[quote="sheerheartattack"]And apparantly none of you looked up the lyrics to "Jealousy" and compared them to my response.[/quote]
I have most (if not all) of the lyrics memorized, actually.

and ya, I'm perfectly aware of his sn, I suppose I just didn't see why his being a fan of queen would warrant a rant at every mention of 'em...

I just got my copy and my income tax today!!!! Double W00t!!!

I like the song called プライベート・キングダム

Alright, time for a real review now that I've had time to listen to it sufficiently.

Wake up! dodo : One of my favorites on the album. The common complaint of the chorus being too laid back isn't something I agree with. I think the chorus fits very well with the rest of the song, unlike the song I immediately think of that had that issue, Mighty Lovers. I thought that song was pretty cool except for the chorus, which was like "What the hell?" It grew on me a little, but it's not what I would have done for that chorus. Wake up! dodo on the other hand pulls it off. It builds it up with a pretty dark bridge and goes into a very melodic, almost transcendent, yet still high-energy chorus that doesn't lose its direction (like Mighty Lovers seemed to). The guitar solo is pretty plain, definitely below-par, but it works well enough.

YOUNGSTER (Kent Arrow) : I'd say this song is getting some undeserved criticism. It's a fun song. It's short and somewhat simple, but I've got no beef with it.

PROPOSE : Cool rock song. Yeah, I think the live performance of it kicked total ass and I prefer it to the album version (especially the live solo that Manabe just ripped the freak out - the album's solo sounds really boring by comparison), but the mix is alright - it has some cool vocals, presumably just Sawao multilayering his voice. Playing it live and "real" seems like how the song's supposed to be played, but this version's still alright.

SCARECROW : I've grown to really like this song. At first I thought its vocal melodies were just too sporadic, but after listening to it a lot I've developed an affinity for it. It's very emotional and it has a nice guitar solo. Great slow song.

BOAT HOUSE : An alright, somewhat mellow song in the vein of Patricia or One Life. I like the chorus, but the verses are a little dull and monotone to me. Pretty good solo here, too.

PLEASURE SONG : Very cool bridge and chorus. Again, the verse is kind of unremarkable, but I suppose it serves to provide some contrast to the rest of the song. Alright guitar solo, but sounds kind of "been there, done that".

SERIOUS PLAN : At first I disliked that the chorus is just Sawao going "SERIOUS PLAN" a few times, but I like the way it sounds, and I've come to think the song is pretty cool. Guitar solo's not very interesting.

Skinny Blues : Awesome intro to the song, but that just intensifies the disappointment when the verse kicks in with its somewhat bland strumming. Chorus is a little better, being sort of a mesh of the coolness of the intro and the sound of the verse with some good vocals (particularly at the beginning). The guitar solo's gotten a lot of hate here, apparently, but I like it more than some of the others on this album. It sounds at least like Manabe's actually somewhat into it; I liked the second half of the solo better than the first.

PRIVATE KINGDOM : I liked this song from the very beginning, but my feelings waned as the song went on. I think something should have been done to give the vocals a little more support in the chorus - something like the vocals in BOAT HOUSE's chorus. I like the rest of the song better; the whistling and the overall "Hey, whatever" feeling that the verse gives is really cool, but then they make it sound a lot more standard with the bridge/chorus. Pretty cool solo here, though.

Century Creepers (Voice of the Proteus) : Kinda cool. The intro's kind of generic, but the verse is cool, as is the bridge. Chorus instrumentals are too strummy and generic, really, like a lot of songs on this album. The solo has some good aspects, but it goes back to the opening lick too often - I'm usually not enthralled by solos that go back to the same melody a half-dozen times.

Sweet Baggy Days : I actually like the chorus here; like SERIOUS PLAN, at first I thought it was dumb that they didn't put some, you know, lyrics in there, but then I remembered that the point is music is to sound good, which I think the chorus here achieves. I like the end of the song as well. Sawao hits those high notes really well.

My biggest complaint with the album is that it flirts with some really cool ideas but most of the songs are bogged down by bland instrumentals (they're just strumming those chords over and over!). Most of the solos are disappointing, too. If they would just go crazy and be as creative and musical as they can be, I think they could make something great, but it feels like they're kind of stuck in the mindset of having to make, you know, "poppy" music.

When they're not strumming generic chords, I think the songs really shine. There aren't any songs that I'd really skip over, but there aren't exactly a lot that I'd consider my all-time favorites either. Sawao's vocals sound really great on this album.

I'm not sure if I like it more than My Foot or not. It's probably about on the same level, for me. My Foot has more songs that I'd say I quite like, but WU3's songs are of more consistent quality.

Overall, it's decent, but a little disappointing. I think it's basically some good, possibly great music that's been kind of drowned out by a flood of strumming guitars.

