disc review: buck-tick | "rendezvous" (2007)
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Hate the dippy, campy intro ("Be my baby, be my my b-baby...") of the title track, but the vocals and guitar on the verses have a pleasant late-90s arena-pleasing Luna Sea sorta feel. The bridge is a little drippy, then the chorus is the vile intro again, and again, and again, and again, syrupy and noxious.
It is a stunning testament to my patience that I also managed to listen to the b-side, "My Eyes & Your Eyes." There's a glimmer of hope in the sparkling guitars, but mostly it's tame, sell-out Glay copycatting (except Atsushi's vocals are smarter than Teru's -- just not smart enough to salvage this wanky little pop-rocker).
Buck-Tick fans like to ignore the fact that purposely underdone/under-made-up/underexposed photos are just as poserific as the overdone/over-made-up/overexposed photos they sometimes mock. (Shhh!)
I figured, hey, it's been a couple years, give 'em a shot again... but Buck-Tick continues its overrated march through the land of mediocrity with yet another one of their flaccid, cardboard-flavored releases. Memory lane, indeed!
rating: :(
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33 comments:
The b-side is a self-cover of an old song, but that doesn't make anything better, of course :D
Man, I wonder what happens when Atsushi's wrinkle lines start showing a little bit more and the fangirls have to start accepting he just looks like Severus Snape.
It's funny that the ONE single you give a try is their "return to basics as homage to the beginning of their career" single.
But I didn't expect you to like it, i men, c'mon, you like NoGod! D:
I tease, I tease.
mean*
stupid on-screen keyboard.
true dat formless. go you at least heard the ones before that too no? romance and kagerou.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkLymcP2zMc
(romance)
don't remember seeing your review for them. not sure if you would like them anyway. but take a listen. cool tho buck tick review :D
Yea.....I never see a change in Buck-Ticks music...there was only a few songs that were good.
It's expected that you didn't like it also...
But yay for a review, since I barely search for music unless it's laid out for me XP.
Barely a change in B-T's music? I can understand Go's just.. dislike for them, which I really don't mind at all, but no change scult? That's a huge understatement. Compare Mona Lisa OVERDRIVE to the following album, Jyuusankai wa Gekkou and then say there's "no change".
Speaking of which, Go, I would like to see your thoughts on Jyuusankai. It's a much "smarter" album in terms of B-T. Definitely, I think, their best composed. It's a concept album as well.
And just to add onto what anon said.. I never take B-T singles for what their sound can be defined as. Usually they release the most simple songs as singles, and the albums contain the real gold.
Sorry for all this double commenting.
I find amazing that BT has a 25 year career and they only have 3 good albums (and with 3 I'm being really kind)
Mysteries of time anon. I mean, look how popular AnCafe is with teens, yet they have no good albums or songs (and I'm being very kind as well).
As a huge B-T fan I will try my best to be un biased here.
This new single is surely not their best, but this great that has been releasing music almost non-stop since the 80's has to be commended for their versatility and profiency to always try something new.
As someone said before, their singles are usually the more mainstream-ish material (though there are some exceptions).
The really excellent stuff is found in their albums (and I disagree with whoever said they have had 3 good albums on their entire 25 year career).
Such albums such as COSMOS,Aku no Hana, Sexy Stream Liner, One Life-One Death, Darker then Darkness, Kyokoutou I LOVE YOU and SIX/NINE shows their much revered eclectic sound.
Even their much older albums like TABOO, Seventh Heaven and SEXUAL XXX! shows their eclectic sound in great light.
This band is devoid of drama and this is what enables them to stay togeher all these years (while other bands have come and go).
While X-Japan was working on their first indie album, B-T were already on a major label.
I commend them for having such a long career and still releasing fresh material without ever getting stale.
I think the moment that happens, the band will disband.
Now, this new single has some clear influences from Imai's solo project band LUCY..so it's a bit different from their sound, even their much older one.
if someone shares a SHORT (EP-length; 5 or 6 tracks) best-of for them, i will gladly listen to it and comment on it. Because i keep tryin' them (even in Japan, a decade ago, people would say, "You like Luna Sea and X Japan? You must like Buck-Tick too!" and i'd always be like, "Noooo!!!" It's like that South park episode with family guy in it!
