[quote="rockman240"][quote="Lesser_Hamster"]Tenshi Mitai ni Kimi wa Tatteta and Kono Yo no Hatemade[/quote]
The clip brought exactly those two songs to mind for me.[/quote]

Glad I'm not the only one.

(mostly) full PV is up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8emsOXkN6yU

Well, that certainly was a song by Sawao Yamanaka, wasn't it?

It was pleasant, but unremarkable. The chorus still feels bland and overdone to me, but it isn't a [i]bad[/i] song, I guess. Then again, if that's the best a long-time fan can say, then that's not exactly a compliment.

There was one point near the middle of the video when they were zooming in on the band from overhead. They were all standing in a park/field-looking area. Suddenly, I was reminded of various shots from the [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tNWwsuLen0]Daydream Wonder PV[/url], and remembered just why it is that I'm now so disappointed with the mediocre, boring shit he's been releasing in recent years (both solo and pillows stuff).

This [i]is[/i] the same Sawao Yamanaka who wrote Daydream Wonder, correct? I know people change over time, but... why does he feel the need to keep writing the same kinds of songs again and again? Back in the day, there was so much variety on each of their albums. "Answer" blends seamlessly into the stuff he's released over the past few years (including a fair amount of pillows stuff), in that it's not really distinguishable in any meaningful way.

I know this isn't the pillows, technically. But it goes for the majority of their recent works as well.

Thanks for posting the vid.

I'm hoping the audio quality from the actual CD gives the song more dynamics and it was just the YouTube quality that made it feel samey through what should have been the buildup and the chorus.

[quote="Lesser_Hamster"]This [i]is[/i] the same Sawao Yamanaka who wrote Daydream Wonder, correct? I know people change over time, but... why does he feel the need to keep writing the same kinds of songs again and again? Back in the day, there was so much variety on each of their albums. "Answer" blends seamlessly into the stuff he's released over the past few years (including a fair amount of pillows stuff), in that it's not really distinguishable in any meaningful way.[/quote]

Unfortunately, every creative person runs out of ideas sooner or later. Sawao had a really good run from 1989 through 2006 or so. That's 15-16 years of mostly excellent albums and singles. There are very few artists who can manage to do that, and I massively respect the band for that, but at this point it's obvious that most of their creativity has been used up.

I don't necessarily disagree, but I've always wondered about the nature of creatvity. Does the well ever really "go dry", so to speak? Is it really a limited commodity? I just have some trouble believing it to be finite. I think what's more likely is that they've released too much; they've focused on releasing singles and albums too quickly, and have settled upon the (generic) sound that makes them the most money/gains them the most fame.

But yeah, there's certainly less creativity to be found here than in their early stuff. There's no denying that.

You know, I for one think that Beethoven's music gets better and better up to the point that he died.

It's not that the creativity dries up, it's that artists' desire to take things as "far as they can go" usually depreciates with time. Which is the ultimate fate of most musicians who make a living off of pop music. While it must be true for some musicians (and maybe for Sawao), it don't believe that creativity has to "run out". It's much easier to simply settle on what you already have, especially after doing it for 20+ years.

This is all kind of conjecture, but it seems like a logical deduction to me.

I personally think that creativity and inspiration comes from lifestyle. When someone has a life where they have drive and dreams, the inspiration flows more readily. You know when they have ideas and messages they want to send, or problems they want to relate. However, when you settle into life the emotions start to fade away, when you have a thick skin you don't get moved by inspiration as easily.

I think the reason a lot of musicians' music dries up after they get big is because they lose their struggle, and their life becomes more mundane. Not to mention if you're famous enough, having an average person's life becomes harder when someone knows you while you're walking down the street. However, if you sang about your problems being a famous musician a lot of people will just simply not get it because they cannot relate.

I think sawao's life has become consumed by being sawao, the pillows are pretty big in japan now, he's running a label, doing two side projects, and still doing the pillows. It would be really hard to have the simple life of being an average man with the petty problems that usually inspire most musicians. Furthermore, even if he wanted to be that he has label obligations and a livelihood to maintain so his creativity is forced into a schedule, which is no place for something as elusive as inspiration.

It's obviously going to be different for everyone, but another factor is whether or not they're actively seeking to increase their musicianship, i.e. get better at guitar, try to learn to write in new sorts of ways, write for more parts, blend genres, etc. or not. I don't think Sawao has been making any attempts to really expand his sound.

lol, I like the song. But it's just so pillows and "Sawao" that... you just know exactly what to expect (minus Manabe leads). I think the chorus is good. Really catchy.

Another forgettable solo release.

[quote="Tidusauron12"]You know, I for one think that Beethoven's music gets better and better up to the point that he died.

It's not that the creativity dries up, it's that artists' desire to take things as "far as they can go" usually depreciates with time. Which is the ultimate fate of most musicians who make a living off of pop music. While it must be true for some musicians (and maybe for Sawao), it don't believe that creativity has to "run out". It's much easier to simply settle on what you already have, especially after doing it for 20+ years.

This is all kind of conjecture, but it seems like a logical deduction to me.[/quote]

Sawao should go deaf.
Then his style would change.
I can picture him yelling more, and using more distortion on his guitar.

So it might be interesting.

I felt like "Answer" was pretty plain and unremarkable, but not bad. As far as all of this "Sawao is out of ideas, etc" talk, I think it's just the style he likes to do. I actually liked almost everything on the TRIAL album and still listen to it fairly often. There was a little bit of "wait, didn't they do this before?" with RESCUE, but there was a lot on the album that felt fresh and unique within their discography.

Hell, I even liked a a good amount of HORN AGAIN, which was, at the least, good enough to listen to all the way through multiple times. Really, since Ooparts, the pillows have been on the rise again for me.

Trial is quite good. I listen to tracks off of it every once in a while and most of them put a smile on my face.

I'm anxious to hear Planetarium in your eyes