but I'll take what I can get on this record. For the standards of this album, it's a banger! Utada described this one as being "a bit more rock-poppish than the others, but it's a very unique song..." I dunno how unique it is, babe. I was hearing ten songs just like this on regular rotation throughout 2009-2010. Stargate sure were dipping their wick all over the place. While it's a little generic, it's nothing terrible. It does earn bonus points for the 'Blackberry' and 'JPEG files' lines, all delivered with 100% sincerity I'm sure. Curaga is more of a Samsung girl: "Oh this is the Blackberry song LOL. I was thinking this was pretty decent when that hit me. Dated lyric, but whatever. A hundred jpeg files fillin’ up my hard drive: *****, me too, the ****!" Ewan Chaos is stuck reciting their mantra: "Honey I got your ringtone on my... Blackberry... a hundred JPEG files... living in my hard drive..." Serving PTSD. 1
Cruel Summer Posted January 18 Posted January 18 Pls stop killing Fantôme, thank u 🫶 To be honest I also didn’t click with this from what I remember, at least at first, but in the context of the album I really love it. It fits right in its place. I do agree that it may both have been a perfect single choice!
Graves Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 "A hundred JPEG files, filling up my hard drive." - me, making graphics for this rate. 5
Graves Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 Just now, nostalgic said: My third highest on TITO Well... it is the third highest from TITO 3
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