[quote="MyFoot"]Ok but seriously! Is no one else getting a Scarecrow vibe from the Moon Moondust chorus. Not only the chords, the melody in a way too. I can't get over it. I want to like it, but it's one of those "can't unhear" things.[/quote]
Listening now, some of the chord progression is reused but the melody takes it in a different enough direction. I hadn't compared the two before, but actually I like Moondust a lot better than Scarecrow, which has always felt a bit musically cliche to me.

[quote](And no, having their producer halfassedly add a bunch of out-of-key instruments from a prefab sample library to Nobody Knows What Blooms doesn't count for much. FFS, some of them are just stock samples that come with Reason, which makes it hard for me to believe that much thought or care was put into selecting and implementing any of the others.)[/quote]

i think you've just ruined that song for me, and it was the only one on the album which I liked : /

[quote="zorahk"][quote](And no, having their producer halfassedly add a bunch of out-of-key instruments from a prefab sample library to Nobody Knows What Blooms doesn't count for much. FFS, some of them are just stock samples that come with Reason, which makes it hard for me to believe that much thought or care was put into selecting and implementing any of the others.)[/quote]

i think you've just ruined that song for me, and it was the only one on the album which I liked : /[/quote]
I like the song anyway, but I'd like it a lot more without the random sounds pasted into it. I wouldn't mind their prefab origins as much if it wasn't so obvious that, for instance, no effort had been put towards transposing the one out-of-key note in the horn loop at 1:29. With all the Melodyne use on Sawao's vocals since the move to Avex, you would think that transposing one sour note down a semitone so it actually sounds like it fits the song would be an easy and obvious thing to do.

[b][quote="MyFoot"]but it loses .3 merely for the terrible song titles.[/quote]
[/b]


...you say this, coming from a band titled "the pillows"

Will there ever be a FLAC rip of this album?

REVIEW of Moondust

The album offers very little to me. Clean Slate Revolution is nice though

The best:
[b]Clean Slate Revolution[/b]
Strong song. You have to listen to this song loud, haha. Had a good feeling for this song the first time I listened to it. It has a nice pace, has a bit of ‘Movement’ feel to it (there is this little bridge thing, that sounds similar to that of Movement). Nice rocking song. Best song of the album. 7,5/10

The good:
[b]Break a time machine![/b]
Same kind of feels as with Clean Slate Revolution. Nice rocking intro. The solo on this one is rocking. I like how Sawao sings Machiiiine, when he sings it at the last time of the first chorus. Nice little guitar solo after first verse-chorus. Short but solid song. I think it helps that this song comes right after Clean Slate Revolution. The song on its own would not have had such an impact. Fun song. 7/10
[b]About A Rock’n’Roll Band[/b]
Erm, yes, I move my head to the beat of this song. Similar to Clean Slate Revolution, but more cheerful. Nothing really special going on, but nothing really wrong with it also. 7/10

The okay:
[b]Anemone[/b]
Starts nice and gentle. This obviously is a ballad in the vein of Brilliant Crown and Ameagari ni mita maboroshi. I don’t know, does not feel like it really offers something new or does a better job than the previous ballads. It felt a bit cliché when I first heard it. Now, I listen to it for the second or third time it sounds a bit better. Might grow on me, not sure, I actually don’t think so. For now 6,5/10.
[b]Message[/b]
Nice intro. Has some nice song structure there. Hmm yeah, there are some things going on during the song. Still it feels like a Horn Again song, lol. And yeah, don’t like the recording quality. Lol, I don’t really get the message of this song. What to think or feel? I think it misses a good chorus and the parts of the song do not flow well into each other imo. 6/10
[b]Moondust[/b]
O oh. I want to like this song. Sounds a bit like Mochinushi no nai Guitar. A bit Scarecrow there, not much, but still. Sigh, there are some good parts here and there. The solo, like usual, is quite good. But yeah, it is just a bit too stretched and there is not that much happening during the song for me. 6/10.
[b]Prairie Rider[/b]
Chorus sounds similar to that of Another Morning. I think this song is a bit too loud/noisy. Haven’t made my mind up of this song. Does not do that much for me. 5.5/10

