[quote="GoldenRhino"]For me, one of the big tells is that it doesn't pass the "If this were under another artist's name, would I still listen to it?" test.

If "Good Dreams" were done by some random band I'd never heard of before, call them The NoNames, I'd still enjoy the fuck out of it. I have a hunch, that if I sent "Beautiful Struggle" to some of my IM friends and said "yo you gotta check out this instrumental track by this band The NoNames" I'd get a lot more apathy and perhaps derision.[/quote]

I feel that way about every Pillows album post-My Foot. I would not even think about introducing someone to their material using anything from that era, and when you take the fanboy attitude out of the equation, that's really not a good thing having to go back to the 90's to find an album worth reccomending. I love all of their material and we've all had this arguement before, but I love it as someone who is already a Pillows fan.

I have some really fond memories of listening to their albums during different parts of my life over the past decade, so I have some hardcore nostalgia for this band too.

I feel like 90's-era Pillows is a band to be genuinely proud of. I could talk endlessly about Manabe's intricate lead work during the Living Field era, or the passion behind the songwriting that fueled the PML - Happy Bivouac era, and wouldn't feel embarassed reccomending this music to someone who has never listened to any Japanese bands. I feel that the caliber of songwriting during that period surpasses the language barrier, and I don't feel that way anymore when I hear about their new albums.

[quote="GoldenRhino"]
Not to say that you don't actually like what you say you like. But yeah kind of that.[/quote]

There's that. But then there is also just brushing off any time anyone likes something that you don't as them just liking it to ride the D-train. It doesn't have to be fanboy-syndrome for someone to actually like something, just because you don't like it. Granted, there are people who will like blindly every single track with any mention of the names Sawao Yamanaka, Yoshiaki Manabe, Jun Suzuki (problably not as much due to the haters), or Shinichiro Sato. There are also some who will like certain tracks, or just say they do, to go against the crowd and seem like they connect to it on a deeper level that others can't relate to.

But there is a possibility that maybe, just maybe, a song will go into someones aural canal and just hit their brain in a different way than yours. And they'll actually like it.

I'm fully aware of the NoNames, I've used that trick on others myself. Fanboys are annoying. But there is a difference between being a fanboy, and just having a solid connection with more or less every track a bands released so it happens to be that you like tracks that others don't. It IS possible, against all popular opinion, that a person can genuinely find something to like about each and every track an artist creates. It's not for sure that if a person says they like everything band X does, they are just being a fanboy.

There's no denying, if you take a step back and really listen through a critical ear, that the pillows work is lesser in quality in the past half-decade than in the 90s. But there are also numerous solid solid tracks that get brushed off too often for being radio pop kind of stuff. If we didn't keep comparing the pillows new releases to their past stuff, the outcome would surely be better. I never understood the argument, and it happens all to often all throughout music, that X album isn't as good as Y album, and that band G isn't as good as they were 10 years ago. Bands change. The people in the bands change, which directly affects their song making. Every album a band puts out should be judged on a clean slate, not going up against their previous critically acclaimed album that went platinum.

Not to say that this board is full of haters, but yeah kind of that.

Also, just in case it's misconstrued, I didn't take your post personally against me GR. It might have been, but this post was mainly just a general response, not a defense mechanism.

[quote="MyFoot"]There's no denying, if you take a step back and really listen through a critical ear, that the pillows work is lesser in quality in the past half-decade than in the 90s. But there are also numerous solid solid tracks that get brushed off too often for being radio pop kind of stuff. If we didn't keep comparing the pillows new releases to their past stuff, the outcome would surely be better. I never understood the argument, and it happens all to often all throughout music, that X album isn't as good as Y album, and that band G isn't as good as they were 10 years ago. Bands change. The people in the bands change, which directly affects their song making. Every album a band puts out should be judged on a clean slate, not going up against their previous critically acclaimed album that went platinum.

Not to say that this board is full of haters, but yeah kind of that. [/quote]

This. Each album is its own work, and just because it's not clicking fully this instant doesn't mean that a) the music is bad or b) that it won't click with you at some point. A song that's only "okay" to you doesn't need to be ripped on just because it's not god tier.

And I really, really do like Beautiful Struggle. I connect with the notes and melodies, and they pull at me. That's all that matters to me.

I just listened to Beautiful Struggle again or the first time in months. It sounds like the royalty-free music you'd hear playing while some dude presents a shitty PowerPoint for some kind of technical school at your high school during seventh period when all you can think about is how much you really wanna finger bang the chick in the corner.

To each their own. It's not Steve Vai or Satch in terms of guitar instrumental virtuosity, but it's highly entertaining to listen to and I bet he had a hell of a fun time making it, which probably let to this upcoming album, which Im very excited for!

On that note, I much prefer the colloquialism "finger blast".

Re: Aplaca:
[quote="MyFoot"]Not to say that this board is full of haters, but yeah kind of that. [/quote]

See, it's not that you don't like it, it's that you feel this need to insult the music unnecessarily. What's the point in that again?

