Suilen Posted April 14 Author Posted April 14 (edited) And the winner is... Stem / 茎 Score: 9,13 Album: Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana Big Sheensters: Meloetta Carey (11), Curaga, AMIT, fauxtography, Kyle-x, confide in me, Invisibility (10) Little NishiNOsters: mathekr, Maresia (7) I'll be blunt – the album version is another peak of music and would've been an easy 11 for me, and I think that some people will agree with me. Maybe we would've had a different winner then (and AMIT would never forgive me). But we have what we have, and it's an English version with a different arrangement. Not to be like that "place, a random country / place, Japan *an open mouth*" meme, but the song loses something in translation, and I prefer the more dramatic arrangement of the album version. And "Entry Number One" hits differently when the rest of the song is in Japanese, but maybe it's just me. Well, the English lyrics seem to be faithful to the Japanese rendition to me, although there are some weird moments (Bjork's impact, I suppose). The song is rather uplifting lyrically, although there's this admittance that while things will get better, you can't escape from the ghosts of the past completely. I believe the significance of clematis is in its fragility and one of the names, virgin's bower? I'm sure that she was particularly fond of that one. Stem was actually Sheena's first no. 1 on Orican, can you imagine? Even the monster of Honnou only reached no. 2, yet it still outsold it, in the same way it outranked Stem in the rate. Again, if it was the album version, I'd be team Kuki. But I'm team Honnou with this one, oops. Oh, and there's also a Heisei Fuuzoku version of the song, but the less said about that one, the better. mathekr is with me on this one: "Good song, but the album version is the better version." Curaga finds beauty in the most unexpected places: "Looooove the single version — really beautiful arrangement." Ewan Chaos is slayed by the second half, but I implore him to listen to the album version, too: "The first half was cute but the second half?????" Meloetta Carey stans all versions but favors this one: "every version of this song is a smash, but this might be my favorite." I have to agree with madonnas here despite the disgusting Gips sabotage: "if this were the album version it probably would be my 11." Honnou / 本能 Score: 9,56 Album: Shouso Strip Big Sheensters: AMIT, Antisocialites (11), mathekr, Ewan Chaos, Subomie, fauxtography, Kyle-x, Invisibility (10) Little NishiNOsters: Curaga, Maresia (8) Our winner is here – was there any doubt that it would win? I did tell AMIT to have some confidence in his faves. While I'm a mere 9,5 (for those who are wondering), the song is a classic and definitely one of her signature songs, and the best-selling one, too, so it's a deserving winner. The streams are a bit too low, but who cares (Gen Z needs to wake the **** up, though, or a currently popular girlie like Ado should cover it ASAP). Everyone knows the story, right? Gips was supposed to be the first single off Shouso Strip, but it'd lost its freshness due to Sheena performing it at her tour, so Honnou was chosen instead. The hospital theme of the music video was inspired by Sheena's illness earlier that year, the same one that inspired Tsumi to Batsu. As mentioned earlier, the song is about giving in to one's instincts, but it's also about the need to be a reasonable adult after one's coming-of-age, which may seem contradictory, but she didn't say that giving in to one's instincts is necessarily a good thing, did she? Also, the instincts she refers to are not, well, biological instincts but social ones: jealousy, narcissism, the desire to be in the limelight. And yeah, those are often difficult to avoid (I personally crave the limelight, what about you?). At the same time, Sheena claims that she didn't think hard while creating the song, so they're likely to be mere afterthoughts that fit the concept. As a fellow creator (not of music for now, but still), I totally get her. But let's not dwell too much on the purported meanings and enjoy the song. YAKUSOKU WA IRANAIIIIIII Well, where would we be without AMIT stanning this song hard, probably doing a Kana Nishino rate or something: "well what can I say about this godly song? it's my 11 so yes I really do love it a lot, it's one of my fave songs of all time period. it's pure SEX, from the drums, to the bass, to the piano thumps, to... well, the actual lyrics and vocal performance. there's not a second of this song (and video!!) that I don't love. it never fails to turn me on. there was no way I was NOT stanning after discovering this track." Ewan Chaos is collapsing: "I'M COLLAPSING." Subomie likes a Silent Hill reference: "In her Silent Hill nurse bag, we simple had to stan." Maybe this will prompt Konami to give us a release date for that remake? Kyle-x can't resist a classic: "I mean what else is there to say? An absolute classic for a reason." Edited April 22 by Suilen 2 2
Graves Posted April 14 Posted April 14 Stem is quite good too, of course, but Honnou... what a moment. The music, the lyrics, the imagery... She left the other girls in her dust. 4
Kyle-x Posted April 14 Posted April 14 It's a deserving smash I can't be mad see when you serve excellence like this it must be rewarded 3
Curaga Posted April 14 Posted April 14 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Meloetta Carey said: i think i'm the only little jazzster No way, I prefer jazz Sheena too! Not to say that her rock side is bad though; we stan a multi-talented queen Edited April 14 by Curaga
Kyle-x Posted April 14 Posted April 14 This sounds fresh despite being nearly a quarter century old not everyone has that 4
