Thank you, thank you, thank you. Kosumiku!

I haven't read the comments yet. (Don't wanna see/hear them yet)
But I have to say: [u]Lily, My Sun![/u]
I got stuck on this song, wanna listen and listen and listen, and relisten.

This album was a real throwback to Good Dreams/My Foot at times. I really enjoyed it. I'm excited to be a pillows fan again!

I'm still mulling this album over, but I can say that after a couple times through, it's a huge improvement over OOPARTS. Right now I'm torn between feeling disappointed that only one track is really hooking me so far (Limp Tomorrow) and excited that I don't dislike [i]any[/i] of the tracks.

But probably GOOD DREAMS tier, I reckon? Not bad, pillows, not too bad.

[quote="Jomei"]I'm still mulling this album over, but I can say that after a couple times through, it's a huge improvement over OOPARTS. Right now I'm torn between feeling disappointed that only one track is really hooking me so far (Limp Tomorrow) and excited that I don't dislike [i]any[/i] of the tracks.

But probably GOOD DREAMS tier, I reckon? Not bad, pillows, not too bad.[/quote]

I agree with this post completely.

After one and a half listens, there's nothing I dislike. Even coming around to Doggie Howl now. Just wish there were some more stand out tracks. I'm sure some will grow on me though. The album's certainly not better than My Foot, but it's defintiely better than OOPARTS, maybe Pied Piper too. I'm really happy with Nobody Knows What Blooms. Makes Foxes look like it was a song from The Predators. Glad they worked the kinks out and added the extra parts for a reason instead of for the hell of it. Still need a few more listens before I can really rank this album though.

I liked everything

Good Dreams/My Foot tier

fuck the noise

Sawao I love you

I feel like the last two albums ranged from scores of 3 - 8 on my scale, but this album ranges from scores of 6 - 10 for me. This is my favorite release since My Foot, and I am extremely impressed. I guess DISCHARGE was a good indication for me to go on for hype!

Also, I'm SO FUCKING HAPPY that Sad Fad Love made it and Rodeo Star Mate didn't. Sad Fad Love is so great. If only FLAG STAR made it too.

the pillows are [i]back[/i] with [i]oh yaer[/i] vengeance.

[quote="AlucardX24"]Also, I'm SO FUCKING HAPPY that Sad Fad Love made it and [b]Rodeo Star Mate[/b] didn't. Sad Fad Love is so great. [/quote]

Come to think of it, that's sort of WTF. Maybe Sawao wants to pretend that song, as a titular single release, never happened.

Loved most of the album, after a couple of listens through I'd have to say imo the songs they decided to promote (Movement and Doggie Howl) probably were the weakest.

Amazing-tier: Limp Tomorrow, Lily, My Sun, Nobody Knows What Blooms, Brilliant Crown
Great-tier: Give Me Up!, Movement, Biography, Sad Fad Love, Emerald City (This one is borderline with me, I like it a lot but part of me wishes it was just as intense as Last Dinosaur or Century Creepers, though I may grow to accept it for what it is in time)
Good-tier: Doggie Howl

Overall: 8 out of 10

Other notes:
1. Limp Tomorrow is without a doubt the best album opener since MY FOOT easily, if not just as good as MY FOOT.
2. Poison Rock 'n' Roll>Give Me Up!>Rock 'n' Roll Sinners
3. Nobody Knows What Blooms>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>FOXES
4. Once again so far the songs they chose to promote in my opinion don't really stand out that well on the album, they work within the context of the album definitely, but they really could've made better choices on which songs to promote the album with especially with the amount of great songs they gave us this time around. I think Limp Tomorrow, Lily My Sun, and Brilliant Crown would've made much better singles than Movement (and hopefully one of them is chosen for a 3rd single for the album instead of leaving us with the 4 PVs along with Movement and Rodeo Star Mate as the singles for this album.)
5. I definitely see shades of DISCHARGE's songwriting throughout the album. Sawao needs to do more solo albums if this is the case and less PREDATORS albums.

Similarly to Jomei, I can't detect any songs that I don't like. Though there are little things, they certainly don't kill their respective songs.

Biography goes all over the damn place... I still like it but it seems like a bit of a noodlefest with an OH YEAH! refrain attached... I was digging it more yesterday, but there is a charm in the oddness of it all.

The chrous in Nobody Knows What Blooms seems to be the biggest hook or near the top of the list on the whole record. I will say I dislike that [i]one[/i] specific horn sound around the halfway point, it overcrowds on the band.

Give Me Up! is pretty kickass for it's simplicity.

Lily, My Sun is a grower for me, same with Sad Fad Love. Jury still out on Emerald City and Brilliant Crown, need to hear more (they are the ones I've heard the least thus far.)

Limp Tomorrow is my favorite track on the album. Great feel, great verses, amazing lead, catchy chorus. This song has it all.
Any of you guys picked out a favorite? I see from most posts that people are digging Lily, My Sun

[quote="Brye916"]Any of you guys picked out a favorite? I see from most posts that people are digging Lily, My Sun[/quote]
I listened to the album a lot now, so... I'd have to go with Nobody Knows What Blows. Just loved that chorus!

I think a lot of songs on here will grow on people over time, as will the album as a whole. A lot of fantastic songs that might take a while for people to fully digest.

Definitely digging the album. Currently too lazy and also haven't listened to everything enough times yet to post any real comments, but I seem to be in agreement with the general consensus thus far.

[quote="Brye916"]Any of you guys picked out a favorite? I see from most posts that people are digging Lily, My Sun[/quote]
Seems like the IM consensus is pretty heavily heavily favoring that, Nobody Knows What Blooms, and Lily, My Sun. Personally, Nobody Knows What Blooms takes the cake by far (more on that later).

Anyway, this is the first pillows album since Wake up! x3 that I can listen to all the way through without copious amounts of track skipping. The Nobody Knows What Blooms, Emerald City, and Brilliant Crown combo near the end in particular form a pretty strong apex for the album. The only track that's kind of "meh" for me so far is Biography. Lily, My Sun didn't immediately strongly appeal to me either, but I feel like that song will grow on me. The rest of the album is just solid all around.

Nobody Knows What Blooms is the clearly the winner of this album for me. Kind of feels similar to the awesomeness of Gazelle City, but reworked and further musically developed. Also nice to see some interesting and [i]tasteful[/i] (*coughfoxescough*) musical experimentation going on. I'm not talking just about the horns and strings; there seems to be an incorporation of a kind of indie/light pop feel that works really well for some reason, which is something I haven't heard any traces of yet in any of their existing material. When OOPARTS came out, I remember a lot of were speculating that Primer Beat might be indicative of a new direction the pillows were headed in. While that obviously dead-ended, I honestly think this seems like a more realistic (and, frankly, more interesting) new musical road the pillows could be headed down.

Also, stylistically, I definitely agree with Aplaca: it's almost like the pillows went back to the My Foot days and picked up where they left off. Not only is there the Gazelle City resemblance, but the opening chords of Lily, My Sun definitely reminded me (and some others) of Air Resistor at first. Brilliant Crown, too, kind of seemed reminiscent of Sayonara Universe…

Anyway, I'm so glad the good signs from Movement actually amounted to something. Only a couple of years ago, there was a strong consensus of the pillows being on a downward slide, with even some "they've sucked the well dry" sentiment as well. Even though this album may not be anything spectacular, at least the pillows have proven that they still have it in them.