Comebacks.
July 18th, 2009
The first thing I expect from a “comeback” or a “reunion” is that they come back with a bang, not some half-assed attempt at their former self. Unfortunately, speaking for myself, this new Do As Infinity single is a total let down. It just doesn’t feel like there’s any chemistry between Ryo and Van.
Mind you, I’ve watched their comeback live numerous times and watching that the first time brought tears to my face. But this single is such a disappointment. I’ve been hyping up this single for months now, just hoping to myself that they’ll bring something new to the mix as well as pinch of their old flair. I just don’t understand. Maybe hyping it up was a bad idea since I had huge expectations of this single to blow me away like Tangerine Dream. I have more satisfaction watching their comeback live than to listen to this again.
This isn’t them. It feels like they just chucked Ryo in one room to make some nice tunes in and Van to sing in another without seeing one another until they play it live. There is no chemistry between them two. It honestly feels like Van is just extending her solo career with a guitar being the main accompaniment to the song. They’ve become individuals with similar goals instead of a unit with goals.
‘Umareyuku Monotachi e’ is poor when compared to their previous songs. It feels like Van’s just dragging her voice through the song. There’s some depth to the song, but it doesn’t sound as solid as she used to. She has difficulty in hitting the higher notes where she used to hit them with the utmost ease but I’m guessing it just deteriorates with age. Ryo however can still play extremely well, as usual so no surprises there.
Meramera is one of the tracks I actually enjoyed because it felt fresh and new. I love their new approach instead of sticking with power ballads and the guitar really works well in this. Timeless is decent I must admit, possibly on the same level as MeraMera. One of these two tracks should have been the A-side and not Umareyuku just because when people envision the word “comeback” they probably would expect something like MeraMera or Timeless because of the abundance of energy encased inside the songs which are just waiting to be unleashed. Umareyuku sounds epic with all the orchestral influences but it is just too slow to be a comeback A-side. Another thing is that they used guitar riffs because they have to but it really just confuses the song, or me. It wants to sound like Rakuten, but it’s just so far from its reach.
“Let’s get together at a-nation” is just plain awful. It’s blatant milking of Do As’ comeback single by Avex. Which clown thought it was a good idea to synthesise Van’s voice. I mean you would synthesise someone’s voice if the style of music requires it or if they sound like rubbish…like these rappers these days. Is Van rapping about money, girls, cars and money? I’d cut off my left arm if she was. I have never been so annoyed because this is fucking awful. For Avex to degrade Van into using a synth is the biggest insult for an artist whose ability is far superior to a fucking synthesiser. I understand the use of a synthesiser for certain groups which DEPEND on it, like Perfume. I love Perfume, I honestly do. I’ve listened to Perfume more than DAI even and my Last.fm proves that, but the thing is that Perfume somewhat relies on it but Van doesn’t. Fuck, I should listen to Buranko or Yesterday and Today to cool myself down.
Personally, Do As Infinity didn’t give me that “umph” I expected them to show. I would put their ages respectively to blame but I know they can do better than that despite their age.
HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR didn’t fall into the same pit Do As Infinity fell in because they’ve came back incredibly strong with their latest single “XYZ” which is only available on iTunes. People may have doubted HALCA but I never once doubted this girl from the day she was selected. I expected a lot from her and she pulled it off extremely well. I knew the guys wouldn’t mess around because retaining the same or similar image isn’t exactly something a good band should muck around with. But what I found extremely surprising is that HALCA sounds exactly or similar to Maki. Which brings me to the same thoughts as Pengie did, which is whether she’ll perform any of Haikara’s old songs. It would pretty sweet if she did or will Swamp Man (their album in September) be their new start with HALCA? Only one way to find out is in August where the band will hold their first tour with HALCA in Okinawa.
The contrast on how Do As and Haikara approached their “comeback” single is phenomenal. Given, their styles are very different. But Do As’s main track is just feels so dreary and extended, not because of Van’s extended notes. Haikara however, just explodes and screaming erupts from Yuusuke’s mouth as it starts. Not to mention the power of HALCA’s voice just knocks the wind out of me. I haven’t heard HALCA sing before, so this single was especially exciting but Do As Infinity’s was equally as exciting as it was their first single in four years. On one hand it was like “OOOOOH would HALCA sound like” while the other it was like “Are they going to something like their previous releases or are they going to try something new!?”
Haikara know what they are doing, and “XYZ” only solidifies their intentions for swamp man and boy am I excited. Screaming, shouting, HALCA, explosive, heavy riffs – if my penis had ears it would have set the blood vessels pumping like mad. This album is going to epic. And will I miss their softer stuff? Probably. Songs like Days and WITH YOU will be sorely missed if they ever decide to scrap ballads. But if their material on swamp man is going to be something like “XYZ” then asking Haikara to do a slow ballad when all their material is heavy and dark is like asking a carpenter to do open heart surgery.
I’m keen for a PV or anything new from Haikara. I really am. I want to see HALCA around the boys rockin’ it out. I am keener for swamp man than what DAI are releasing later this year, but I won’t hype it up. I’ll wait till swamp man releases and wait for it to blow me away. I am still a devout fan of Do As Infinity, it’s just that I’m not impressed with their initial effort. It bores me, I do not want to listen to it again, it doesn’t capture my attention. I really hope they can step it up for the upcoming album because I already know I’m not going to like one of their songs on their new album already.
Still miss you Maki T_T <3
Tags: Do As Infinity, HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR
Posted in Single Review | Comments (Comments)
-
stylejapan