So you live in Japan? Kinda interesting how you heard these songs live first. Would love more of your reactions. Anyways, I can say Trial is a pretty good album, and I think I can now say after a few months, it's better than Horn Again. OOPARTS though, yea the consensus was that it wasn't their best effort. And let's be honest, it really wasn't. But I don't recall people being anymore negative, positive, what have you towards that album than any of the last 4 or 5 albums. I don't think people were being douchebags at all, just giving opinions.

IRT Penalty Life:
I've listened through it once and didn't really latch onto anything but "Moon Marguerite." To me, that song alone defines the album and everything they were trying to do with it. I'll probably listen through it again to see if any other catch.

[quote="TheFamousLoser"]Anyway, did anybody else fell weird about the sound of the guitars from this album?[/quote]
Yup. It sounds muffled. Especially at TRIAL. Like the button turned too much to 'bass'. There's not enough 'treble'.
I'm not sure about the other songs though.
and welcome You're now Raid's favorite member.

[quote="Ashinow"][quote="TheFamousLoser"]Anyway, did anybody else fell weird about the sound of the guitars from this album?[/quote]
Yup. It sounds muffled. Especially at TRIAL. Like the button turned too much to 'bass'. There's not enough 'treble'.
I'm not sure about the other songs though.
and welcome You're now Raid's favorite member.[/quote]

I'm glad you heard it too!
and thanks for the welcome! I'm honored!

[quote="Son Goshin"]So you live in Japan? Kinda interesting how you heard these songs live first. Would love more of your reactions.[/quote]

Well I lived in Osaka for a year, and I'm spending the summer in Tokyo. I'm planning on moving over there soon.
I'd be happy to share my experience with you all after the concert.

I also love Lostman. I feel that album is an extension of myself.

And that's so neat.

That only adds to the theory someone posted about how the latest pillows albums are meant to be seen, not heard.

The reason I've followed IM for so long is because I really like to see other people's opinions about the music.

And yes, TRIAL was a step up from the other albums. Mmm I never noticed the guitars. I'm a bass and drums person. I noticed Sawao's vocals sounded much clearer but I never thought it was because the guitar was muffled. (Turn down Manabe's sexiness, oh hell naw.) I always figured he was incredibly auto-tuned, like in Enerugia.

I haaaated PL like no other at first. But it was Tidus of all people that got me to like it. I just had to listen to it on a hot summer day and everything clicked. It helped a lot that I read lyrics to go along with it as I listened. That Moon Marguerite makes my pants tight.

We should have a 'talk to the new member' thread because this is suddenly not about TRIAL anymore.

I don't know you but I like you already new member!

[img]http://i41.tinypic.com/33yj3pc.jpg[/img]

[quote="ChubbyRaccoon"]I also love Lostman. I feel that album is an extension of myself.[/quote]

I completely agree with that. Lostman is the first full album of the pillows that I listened to. Even at first when I didn't know the lyrics, the music was still speaking very deeply to me.


I saw in an interview somewhere...I forgot where, but Sawao said that he was happy with how the band had progressed though all of those different genres, and now he wanted to focus on making his live shows more exciting.


[quote="ChubbyRaccoon"] I haaaated PL like no other at first. But it was Tidus of all people that got me to like it. I just had to listen to it on a hot summer day and everything clicked. It helped a lot that I read lyrics to go along with it as I listened. That Moon Marguerite makes my pants tight.[/quote]

Yeah now that I think about it, it is a very summery kind of album. The opposite of Trial. haha
and yeah Moon Marguerite is amazing!!!


[quote="ChubbyRaccoon"]I don't know you but I like you already new member![/quote]
thanks!!

It IS the opposite of TRIAL. . .

I need to listen to the albums back to back now because I think that is an amazing conclusion.

Lately 持ち主のないギター has been my go to song.
I read the translations a few days ago and it's another one of Sawao's I-was-a-bad-person-to-you-but-I-still-think-of-you songs.
I really love it.

[quote="ChubbyRaccoon"]It IS the opposite of TRIAL. . .
I need to listen to the albums back to back now because I think that is an amazing conclusion.[/quote]

Thanks! haha
I think I'll try that too.

I really love 持ち主のないギター too.

