yeah this album is pretty bad...looks like the band refresh didn't work after all.

I wouldn't say it's terrible, but it's definitely a step down from the past two. I like most of the songs by themselves, and even Tokai no Alice doesn't annoy me, but it just doesn't hang together well as an album. First four tracks feel out of place, and the rest all kind of runs together for me. And the self-congratulatory let's-write-another-song-about-our-band nonsense like "About A Rock'N'Roll Band", "Happy Birthday", and "Quarter Bakugeki no Tomo" (see also: "1989") has become really excessive. Quarter is an otherwise worthwhile song in spite of it, at least.

Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up! (2007)
Trial (2012)
Horn Again (2011)
Moondust (2014)
Pied Piper (2008)
Ooparts (2009)

Just think, we could have had one or two really good albums instead of these shitty ones

[quote="sl4"] the self-congratulatory let's-write-another-song-about-our-band nonsense like "About A Rock'N'Roll Band", "Happy Birthday", and "Quarter Bakugeki no Tomo" (see also: "1989") has become really excessive.[/quote]
Just wait until their 30th...

[quote="zorahk"]Just think, we could have had one or two really good albums instead of these shitty ones[/quote]
I disagree. And I'm a fan of [url=http://www.pirouzu.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5604]Robert "I'm going to release 6 albums every year" Pollard[/url], so you're probably never going to convince me otherwise on this one

I really enjoy Wake Up, Trial, and Horn Again as complete albums. If the Avex releases had been combined into one or two albums, a lot of great songs would inevitably have been left in the dust, and probably not the same ones most of us would have picked (assuming we could even come to such a collective conclusion -- see all the songs with hugely varied fanbase reactions).

If you only like a few songs from any of them, that's arguably even more reason to be thankful that Sawao is letting you do the culling yourself, rather than letting him pick which songs you get to hear. ("Your Order" was considered good enough to get a PV, ffs. I'll let that speak for itself.)

To some degree, I think it's good seeing opinions vary so much from track to track on the recent material. At least it proves that the pillows are still hitting on a variety of sounds and styles as they go instead of truly stagnating. I'm very, very convinced that it's the production/mastering more than anything else that's hurting things with their new work.

[quote="sl4"]
Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up! (2007)
Trial (2012)
Horn Again (2011)
Moondust (2014)
[b]Pied Piper (2008)[/b]
Ooparts (2009)[/quote]

I am disappoint....PP>Moondust and Horn Again for sure in my book.

Ideal Affection and Alice aren't getting much love! In general I thought views would be more positive... It's ok I just don't agree with some of the commonalities popping up in reviews so far. Wish I could go into detail, maybe later.

[quote="MyFoot"][quote="sl4"]
Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up! (2007)
Trial (2012)
Horn Again (2011)
Moondust (2014)
[b]Pied Piper (2008)[/b]
Ooparts (2009)[/quote]

I am disappoint....PP>Moondust and Horn Again for sure in my book.[/quote]
It's definitely near the bottom for me. I might even put it below Ooparts, just because Ooparts arguably might have some higher high points on it, but it's a tough call because Ooparts' low points are so abominably bad. I guess PP wins out for being more consistent. Those two are the only Avex albums that I'd want to see merged into one.

But like Mare was saying, it's probably a good thing that we've got such varied opinions on the new stuff. I love Horn Again, plenty of people here think it's crap. I think they're crazy.

[quote="Cloudy_One"]:hmph: Ideal Affection and Alice aren't getting much love! In general I thought views would be more positive... It's ok I just don't agree with some of the commonalities popping up in reviews so far. Wish I could go into detail, maybe later.[/quote]
I like Ideal Affection -- I'm not sure why it's been compared to songs like Doggie Howl (which is also awesome, screw you all). I think it's more akin to the retro-throwback stuff that's popped up on most of the Avex albums.

Alice is okay. I don't dislike it, but it probably would've made a better b-side than album track. It's got a rather silly feel to it, which isn't an inherently bad thing, but I don't think it works to the album's strengths.