The bad:
[b]Alice in the city/Metropolitan Alice[/b]
I had this on my mp3-player, but got tired of the A-A-A-Alice chorus. Actually, I just got tired of the song..it hasn’t got the nice flow as the two songs preceding it. I would skip this one. 4.5/10
[b]Song for you[/b]
Haha, oh Andrew. Your dramatic reading of these lyrics was ace. Man, the song really suffers from bad recording quality. I don’t know, feels like a filler to me. 5/10
[b]Happy Birthday[/b]
Ugh, sounds like a Horn Again song that I do not like. However, the chorus is memorable somehow. But meh, the sound quality of this one, the strings, the guitar tones, I do not concur. I take the Happy Rebirthday of Another Morning any time over the ‘Happy Birthday’ sang on this song. 5/10
[b]Ideal Affection[/b]
Oh no. The fun song at the end of the album. I pass, I’d stick with my Ready Steady Go! 4/10.

So I've now listened to this album several times, and it's been on repeat for about two weeks. I'll post a more detailed collection of my thoughts when I have a little more time, but overall this album is decent. I don't think it's better than Trial, but it's not as bad as OOPARTS... it's just too "boilerplate" as some Buster pointed out some years back. But man, there are some excellent songs on here. The title track is above and beyonf the best on the album for me. Clean Slate Revolution gets some high points too. But there's alot of songs on here that sound samey. Curious to know if anyone else picked up on what I did, specifically that Praire Rider's chorus sounds like Boys Be Locksmith.

[quote="giusex27"]Will there ever be a FLAC rip of this album?[/quote]

I ripped it to flac at home, I can upload it when I get back after work.

Edit: Turns out I had it with me on a flash drive. [url]https://mega.co.nz/#!vQli1ZjK!BqA_4wjdY5vnHpHZJtZiDonKkax7cq_RRK51bbfRSZo[/url]

I think the mastering on this album is atrocious, but the actual songwriting and guitar/vocal interplay is fantastic. I'm surprised more people haven't commented on the mixing's balance, as it's very focused on the interplay between Sawao's vox and Manabe's guitar, with the rhythm guitar being mixed in rather low. Overall, still very much digging it, but I feel like the music industry has spent the past 5 years trying as hard as they can to make everything sound like fucking pop music, which takes a lot away from some REALLY great tracks.

[quote="Ashinow"]
[b]Happy Birthday[/b]
Ugh, sounds like a Horn Again song that I do not like. However, the chorus is memorable somehow. But meh, the sound quality of this one, the strings, the guitar tones, I do not concur. I take the Happy Rebirthday of Another Morning any time over the ‘Happy Birthday’ sang on this song. 5/10
[/quote]

Whu? I loved Happy Birthday from the first time I watched the PV. It sounds "sharp" to me, with the not-quite ballad tone and the sweet, sweet blues-y guitar solo.

[quote="sonic3305"]I ripped it to flac at home, I can upload it when I get back after work.

Edit: Turns out I had it with me on a flash drive. [url]https://mega.co.nz/#!vQli1ZjK!BqA_4wjdY5vnHpHZJtZiDonKkax7cq_RRK51bbfRSZo[/url][/quote]
Yesss. Thanks, Sonic!

OK, here's some more thoughts on this album with even more listens under my belt...

Clean Slate Revolution- It's a damn good opener. usually this band has no problems with it. From something adventurous like My Foot, to something similarly upbeat like Dance With God on OOPARTS. But damn... that mastering. It's a very LOUD song, and the solo reminds me way too much of Comic Sonic. The song would be a lot better if the rest of this album followed through with the message; that with this album, the band now begins again with a 'clean slate". However, we see soon that this album continues the same formulaic pattern the previous four or five albums have perpetuated.

