[quote="Lesser_Hamster"]I've been listening to this pretty much non-stop since I got my hands on it. Literally, to the exclusion of everything else in my library.[/quote]

Same here... that and the new Weezer album. This collection is absolutely stellar, and we need more. Boku Dake no Mona Lisa is really growing on me though. It's such a nice, mellow song, and I find it stuck in my head often nowadays. I'm curious to know if the band recorded it again in studio during the Penalty Life sessions since they played it live during that time.

[quote="Lesser_Hamster"]I've been listening to this pretty much non-stop since I got my hands on it. Literally, to the exclusion of everything else in my library.

God-tier: Flash Candy, Hello Friend, Swingers a Go! Go!, Another Morning

Very Good-tier: Beautiful Picture, Cooper Poster, Kanojo wa Kyou, Another Slow Night, Boku de Irareru you ni, Boku Dake Mona Lisa

Meh-tier: Naked Shuffle[/quote]

Not to diss on your picks for sure, to each their own, but I found Another Slow Night to be too slow and repetitive (I've only listened once, this could easily change), personally, but I feel that it is a noticable precursor to Plastic Flower. Likewise, I found myself missing a lot of the guitar intricacies from the studio Kanojo wa Kyou, and the solo too!

Another Slow Night is actually pretty cool I think. I didn't like it much at first either, but it's a perfect little slow number. Would've been nice as a b-side, or maybe even stuck somewhere on Kool Spice for that matter. I feel like there's a little bit more going on here than there is on Plastic Flower, which in itself sometimes just feels like a slower version of Another Morning. Not to diss Plastic Flower at all, just saying there are some pretty cool things going on in Another Slow Night I feel.

The chorus to Hello Friend makes me happy. It does the typical thing where you get the chorus without backing instruments, and it really gets me there for some reason. Honestly, but I've been listening to the 2nd movement stuff a lot, now that I have the BD. Specifically "Be Careful of Love Spies," which I uploaded to youtube last night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAuzGhCZxjU

[quote="MyFoot"]

Not to diss on your picks for sure, to each their own, but I found Another Slow Night to be too slow and repetitive (I've only listened once, this could easily change), personally, but I feel that it is a noticable precursor to Plastic Flower. Likewise, I found myself missing a lot of the guitar intricacies from the studio Kanojo wa Kyou, and the solo too![/quote]
Another Slow Night [i]is[/i] a bit slow, but it's a sweet, mellow song. An acquired taste maybe, but I bet it'll grow on you in the long-term. And yeah, the single version of Kanojo wa Kyou is definitely superior, however there's something laid back and super-pleasant about the demo version that keeps drawing me back in. The "Yeah yeah yeah" bit really worked for me, felt super chill. I really missed the solo too, though! When it got to the end, I was like: "What, no solo???" But yeah.

The only thing questionable between this and the 90s my life reprint is the lack of Henri Verdoux no Shougai

PS for maximum enjoyment, listen to 90s my life returns and this back to back

[quote="zorahk"]The only thing questionable between this and the 90s my life reprint is the lack of Henri Verdoux no Shougai[/quote]

Yeah, that's a good point. I wonder if they ever recorded a demo of that one, or if it was simply something that they performed on the live circuit.

[quote]PS for maximum enjoyment, listen to 90s my life returns and this back to back[/quote]
Mmm. Might have to do that!

I wonder if the pillows have more of these Bootleg collections in store. I mean, they have to! Just imagine the juicy tidbits that await on a '94-'96 demo collection. HNNNGHG.

Edit: I'll just say what everyone else is thinking: "The eventual demo release for the Pied Piper/OOPARTS years will blow everything else out of the water. You think Flash Candy is good? Just wait until you hear the tracks that were [i]too good[/i] for OOPARTS..."

lol

Noticed a mistake in the lyrics I thought I heard, now that I've finally listened to the high quality rip on headphones.

