The only release I'm really unhappy with this year is Rock Stock. That was pointless. Didn't get enough of Pied Piper's singles yet? Have 'em again, this time with the added flavor of mediocre self-covers! (1989 is great, but could've (should've) been on Once Upon a Time.)

[quote="TJWX5"]Skinny Blues[/quote]

That is a good song.

Somehow I liked Primer Beat
I really don't think I'll be listening to this album again

Edit: Primer Beat and Lemon Drops!

Dance with God: nah
[b]YOUR ORDER[/b]: yep
Melody: sure
Lemon Drops: yep
Foxes: yea (makes the cut for originally in terms of Sawao's song writing)
Beyond the Moon: no
Johnny Strobo: nope
Ameagari ni mita maboroshi: fuck no
LIFE SIZE LIFE: cool intro, but no
[b]Primer Beat[/b]: absolutely mother fucking hell yea (1st)

5 out of 10 (and 1 song that i'll shamelessly play over and over again) songs that i wouldn't skip within 2 seconds of playback, good enough for me.

edit:
regarding the last several posts in this thread, i guess i'll throw in my two cents.
RH > HB > LB
@ GR's fantasy album: cooooool
lastly, Beyond the Moon sucks

[quote="TJWX5"][quote="GoldenRhino"][quote="Jomei"]I listen to new things the pillows release out of loyalty and hope, but they disappoint me more and more. If I come off as scathing in my reviews, it's not that I think it's cool to do so, it's that I sincerely don't like this crap they're putting out and want more than anything else for them to be as good as they once were.[/quote]

Yeah, for sure. 2009's not over yet, but I've already had:
Basement Jaxx - Scars
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
U2 - No Line On the Horizon
Ringo Shiina - Sanmon Gossip
Dinosaur Jr - Farm
Kimura Kaela - Hocus Pocus
God Help the Girl - God Help the Girl
Cradle Orchestra - Velvet Ballads
Company of Thieves - Ordinary Riches
Perfume - Triangle
Belle & Sebastian - The BCC Sessions
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

I like all of those albums MUCH more than OOPARTS, and the pillows are by far my favorite band. I'm just saying, if you can recognize that a new album by your [i]favorite band[/i] is pretty weak, and nowhere near your "Best of the year" list...then that's bad. Usually we have some leeway in what our favorite artists put out. A mediocre album by the pillows will be thought of as "better" than a mediocre album by some band you've never heard of before. But when the mediocre trend just keeps on going (three quarters of My Foot, three quarters of WUx3, most of PP, most of OOPARTS) then it really becomes clear: mediocre music is mediocre music.

I was telling lastdinosaur17 last night, the pillows should have just not released the last three albums, and instead put out an album called like, No Surrender! or something, that looked like this:
1. No Surrender!!
2. Ladybird Girl
3. Mr. Droopy
4. Flag Star (shut up)
5. Lemon Drops
6. Primer Beat
7. 1989
8. New Animal
9. Wake Up! dodo
10. Scarecrow
11. BOAT HOUSE
12. Century Creepers

Done. Scrap the rest. That's a solid album right there.[/quote]

Thank god the pillows don't agree or we would have missed alot of great songs. Scarecrow, Skinny Blues, Pied Piper, Tokyo Bambi, Tokyo Zombie, Across The Metropolis, YOUR ORDER, Ameagari ni Mita Maboroshi, are excellent songs! There are some misses, but every album has misses.

And I really do not see how these albums are mediocre at all. You've probably said it before but I never seen it, please give me a brief description of why you and others think its mediocre? Not to argue, just for I can understand your stand point of view.[/quote]

I agree with both of you but dont like the one album idea.
And no Propose,Youngster, Private Kingdom?

I personally thought these last few albums were soley made for other audiences. Wasn't that the intention?
Either way, I think the real reason why some of us are "touchy" about their music... is because they have changed dramatically and continue to change gradually. That is why I think so many of us are effected by it in many different ways depending on what influence the pillows had on each of you.

[quote="ShwahnStuff"]The only release I'm really unhappy with this year is Rock Stock. That was pointless. Didn't get enough of Pied Piper's singles yet? Have 'em again, this time with the added flavor of mediocre self-covers! (1989 is great, but could've (should've) been on Once Upon a Time.)