"While X-Japan was working on their first indie album, B-T were already on a major label."
Tru dat, but I think BUCK-TICK's sound was more acessible than X in 87/88.
R.
Go, the problem is I don't think a Best Of for B-T can be made into a 5 or 6 song EP. :\ Too many songs that B-T fans find great. I can suggest albums though.
perhaps i shouldn't calll it a best-of, but rather a Hook-Me-Up: the songs should be designed to get me interested in hearing more. It's nto a representative conglmoeration of their best work, it's just the four or five or six most attractive songs (they might even be the ones that you get tired of fastest, but are catchy as hell in the beginning).
I agree Anon that X's sound was not mainstream compare to B-T.
As a matter of fact B-T has been doing the opposite of what most Jrock bands do, Which is they start of edgy and dark and then into a mushy pile of sweetness..complete with surprising high pitch vocals!
::ahem!:: Ryuchi K., Hideki (of SS fame)! Toshi :::ahem!::
But B-T is in reverse, in the older days they use to be much more lighhearted and playful and as they have gotten older..well...they have become much darker, melachonlic, jaded and perverted ( i.e. Sexy Stream Liner, Six/Nine, Kyokoutou I LOVE YOU, Mona Lisa Overdrive, COSMOS anyone?).
Yeah, they were always an edgy band (stuff like 1989's TABOO) but never disturbing (though in a subtle clever way and not in your face) but Taboo is child's play compare to the the kind of stuff they talk about in Sexy Stream Liner.
Go, B-T has such a large discography that it's always hard for fans to make a Best of.
I do reccommend albums!
Personally my favorite is COSMOS (it has a dark yet stylish-melodious tone to it..very Dark Wave-ish) other similar albums is the absolutely depressing Kykoutou I LOVE YOU.
If you want more straigh foward rock, go for SIX/NINE, Darker then Darkness, Kurattu Taiyo and the IMO highly influential Aku no Hana.
If you want more rock with high doses of electronic sounds (I don't know if I should name it electro-rock?) go for One Life, One Death and also Sexy Stream Liner and Mona Lisa Overdrive (I personally think that the first two did a better job, but MLO is still a good).
13 floor with moonshine is "gothic-dark" and not the same kind of "Dark Wave-ish" sound like in COSMOS.
The 80's albums are great too, they are playful but you can still sense they were going for something much more.
Hurry Up Mode is fun! Sexual XXX! has a lot of cacthy songs (and the album is meant to push buttons, but in a playful teenage way and not jaded and disturbing).
Seventh Heaven is a concept album and is the most 'Poppish' of their 80's albums.
Finally Taboo is a censoring-pushing album and it's when we get a glimpse at their more darker latter years.
OH and I also reccommend *Koroshi no Shirabe ~this is NOT greatest hits~* from 1992. It's a self-cover album of their 80's and early 90's hits (some songs are completely re-arranged and some have major adjustments).
::phew:::
That is all.
I fully expect you to hate everything I suggest, because we have completely opposite tastes, but here it goes.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/duns6w
formless..I understand from what you're saying that they may "change". But no matter what...even though some songs may seem different (usually those are the ones that are good), they still revert back to the same style. The charisma of the band itself is the same also, nonetheless.
Again, it's not like I dislike them. I just don't feel as if there's a great change from them for me to be hyped about.
Every band has a base style. Usually the kind they first start out with. B-T hasn't reverted back to that style since.. well, this single. I think they got out of that style back on COSMOS. Then Sexy Stream Liner came along and things changed quite a bit after that up until about.. Kagerou which came out last year.
THANK YOU SAM! I shall check it out forthwith.
I just downloaded a BT discog torrent and am making it through because I have never heard a thing they've done save a few songs formless recommended to me, half of which I liked and half of which left me dead inside.
I just got through their first two albums last night and they were booooooooooooooooring. I'm aware of their 'journey' so I'll listen to the bitter end, though.
I DO have to say that just because this single is a return to basics doesn't mean it gets a free pass... the point of singles is to hook you, man.
Hooked the shit out of me Elec. And I actually don't listen to their early albums that much until Aku no Hana, so yes, listen to the bitter end.