Fave 3 songs:

1. SCARECROW
2. Wake up! dodo
3. PROPOSE

[quote="indivi"]I think it's basically some good, possibly great music that's been kind of [b]drowned out by a flood of strumming guitars[/b].[/quote]

lol, wut. I thought that was what you do with guitars most of the time, but I guess I could be wrong.

indivi is a drumer, IIRC.

Yeah, because I have to say that one of the big things that caught my attention was the great interactions between the guitars. Listen to Pleasure Song with headphones. The interactions between the different strum patterns on complimentary chords when the lead is playing chords is delicious. Most of the album has a sort of better-integrated application of the dual guitar idea from My Foot. This is especially apparent in Boat House and Serious Plan, if I'm remembering right. In basically all the songs there is a good use of varied strum patterns so that when both guitars are doing chords it doesn't sound boring at all.

private kingdom reminds me of a smash mouth song.

Just got the album and Im enjoying it but thats all I gots to say right now.

Interesting, Mare - it's true that I've just been listening to the 128k rip on speakers. When my copy arrives I'll be sure to listen to it with headphones. Maybe I'm just not noticing the intricacies of which you speak.

What I meant to indicate, though, is the wash of sound that sounds basically like eighth note strumming, changing the chord every couple of bars. I know this isn't exactly an unusual thing to do with a guitar, but it sounds very monotone and dull compared to the rest of the music. Take Skinny Blues, for instance. After the killer intro, the guitar (and, really, the whole song) just turns into a wall. No cool rhythms or melodies, just straight notes. This was my train of thought:

"Whoa, this song kicks ass! Badass guitar intro, and... WTF? Where'd all that style go?"

I think in my post I made it out to be a bigger issue than it really is, but to me it felt like some of the songs were just half-awesome, with the other half being that sort of shapeless guitar sound.

And, yeah, I'm a drummer, just saying how it sounds to me.

Yeah, I'd say that it's just you not paying much attention to the guitar sounds themselves. The strum patterns are far from simple strings of eighth notes. I can understand you not understanding the guitar work, but even with 128 rips (which is the standard size), you should be able to at least hear more than a "wall of sound." Part of this may be you listening to more the vocals and drums while using speakers, so the two guitars mix together and the interesting interplay gets jumbled in your mind.

[quote="Marekenshin"]Yeah, I'd say that it's just you not paying much attention to the guitar sounds themselves. The strum patterns are far from simple strings of eighth notes. I can understand you not understanding the guitar work, but even with 128 rips (which is the standard size), you should be able to at least hear more than a "wall of sound." Part of this may be you listening to more the vocals and drums while using speakers, so the two guitars mix together and the interesting interplay gets jumbled in your mind.[/quote]

You're right, I wasn't listening closely to the guitar. After listening more closely I can tell that the beginning of the Skinny Blues verse is more than just eighth notes - he throws in a couple of eighth rests in the second half of the lick. But seriously, my point was just that the difference in sound between the verse and the intro seemed unnatural to me. You've got a fast-paced, intense intro leading into a peppy, definitely not-intense verse. I'll certainly keep listening and I hope very much that I change my mind, but I'm just talking in terms of overall sound here.

That aside, I can tell you that 128k is not the standard for music compression in my neck of the woods.

edit: Just to clarify as much as I can; generally speaking, I just think that "filling" the music with the guitar is less effective than, you know, having a more interesting melody or rhythm to it. It's pretty hard for me to say they don't know what they're doing, and it's likewise hard for me to critique the guitar playing, but that doesn't mean I won't try.

Most of the "strumming" I was referring to does have some interesting things about it, but in the context of the songs they're in, I just get the impression they could have done something more musical with it. Just, changing it up more than they do, basically.

That's my impression at this point, but I'll listen closely to these things that initially bored me and I'll get back to you.

After listening to the album at least 2 times my favorite songs so far is Propose, Serious Plan, and Century Creepers. BTW is it just me or does the guitar work during the verse of Century Creepers kinda sound like Asian Kung-Fu Generation.

I don't think it sounds like AKFG at all. After listening to it several times over the week, I think Century Creepers is like a perfect blend of March of the God and Thunder Whales Picnic. You'd think that it sounding so simialr to MOTG would be not so imaginative, but I'm loving it and I think it sounds really good, second only to Boat House for me.

[quote="kininku buster"]After listening to the album at least 2 times my favorite songs so far is Propose, Serious Plan, and Century Creepers. BTW is it just me or does the guitar work during the verse of Century Creepers kinda sound like Asian Kung-Fu Generation.[/quote]

Orly? I had the impression that it sounded like the pillows.

the pillows in March of the GOD (I got it right this time, bitches!)

Well, finally heard the album. Hafta say: it's great. Way better than MY FOOT. My favorites are "Wake up! dodo", "Scarecrow", "BOAT HOUSE", "The Pleasure Song", "Skinny Blues", "Private Kingdom", "Century Creepers", and "Sweet Baggy Days". That's most of the songs. And I like the rest.