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24: It's Christmas Eve! I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
We finally got our copy of L'Arc~en~Ciel's latest DVD, "7." Well, my overall rating is positive; I enjoyed it. It's good to see L'Arc~en~Ciel back together. I was never
really a big fan of any of their solos, so I was glad to see the members together again.
The DVD begins with "Fare Well," a song reminiscent of Guns n' Roses' "November Rain." I like the set list except for this song. "get out from the shell" lacked some of its digital aspects. In "STAY AWAY," the backing vocals became too high. But nothing
could beat the performance of "trick." I have a request from L'Arc~en~Ciel concerning "trick": Please please please stick to playing it straight. I understand that it was an attempt at acknowledging the members' solos, but unfortunately, it showed the faults of the soloists.
Ken and Yukky can't sing! So why make them? Silent Mukimpo and I couldn't stop laughing over that performance. And I don't think it was supposed to be funny!
Otherwise, I liked the rest of the performances. I especially enjoyed "flower" and "Lies and Truth." Hyde performed well, quite like his old self. I think he performs better with L'Arc~en~Ciel. Ken played his guitar superbly, so kudos to him. I liked this DVD. As for Silent Mukimpo,
he thinks it's decent.
16: I finally got my Hyde and TETSU69 calendars. They came with free posters. I liked TETSU69's calendar better! It had more spunk and style. Hyde's unfortunately fell flat, partly
because the images were mostly taken from his book, "HYDE 666 ROCK ROCK ROCK" (what kind of a title is that, by the way?). I also forgot to mention Hyde's book earlier; it came out the same time as his
new album. It's okay. It's a photobook. We can't wait for the L'Arc~en~Ciel DVD!
06: So who else is caught in the winter storm we're currently experiencing in the Northeast? Needless to say, we're
still snowbound. Fortunately, I was able to obtain my copies of Hyde's "666" and S.O.A.P.'s "high" yesterday. Let's start with Hyde.
Silent Mukimpo and I have long ago conlcuded that Hyde is a fan of the American hard rock scene, so obviously, a rock album from him (unlike his light and soporific debut, "Roentgen")
would evince this. Not being the biggest fan of American hard rock, and thus being not so knowledgeable about it, the following views were expressed to me by Silent Mukimpo, who has been a more religious
follower. "666" reflects mostly a grunge sound, from Nirvana to Alice in Chains, as demonstrated in songs like "Words of Love," "Prayer," "Masquerade," and "Fruits of Chaos." In fact, the riffs are not only grunge-oriented, but also Silent
Mukimpo claims Hyde imitates Kurt Cobain's singing (check out "Midnight Celebration")!
The album is full of generic hard rock, the type completely familiar and infinitely recycled in New York's number one rock station, K-ROCK!
Silent Mukimpo highly recommends everyone to tune in to 92.3 for a day and prove him wrong! The album reeks of other acts, such as Godsmack, Marilyn Manson, and Green Day. In fact, it seems Green Day is Hyde's biggest influence when it comes to punk rock, whether in "Honey" with
L'Arc~en~Ciel or "Hideaway" in "666." And we both agree, the only non-American hard rock-influenced songs in the album, which thus sound authentically like Japanese rock and more like L'Arc~en~Ciel, are "Horizon" and "Shining Over You," the latter being more visual-oriented.
Silent Mukimpo also astutely points out that although the American hard rock scene is always evolving, what with the current rap metal and retro rock trend (although bands like Trapt are pooling for the return of raw hard rock), Hyde's tastes remain
old-fashioned, sticking with the outdated grunge scene (how brave!). What's my two cents in this? Like Silent Mukimpo, I think "Horizon" is the best song in the album (too bad the Japanese reception of that single was poor).
I think I fancy Tetsu's musical tastes better! Although I am not the biggest American hard rock fan (usually my friends force me to listen to it), I can't deny their quality. And Hyde's attempts to reproduce it are passing.
Now for S.O.A.P.'s "high." How can I say this nicely? I personally always found S.O.A.P. to be more of a joke than a band. Yes, I have all their mini albums. Yes, I have the BUBBLE FESTiVAL DVD. Okay, so they act like a legitimate band. The music is reminiscent of heavy metal, circa '80s-'90s.
So Ken is talented with the guitar. Never denied it with L'Arc~en~Ciel. He went very hard on his own. Maybe I liked his pop tunes with L'Arc~en~Ciel, although he'll deny you that with S.O.A.P. Let me
try to be objective, I used to be an '80s metal fan. I just got tired of it. And I get tired of listening to S.O.A.P. I do recall there was that one song I didn't mind from "Grace," I think it was. To be fair, if you like metal and you don't mind the singer cannot sing, then S.O.A.P. is for you!
The most instructive song in "high" has to be "S.O.A.P. 100%." What's it teach us? Well, for those who have not heard the song, it's an appalling attempt at rap metal. They cannot rap, and any fusion with the riffs was completely unharmonious. I fear any attempt from L'Arc~en~Ciel at rap metal. I do not see
any of the members as rappers, and it would be pretentious of them to act otherwise. They have a good DJ, Yukihiro, who can mix their sound rock songs for them. I hope they leave it at that.
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