The only thing I don't like is the autotune.

I think this is the first time I have ever seen something this eagerly anticipated actually live up to (and perhaps exceed) the hype.

Wow. This is just... so, so good.

And about the autotune, I must admit that I didn't even notice it the first time around. Even if it's there, it's definitely subtle.

This sounds awesome, it really lived up to how I always thought the song would sound. It would be great to hear the original version, but everything about the new recording already sounds great.

After listening to the song several more times, and in a good pair of headphones, the autotune on Sawao's voice is definitely glaring. No wonder he sounded so good I guess. Still, I can tell he was making a decent effort on the vocals. His voice wasn't nearly as nasally as it has been the last 8-10 years or so. But damn, this song is just so good, what else are they sitting on?! I mean we got this and Liberty now, what's the next holy grail? Original recordings of the two songs? Never on Air? Bokudake no Mona Lisa? Studio version of Henry Verdoux no Shougai? I want it ALL!

Thank you for the future! FU-TUUUUUUUUUUUUUURE!

I like how ironic it is .... that a song they've had called "Future" .... hasn't been released until now.

It's like a time capsule song.

[quote="Son Goshin"] what else are they sitting on?! I mean we got this and Liberty now, what's the next holy grail? Original recordings of the two songs? Never on Air? Bokudake no Mona Lisa? Studio version of Henry Verdoux no Shougai? I want it ALL! [/quote]

[b][i]OOPARTS, Unplugged.[/i][/b]

[quote="Son Goshin"]After listening to the song several more times, and in a good pair of headphones, the autotune on Sawao's voice is definitely glaring. No wonder he sounded so good I guess.[/quote]
I think this is the worst it's been on any pillows song thus far. With the style of the song, it's reminiscent of Michael Buble.

[quote="Lesser_Hamster"][quote="Son Goshin"] what else are they sitting on?! I mean we got this and Liberty now, what's the next holy grail? Original recordings of the two songs? Never on Air? Bokudake no Mona Lisa? Studio version of Henry Verdoux no Shougai? I want it ALL! [/quote]

[b][i]OOPARTS, Unplugged.[/i][/b][/quote]
And a few months later Sawao an heros.

Interesting choice on the auto-tune here. It's like they were trying to emulate the smoothness of Sawao's tone of voice back in the mid-90s era. I really don't mind at all. It's not offensive to my ears. It was a bit more present than in Energia. If I have any complaints, it's that it took away some of the character we've come to love andexpect from Sawao's vocal performances.

But it still shines through. Beautiful vocal melodies. The guitar parts and piano parts are a little bit Turn Backish (as in, I can tell they've been dumbed down from their original counterparts), and the original version definitely probably had at least a few more magnitudes of complexity... but I'm happy with this.

Edit: Oh, big thing I forgot. The main riff, with the lead and the flute. I'm imagining this is like Liberty from Turn Back compared to the original: the riff seems like a watered down, simplistic version of fancy, more jazzy riff that was probably more fluid and thus more impressive and memorable. In TB Liberty, it was kinda cheesy synth horns. In this, it's a call and response between Manabe and teh flutes.mp3. Overall what's missing here is Manabe's alto-soprano, soft guitar thirds. In this, we get crunchy bass/tenor thirds, more akin to Turn Back, accompanied by a piano.

[quote="Tidusauron12"]Interesting choice on the auto-tune here. It's like they were trying to emulate the smoothness of Sawao's tone of voice back in the mid-90s era. I really don't mind at all. It's not offensive to my ears. It was a bit more present than in Energia. If I have any complaints, it's that it took away some of the character we've come to love andexpect from Sawao's vocal performances.

But it still shines through. Beautiful vocal melodies. The guitar parts and piano parts are a little bit Turn Backish (as in, I can tell they've been dumbed down from their original counterparts), and the original version definitely probably had at least a few more magnitudes of complexity... but I'm happy with this. [/quote]

Agreed.

Also, though everyone keeps bringing up the auto-tune, I don't really hear it. Could be that I'm just deaf, or it could be that I haven't listened with headphones yet, but it isn't really unpleasant to me. Auto-tune or not, I'd say this is one of the best vocal performances in a while. Very pleased~

[quote="Tidusauron12"]Interesting choice on the auto-tune here. It's like they were trying to emulate the smoothness of Sawao's tone of voice back in the mid-90s era. I really don't mind at all. It's not offensive to my ears. It was a bit more present than in Energia. If I have any complaints, it's that it took away some of the character we've come to love andexpect from Sawao's vocal performances.[/quote]
Yeah, I definitely notice it peeking through more and more when I listen to his vocals through better headphones. That's an interesting point, especially considering that one of my first thoughts about his vocal performance here was, "Damn, his voice sounds remarkably 'clean' like it did back in 1995..."

It's interesting to listen to the evolution of Sawao's vocal style over the past 25 years. While it sounded smoother and cleaner in the early days, it was definitely a bit quavery and raw initially. But as the music evolved, so did his voice along with it; now, it's almost got a sort of grungy type of 'edginess' to it (forgive me, articulating musical feelings are nearly impossible for me at times). And, in addition to Manabe's own stylistic evolutions, this was one of the big differences I noticed in the Turn Back re-recordings: Sawao's voice just had a different kind of effect, and it sort of clashed with the style of the song itself.

So in light of this mismatch between current style and the pillows' style circa 1995, I think the use of autotune here was the right decision. The autotune here (which is very subtle, I might add) definitely seems to make Sawao's voice work better with the style of the song itself, instead of trying to cover up mistakes or something. I really like its use here, and despite autotune getting a bad rap in general, I think this is one case where it was used correctly.

Are you guys sure it's auto tune? Maybe I am deaf.


Here's an example of where auto tune almost ruined the whole song for me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xbc791Uc4E

So unnecessary.

It's likely melodyne, if not auto-tune. For the record, most artists use one of the two on some level. It can be used to the point of not even being noticeable really, or to the point of T-pain.

[quote="Tidusauron12"] T-pain.[/quote]
Now there's a collaboration I want to see!