Break a time machine!- This song surprised me. Thought it would be horrible (the Engrish is atrocious), but it's a nice fun song, kind of like what Flashback Story was to Trial... although I think Flashback Story is much more superior to this song. Again, this song is strongly reminiscent of another song, Terminal Heaven's Rock, however the similarities don't detract me enough to not enjoy this song in its own right.

Tokai no Alice- I've given my opinion about this song already. It's the weakest on the album. I don't hate it... but out of all the b-sides from these sessions, why did Sawao feel the need to tack THIS song on the album? Snoozer would've made a much better choice. It's almost as if Sawao intentionally leaves REALLY good songs as b-sides just so he's in a band that has above average b-sides. Not sure that's the kind of mentality he should be going with.

About a Rock'n'Roll Band- Solid single track. Nothing wrong here, it's just, well, "Boilerplate" music for the pillows in the last seven or so years.

Prairie Rider- Alright, this song really surprised me. I think it might be my favorite on the album, or second favorite. The melody is great, love the guitar tone, and it has a really adventurous guitar solo. Again, I think the vocal melody in the chorus is very reminiscent of Boys Be Locksmith, but it's a wonderful song.

Happy Birthday- It's all right. A lot of people really seem to love it. I think it's just OK. Other singles like Ameagari ni mita Maboroshi and Scarecrow accomplished this song's goal better. I do like it better than About a Rock'n'Roll band though.

Anemone- So I guess two "ballad-y" songs are going to be the norm now on albums? Not a bad song in itself, but man, everything on this album is perdictable.

Song For You- At least it's short. I don't find it that offensive, and the "na-na-na's" are actually kind of catchy. But this is b-side material. Again, why not put Snoozer on the album? This should've had b-side written all over it.

Message- Man is this a fun song. I really can't get that intro out of my head. It kind of reminds me of The Pleasure Song. Not in the actual melody or chord progressions, but just in the feel of it. Both songs have great, uplifting sounds, they're very quirky, and it's something a little different on an otherwise plodding album.

Moondust- OK, I guess this is my favorite song on the album. Again, it's perdictable, but if you take this song by it's self as a stand alone composition, it's great. Everything flows right, Sawao's vocals are very delicate, and the way he belts out that chorus is magical. The guitar solo is very apropos; it's not voerbearing at all or flashy, but works wonderfully in the context of the song.

Ideal Affection- Meh. It's better the Ready Steady Go or Poison Rock'n'Roll or Doggie Howl. There's some interesting stuff going on, but right after hearing Moondust... hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, no thank you. Totally kills the high you had after hearing the title track.

So all in all, it's a decent record. Does it work as an album? Hm, yea... but only if it hadn't been done four times over by the same band. I just feel that Sawao is not branching out anymore. He's found his "niche" and he's sticking to it. If you look at the first 13 or 14 albums by the pillows, each album does feel like it's own composition. Like you can tell, "Oh that's a TYMT song", or "Yea, that's definitley a PML era song". These albums all had themes and made them distinct from all the other albums. That goes for Penalty Life and Good Dreams as well, albums that were decried by a lot of people here when they first came out.

On the other hand, I see what Sawao is trying to do here. Somebody brought this up before, so I'm not going to take credit for this idea, but Sawao seems to sequence these albums as if they are a concert. You start off with the kick ass songs. Throw some ballads in there towards the end, a couple of short peppy songs peppered through out, and then end it with a fun sing along song that everyone can tap their toes too. So I see what his vision is, but there's two things:

1. The album as we know it is not a concert. This makes the last five albums sound like a collection of songs with no real direction or cohesion in relation to each other. I think this is made especially evident by the slapping on of random b-sides every now and then to the finished album.

2. He's already done it prior to Moondust... FOUR TIMES. It's starting to get old, it really is. And he did the same thing on each of his solo albums, so we can he's now done this seven times prior to Moondust.

