I thought we were beyond this juvenile, dick-waving pretentiousness on this forum. But all it took was a thread about a solo release (without even a preview or sample to be heard of!) 2 fucking months away to remind me that no, IM has always and will always be a place where dicks and butt hurt assholes clash. Never change, guys. I'm just eating the popcorn and lol'ing this time around.

Oh Tidus, you'd think someone whose been here since 2008 would know better.

Every new release, no matter if it's pillow, Nine Miles, Predators, now Manabe solo...IM will never escape the clash of haters vs. "butt-hurt assholes" as you put it, but since I suppose I would fall into that category myself, I prefer to think of it as "hater-haters".

Besides, for the most part, for as long as I've been here everyone's seemed to stick around, even with the conflicts, so something must be going right.

I think it's rather easy to decide to point out to children their immaturity without being butt-hurt. Sure, I do it colloquially in a "fucking really, dude?" way, but that's just how I talk about shit in genral, so...

Anyway.

Ironic for you to be throwing the word 'immaturity' in this thread lol. You just exploded on me for not liking a song that you do.

Just to throw this out there:

Personally, whether I enjoy the music or not, I find it more interesting to read justifications why people like or dislike certain music. Myself and the other detractors were going a step beyond "Man fuck this shit album, PEACE." It's not essential that this thread is an echo-chamber of "Can't wait! I like Manabe! " - I would personally like to read more detailed opinions of Manabe's past solo work. I think it's counter-productive when criticism is flippantly labeled "butthurt."

The amount of shits I give if you say you "Like" or "Dislike" Beautiful Struggle are minimal. But if you can elaborate on your opinion, I think it makes for a more interesting and engaging thread.

Yeah, it's an odd piece. It tries to do a lot with a little and just ends up sounding lacking in creative purpose. It's like, certain notes, by nature, conjure feelings of sadness, sentiment, fondness-whether or not you actually find anything interesting in the lines of music themselves-and this song seems to simply string those types of notes together and call it a day. I don't really get the song title that he's trying to sell us, the "story" only amounts to a vague sense of sentimentality. So yeah, if Rutile is going to be made of songs like Beautiful Struggle, then no, I'm not going to be particularly interested in it. Believe me, I want it to be great, but we'll have to see what history has in store.

I'm not looking to judge anyone who finds something of substance in that song. It's just that I'm looking at it now, and it strikes me as Corn Flakes with Manabe's face on it. Without sugar.

IMO, it sounds too much like Manabe knew he was at center stage and thought "okay, now I gotta make everything a little fancy." So we get too many bent notes, too much vibrato, too many cute hammer-ons, then...hm...what now? Oh yeah, let's have a 40 SECOND LONG section of the same little octave-chord riff repeated over and over again.

At his best, Manabe works in the pillows because he has simple lead that *complements* pop rock vocals + rhythm guitar. His solos are great because he takes the spirit of a song and condenses it into a low-quantity, high-quality section. If it's a great solo, it'll add a new "feel" to the song - or take the gist of the song and go in a new place with a key change.

You know what? It feels like it's just a take of Manabe jamming, soloing along to a generic backing track. I fully believe Manabe "wrote" this song, but the directionlessness of it, the blandness of the riffs, the lack of structure, the tasteless vibrato/bends/slides/hammer-ons, it all feels like it's just Manabe dicking around on his Sago.

Guys.. come on. It's Mare's birthday. Show some respect.

Isn't it the pillows Anniversary soon as well? Anything they have planned?

[quote="Aplaca"]Guys.. come on. It's Mare's birthday. Show some respect.[/quote]

They did. Now you have two separate templates for how to express your opinion like an adult.

(Don't worry brah I still loves you, I just think you can express yourself better; it's a skill that will help out throughout your life)

Well, that album art is fucking awful. I hope it's something like Nine Miles, because at least Solomonic Polar Bear had some pretty sweet BGM.

So there's this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crxj7yOnLPQ

It sounds like a backing track from pro tools set to a slideshow made in windows movie maker.

Is it just me or was that nothing but a thinly-veiled advert for Sago guitars?