Of course, "You like what you like." The reason I smell fanboyism is that Beautiful Struggle *sounds* like the type of music that music enthusiasts shit on. It has all the elements of insincerity and schlock appropriate for a Powerpoint Presentation as pointed out by Aplaca. Secondly, it sounds nothing like the kinds of music I know you guys are into. I know a lot of you guys dig strong pop melodies, catchy lines, and general eschew shit that is glaringly overproduced and boring. All of the elements are in place for IMers to say "Beautiful Struggle is some shit." So I'm very skeptical that the "Manabe Yoshiaki" tag on it might be swaying opinions.

[quote="Marekenshin"]See, it's not that you don't like it, it's that you feel this need to insult the music unnecessarily. What's the point in that again?[/quote]
Hey, I'm just saying, music -has the potential- to be objectively bad. We all like Manabe, but that admiration can only go so far. It's very stale. Plus his tone sounds like it came straight from an 80s hair band with dudes that wore stupid outfits and wrote emotional music that didn't really match their image at all ("TIME MACHINE"). Maybe the actual album won't be shit! I wouldn't hold your breath though, cause that's a pretty common trope around here. I just feel like Manabe publishing his (probably) crap album is like Emma Watson trying to get her (probably) crap Harry Potter fanfiction published haha. Stick to the pillows, Pee-chan.

I mean, it's cool if you're into it. I'm not bashing you, just the song. Also.. if it's unnecessary to discuss why music sucks, it's unnecessary to discuss why it's good too. Just my general thought.

edit: Naming his album Rutile is like white trash getting a tattoo of random Cantonese nonsense.

[quote="Aplaca"]
Hey, I'm just saying, music -has the potential- to be objectively bad. We all like Manabe, but that admiration can only go so far. It's very stale. Plus his tone sounds like it came straight from an 80s hair band with dudes that wore stupid outfits and wrote emotional music that didn't really match their image at all ("TIME MACHINE").[/quote]

Let's be honest here. I like the technicality and virtuosity of guitar instrumentals, but it always has that high gain 80's hair band lead tone. That's not Manabe being deaf to his terrible tone, that's him imitating the great number of instrumentalists out there.

[quote="Aplaca"][quote="Marekenshin"]See, it's not that you don't like it, it's that you feel this need to insult the music unnecessarily. What's the point in that again?[/quote]
Hey, I'm just saying, music -has the potential- to be objectively bad. We all like Manabe, but that admiration can only go so far. It's very stale. Plus his tone sounds like it came straight from an 80s hair band with dudes that wore stupid outfits and wrote emotional music that didn't really match their image at all ("TIME MACHINE"). Maybe the actual album won't be shit! I wouldn't hold your breath though, cause that's a pretty common trope around here. I just feel like Manabe publishing his (probably) crap album is like Emma Watson trying to get her (probably) crap Harry Potter fanfiction published haha. Stick to the pillows, Pee-chan.

I mean, it's cool if you're into it. I'm not bashing you, just the song. Also.. if it's unnecessary to discuss why music sucks, it's unnecessary to discuss why it's good too. Just my general thought.

edit: Naming his album Rutile is like white trash getting a tattoo of random Cantonese nonsense.[/quote]

You're not just discussing why you don't like it, you're trash-talking. The difference is in the language you use.

Trash-talking: shit, crap, garbage, sucks, etc.
Discussing why you don't like it: dislike the tone, bland production, melody wasn't catchy to you, etc.

See the difference? This seems relevant:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0la5DBtOVNI

That said, I can like the music without liking the production. Beautiful Struggle could have had waaaaay better drums and backing instrument dynamics. The melodies are still cool. Deal with it, and stop being such a little bitch about how you express your opinion (notice how suddenly the inclusion of that little barb makes it go from me discussing my opinion to me being a dick? That's what's fucking wrong with how you silly goddamn CHILDREN keep discussing these things).

Anyway...

Uh, are you drunk?

Plenty of great instrumental music, downtempo, jazz, house, etc. etc. Never liked instrumental rock. Sounds like videogame background music.

[quote="Aplaca"]Uh, are you drunk?[/quote]

No, but I'm puzzled that you don't seem to understand how simple it is to state your opinions without talking shit in the process.

As someone who also really liked "Beautiful Struggle," I'm moderately interested in this album.

[quote="Spike"]Plenty of great instrumental music, downtempo, jazz, house, etc. etc. Never liked instrumental rock. Sounds like videogame background music.[/quote]

EXactly the point I was trying to make, more or less, except often I actually do like it. But it's pretty much a "don't hate the player, hate the game" thing. If you're not a fan of it in the first place, that's the reason why you don't like it, not because Manabe sucks at it. instrumental guitar rock in this fashion, that is, more often than not power trio type stuff or in this case just Manabe, often has the same sounds. It requires a lot more expression and feeling to enjoy than when words are speaking to you or at least there is a vocal melody. It's all just a matter of preference though. I'm just saying...