ギルガメッシュ : MUSIC

I have liked Girugämesh for their uncanny ability to mix j-pop with j-rock for an altogether heavy rocking sound yet still distinctively mainstream enough for a maximum fanbase. And I am so in love with Satoshi's vocals. *sighs*

Naturally, I have waited in anticipation for their new album. I was a bit dismayed to find that they have experimented heavily with electronic elements in their album, MUSIC and my first impression of the outcome was not at all encouraging. But I really like Girugämesh and I wanted to continue liking them so I gave the album some more time to grow on me.

Come forty seven repeated spins later , I've managed to change my previous conclusion of "This album is an utter failure" to "This album is somewhat of a disappointment".

With the addition of the electronic samplings, most of the tracks sound too Linkin Park-ish to me. For example, the beginning of Break Down flung me right back to my high school days while I was hung up over Hybrid Theory. I mean, I used to really like Linkin Park, but that was the old days. Girugämesh is Girugämesh.

On the other hand, the track Asking Why is one that I simply cannot get over. The poor attempt at rapping is reminiscent of the more dodgy tracks of UVERworld. Takuya of UVERworld and Satoshi have two things in common; they're great singers but horrible rappers. And Satoshi is even worse than Takuya at rapping. Now that is something I would not have thought possible.

Fortunately, some of their experiments did turn out pretty well one such example being the track evolution. The voice samplings are odd in an interesting way, combined with the drum and bass beat resulting in a catchy and almost dance rythem.

The last track of the album, 縁enishi, was for me, the saving grace of the album. It was so typically Girugämesh that on normal terms I would have found it boring; but in this album where Girugämesh's sound was barely recognizable I was merely thankful that the band I have grown to like so much was still there.

Hopefully, Girugämesh's further experiments will turn out better.

And I still love Satoshi. So there.

My musical preference

Okay, okay, so love songs might not be so bad. Some of them are quite good actually. No, I’m not acting like a 10-year-old when I say I don’t like listening to love songs. And no, I have nothing against man-woman relationships. And no, i am not lesbian, thank you very much, Fizul.

So back to the reason for the blog entry. Love songs. As I said, its not the idea that the songs are about love that disgusts me. What I don’t like is the certain aspects that seem to be so popular in love songs. Firstly, break ups. Unrequitted love. I don’t mind the occasional songs that sound like ‘We like each other and that’s nice’. However, I totally despise the ones that go ‘You left me and I can’t live’. Pathetic.

Secondly, obsession bordering worship. So you like the guy, that’s fine. But saying it once is enough. Twice, if you think we didn’t hear you the first time. A whole song is kind of excessive, in my opinion. All the ‘birds flying, sun shining, rainbows in the sky’ kind of thing really gets in your–well, my–face. It gives the impression that people who are in love all live in Teletubbyland. And if that’s true, then I really won’t fall in love. I’ll take the real world over Teletubbyland any day, rain clouds and all. (It’s not that I don’t like good weather, its the Teletubbies’ vaccuum cleaner–it freaks me out)

Third, there just seem to be TOO MANY of them! I mean, how many different ways can you describe that one feeling? How many times can you recycle the same theme for a song? Not to mention the same words rearranged in slightly different, often similar ways. If we judge humanity according to the Billboard Top 100, then humanity will pass off as ‘lovelorn and sex-crazed’.

Really, is that who we are?