disc review: versailles | "noble" (2008)
Friday, July 18, 2008
TEH DRAMA!
If "Noble" was a chick, it'd be one of those MILFS you see at Iron Maiden concerts, the ones closing in on forty. Still do-able: skinny, or fit, but also slightly wrinkled and maybe the hair and eyes don't glow like they used to...
Noble is all about the "symphonic power metal," with an added touch of Japaneseness that runs through Galneryus, Concerto Moon, and other average, close-but-not-quite j-metal acts. It's produced and performed satisfactorily. The problem lies in the songwriting and the apparent lacks teamworkiness.
The Team:
Jasmine (b), Teru (g), Kamijo (v), Yuki (d), Hizaki (g).
Jasmine (b), Teru (g), Kamijo (v), Yuki (d), Hizaki (g).
Instead of each member contributing their own ideas, it feels like founders Hizaki (g) & Kamijo (v) just sorta waltzed into the room and said, "here's the riff, here's the melody" and instructed Teru (g), Jas (b) and Yuki (d) to simply play along, don't contribute anything that'll distract from our greatness, just support us and we won't fire you.
That can work if you've got someone amazing like Eddie Van Halen in your band, but H&K aren't trailblazers; they're not even skilled reinterpreters of this positively ancient genre. They are fine performers, but with the exception of a few notable moments where the instrumentalists gel into a cohesive force (the Yngwie-ish intros to "Second Fear" and "Suzerain", the Pantera-esque intro to "Zombie," the melodeathy outro to "Chaos," the decent solo in "Other Side") all the music sounds like these guys are just pretending to be metalheads, like they're a computer program running off of algorithms or Arnold disguised as a fat lady going "Two weeks! Twooo weeeeks!"Speed with no velocity, heaviness with no momentum. Wallpaper without any drywall underneath. Fashionable clothes on a headless mannequin.
Nice website, tho.
rating: :(
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8 comments:
I think Versailles could be vastly improved if they replaced Kamijo.
The man just does not convince me that he belongs in this genre of music. He has no bite.
I've been listening to Nightwish/Sonata Arctica/Celesty-etc type bands for years. Thing is. Doesn't stop me from feeling like Noble is an amazing album. Not saying it's groundbreaking or revolutionary, but fuck. The song structure/melodies/solo's/vocal structure.. It's not as overblown as those other bands, nor is it as complicated or well composed.
Which is, in the end, makes it good. It's not for music snobs. It's extremely accessable for someone who would otherwise be bored to death with the genre -- I'm probably looking for the word "catchy". I've always been of the opinion that the catchier a song is, the more likely it is to be dumbed down and "easy" as hell.
Suppose it's just me, but I actually ~like~ that sort of thing, a lot. Too many musicians just try too hard.
Besides, I'm a guy, so it's hard to argue I'm in it for the looks. Unless you think I may be gay. In which case, perhaps you have a point. :( :( :(
It doesn't have to be original in order to be, well, good.
Granted I can't get into bands like MUCC because I feel like that's a throwback to late 90's nu-metal, so to each their own, I guess.
the cover's been bugging me since it's been popping up on my zune: is that like a direct render from Final Fantasy 8? The dude I mean.
I just happen to like a few songs on the album. Other than that, it's forgettable. Lyrical Sympathy had what, 2 good songs? And one of those two songs happens to be one of my favorite songs at the moment, "Love From A Dead Orchestra". Other than that though... :(
Well, this only depresses me more since I was thinking "a few more listens and I will start to get into it" alas no, I was right from the very first opinion. At least I bought it on I-tunes so I didn't have to pay 3 times as much for an import copy. Should of bought the most recent Symphony X. *sobs*
Thank you Go, sorry for being a nag. I just seem to agree so much with your reviews that I was busting to see what you had to say about Noble. Being constantly bashed by my more "VK inclined clueless to any other genre, Mana is a guitar god friends" I feel justified for my so far negative Noble comments among the sea of "OMMGGG HIZAKI IS TEH GREATEST EVAAAA"
Good review, dude. Couldn't agree more with you, too...I just cannot listen to that shit at all... clunky, clunky, clunky!
As a fan of Lareine and Hizaki's solo stuff, Versailles turns out to be exactly the band I feared. There is no subtelty, there is no edge, just layer upon layer of formulaic, washed-out sympho metal cliches. It just hurts my ears!
I hope they fail rapidly and go back to each doing their own stuff...
I cannot stand power metal anymore, not from new bands that is. X, Helloween, Stratovarius, old-school Gamma Ray and Blind Guardian are ok in my book but because I grew up with them, Brazil had a huge scene of power/speed in 2001.
But I cringe everytime that I'm listening to Versailles, I dunno, sounds like I've heard them all before. "Oh yeah, Angra had that guitar break 10 years ago, I'll go listen to THAT!"
In retrospect, really, I understand why people don't enjoy Versailles. A lot of people are burnt out on the genre and prefer their old favorites. Which, to me, just sound old at this point.
I still get a bit ticked by people raving about Despairs and MUCC when these bands, to me, are terrible and lack the 'edge' of their 90's counterparts. (Bands like Coal Chamber, Deftones, Fear Factory.)
I suppose it just depends on what you're burnt out to. I can listen to Gamma Ray and Angra and appreciate it, but to me it all sounds washed out and dated compared to what Versailles has done with Noble.
If I just have bad tastes, eh, not afraid to admit it!
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