Well this is my first review, so let's see how this goes. I'm reviewing The GazetteE's fourth full studio album, DIM (which can be bought at: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=KICS-91479 )
1. Hakuri - A nice way to open the album, pretty much your standard opening with some neat electronic sounds with a nice middle-eastern feel to it which seems to be standard in many of the more "major era" bands (D, Dir en Grey) these days. 6/10
2. Invisible Wall - Definitely a great way to start off the album. Ruki shows a very nice vocal range in this song, including some nice screaming before we hit the chorus. The solo is a little boring though, this song could have used an epic solo definitely. Overall, a nice way to start the album. 8/10
3. A Mother Under the Skin - S'up Gazerock, sounds like a pretty typical song by this group. I like Reita's work in this song, but that's about it. It's just an okay song, not really anything that'll stand out too much though. 6/10
4. Leech - One of the count it...4 songs off previous singles but when you have 17 songs and only...5 filler instrumentals? I guess you can do that. Leech is probably the weakest of the single songs though, but it's better than the previous song. It has a catchy chorus and the album version is cleaner sounding. This song really lacks something you can "grasp" your ears around though. 7/10
5. Nakigahara - Okay so to be honest, up until about :05 in this song I thought it was going to be poppy, but seeing how it's 7 minutes I had to be optimistic. This is definitely the best song so far on the album, reminds me of Saraba off of Disorder. The guitar work by Uruha and Aoi is much-better in this song than previous ones, well the little bit of it you hear. GazettE seems to like to use their "techno electronic noises" as I'd like to call them to fill in silence, but it works for this song. I love the way it ends with Ruki's chants and how it cuts off like a classic VK songs from the later 90's. 9/10
6. Erika - Another instrumental...it feels like they're trying to break up the album, which is good because it sets you in the mood for different types of music GazettE is experimenting with but it's also bad because when you come off a kick-ass some like Nakigahra it just numbs yourself. This song is pointless sorry, it doesn't lead very well into Headache Man. 2/10
7. Headache Man - The only B-side song to make the album, which is ironic because A-sides have a way of not even finding their way onto albums in the past. This is a pretty good song, but don't expect anything different than the single version. I think this songs represents the whole album overall pretty well and Ruki's screams are nice. 7/10
8. Guren - Well this is a transition from Headache Man eh? I loved this song the most out of any of the previous singles and it still feels "fresh" like you could listen to it on repeat another 20 times. This song, like "Leech" feels cleaner and the instruments are easier to make out. Uruha's solo is excellent, even if it feels a little "un-necessary" for the pretty "sway back and fourth and chant" mood of the song. 8/10
9. Sikyu - Joy, aimless screaming at the sound of...sounds like church bells? This little instrumental is...sort of entertaining if you listen to it just for it but that's about it. 4/10
10. 13 Stairs [-] 1 - Sikyu does play well into this little gem, listen to that guitar distortion it's amazing (and omg no weird Gazerock techno shit! a real song!!!) this song sounds so...sexual it's not something I expected from GazettE. It begins to sound a little more like a typical Gazette song in the middle but they do change it up nicely. If they'd kept the same elements they had earlier in the song, I'd give this a perfect score but eh. 9/10
11. Distress and Coma - I remember singing this song to myself in Russian Lit...fuck that class, anyway! Sounds the same as the single version (much like Headache Man did) but I like where they placed this on the album. This song has a great chorus and sounds similar to a "darker" version of Guren (of course harder too don't nit-pick that.) There are a few places in the song where I lose my attention though and just wait for chorus again though. 8/10
12. Kanshoku - Gotta work our way through a few more of these, maybe I'm just reviewing these for kicks people. Well this song makes me picture people on the side of the street be-bopping to some hip Gazerock and getting their groove on...wtf Ik 4/10
13. Siroki Yuutsu - This song sounds a lot like a B-side off of one of the singles that...just didn't quite make it. But fear not, it's not a bad song, it just doesn't match very well where it's placed on the album! This would've been perfect at 9 right after "Guren" especially if GazettE was trying to make this album have "themes" and "break it up" but oh well, listen to it without the crappy intro and you'll like it. Are those violins? Sounds a little like Cassis, which is enough to earn this one a good score. 7/10
14. In the Middle of Chaos - Well by the intro and song title you're thinking "kick ass song" and it's not a bad song, just doesn't really meet up to par with the intro and title. The chorus sounds...well it really doesn't work with this song. Ruki would've been better off just throwing in some screams and some "hair swirling" from the "Filth in the Beauty" video instead of this annoying chorus. The song also starts to feel...kind of poppy in places is that the lack of a driving Bass (bad Reita!) 6/10
15. Moro - More like, MORE POINTLESS INSTRUMENTALS!!! By time you read this, it's over and we move on to some real music. 2/10
16. Ogre - Hey real music! Real Music: S'up? I love the intro in this song, it's so fast and rawr evil headbanging...then it all stops with Ruki whispering sort of...is he the Ogre? Couldn't they have just put that in there and kept playing fast? It's not terribly bad or annoying by the second time it happens because you're just expecting it by this point. Other than that, this song is spot-on and should be a direction that future material should be taken in, just less annoying pauses we don't watch to catch our breath GazettE! 8/10
17. DIM Scene - HEY it's not an instrumental! There are those violins again but this time they sound real, did Sugizo break in to a GazettE recording studio!!?!? This song sounds epic from the beginning, love how the guitars just come and blast through the door. More violins though, but somehow they don't ruin the epicness of this potential ballad. I love how it builds up to Uruha's solo, they finally hit it! You find yourself cheering because Fuck, there may have been (5) places in the album where things slowed down and you're like "why so many instrumentals" but this was a great, great way to end the album! Let's hope for more of this in the future. 10/10
Overall, putting the instrumentals out of my mind and counting three good singles and a couple of album gems, I'll give this a 8/10. That may be a little generous, but I have to hand it to GazettE they still sound pretty awesome. Favorites: Nakigahra, The Invisible Wall, 13 Stairs [-] 1, DIM Scene.
Posted by
UnderSensualMoon
comments (1)
Posted by
UnderSensualMoon
comments (1)
Why hello beautiful people of the world, who'd ever thought I'd have a blog. Hopefully, only one person EVER reads this (or even knows who I am?) Anyway, I'm really tired and kind of frustrated with life right now, woot woot. Oh well, that's life I suppose? I'm sure there's more to come (scarily enough) so do what blogging people do (or person I hope only one person finds this <.<) and comment? Kty Spike