[quote="Marekenshin"]Another Morning:
[b] - in the first prechorus, he says "taekirenai hodo no dekigoto" rather than "taekirenai you na dekigoto."[/b][/quote]

What would be really rockin' is if some of you guys who bought the CD could get us scans of the liner notes. I'm sure there's some interesting info about these songs and I'd love to see what it says.

[quote="ThinlineTele"] I'm sure there's some interesting info about these songs and I'd love to see what it says.[/quote]
Ooh, yeah!

Or lyrics, perhaps?

[quote="Lesser_Hamster intended to"]OH REAH![/quote]

[quote="Lesser_Hamster"][quote="ThinlineTele"] I'm sure there's some interesting info about these songs and I'd love to see what it says.[/quote]
Ooh, yeah!

Or lyrics, perhaps?[/quote]

I think it's just lyrics, but I can get scans tomorrow unless someone else jumps on it sooner.

Ok, finally got to listen.

Hello Friend - Sato Fast, upbeat song to get things started. Really gets me moving Probably my second favorite of the new songs.

Another Morning - The intro really caught me off guard. Manabe's lead is pretty cool. It's like a whole new song, besides the vocals. I'm not sure which version I prefer, really. Best of the demos.

Boku Dake no Mona Lisa - Don't really like that the vocals start immediately. Otherwise it's a nice mellow song. More Manabe awesomeness. The transition to the solo is seamless.

Boku de Irareru You ni - Very similar to the final song released on the Girlfriend single. Too similar. It feels like a rough take of the final released version. But it's nice to have, I guess. And it's still a solid song so whatevs.

Swingers a go! go! - Another fun fast-paced song! FA FA FAFA FA FA FAFA! Manabe's in beastmode here.

Kanojo wa Kyou - Not too crazy about this one. I adore the PML version, so I'm a bit disappointed. Doesn't have that same magic. The different sections don't work together, IMO. The solo's interesting, but it just doesn't seem to fit with the rest. I don't know.

Another Slow Night - Sawao's vocals... ehhhhhh. There are a few moments, especially when he goes high, where he sounds pretty rough or out of control. Like in the very beginning. And I feel he's a bit loud, like he should be whispering most of the song. I like the chorus and the laid-back vibe of the song. But yeah, could've been better.

Cooper Poster - Another song where I'm rocking out to Sato's drums. That snare really kicks! Another solid solo by Manabe. Solid song in general.

Naked Shuffle - WAHHHH. Fucking awesome intro! Not sure how I feel about the heys. And it kinda just... ends? Wat. Overall, the Kool Spice version is my favorite.

Flash Candy - Oh hell yes. I don't think I can say anything that hasn't been said. Best song on the album.

Beautiful Picture - Loving the piano and the vibe of the song. Just like Another Morning, this is a fresh take at one of the pillows' greats.


Brb, I'm gonna listen to Hello Friend, Swingers a go! go!, Cooper Poster, and Flash Candy on repeat a lot.

I was discussing this with Mare and I can't figure out why the audio quality is so poor on these tracks. A few of them like Cooper Poster sound like amateur demo recordings, but others like Flash Candy and Beautiful Picture are clearly studio quality, the instruments are mic'd too well to be something they recorded in a basement, espically Sato's drum kit. Yet the levels are crushed and the bass frequently clips, maybe i'm reading too much into it but it seems like these were intentionally "degraded" to fit the bootleg release theme. Or they were stored improperly.

Either way this is probably their most exciting release of the last 10 years. Getting a lot of old stuff lately.

There is zero reason for them to make the audio worse on purpose, lol. The only two viable possibilities I can think of are either that some of the tapes were improperly stored and thus damaged, like you suggested, or that some of the demos were done in studio and others were DIY with a four-track or something. If you don't know how to audio engineer/don't have good recording equipment, you're going to likely get poor tone for drums and bass (and lack of clarity in general), especially back in the early 90's lol.