[quote="TJWX5"]Skinny Blues[/quote]

That is a good song. [/quote]

Yeah I feel the same but for both Rock Stock and Once Upon a Time...theyre both a waste a time for me but agian not for new fans. Sorta like "Okay guys this was us....where ya been?"

[quote="GoldenRhino"]
Basement Jaxx - Scars
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
U2 - No Line On the Horizon
Ringo Shiina - Sanmon Gossip
Dinosaur Jr - Farm
Kimura Kaela - Hocus Pocus
God Help the Girl - God Help the Girl
Cradle Orchestra - Velvet Ballads
Company of Thieves - Ordinary Riches
Perfume - Triangle
Belle & Sebastian - The BCC Sessions
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
[/quote]
It scares me how similar our tastes in music are... I'm going to seclude myself in an electro binge in order to remedy this!
[quote="GoldenRhino"]
1. No Surrender!!
2. Ladybird Girl
3. Mr. Droopy
4. Flag Star (shut up)
5. Lemon Drops
6. Primer Beat
7. 1989
8. New Animal
9. Wake Up! dodo
10. Scarecrow
11. BOAT HOUSE
12. Century Creepers

Done. Scrap the rest. That's a solid album right there.[/quote]
While we're still wishing, I'd like a pony.

Dance With God - Pretty Awesome
Your Order - Sounds like an odd combination of New Animal and Pied Piper... Has anyone else noticed this...?
Melody - Interesting guitar and drums bits here and there, but the chorus is forgettable
Lemon Drops - This is the song that will sneak up behind you and get stuck in your head, wether you like it or not. Passable.
Foxes - Meh. The stereo effects and random trumpets annoyed me more than anything. Interesting drum splashes I would like to hear more of in other songs.
Beyond The Moon - Great intro, great up until the very end. It's like after a while they just said "fuck it", and turned the cheese knob to 11. High vocals overcompensating for half-assed lyrics do not a good song make.
Johnny Strobe - This is this album's "Propose" or "Nonfiction". It's alright.
Ameagari Ni Mita Maboroshi - Scarecrow with high vocals.
Life Size Life - I have a soft spot for most of their Engrish songs, so I can't help but to like it.
Primer Beat - Completely out of left field. I wish I could isolate the bass track on this and have sex with it.

[quote="ShwahnStuff"]The only release I'm really unhappy with this year is Rock Stock. That was pointless. Didn't get enough of Pied Piper's singles yet? Have 'em again, this time with the added flavor of mediocre self-covers! (1989 is great, but could've (should've) been on Once Upon a Time.)

[quote="TJWX5"]Skinny Blues[/quote]

That is a good song. [/quote]

I usually hate compilations, but I liked the self covers and 1989 and FLAG STAR are great songs. But I did hate this for the reason that.
1. To many songs that were already on previous bandscores, so these bandscores only have about 4 or 5 new tabs for songs out of 13, 16 tracks.
2. Needed more self covers, instead of just the old studio mixes!

They should have made one compilation album with 1989, FLAG STAR, and more rare tracks that were all rerecorded, so we could have some long awaited professional tabs of awesome songs.

[size=200]I say Asoko he kaeritai (I want to return there) self cover!!!
[/size]





EDIT:

For the clueless...

http://www.imeem.com/people/-2KG2v/music/KrF61qUI// <<<< [size=200]THIS SONG[/size]

If there were more self covers (from other eras) and less Pied Piper singles and such, then it'd be okay, but they'd need to mix up the covers. I liked what they did with Kimi to Boku to Otsuki-sama and how thay added horns to Liberty on Turn Back. If they had gone back and taken something from Living Field or Kool Spice and made it into a rock song, that would be interesting. Swanky Street (Rock Stock) is exactly the same, only with a less awesome ending. They need to be more adventurous with something like that. I do like what they did with the end of One Life, and having Funny Bunny be more of a pop song is different, but I just don't like it.

Songs they should have covered:

Sariban Ni Naritai (Good choice, good cover, it stays)
Asoko He Kaeritai (That would be awesome)
Koi no SUPAI ni ki o Tsukero
Happy Slave (I really don't like this song, so maybe they could make it bearable)
Pantomime (That would be something)
Like a Lovesong (Drunk Recording)

EDIT: Fuck it, we need a Moon Gold Returns!

