Forum - View topicSound Decision - L'Arc~en~Ciel, Namie Amuro
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8459 Location: Penguinopolis |
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The first Namie Amuro song I ever heard was "Toi et Moi", the Japanese ending for the second Pokemon movie. Since then I've heard a few others, and she's pretty talented. "Queen of Pop" is a bit of hyperbole, though, and I don't think anyone should even want to be "queen of pop".
I'm also surprised that L'Arc's "Lost Heaven" wasn't mentioned in the review of AWAKE. It's a pretty good song, and it has an anime connection (being the FMA movie). Personally, I think "Lost Heaven" is a much better song than "Ready Steady Go", which I don't even like all that much to start with. |
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jmays
ANN Associate Editor
 Posts: 1390 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Huh, you liked Lost Heaven? I thought it was a middling, by-the-numbers tune. The guitar bridge is extremely lame by L'Arc standards.
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ACDragonMaster
 Posts: 405 |
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Heh, I dunno, while Lost Heaven was an improvement over Ready Steady Go for a FMA song, it still felt really out of place. L'Arc's style is fine and good, but it just clashes with the series too much. I hated Ready Steady Go until I heard it enough out of context of FMA that I finally stopped immediately associating it- the music was so jarring an opening for that portion of the series (in the Japanese airing) that I couldn't stand it.
So long story sort, L'Arc's alright, but L'Arc and FMA don't mix. I'd rather see a lesser-known band whose style better suits the anime doing the themes than a big name trying to make their style try to mesh somehow so that both they and the company behind the anime can make a grab for a little extra recgnition. |
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Abarenbo Shogun
 Posts: 1573 |
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I wouldn't mind picking up Amuro's CD after I last heard her for the theme song for Yonigeya Honpo. Kinda wondering what happened to her.....
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Michi
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 741 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Haha, I used to own that single. I think it's the only song by her I've really heard or could name. |
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Edo
 Posts: 88 Location: Ontari-ari-ari-o! |
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Namie Amuro is so awesome. "Queen of Hip-Pop" is okay. But "No" is by far the best song on the cd. I bought it in Japan and picked up the extra dvd for free
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Zoe
 Posts: 898 Location: Austin |
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It's "Queen of Hip-Pop." (I don't really think she's claiming to be "hip-hop at all, BTW. If anything, that's what the Suite Chic period was for.) Also, it's a bit misleading to mention Dallas Austin--She hasn't worked with him since 2001 or so (Put 'Em Up was shelved for a really long time). I'd say it's really her work with Michico that has led her down this path. |
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Iron Chef
 Posts: 487 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Is Namie's new stuff along the same lines as Gwen Stefani trying to do R&B? I'm not a fan of the genre (I prefer pop/rock), but I'm wondering if the two could be analogs of each other.
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Jaley
Posts: 1 |
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First, let me thank you for getting the following positive points into your column about L'Arc~en~Ciel:
1) variety to their music 2) musical maturity 3) talented vocalist 4) already debuted in the US 5) very successful band by anyone's definition (sold-out concerts, hit anime tie-ins, longevity and many hit singles off of this CD) Now, let me venture some criticism: Saying that "There's plenty of loud, addictive L'Arc rock to go around", one gets the impression that the entire album is hard addictive rock with the exceptions of "Ophelia" (electric guitar jazz) and "AS ONE" (heavy metal). Kind of gives the wrong overall impression of the CD and had I not already bought the CD, I might have skipped doing so based on that one comment. The next is a nit-pick, but as you say that you have not been following this group for the past 12 years, perhaps you won't mind the following comment. It's wrong to refer to L'Arc~en~Ciel as "Hyde and company" for two reasons: 1) When the members of L'Arc~en~Ciel perform as L'Arc~en~Ciel, their names are: hyde, tetsu, ken and yukihiro. All lower case. In their non-L'Arc careers, there is HYDE, TETSU69, etc. Case-sensitivity in name spelling is an important point with many Japanese who use our Western alphabet. 2) Technically, L'Arc~en~Ciel is "tetsu and company" as it is tetsu that started and continues to run things. I have not followed their career for long myself (just a few months), but I think that it's about time that North American has a Japanese Music Invasion and that L'Arc is perfect for heralding that invasion! |
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Haru to Ashura
 Posts: 617 Location: Termina |
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As far as music goes, it seems like ANN generally only reviews music that's avialable in America? *sigh*
Never-the-less, you gave a review for a B'z single a few months ago...they have a new album coming out on November 30th, and it would be cool to see it reviewed here. Also, I think this is their 15th album. That's quite an achievement.
Since funimation liscenced Basilisk, it could be really, really wicked awesome if you guys reviewed an Onmyoza cd. They're an amazing band, and the show's openng theme alone doesn'tdo them justice. |
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jmays
ANN Associate Editor
Posts: 1390 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Fair enough. AWAKE isn't exactly the most aggressive CD in the history of L'Arc, but it's also a far cry from soft rock. I'm ambivalent about not capitalizing names becuase it makes the reviews darn hard to read, but I guess that's the "official" way, so eh. And regardless of who's running the show behind the scenes, Hyde--er, hyde is quite clearly the frontman for the band. Thanks for the intelligent comments. We need more of them. |
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jmays
ANN Associate Editor
Posts: 1390 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Check the archives, especially since April, and you may feel otherwise. =) Definitely gonna do the B'z album...Onmyoza? Sure, why not. |
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omnistry
 Posts: 1015 |
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The "Killing Me" video is on [url]video.google.com[/url]. It's wicked cool.
I think one of the best songs is "As One". Is it me or does it sound alot like Slipknot's "Duality"? |
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Haru to Ashura
Posts: 617 Location: Termina |
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Woah, just like that? Awesome, thanks a million. :D |
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UberTai
 Posts: 218 |
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Good call on Namie's latest album. I've been addicted to it for a while now. My favorite songs include the titular track, Want Me, Want Me, WoWa, I Wanna Show You My Love, Alarm, and No.
And good call on the 'Lil John/Chapelle comparison in My Darling. I was thinking the exact same thing long before the article was written. I just smiled when I read it. |
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