LM.C - STRONG POP

This is a review on LM.C’s latest album STRONG POP. I’ll be looking at the compositions and feel of the songs. Lyrical reviews are done separate. I won’t review Ah Hah! and SUPER DUPER GALAXY, Hoshi no Arika and LET ME’ CRAZY!! as they are all on previous singles. I will however say something about the remixes.

The first track - Be STRONG, Be POP is damn epic. The quirky Japanese voices of Be Strong, Be Pop immediately immerse you into the the LM.C feeling, with the addition of the electronic effects. Then it creates a build up to the awesome guitar. That guitar is hard-core - love it. Soon after the dance tunes kick in combined with the guitar. The guitar solo shreds it making way for “Be STRONG, Be POP” finishing up for Maya’s “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah” to bring it into a climax. Cool or what?

Number two is BABY TALK. This is a fun song, just from the way it’s composed. The electronic feel to the song is very dominant. There’s a solid guitar the whole way through it. Maya’s voice starts off with an automated ‘over the top’ voice tuning which is perfect for the electricity in the song. This then clears up. The chorus is cute. Definitely a dance feel to the track. I like the backing beat, it’s all very solid. Little voice overs from Maya relax your ears after being drove into a frenzy by the electronic effects. The verses are bad-ass lol. Maya’s totally being hard-core in them, they’re like a series punches with the syllables. The repetitiveness of “Be my lady” is the essence of FUN in this song, and the siren?! WOW LM.C randomness taking over and blasting minds. E.P.I.C. This leads to a keyboard solo, very LM.Cish. Great. Oooo then Aiji’s guitar becomes dominant, leading to the cute chorus again. Maya’s “woahhhoo” is bringing the song to a close and you are LM.Cified by Maya’s “I love you” and an absolutely epic electronic beat and guitar finish.

Wah the third track MY BOY is arguably one of my favourites. It has an incomprehensible number of plays on my iTunes. What’s so great about it is that mysterious LM.C air around it. It makes me want to scream. Starts with some electronic and guitar rhythms. Totally out of the blue, you’re wondering where it’s leading you and BAM a CRAZY CATCHY keyboard tune backed by a solid backing beat erupts.  Maya’s voice is amazing coinciding with the tricks of Aiji’s guitar. You can definitely dance to this. Then the voice over of “You lucky boy” oh god, genius, kill me. It’s so riveting. And the guitar solo from Aiji completely shreds it. In the end the feature of the female vocals are addictive. It’s bad-ass, sexy even. Maya’s backing vocals to that bring the song in. Right at the end you’re left with a bit of awesome guitar. Oh god I love this song so much.

Four - Goak-On-SOUL is COOL. It’s a battle between great guitar hooks, riffs and clever electronic beats. Maya’s perfect voice is the neutral to the song. The chorus is catchy and omg Maya’s voice is beautiful here. The instrumental with the guitar is EPIC, making you head bang to Maya’s “Hey’s”. Guitar solo smashes it quickly, followed by an electronic solo. The two work aside each other greatly. You truly see the beauty of Maya’s voice I think. And it’s his voice that builds it up and brings this epic song to a powerful end.

Ah now We are LM.C!! ~The Anthem of Strong Pop~ it’s fast-paced, rapid guitar start bringing on a LM.C empowered Anthem!! Wow this track is something! ;__;)/ Totally emotional yet bad-ass at the same time.

The sixth song, GAME of LIFE is really awesome. This is another song that has this mysterious LM.C air for me. The electronic start builds it up for this FANTASTIC guitar hook. Ahhh *dies*. Maya’s voice takes the lead, his voice is clever, cleverly singing along to this refined beat. The chorus is BAD-ASS! Close to a doomsday song but not exactly there. It’s empowering however. I love the electronic backing beat, in this song you can pick it out clearly. Enough for a killer guitar solo to make its way through… The chorus at the end and Maya’s “GAME of LIFE” leaves you hyped up. Aiji’s clever, wicked guitar finishes this song up.

7 - OMG COMBATmode is hard-core! I love this song a lot off the album. Rapid, heavy guitar in it the whole way and Maya’s voice is strong and dominant. Make way for Maya’s insane rapping and Aiji’s clever fingers on his guitar because this song has it. The chorus with Maya’s melodic singing and voice overs is BEAUTIFUL. This is more of a doomsday song. Woah insane battle between the guitar and the electronic beats in the instrumental. The end is also an instrumental battle with a wicked guitar solo and epic drum finish.

Number 8 is the unbelievably cute song - peekaboo. Totally reminds me of being a kid this song. But never mind children this song is a bad-ass, mature, refined piece of work. Dear God, kill me but that guitar riff is my deepest desire. IT’S MIND BLOWING. It lasts for about 4 seconds but it makes me want to keep listening to it for a full 3 minutes xD. Then it’s such a cute song, it’s a play of Maya’s sweet voice against the guitar. It’s a light, high song rarely hitting a low note. Could call it a sunny beach song lol. Also a love song. Aiji puts in a melodic guitar solo leaving Maya to show off his voice against the clapping. It ends with again a clever guitar riff from Aiji. Congrats to the guys on this song really it’s a beauty.