[quote="ShwahnStuff"]If there were more self covers (from other eras) and less Pied Piper singles and such, then it'd be okay, but they'd need to mix up the covers. I liked what they did with Kimi to Boku to Otsuki-sama and how thay added horns to Liberty on Turn Back. If they had gone back and taken something from Living Field or Kool Spice and made it into a rock song, that would be interesting. Swanky Street (Rock Stock) is exactly the same, only with a less awesome ending. They need to be more adventurous with something like that. I do like what they did with the end of One Life, and having Funny Bunny be more of a pop song is different, but I just don't like it.

Songs they should have covered:

Sariban Ni Naritai (Good choice, good cover, it stays)
Asoko He Kaeritai (That would be awesome)
Koi no SUPAI ni ki o Tsukero
Happy Slave (I really don't like this song, so maybe they could make it bearable)
Pantomime (That would be something)
Like a Lovesong (Drunk Recording)

EDIT: Fuck it, we need a Moon Gold Returns![/quote]

100% YES Don't forget NAKED SHUFFLE!

[quote="GoldenRhino"]

I was telling lastdinosaur17 last night, the pillows should have just not released the last three albums, and instead put out an album called like, No Surrender! or something, that looked like this:

1. No Surrender!!
2. Ladybird Girl
3. Mr. Droopy
4. Flag Star (shut up)
5. Lemon Drops
6. Primer Beat
7. 1989
8. New Animal
9. Wake Up! dodo
10. Scarecrow
11. BOAT HOUSE
12. Century Creepers

Done. Scrap the rest. That's a solid album right there.[/quote]

I was thinking of doing the same thing with a speculative album but I wasn't sure how many albums to go back through. Starting at Wake Up seems like a good cut-off point judging from the reception I remember it got on this forum. Your list is fairly close to what I'd do with only a few switch-outs I'd potentially make.

Throwing songs in a woodchipper is somewhat depressing, however. Luckily mostly all of the b-sides from the singles and the Electric Rays have been particularly unimpressive to damn terrible range... Perhaps a select few condemned album songs could cycle into their positions?

Just think about these b-sides, or something like it... Keep in mind, singles don't always have to be on a particular album.

Scarecrow = Youngster (Kent Arrow), Tsuyogari
Ladybird Girl = Pied Piper, Tokyo Bambi (all PV special single)
Tokyo Bambi = doesn't happen
New Animal = doesn't happen, New Animal goes on album with no PV
Electric Rays = Don't know yet, could be Purple Apple, Poison Rock'N'Roll, That's a Wonderful World, anything but Bite Me and Voice, [i]damn[/i]...
Ameagari ni mita mabaroshi = Johnny Strobe, Beyond the Moon

Whew, suddenly the pillows are 50 pounds lighter! How'd they get so trim?

[quote="TJWX5"]You've probably said it before but I never seen it, please give me a brief description of why you and others think its mediocre? Not to argue, just for I can understand your stand point of view.[/quote]

(Using the pillows' entire pre-My Foot discography as a standard for measurement)
(Keeping in mind I didn't hate any of these albums. These brief assessments are very blunt, overly simplistic, and mainly focus on what I don't like)
(I wanted to refrain from doing one-more-assessment-rant/gush, but you asked for it, so...)
Degeneration and Rock'n'Roll Sinners were trash. Degeneration had two good solos.
Mighty Lovers had a shit chorus.
Kuuchuu Register was weak.
March of the God was nice, but paled in comparison to previous instrumentals.
My Girl was nice. Nonfiction and Third Eye were both great singles. Third Eye was probably the pillows' last, thoroughly kickass single.
My Foot and Gazelle City were both great.
Sayonara Universe was good, but never peaked. Sawao just got louder, and higher pitched.

BOAT HOUSE was solid, but not nearly as good as Patricia.
Pleasure Song was okay, but really was just another nail in the "muted powerchords er'day just like AKG" pillows coffin.
Private Kingdom and Serious Plan were weak, let's just call a spade a spade. PK's chorus was decent and "emotional," but really clashed with its "quirky" verse.
Scarecrow was a great track, I'll say that. YOUNGSTER was an adequate, super-catchy modern-day RUNNERS HIGH.
Skinny Blues had a great solo, but had none of the vocal effects, raw fuzz and distortion or, balls, shall I say, of Biscuit Hammer. Skinny Blues is Biscuit Hammer's happy-go-lucky emasculated brother.
Sweet Baggy Days closed out the album well with its outro, but the entire song suffered from "MANABE SHUT THE FUCK UP SYNDROME" - aka: too much lead, in all the wrong places. The instrumental sections are pierced by that car-alarm-like riff.
I'll admit I really do like PROPOSE, it's a groover. And Wake Up! dodo is a lot of fun.

