Well, then you'll be glad to know that Eliot's also my favorite song, Mare.

Overall, I think it's a really good album, probably their best since Wake Up x3 for me. Far from perfect, and a bit short on spectacular songs, but surprisingly varied compared to their other recent efforts. Subtropical Fantasy's probably the other standout song (though you can also put me down as digging I RIOT's sirens).

And hey, HORN AGAIN ain't exactly fine art, but it's still miles better than OOPARTS. Emerald City's my jam.

What's ya'lls opinions on this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZDZ6o7V5Qs

I'm not sure what to think about the notion that Locomotion harks back to their golden days...

Y'know, I didn't think so at first, but seeing that review with "Locomotion" playing along to footage from [i]FLCL[/i], I definitely get a sense of what the reviewer is talking about. First of all, I think we can all agree that the band's "golden days" coincide with the release of [i]FLCL[/i]. In the [i]FLCL[/i] soundtrack, the band's quirkier side is really brought out, partly because of the nature of the show and the subsequent selection of songs to fit particular scenes, but also because of the inclusion of non-album tracks like "Ride on Shooting Star", "I Think I Can", "Come Down", "Sleepy Head" and "Stalker Goes to Babylon". On the studio albums from that classic era, though ([i]Please Mr. Lostman[/i], [i]Little Busters[/i], [i]Runners High[/i] and [i]Happy Bivouac[/i]), the quirkier songs are sort of balanced out by "nicer" songs that don't play with minor chords/keys and mixed tonality so much, like "One Life", "Hybrid Rainbow" and "Please Mr. Lostman". So, considering how deep Pillows fans are more likely to contextualise the band's classic-era songs with regard to the albums rather than the [i]FLCL[/i] soundtrack, we may not find that new quirky songs like "Locomotion! more! more!" remind us of the band's late-'90s output, because that "quirkiness" wasn't a dominant characteristic of The Pillows' sound from back then, although it was certainly present. However, in thinking about the [i]FLCL[/i] soundtrack, I'd definitely say that it gives new listeners the sense that The Pillows are a pretty quirky band, and that's something I remember thinking when I first discovered the band through [i]FLCL[/i].

Usually I hate amateur YouTube music reviews but that one was actually pretty great: well edited, and the speaker was fairly engaging.

Yeah, I liked the review overall. He made a few mistakes (for example, he said that "most of the songs on these four albums" comprised the soundtrack of FLCL, rather than "most of the sountrack of FLCL comprised of songs from these four albums"), but I think what he did really well was try to contextualize the band's current style in terms of Sawao's obsession with older "Rock and roll."

And yeah, I think showing a clip of FLCL with Locomotion made a good case for that point as well, although he could have picked a better scene in terms of matching the song's pacing. I concur that it has some of that upbeat rocking out classic pillows feel to it.

*peeks in*

Gotta say, I had some pretty low expectations for this album, but I finally gave this a full listen-through (thanks sittingduck for the upload, much appreciated), and I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised. A startling amount of variety here, compositionally and musically; a lot more than what I've reluctantly come to expect from the pillows lately.

Subtropical Fantasy is what made this album for me. I don't really know how to characterize this, but I came into this album expecting more bland, forgettable drivel, and this song singlehandedly reversed my jaded feelings. It evokes some real strong, fond memories of the B-sides from the late 90s/early 2000s: like, I could totally see this fitting perfectly on Another Morning, Another Pillows, slotting in right after Ninny and Subhuman. Put another way, this song somehow reminded me of some of the things I really value in the pillows' music...

I also really liked Blagodarnost a lot. Not sure if I was just riding the high from being surprised by Subtropical Fantasy, but this felt like a solidly "dreamy", 90s alt rock kind of pillows track. The Tragedy of Eliot was pretty good; definitely reminds me of very early pillows style. The Sun and Rock n' Roll was pleasant, but not in a bland way – ironically, that's sort of what made it stand out to me. Like, "Oh hey, this is a nice song, but wow, this is a little different from cookie-cutter "modern" pillows, whoa..."

All in all, I wasn't blown away by this album, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. Nice to see them bringing some variety back to their music again: feels noticeably more inspired and creative than the last several albums have been, to the say the very least.

Gotta say, I didn't really like the album my first listen, but it really grew on me.

Ranking of the tracks

Elliot no Higeki
Radiotelegraphy
Rock 'n' Roll to Taiyō
Locomotion, more! more!
Debris
One Flew Under the Cuckoo's Nest
Subtropical Fantasy
Blagodarnost
I RIOT
Stroll and Roll

[quote="Orochi"]Feels noticeably more inspired and creative than the last several albums have been, to the say the very least.[/quote]
Sawao's little heart would probably be super warmed to know that people are picking up on this. He seems extremely proud of this album and the work they put into it.

Not sure if this has been mentioned by anyone already or not, but just something I noticed when I listened to the album on my drive home last night. Anyone else catch that the verse rhythm guitar and the part right before the chorus kicks in in Radio Telegraphy and the guitar in I Riot are basically the same? I can almost imagine I Riot being born out of playing around with Radio Telegraphy or something.

I'm gonna listen to that Telegraphy pre-chorus again now methinks.

Anybody else get the sense that [i]Stroll and Roll[/i] is sorta different from the last couple of Pillows albums in that it's a lot more upbeat, whereas [i]Trial[/i] and [i]Moondust[/i] have a far more dominant sense of vulnerability and soul-bearing due to really transcendental, emotional, moving songs like "Moondust", "Energia" and "Happy Birthday"? Not that there aren't fairly cathartic moments like "Cuckoo", "Elliot" and "Blagodarnost", but I definitely felt like something was missing with this album, and I think that's it. Not that this is a real detraction--imo, this is one of the stronger Pillows albums of their later career--but for me, it was just that after getting used to Sawao really wearing his heart on his sleeve with the last two albums, hearing an album that's mostly just rollicking fun was a bit of a shift. I'd say [i]Stroll and Roll[/i] is sorta like [i]Pied Piper[/i] due to its carefree attitude, only with stronger songs. Just hoping that on the next album there's something to really blow my feels to smithereens; I think we could all use some new heartbreaking/heart-mending Pillows songs!

I heard rumors that he's had some romantic problems the past several years, perhaps he's been feeling a bit less wrecked by all of that? Blagdornost is definitely still quite sad (should translate that ish sometime, my bad), but I agree with you that it seems less so than the songs on Trial/Moondust.

How's this holding up for you guys? I played it through in it's entirety today because I think it was Locomotion More More came on shuffle and it didn't do it for me. Seems like half the album has lost it's luster to me. Re-reading my review in this thread, the songs I was iffy or just ok with before I seem to not really like at all. The good ones are still good though.

It probably didn't help that Fool on the Planet came on a couple songs before LMM, so it paled in comparison.

I listened during my drive earlier this week, was still enjoyable. Pretty sure Eliot is going to stay my favorite.

The album holds up really well with me. Somehow, every Pillows records does. Don't know what it is about the band that makes things that way; haven't got a clue.

You're probably a weird somewhat similar to the weird that Sawao is, you weird.

P.S. me too lol