Really, I'm glad that Sawao has a good balance of the past and present. Some bands (especially in the West) totally live in the past by only playing hits and older material, including playing entire shows of classic albums. This shows they have no confidence in their newer material. Sawao has acheived that balance between his older and newer music. He still appreciates the past as we see by him sprinkling songs from all eras of the band into his setlists; those setlists are ALWAYS fresh. Not to mention, he went through with the 1st and 2nd Movement shows. And then, Sawao shows confidence in his new music by constantly saying his favorite album is the newest one, and then he plays that entire album live. That's saying he's confident in his current output and he keeps looking towards the future as well. However, he seems to be blind to the quality of his work.

I honestly don't want to make it seem like I'm hating on Sawao. He's still making great music, but a good majority of it is getting repetitive. Why not branch out a little bit and try something new again. I'm not saying start doing crazy shit like Radiohead and Supercar did... maybe it's just time Sawao got out of the comfort zone he's built for himself into the past 7 years. It would definitely make songs like "Revival" and "Clean Slate Revolution" have much more meaning and leave a stronger impact. Because right now it's very hard to distinguish the last several albums from each other. Sawao needs to make his work standout more so he can be appreciated for the good songwriter that we know he is capable of being.

I disagree that the recent albums all have the same feel to them. Moondust mostly has a quiet mellow feel to it. (Er, "mostly" meaning "from Prairie Rider onwards"...) Trial is upbeat and rocking but a lot of it feels darker and moodier, etc. Pied Piper has a lot of in-your-face power-chord pop-punk, and Ooparts takes some of that (IMO mostly the more annoying aspects of it ) and adds a prominent focus on soft-loud-soft grunge dynamics. Wake Up and Horn Again are... I dunno. They're awesome. Whatever.

Quarter or Snoozer would've probably been better fits with Moondust's mood than any of the first four tracks are, I think, but even the generally mellow PML had Stalker, Swanky Street, and Suicide Diving on it, so I can understand the desire to include some more upbeat rocking tracks for contrast... I don't think the ones they chose here particularly enhance the album, though.

I would have enjoyed Pumpkin and Atrocity and Snoozer being on this album, for sure.

Interesting. Even though I seem to have the same overall opinion as you do Goshin, my outlook on each individual track is a lot different. For one, I reception to almost every single track is a lot more negative, lmao.

One place I can agree a lot with what you say is Clean Slate Revolution. That song actually has some real energy to it, and the vocal melody has some real bite.

A lot of people say they dig the guitar work on this album, but imo, it falls spectacularly short. The guitar solos tend to go nowhere (imo), and are too note-y without offering a satisfactory conclusion. Clean Slate Revolution's solo was a fail, for me. Along with Snoozer's. And those are two of my favorite pillows songs out of all of the Moondust related material. I think that Happy Birthday probably has the best guitar solo out of everything.

Also, I think that Prairie Rider is actually a really weak song. Super weak. It smacks of previous releases and just seems like a bunch of pillows-trope slapped together.

Anyways, after another week and a few more listens, my opinion of this album has unfortunately continued to fall from the first time I heard it (and my opinion was meh from the beginning). I seriously get bored and can't stand to listen to the album anymore after I hit the halfway point. Most of the songs on the tail end are just plain uninteresting to me.

Good:
Clean Slate Revolution
Happy Birthday

Pretty Good:
Moondust (beautiful moments, but something about the production fucks this over, and Sawao's awkward "AH-AH-AH-AH-AHHH-[b]AHHHHHHHHHHHH[/b]" at the end ruined it for me)

About a Rock'n'roll Band (kinda boilerplate as fuh, but still solid enough)

Meh:
Alice
Anemone (I find the solo kind of interesting, but not really. The chorus is flat for me as well)
Message

NOPE:

Break a Time Machine (Predators/Sawao Destructive Innovation rehash)

Prairie Rider (I was joking about this song sucking before the album came out, but was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't complete crap upon first hearing it. Now that time has passed however.. this song is one of the most blatant and bland rehash songs the pillows have released in a while).

Song for You (LOL.)

Ideal Affection (Destructive Innovation rehash)

Note: There is no "great" or "awesome" or "amazing" category. Sucks to be me, huh?