Pied Piper has a pointless intro which has nothing to do with the rest of the song structure. The verse rhythm was sort of interesting, but then I realized it's the only slightly off-beat thing this band has done for a long time. So.
New Animal is hampered by being in the wrong key, I think. The first verses are too low, and it's a little jarring when the chorus hits. The solo's great though.
No Surrender's solid, today's current attempt at a sort of Last Dinosaur type desperation vibe. The acapella "NO SURRENDAH!" shout is killer.
Last Holiday has all the pace and feeling of a 6:00+ epic, but Sawao didn't give this song enough room to breathe. So we get a kinda rushed slog through a structurally sound song. If that makes any sense.
Tokyo Zombie was a huge surprise, giving us some of the most interesting sonic dynamics the pillows have produced in years. Direct your attention to 1:28. Totally new shit right there, I like it.
Across the metropolis was a snooze-fest.
Purple Apple was a substance-free quirk-fest.
Tokyo Bambi just never really hit me right, even with the horns. We KNOW liberty did the horns 20 times better. The solo is also over-quirky and really meanders.
I think most of us really dig Ladybird Girl, despite the simplicity.
That's a wonderful world - This is the song that probably gave Sawao the nuts to try to write something like Primer Beat. Which, in all likelihood, was written by Manabe. Thumbs up.
Poison Rock'n'Roll was annoying shit.

Dance with God is a groover, very Frontiers-esque. Until the mess of a chorus hits and it makes me think "Am I REALLY listening to this through $80 headphones? Is this a 32kbps rip of OOPARTS or what?
YOUR ORDER is saved by Manabe's lead-fills in the chorus. 1:05, 1:08, 1:11. It's alright, I apologize for giving it a ton of shit earlier.
We already know Melody was a throw-away when they played it live. Bad chorus.
Lemon Drops is great, but as mentioned before, the all-English delivery is a bit...much. If you asked Sawao to write Kim Deal again, but with less meaningful lyrics, this is probably what would happen.
FOXES - AKA: The Predators, plus Manabe in there somewhere. And by that, I mean, it's OOPARTS' worst track.
Beyond the Moon. Passable, I guess. Gets hurt by some really harsh, too loud Manabe-tone at 4:43ish. Ditch the lead here, please.
Johnny Strobe: Good chorus, song's too short. Just seemed like a fleeting idea.
Ameagari is essentially Last Holiday and Scarecrow mashed together, but worse than expected. The problem the guys are running to here is that all of these higher-pitched, dramatic, sorrowful vocals stand out like a sore thumb in the way they produced the vocals. It's way too present, way too clean and in your face. It's uncomfortable. Tidus' version was much better than the pillows.
LIFE SIZE LIFE: Trash, with a pointless intro. Keep it in the studio, Sawao.
Primer Beat kicked my fucking ass down the street holy fuck. Sawao's got it, Shin's got it, Manabe's got it, Jun's got in fuckin' spades. Best pillows track in a looong time. This should have been the music video. I don't want some Babylon Tenshi no Uta arts-and-crafts shit, I want some fucking hipsters doing the lindy hop to this. Clearly Manabe can still bust it out, Living Field style. This is the only good forseeable future for the pillows. Take the basslines and overall vibe of their jazz days, but mix it up with their current more cutting-edge sound (distortion, lol). They could do an album like this. I don't care.

If you made it through that entire essay, good job. I say these albums are "mediocre" because A) They're significantly worse than previous pillows albums. B) They're significantly worse than the new or old content of other bands that you could be spending your time listening to. No one is obligated to listen to or enjoy OOPARTS, so let's stop acting like it. Not that I'd try to force an opinion.