My breakdown:

Wake Up!
Trial
Pied Piper
Moondust
Horn Again
Ooparts

Trial and Pied Piper occupy a similar tier. It's almost a tie.

I might switch Ooparts with Horn Again occasionally. I really dislike Horn Again a lot.

Of the Avex albums, I'd say Horn Again turned out to be the weakest. WUx3 is fantastic, the I'm only liable to skip Private Kingdom and Serious Plan (though I like them well enough), and Pied Piper is far from weak. I like it as a whole. Ooparts was always about 50/50 for me. I really like Dance With God, Beyond the Moon, Johnny Strobe, Ameagari, and Primer Beat, but the rest is at best. To me, barely a teaspoonful of Horn Again's songs do anything for me nowadays. Trial is the best since WUx3 and Pied Piper (Flashback Story and Polaris are seriously not getting enough love around here!).

I haven't listened to all of Moondust enough yet to really get an accurate sense of where it'll place. I'm really digging Clean Slate Revolution and Prairie Rider (anyone else getting a 'Sawao solo album' vibe off this song?), and I also like Ideal Affection a lot! Song For You is not as bad as I thought it was going to be for what it is. It's perfectly pleasant. As for Moondust, Anemone, and Message, I'm torn. I have yet to seek these songs out to hear them, but I feel Message is going to get another shot someday soon. It's got some kind of 'Biography' feel to me, though, and it kind of puts me off of it as a standalone. About a Rock'n'roll Band really gets me pumped, and Tokai no Alice is still alright. I wasn't a huge fan of Happy Birthday. Oh, and Break a Time Machine. That exists.

Really interesting seeing how different songs work for everybody! I personally still view Good Dreams and My Foot as a low point in the pillows' discography, despite the latter having a nice amount of rockin' songs. But then I also used to see Penalty Life as part of that low point, and it really grew on me about a year or so ago. A nice surprise - the pillows definitely have something for everyone.

[quote="ShwahnStuff"]I'm only liable to skip Private Kingdom[/quote]

[quote="Tidusauron12"]My breakdown:

Wake Up!
Trial
Pied Piper
Moondust
Horn Again
Ooparts

Trial and Pied Piper occupy a similar tier. It's almost a tie.

I might switch Ooparts with Horn Again occasionally. I really dislike Horn Again a lot.[/quote]

Put Wake Up! under the Trial/Pied Piper tie and that is mine as well.

I often think of Ooparts and Horn Again in the same vain. Mostly forgettable to me, they came out around the same time, so I regard them almost as one thing...they'd be like tied at the bottom in my list.

[quote="MyFoot"][quote="Tidusauron12"]My breakdown:

Wake Up!
Trial
Pied Piper
Moondust
Horn Again
Ooparts

Trial and Pied Piper occupy a similar tier. It's almost a tie.

I might switch Ooparts with Horn Again occasionally. I really dislike Horn Again a lot.[/quote]

Put Wake Up! under the Trial/Pied Piper tie and that is mine as well.

I often think of Ooparts and Horn Again in the same vain. Mostly forgettable to me, they came out around the same time, so I regard them almost as one thing...they'd be like tied at the bottom in my list.[/quote]
Ooparts and Horn Again were released more than a year apart, and I can't for the life of me see any similarity between the songs or general mood of them. So I'm going to just repeat my assertion that you guys are all crazy

Anyway, can we stop talking about how mediocre Moondust is and start talking about how good Moon Gold is, instead? It's so spacey and flangey. Even though it does have Kiss Me Baby.

I don't think Horn Again and Ooparts are very similar at all sound wise. The only similarity is that they contain some of the pillows' weakest work out of the whole discography. Though honestly the last 6 years as a whole contain the most of that.

I was listening to White Incarnation today, Sitting on a Paper Moon. MAN. Now that's a song. Even the pillows' best work today pales in comparison to works of that magnitude. It was a slap in the face listening to that song. For real. Haha