Ive mixed feelings about bands stating around forever. I mean let's not forget that that they are all in their 50s (?). Theyre near the level of McCartney, the Stones, etc. age-wise. Part of me would love 10 more years of pillows. But the other part says going out with a bang like this would be better than 5 more mediocre albums and a bunch of wrinkly old coots on stage a la the Stones.

Lord knows they've still got it at the moment, and I'd love more than anything to see them at least once more before they pack it in, but I'd also be ok with a final year of awesome shows and some kind of kick ass DVD set or something, then call it quits.

Of course, the overlords at Avex might see to it that we do get a bunch more new CDs.

I dunno, I think they've got some more mileage left in them. If they called it quits this year, I suppose it would be a fitting end. I understand what you mean about the mediocre album thing, but they've recovered from their worst pretty well it seems (Ooparts and Horn Again). As long as they can keep up the current pace and perhaps kick it into higher gear when it counts, I'm ready for more.

Ultimately, it's up to them. I wonder how Satou and Manabe feel about things. Sawao is content to make music until he dies. He's made that clear for a while now.

I wonder how they feel working with Kenji after all these years. Though this is almost certainly just a one-time thing, I have to wonder if they won't bring him back as a permanent member. It's fun to speculate, anyway. Lol. I still hope to see a little Kashima in there somewhere, but that'll probably never happen.

[quote="MyFoot"]Ive mixed feelings about bands stating around forever. I mean let's not forget that that they are all in their [b]50s (?).[/b] Theyre near the level of McCartney, the Stones, etc. age-wise. Part of me would love 10 more years of pillows. But the other part says going out with a bang like this would be better than 5 more mediocre albums and a bunch of wrinkly old coots on stage a la the Stones.

Lord knows they've still got it at the moment, and I'd love more than anything to see them at least once more before they pack it in, but I'd also be ok with a final year of awesome shows and some kind of kick ass DVD set or something, then call it quits.

Of course, the overlords at Avex might see to it that we do get a bunch more new CDs.[/quote]

Shin is 49, and Sawo and Jun are both 45. Manabe is definitely in his 50s though. (Thanks profile on the pillows site)

Plus, The Stones put out Voodoo Lounge when they were about 50 and the band had been together 30+ years. That is a kickass album. You can be old and still make really good music.

As long as making music is still a wholesome experience for the band (which it seems to be), I hope they keep making music for a long time. They've put out some really good stuff in recent years.

There's no way Sawao will ever slow down. It's safe to say he's a music lifer, and even if the pillows do end up calling it quits down the road (a very long road it is, I'm sure), Sawao will always be there writing something.

[quote="Son Goshin"]Nice read there, from what I could decipher of course. It seems like there were some fans in Japan that were a little uneasy about the hiatus over the past year and a half. Now that may be normal for every other band... but not for the pillows, so I can see why some were a little confused.

Also...

[img]http://www.whatsin.jp/admin/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/the-pillows_live03-1.jpg[/img]

Can't believe they brought those kids in from the Tokai no Alice video. Nice.

Also of note, the article mentions Winona Ryder when talking about the song "Winona". Someone want to take a closer look and see if this song is actually about Winona Ryder. Because that would be HYSTERICAL![/quote]

I always thought it was about Winona Ryder so I never questioned it. I named my first car after her "Winona Ride Her"

Rock and Sympathy preview clips are up.

http://pillows.jp/p/20140226-out-rock-and-sympathy

I'm pretty pumped. A couple of these sound really good.

Oh god, a lot of those sound pretty anime-machine too. The Fool On the Planet cover sounds absolutely blasphemous

[quote="GoldenRhino"]Oh god, a lot of those sound pretty anime-machine too. The Fool On the Planet cover sounds absolutely blasphemous[/quote]

LOL, you're absolutely right, wow. Base Ball Bear's cover doesn't seem too bad, and I'm intrigued by The Bohemians.

I really never need to hear anything other than the original Funny Bunny evar again plox.

But yeah, I'm pretty sure they ruined All the Way to the Edge of the World. That sounded like a bad anime opening for sure.

What am I looking at here?

Looks like DVD spines?

https://twitter.com/thepillowsJPN/statu ... 09/photo/1

[quote="MyFoot"]What am I looking at here?

Looks like DVD spines?

https://twitter.com/thepillowsJPN/statu ... 09/photo/1[/quote]

They look like the master recordings.

[quote="MyFoot"]What am I looking at here?

Looks like DVD spines?

https://twitter.com/thepillowsJPN/statu ... 09/photo/1[/quote]
The marquee of the venue where the Ueda show was played.

[quote="Mafu"]
The marquee of the venue where the Ueda show was played.[/quote]

Ah, I see it now. Looks weird sideways.