Also, you should've seen a pattern in my shotgun analysis. I typically went like this:
Chorus, check. Verse, check. Solo, check. Intro, if applicable, check.
How many other bands would you do this with?
We all know the pillows are extreeemely formulaic, and that hasn't been a problem in the past because nearly every verse has kicked ass, every chorus has kicked ass, every solo has kicked ass. It didn't get boring, because it was all really great. But when things stop being "really great," we can see how the simple rubric we use when analyzing new pillows tracks points to the fact that...shit, this stuff is formulaic and kinda boring.

The pillows have always played in their little box through their entire career (while, yes, exploring different "genres"). Other artists have played in their boxes, but they've added new instruments, tried starting with the chorus, changed their vocal delivery, incorporated extended solos, experimented with different rhythms, production methods, and overall soundscapes. The pillows have been fine staying in their little box, until about...Good Dreams. The decline in the quality of their songwriting has made a lot of us realize that "Hey. When you take all of the quality out, this box seems really restrictive, and really boring."


jk, OOPARTS was amazing and Beyond the Moon is best track of 2009, pillows 4ever.

edit: but really, the reason I'm so harsh on these guys, using words like "trash" and stuff, is because we all know they're capable of some really remarkable work. In my book, having really remarkable work is not an excuse to keep pushing out albums full of mediocre throw-away tracks. I keep judging and evaluating, even if I realize that the holy trinity of LB/HB/RH were extraordinary. I simply wouldn't care as much if the pillows didn't have such rich history and weren't my favorite band. So don't think I'm just some jaded hater. I'm not. I really do give a damn about their career now, and in the future.

As I read GR's reply, I found myself agreeing with him for the most part. Although I still enjoy OOPARTS, it's by no means a musical masterpiece.

I'm just really tolerant, and I have a soft spot for pop music. And I blame it all on Kaera-chan.

[quote="GoldenRhino"][quote="TJWX5"]You've probably said it before but I never seen it, please give me a brief description of why you and others think its mediocre? Not to argue, just for I can understand your stand point of view.[/quote]

[b]The pillows have always played in their little box through their entire career[/b] [/quote]

I like this metaphor. I always felt they were isolationists.

[quote="GoldenRhino"]Thesis[/quote]
[size=150]
[b]Raid anti-essay[/b][/size]

I loved OOPARTS, My favorite album was Happy Bivouac, they're both made by The Pillows. Did I listen to OOPARTS thinking "this shit better be better than Happy Bivouac"? No, because to me, I wasn't gonna let MY expectations get in the way of a totally kickass album.

Comparing OOPARTS to something like Little Busters or Runner's High is like comparing Please Mr.Lostman to Kool Spice. They're not even aiming for the same sound, so saying

[quote="GoldenRhino"]BOAT HOUSE was solid, but not nearly as good as Patricia.[/quote]

Would be like saying

[quote="GoldenRhino"]RUSH was solid, but not nearly as good as Energy.[/quote]

We're talking a ~10 year gap between the songs, and I find it unrealistic that you're comparing them seriously.

If you're approaching something with a negative mindset, you're gonna get a negative experience. I tried to be as unbiased as possible when I first listened to this, and I still digged this album alot. Alot of your "breakdowns" on why you don't like these past 3 albums is just because "they don't sound like xxxx" or "xxxx did this so much better". I don't think you should listen to music hoping it to be like other tracks. You should have tried to listen to OOPARTS with a fresher mindset and not dragging your expectations around.

Also, since when have we been listening to the pillows? Most of us catched up on them after/around the time FLCL came out (2003). Meaning we all listened to the holy trinity all at the same time. When you're listening to a band at their "peak", you're gonna want more. and I'm sure most of you guys cried rivers when Penalty Life didn't sound a thing like Happy Bivouac. The Pillows became our favorite band because of the holy trinity, and I think our own fanboy goggles and our wet pants had to affect on why we loved RH/HB/LB so much and why we hate WU/PP/OP.

I think you should lower your expectations, cause they're a bit unrealistic. I know OOPARTS has nothing on Happy Bivouac, but I'm not complaining. This is a good album and so is every other album in their discography.

By the way, This is by no means a personal attack to any of you guys, we are all entitled to stating our own opinions but we are also entitled to listen to everyone else's

There is no trinity in my book. To me, their entire discography from moon gold onwards represents my life-span.

1991-2009


EDIT:

No im not a zombie.