Meloetta Carey Posted April 14 Posted April 14 Honnou was my first Shiina song and I did give it a 9 so . . . 2
Graves Posted April 14 Posted April 14 (edited) To see the Honnou video/single cover is to become instantly enchanted - like, you need to know who this insanely cool woman is and how she can rock so hard? I C O N I C ! ! Edited April 14 by Subomie 6
Meloetta Carey Posted April 14 Posted April 14 1 minute ago, Curaga said: No way, I prefer jazz Sheena too! Not to say that her rock side is bad though; we stand a multi-talented queen it's really cool when she merges the two together like on Honnou; no one does it quite like her 2
AMIT Posted April 14 Posted April 14 1 minute ago, Subomie said: To see the Honnou video/single cover is to become instantly become enchanted - like, you need to know who this insanely cool woman is and how she can rock so hard? I C O N I C ! ! SPEAK IT sis, this is how to do a SONG a VIDEO a LEAD SINGLE an INSTANT CLASSIC 2
Kyle-x Posted April 14 Posted April 14 Great work on the rate @Suilen you ate with the graphics and write ups they were a treat to read 4
Antisocialites Posted April 14 Posted April 14 you were such a great host @Suilen! the amount of info I've learned from Sheena is insane and as a new fan I found it so helpful, the write-ups were so cool and the part with the comments by the users were so funny too. you ate that up! 5
Graves Posted April 14 Posted April 14 (edited) tysm queen of sarcasm and j-pop @Suilen loved getting an education on thee ringo. i'm still only skulking around KSK on my discography long-play (I skipped the first cover album after only a single listen teehee), but I enjoyed getting to glimpse into my future road with this woman's crazy discography Edited April 14 by Subomie 3
Curaga Posted April 14 Posted April 14 @Suilen, thank you sooooo much for hosting this amazing rate!! You really put in the work with these write-ups, WHEW! So much detail, background, and personal thoughts for each and every single. Stunning visuals too. Again, thank you! 3
AMIT Posted April 14 Posted April 14 Props to Miss Kuki / 茎 as well, Miss Suilen has always been an avid admirer of it even as far back as her Shiina hater days. I love it, but in general I'm not too fond of the musical-like arrangements of some of her songs / singles (La Salle de Bain is an exception!). The album version however is simply amazing and one of the best things I've ever heard so I wouldn't be too mad about it taking it. Thank you so much for this rate, Queen @Suilen. I know you love doing them but this one felt particularly special to me, being for someone like Shiina and being part of a low key J-Pop revival on ATRL since the good ol' days. Loved the graphics and actually learned quite a bit about Shiina and her career thanks to you! Also for bringing together new and familiar faces (for me nn) again like @Curaga @Kyle-x @Subomie @madonnas @mathekr @Antisocialites @Meloetta Carey. Thank you all for being part of this and sharing your thoughts, tastes and personal anedoctes of your experience with Queen Shiina! I really do appreciate it all and hope to continue to see and interact with y'all around the forum! 6
Suilen Posted April 14 Author Posted April 14 Some closing remarks... Who would've thought that a random idea borne out of the Utada rate would turn into a full-fledged rate that was successful for the forum's current standards? It's still a bit hard to believe, but our struggling j-pop community did it. I wouldn't have done the first phase of the rate without @AMIT's help, so credit where it's due. Waiting for those ballots was sometimes excruciating, but it was worth it, and I had to adjust the deadline only slightly. Thank you again, everyone, for making it happen. Preparing for those reveals wasn't as easy as I thought, and poring over Sheena's Old Japanese lyrics almost made my brain explode, but making those write-ups made me realize what I was missing when it comes to my original writing (this ability to sit and concentrate on a single task), so I'm thankful to the rate for inspiring me to be more... focused in the future. I definitely enjoyed revisiting Sheena's discography with all of you, and I'm glad that some of you made new discoveries. This is the best part of such rates, I think. I love all of you who showed up today and commented profusely, and I'm glad that everyone enjoyed the winner! As for what's next... I'm taking a break from hosting rates for several months, but then... I have two ideas that would feature either Muzai Moratorium or Shouso Strip, so those albums will get a chance to shine fully, but we'll need Namie's discography to be back on streaming for that as both are Heisei era rates, but one is for best-selling albums, and the other is for critically acclaimed albums. In the meantime, someone could try arranging a Kumi singles rate or something, maybe? I thought about it, but she has like a thousand of them, and then there are those EPs with 5 songs that counted as singles, like what are we supposed to pick there, all of them? Well, if someone manages to figure it out, let me know. I'm up for anything j-pop, even a Kana Nishino rate. 6 1
Antisocialites Posted April 14 Posted April 14 count me in for future J-pop rates! I kind of wish I participated in the Utada one because this was so fun but I remember being so overwhelmed looking at the list... congrats because this was a smash hit! 3