I loooove B-T. But I admit, they're not an easy band to get into. I do NOT recommend just chugging through their albums in chronological order. Start with like...Koroshi no shirabe and Mona Lisa Overdrive or something. One Life One Death is my personal fave though.
YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO okay I trust you guys. :-*
Although looking at those albums you're mentioning in their timeline, those are, like, brand-spanking-new, in the grand scheme of things! Dang, did they take that long to mature? :-/
elec:
I also downloaded their full discography almost two years ago, having only heard around 3 songs from them before, and I became hooked! I also listened chronologically to their albums (I always do when I listen to a "new band" discography, as I like to see how their sound changes and evolves), so I don't think there's a problem with doing it this way.
BUCK-TICK are now one of my favourite bands, they have such a diverse work and always come up with some amazing songs, even when the albums aren't that great. Having said this, I totally agree that their earlier albums aren't that interesting.
You seem to have a talent for trying B-T at their worse. Give the Mona Lisa Overdrive live recordings a try. Much more fun.
P.S. Silvanos － you realize of course that severus snape has fangirls (and the snape-atsushi look alike-ness has been noted ofter)
"Yea.....I never see a change in Buck-Ticks music"
just lawlz!! that is quite amazing i must say. 20+ years of music and no change? interesting.
anyway i hated the chorus of rendezvous also but i dunno eventually it grows on you but this song isn't going to become a BT classic anytime soon. it just light summer fun or something @.@;
The early albums tend to be very 80's, they are not the pinnacle of B-T's music nor is it the most interesting.
BUT they are great in retrospective, hence why you should start with anything POST- SIX/NINE and then go back to the albums that were previously released then.
"Which is they start of edgy and dark and then into a mushy pile of sweetness..complete with surprising high pitch vocals!
::ahem!:: Hideki (of SS fame):::ahem!::"
What? His solo carreer is heavier than SS for the most part, hell some of his songs even have some thrash/death riffs.
His last 3 or 4 singles are amazing.
R.
Oh, agreed on the comment about the Hideki singles! Would've loved to see those on two albums: one for the sickening ballads and one for the heavy things.
@BT topic:
I really don't think that RENDEZVOUS does BT's 20+ years of music justice. Though after their last album (which pretty much screamed "GOTH!!") I can understand that they now want to do something more light-hearted.
My personal preference lies with "Mona Lisa Overdrive" though there are a couple of other songs where Imai is being a true genius (from the electronic point of view, no idea if you happen to dig that stuff)
thank you sam -- every once in a while i forget b-t is still alive (let alone still a group). shame that this latest release isn't so good, then again, after 20-ish years of pumping out tunes i guess they're allowed a miss here or there?
They are releasing another single (an album is most likely not too far behind!)in August tittled ALICE IN UNDERGROUND, b-side is a cover of the amazing Tightrope.
And ANON?
I meant Hideki's chnage was within his SS career not his solo career.
I can say that I'm a fairly faithful BT fan. I've collected a fair amount of their discography and love a *lot* of it.
This single is sucky. It is reminiscent of some of their earlier work, definitely, a nod to their history together (they've been a band literally as long as I've been alive; I give them huge props for that). But it lacks the raw enthusiasm of their early albums that really made them work despite any flaws (something usually only possible when you're still virgin in career, still curious), while also being just...behind them, if that makes sense.
It seems to me like the equivalent of saying, "I've been playing violin for twenty years...and for my next performance, I would like to play 'Mary Had a Little Lamb.'"
They're definitely capable of far more complex and interesting music (but perhaps they wanted to put the pressure of that "20 years' history" aside for a little while and just play it simple for a bit).
I'm certain I've stopped making sense but I would heavily suggest that anyone whose only dips into BT have been their singles to try the fleshier bits of the albums. I bet the more die-hard BT fans made good suggestions for Go to hear.
So, as for BT in general, I can't say I think Go's on quite the right track but...regarding this single, I can easily delete it and still call myself a fan.
And speaking as a female fan (would you call me a fangirl?) I can definitely say that I don't give a shit if Sakurai looks like leather, Snape, or a beautiful lady. The band can be unbathed, coifed, or wearing clown-makeup for all I care. It's their performances and their music that are most important to me.
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