The 9th new track is Maya’s song to Aiji - 何も始まらなかった一日の終わりに。 OMG lovely much? A sweet LM.C ballad. This truly shows LM.C love. It’s soft, light, tuneful and full of emotion. The guitar, drums and piano are easily defined and matched perfectly. Maya’s voice is beautiful, truly. The guitar solos are heavenly and put you in a state of awe. I can’t stress how much Maya’s voice is beautiful here. Without his voice this song wouldn’t be this emotional. The voice overs reflect the emotions. That is clever. Maya’s voice and the melodic piano slowly bring the song towards the end, accompanied by a light guitar. Ahh magical ne?

That’s the end of the review. In my opinion, it’s a fab album from LM.C, always will be. The songs are amazing, positioning great on the album. Couldn’t ask for more ^O^.

A word on the remixes off the European version of the album. The Ah Hah! (Apple Crush Mix by Yow-Row from GARI) isn’t amazing. I prefer Ah Hah! originally. Too much remixing done to the backing beat to transform it into another song. The rapping however is nice and the added guitar is cool. The GAME of LIFE (Surprise Mix by JIN from High speed boyz) is on the other hand pretty cool. I like it. It makes it into another song and the harmonica - wow I like. Definitely would dance to this in a club. Nice one JIN.

(I guess it’s biased as I love LM.C and their one of my favourite bands, but I’m telling the truth. :P)

We are LM.C!! ^O^ Looking forward to LM.C’s future releases.

Song sung by Bo Bruce, current contestant on The Voice UK. Absolutely amazing! Guitar and vocals are mind-blowing. Check it out here—> http://m.soundcloud.com/bo-bruce
Don’t know if song is hers or if it’s a cover. Most likely hers.
Here’s the lyrics.

Holding the Lights (acoustic demo) - Bo Bruce

I can’t sleep, on through the night
I don’t know, if we’ll be alright
I forget, all that I know
I think you’re here,
But I’m on my own

Didn’t I lose my way,
Holding the lights
Hoping you’ll come while they, burn through the night
Didn’t you see the fire,
All that we lost
Didn’t you hear me cry,
Hands in the dust

I drew a map, to bring you to me
You shut your eyes, and now you can’t see
I walked away, but you didn’t call
What have you done,
Love me anymore

Didn’t I lose my way,
Holding the lights
Hoping you’ll come while they, burn through the night
Didn’t you see the fire,
All that we lost
Didn’t you hear me cry,
Hands in the dust

I know that I, tried everything
But we hurled the dust,
Ash on the wind
I gave you up, so you wouldn’t say
I’m not enough, to get you to change

Didn’t I lose my way,
Holding the lights
Hoping you’ll come while they, burn through the night
Didn’t you see the fire,
All that we lost
Didn’t you hear me cry,
Hands in the dust

Watching the walls cave in, and you’re standing still
And everyone’s turning in, hands of the wheel
You had my what,
you had, my heart
And I don’t wanna love you
If you can’t.

After 9’s release there were many who didn’t like the album but I loved it so I thought I’d write a review on it.
I posted it on twitter and many people liked it then thought I could post it on here.

After people had listened to 9 of course loads loved it! But there were a select few or maybe more than a select few that didn’t really like the album. Its predicted ratings are quite low too: /…
But I can’t see the reason why?! O_o
But after thinking about it I’ve come up with a conclusion I guess.

But first I’d like to analyse the album itself and the individual songs!
I won’t review Niji no Yuki, Heart of Gold or Blue Flame because we’ve heard of them.

One - Heavenly Tale.
This song is surprising! That’s what it is! It’s a shock! It’s a change to the usual intro’s of Alice Nine but it’s catchy, and soft! The drums are EPIC! It’s a sort of cultural backing beat that makes you want to move!
When the bass kicks in you know shit is going down! XD
You feel amazing! The drums are solid all the way through! Praise to the member that came up with that!
But the star is the guitar!!! The riff and hook is heavenly! Shou’s voice comes in nicely and it’s perfect for the song! You can see his progress as a vocalist from the very first songs of Alice Nine! The chorus is catchy and leaves you at a cliffhanger every time! The drum solo leaves you wanting more desperately then the guitar solo just KILLS it!!
Everything stops and all you hear see feel is that solo!! You DON’T want it to end! But that’s the trick see when it fades you hear that cultural beat again and you end with that!

Then after being hyped up by that great solo you enter a metal song with a solid guitar! - the Arc.
The whole instrumental over all is clever! Just listen to the guitar and the drums! Pick out the bass!
Shou’s vocals top it off nicely making it one song you want to sing to! The build up with the guitar is enchanting and leads to an awesome drum solo! And Shou’s small growl!
The guitar solo kills it! It reminds me of Metallica and Avenged Sevenfold, again showing a great diversity of styles from Alice Nine!