Graves Posted April 14 Posted April 14 16 minutes ago, Suilen said: Some closing remarks... Who would've thought that a random idea borne out of the Utada rate would turn into a full-fledged rate that was successful for the forum's current standards? It's still a bit hard to believe, but our struggling j-pop community did it. I wouldn't have done the first phase of the rate without @AMIT's help, so credit where it's due. Waiting for those ballots was sometimes excruciating, but it was worth it, and I had to adjust the deadline only slightly. Thank you again, everyone, for making it happen. Preparing for those reveals wasn't as easy as I thought, and poring over Sheena's Old Japanese lyrics almost made my brain explode, but making those write-ups made me realize what I was missing when it comes to my original writing (this ability to sit and concentrate on a single task), so I'm thankful to the rate for inspiring me to be more... focused in the future. I definitely enjoyed revisiting Sheena's discography with all of you, and I'm glad that some of you made new discoveries. This is the best part of such rates, I think. I love all of you who showed up today and commented profusely, and I'm glad that everyone enjoyed the winner! As for what's next... I'm taking a break from hosting rates for several months, but then... I have two ideas that would feature either Muzai Moratorium or Shouso Strip, so those albums will get a chance to shine fully, but we'll need Namie's discography to be back on streaming for that as both are Heisei era rates, but one is for best-selling albums, and the other is for critically acclaimed albums. In the meantime, someone could try arranging a Kumi singles rate or something, maybe? I thought about it, but she has like a thousand of them, and then there are those EPs with 5 songs that counted as singles, like what are we supposed to pick there, all of them? Well, if someone manages to figure it out, let me know. I'm up for anything j-pop, even a Kana Nishino rate. If Miz Amuro ever gets her stuff back on streaming I will be first in line to host a whole damn rate for her. Yes god. 2
Kyle-x Posted April 14 Posted April 14 17 minutes ago, Suilen said: Some closing remarks... Who would've thought that a random idea borne out of the Utada rate would turn into a full-fledged rate that was successful for the forum's current standards? It's still a bit hard to believe, but our struggling j-pop community did it. I wouldn't have done the first phase of the rate without @AMIT's help, so credit where it's due. Waiting for those ballots was sometimes excruciating, but it was worth it, and I had to adjust the deadline only slightly. Thank you again, everyone, for making it happen. Preparing for those reveals wasn't as easy as I thought, and poring over Sheena's Old Japanese lyrics almost made my brain explode, but making those write-ups made me realize what I was missing when it comes to my original writing (this ability to sit and concentrate on a single task), so I'm thankful to the rate for inspiring me to be more... focused in the future. I definitely enjoyed revisiting Sheena's discography with all of you, and I'm glad that some of you made new discoveries. This is the best part of such rates, I think. I love all of you who showed up today and commented profusely, and I'm glad that everyone enjoyed the winner! As for what's next... I'm taking a break from hosting rates for several months, but then... I have two ideas that would feature either Muzai Moratorium or Shouso Strip, so those albums will get a chance to shine fully, but we'll need Namie's discography to be back on streaming for that as both are Heisei era rates, but one is for best-selling albums, and the other is for critically acclaimed albums. In the meantime, someone could try arranging a Kumi singles rate or something, maybe? I thought about it, but she has like a thousand of them, and then there are those EPs with 5 songs that counted as singles, like what are we supposed to pick there, all of them? Well, if someone manages to figure it out, let me know. I'm up for anything j-pop, even a Kana Nishino rate. I'm here for more rates I'd host one but I'm too lazy these days. TBT to the old one I did on oldTRL where Kumi won 2
Suilen Posted April 14 Author Posted April 14 Oh, there was another idea I forgot to mention: an Ayumi "essentials" rate. We had a singles one already, and I doubt that they'd let us redo it, but back in the day there were those essentials rates that had some singles and must-listen album tracks, I think? We could try doing something like that. You don't have to host, @Kyle-x, but you could think of the list of the songs for it, and I or someone else will do the rest. 2
Kyle-x Posted April 14 Posted April 14 1 minute ago, Suilen said: Oh, there was another idea I forgot to mention: an Ayumi "essentials" rate. We had a singles one already, and I doubt that they'd let us redo it, but back in the day there were those essentials rates that had some singles and must-listen album tracks, I think? We could try doing something like that. You don't have to host, @Kyle-x, but you could think of the list of the songs for it, and I or someone else will do the rest. That would be a serve 1
Suilen Posted April 14 Author Posted April 14 Also, a shoutout to @Subomie for setting a new standard for the rates as back in the day I'd just slap some info from generasia on an entry and call it day, and while that would've been faster, I actually like the more in-depth approach to the write-ups. Like, was I dying inside while coming up with some of them? Yes. But it also helped me understand the ideas behind those songs better, and I was happy to share my findings with you all. 3
Graves Posted April 14 Posted April 14 41 minutes ago, Kyle-x said: I'm here for more rates I'd host one but I'm too lazy these days. TBT to the old one I did on oldTRL where Kumi won traveling at 46? maybe J-pop deserved to die on ATRL 3
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