I noticed that a few people didn't like it because they thought that it didn't have enough of a climax...
I kind of agree that it didn't have much of one, but not every song needs a climax.
I think it feels very honest this way. It's just a string of continuos thought. When I listen to the song, I can imagine him sitting on his couch alone playing that song and just speaking his mind until the song wrote itself. Each section of the song leads into the next so smoothly, I think.
The outro is more important in that song than the climax. I think it would have been weird to throw some kind of crazy climax in there.

Also I like the song because it's long and it's the exact length of time that it takes for me to leave my apartment and get to my first class. haha

[quote="TheFamousLoser"][img]http://i41.tinypic.com/33yj3pc.jpg[/img]
[/quote]

I'm jealous... But, when is that concert June 2nd? I had to scan to try and find the date... I looked over concert dates and one of them was exactly on my birthday (june 16th.) "Hey uhh, can I go to Japan to see a rock concert for my birthday?" Anyone I asked: "NOOO! SHGHSGDHDHGSHH "

Anyway, as for the actual topic, I noticed the muffled guitar sounds... A lot of the songs don't have that trebly crunch sound I love. They all (or a lot) have some weird distortion to them, it's most noticeable in Revival and Trial... I guess there's sort of a good balance now that I quickly skipped over the tracks again. It seems like a good handful of songs sound kinda muted though.

[quote="Bebop56210"]

Anyway, as for the actual topic, I noticed the muffled guitar sounds... A lot of the songs don't have that trebly crunch sound I love. They all (or a lot) have some weird distortion to them, it's most noticeable in Revival and Trial... I guess there's sort of a good balance now that I quickly skipped over the tracks again. It seems like a good handful of songs sound kinda muted though.[/quote]

Yeah! I love that trebly crunch sound too. Everything sounds kind of mumbled together on Revival and Trial.
I don't really like that muffled sound. It's hard to distinguish the two guitars. I always love listening to Manabe's lead, but it's not very present in many of the songs on this album.

I'm curious to see what it's going to sound like live.
I can't wait to see if Sawao can actually hit that note at the end of エネルギヤ. That will be impressive.

[quote="TheFamousLoser"]I saw in an interview somewhere...I forgot where, but Sawao said that he was happy with how the band had progressed though all of those different genres, and now he wanted to focus on making his live shows more exciting.[/quote]

Yeah, he's mentioned his changes in aim with writing in a few interviews I saw when I was reading up on my still totally unfinished thesis about them (patience kids, working full time in NYC left me no energy to do thesis and I have to re-read everything anyway, now I'm job hunting and I'll start working on it again after I find a job). The move to music focused more on the energy of the live show was really interesting to me, and as a musician I completely understand it.

Congrats on getting to go see them, I bet it's gonna be awesome to hear Trial live.

Thanks!!

Yeah these days it's easy enough to just download music, so the bands might as well focus more on the live shows. haha

If there's a band that I have no interest in seeing live, then I'll just download the album and listen to it at home.

If I go to a live show and it's awesome, then I'm going to be in the line after the concert buying everything they have on the table.
Recently the pillows have put on awesome shows, and I can't keep my self from buying their live DVD's. haha

My only problem with "focus on the live show" is that all of the older shit is just as exciting (if not more so) to see live. I mean, I guess I can see how that would translate into less extensive work in the studio, but... I dunno.

Anyways, have fun at the pillows show Andrew. We should in Nippon someday!

[quote="Tidusauron12"]
Anyways, have fun at the pillows show Andrew. We should in Nippon someday![/quote]

Thanks! That would be awesome!


The other thing is that they produce a lot of music (plus their solo stuff), and they are tour A LOT! I just don't think they have to time to put together a bunch of mindblowing songs (though I'm sure they are very capable) and have them down perfectly so they don't screw them up live.

I don't know if you guys saw the Horn Again Tour DVD, but at the end where Sawao sings No Surrender. He put's his guitar down, jumps into the crowd, and rolls around on stage after the song...That's what it's all about for him right now.
The Pillows are doing what they love. They've been around for over 20 years. Time to let them have some fun. Maybe they'll settle down in a few years...but if you had the means, wouldn't you rather travel around and play live shows instead of being stuck in a recording studio all the time stressing yourself out by trying to write some masterpiece? Maybe this is like their mid-life crisis or something, and they just want to mess around for a while. haha
That's ok. I still love a lot of their new songs. Not all of them are gold, but on each of their new albums, there are at least a few that are AWESOME, and that's good enough for me. And I'm glad that they are having a good time.