GALLOWS is something of their previous style. It’s a very Alice Nine song! :) Familiar! That’s why people fell in love with that first of the previews (I didn’t I liked Heavenly Tale more lol)
But it’s Incomprehensible!! XO it’s a work of art! The drums are fast and pounding, guitar lightning fast and shredding! Bass solid! But I think the star is Shou’s vocals! He’s truly shown excellence! You can see him singing looking all Badass!

Right Hana Kasumi makes me cry ToT
It is a lovely, beautiful, a true rock ballad!
The soft intro with the drums and guitar are melodic and haunting, Shou’s voice chills you to the bone, putting you in a trance like state! His whispers are *shudder*
When the ballad rises it’s like flying!
You are above the sky even as Shou sings! The instruments bring it down again, the orchestral addition and feel is AMAZING!! It’s truly one of their best works I think!
Again the guitar solo SMASHES it!
It’s a sad ballad filling you with tears but with hope at the same time!
When Shou whispers you get a shiver down your spine! Then it climaxes and you feel like screaming out singing with Shou all your feelings!
You don’t want to let the song go but it lets you easily down with the clever bit of guitar at the end!

OMG Hello, World!!! DX
Now this is in my opinion GENIUS!
It’s a shock again and a surprise!
But so gooooooood!
Jazz, soul, feel to the song, with the guitar. Saga’s voice is enchanting making the song unique first off but also interesting! Shou’s vocals are PERFECT for the Chorus of the song! He teases you and the guitar teases you! If you listen to the drums it’s clever so clever! The way Shou says Hello World is sexy and Saga speaking makes the song a Sexy Song! Climax the Guitar solo is unique and head spinning, very amazing!

Linear again a very good rock based song! With a beautiful piano melody at times! Soft and delicate too! It’s upbeat and catchy. Guitar teasing and I love the piano entry, it makes it feel special! You can see hints of previous Alice Nine songs in it. Again I think Shou’s voice is a star here. It’s so melodic it soothes you. The guitar riff in the middle and solo is *O*
It’s truly something special.
Drums build it up nicely in a solo for the last all out chorus! Shou sings beautifully along with the guitar shredding, cool……..

RIGHT we are nearing the end but it’s not the end! XD
Apocalypse [it’s not the end]
What I call a doomsday song, when in fact it’s not doomsday at all it’s actually inspiring, hopeful, empowering! It makes you feel invincible! One song I’d look forward to live! Catchy lyrics I think.
A constant build up through the song raising you to the sky!
Then goes hardcore with guitar and the drums in the middle!
Shou’s singing suits it so much it’s tearful to hear it.
It’s beautiful…
The instrumental build up at the end, ends it off nicely to make for a pop/rock ballad type Subete e!

It’s a song of love and friendship, its soft, hopeful, again a clever orchestral feel.
Moves well into the rock part and the guitar kicks it off epically,
No doubt the song is catchy and so beautiful with Shou’s vocals! Just listen to his voice!
Then the instrumental bit! OMG EPIC much?!
Why is this album full of wicked solos?!
The last chorus brings a smile to your face as you think of all the members and Tora’s shredding solo makes you cry with happiness at the simplicity of the song and you marvel at “9” as a whole! Drum solo at the end brings the album to a close leaving you in a final state of frozen O_o AWE!

So after this awesomeness why don’t some people like it?
Well that’s obvious, they’re mainstream. They probably wanted more catchy songs like RUMWOLF and NEMESIS.
The thing is Alice Nine are NOT mainstream! They are unique and a progressive band! They don’t stick to one style! If you look at each album individually you see it’s very progressive!
They remind me a lot of MUSE, always coming up with new styles, hints of other genres, mostly melodic sounds!
Now album “9” I think is a show of their skill! It’s what you call REFINED music! It’s so clever it’s unbelievable! More clever than GEMINI was! It shows old influences and bringing back some feel and soul into rock songs compared to lots of electronic nowadays and very ‘pop’ based rock songs!
Now these Alice Nine songs are NOT pop! O_o
Want Pop Rock?! Listen to Avril Lavigne! And even some Ayumi Hamasaki songs are Pop/Rock you comparing A9’s genre to her songs?! It’s a complete different genre! It’s Rock!

And some have said Shou’s vocals are near not as good as they were previous. Oh lord. Just listen to him! He’s at the top of his game! The vocals are beautiful!
You can’t compare him to others because I’m sorry in VK he has one of the most unique voices! So you just can’t!

So overall this entire album shows Alice Nine’s growth into a refined, clever, experienced band! It’s good you can’t deny it ;)

If you do fair do’s it’s your opinion but seriously think and test out listen to the album 5 times and make your decision! I pray it gets good reviews from others, and sells loads!
COME ON ALICE NINE!

(Alice Nine’s one of my favourite bands, :P I’m kinda biased but I am truthful)