They are. Avex is just one of those big, major record labels. I would compare it to the Universal group or one of the big American label collectives. And groups like that usually do whatever they can to get the artists on their labels publicized.

For the record, Scarecrow was their first release on Avex Trax.

^Ah! Then I think it's safe to say that KING RECORDS [i]sucked [b]horribly[/b][/i] at publicizing the pillows.

[quote="Tidusauron12"]The fact that Scarecrow is their number four seems to hint that they've been building since before they moved to Avex. I don't think the Record label switch has much to do with it; rather, the pillows' sound has been changing more and more into a pop sound that Japan likes to hear.[/quote]

While, as pointed out, Scarecrow was released on Avex, their popularity had indeed been increasing before they switched labels. It was Synchronized Rockers that did a lot of it, really. Popular bands like Bump of Chicken and Mr. Children recording songs for it got them some new attention, and after that their sales started climbing. Their first single following Synchronized Rockers, The Third Eye (er, it was that and not Nonfiction, which was released the same week as SR, right?) was their first ever Top 25 single.

[quote="Tidusauron12"]^Ah! Then I think it's safe to say that KING RECORDS [i]sucked [b]horribly[/b][/i] at publicizing the pillows. [/quote]

Actually I believe that would be a gross generalization. Lets not forget the pillows fan following in Japan pre-Avex; Just looking at the old DVDs shows the venues they played were usually packed to a pretty high capacity and they played major festivals as well. Not to mention their shows in the US all sold out while still with King Records.

^But that rift between King Records and Avex Trax is extremely large. EXTREMELY. [i]Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up![/i] outsold [i]My Foot[/i] in just one week, same with [i]PIED PIPER[/i]. [i]My Foot[/i] was released one year after Synchronized Rockers.

I think the growing popularity of the pillows was a combination of how long the band has been together and how much more money/influence Avex has to market the band than King did.

King records did exponentially increase their international publicity. DUH.

You mean Fooly Cooly did.

[quote="ThankYouMyTwilight"]King records did exponentially increase their international publicity. DUH.[/quote]


This !

As mention none of us knew about the pillows before FLCL. sadly....

[quote="ThankYouMyTwilight"]King records did exponentially increase their international publicity. DUH.[/quote]

Of course they did... the pillows grew a lot from Kool Spice to My Foot... but I'm just trying to piece together the explosive success of Scarecrow and all of the following albums and singles. It's true that The Third Eye and Nonfiction were top 25 singles... so that means that the pillows were building before the switch to Avex? My Foot DID NOT outsell Runner's High... but the following Single, Scarecrow, quickly rose near the top of the charts. Wake Up! Was the pillows hit... and PIED PIPER topped Wake Up!

Hm... Maybe Scarecrow was a real hit; more popular than we think? I think the only safe conclusion is that several factors went into this increase in population after 2006 for the pillows. I know that Oricon didn't seem to give a shit about the pillows until Wake Up! was released, though.

I love Wake up.

Penalty Life is pretty good. I actually enjoyed the album very much. Most of the songs are memorable.

How did this topic degenerate into "albums I like" discussion?

Sheer's b-day topic got turned into a debate of how much pink floyd sucks.
So meh.