YELLOW FRIED CHICKENz I
OGYD is going to do a proper album discussion/squee post (right MODS?!) but I won’t be here to participate in it fully, so I’m going to do my own!
My iTunes shows I’ve somehow listened to “YFCz I” over 40 times since I picked it up on Tuesday. I think it’s lying! It can’t be that many times… I’ve had work, other errands and times away from my iPod and I reviewed an album for Rokkyuu in that time frame so I listened to that at least 7 or 8 times too. I don’t think it’s possible for 40 times unless it was playing in my sleep (which wouldn’t surprise me to be honest, I think my iPod is a GACKT fangirl).
So yes, quick track by track impressions under the cut. Feel free to comment and agree and disagree but remember this is just what I think!
CIRCLE ［.com］
I adore this song so much. I think that of all the songs on the album and the different techniques the twin vocals use, that this is my honest favourite. The guitars are great (put harmonised guitar solos in a song and I’m sold), the vocals play off each other perfectly, I love the change in tense in the last chorus line, GACKT’s English pronunciation is near freaking perfect and I just want to huggle YOU to death for writing it.
最終通告COUNTDOWN［.jp］
THAT BASS LINE. The rapid, thundering vocals of the verses and that bass line just match together so well, don’t they? I think it’s safe to say that this is the song Jon was having all of those difficulties singing quickly enough, hahaha. It’s one of those songs that you can just imagine they had a blast recording (other than Jon that is XD) and I don’t even mind the effects on the vocals on the chorus line. It kinda… fits. I need a minus G & J version of this, because I think the guitars are pretty epic too.
恋愛DRIVER ～Fooさんの歌～［.jp］
Catchy, catchy and fun. It switches through so many moods, from the frantic full speed opening to the more toned down verses, the spoken verse from Jon and Fooさん and that chorus that just burrows into your head and stays there. It’s a party song!
LAST KISS［.jp］
This never really clicked with me live, mainly because you could never clearly hear GACKT’s vocals during the first verses clearly. It was slightly better in Makuhari I thought, but never worked at the other shows. I always liked the rest of the song but when something starts poorly, it often prejudices against the rest. The album version is fantastic though. Everything is so clear and I love Jon’s vocal on this. He’s being kinda forceful while GACKT is being smoother and softer, and it’s a nice turnaround.
UNTIL THE LAST DAY[.eu]
So much better than the single version. It’s unbelievable how much better it is when it isn’t really too different, hahaha. There’s an awesome bass line running throughout, the guitars are more GACKTish and less generic (ironic considering this isn’t GACKT and the single was) and the English lyrics add a different dimension to it instead of simply seeming tacked on just to give the CD version a bonus. Have I mentioned the fantastic bass line??
YOU ARE THE REASON［.eu］
Yeah, I’m in love with this one now. I wasn’t sure when I first heard the recorded version because something sounded off, but it’s grown on me. Shinya’s drumming is awesome and I love how the twin vocals play off each other and neither singer outshines the other. Plus it has strings. Heavy guitars + frantic drumming + strings = me happy.
MIND FOREST［.com］
Of course, this has the EPICALLY AWESOME INTRO. It’s interesting to hear GACKT’s English on this, recorded last summer, compared to his English on the songs recorded in the last few months. Admittedly the lyrics are quite awkward on this (I think Jon was trolling him when he made GACKT sing “abyss of endlessness”) but GACKT just sounds so much more comfortable with the lyrics on the newer songs. So yeah, epic song but everyone knows that already.
妄想GIRL［.jp］
Oh, I was dreading this one. I hated what they did to the vocals in the live Japanese versions (the effects are far, far stronger than they were during the English version) so I didn’t have high hopes. But, I actually love it! I think it’s because the song is just so crazy. There’s fifty million things going on at once and it’s just like a shinkansen to the brain. I think normal vocals would just have been lost and wouldn’t suit it as well. You have the band, random noises throughout, all of those soft moans and groans throughout that crazy part after Jon’s spoken part and it’s just insane fun.
THE END OF THE DAY［.jp］
Wow, this song sounds like so long ago now, hahaha. It’s so straight forward and simple compared to everything else now too, almost YFCz lite, like they hadn’t quite decided where they were going with it yet.
また、ここで逢いましょッ［.jp］
YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU *huggles him*. Wow, who knew YOU had both this and CIRCLE in him? Obviously, it’s so sad and uplifting at the same time and is a song just born to be experienced live.
ALL MY LOVE［.jp］
I liked the single version and I think they made the right decision to make the single version what it was and cut the final parts of the song. I’m glad it’s on the album though! It’s odd to hear that piano led interlude after GACKT’s “さよなら” (still get chills every time I hear that one word) and not hear a lovely speech with it. I adore GACKT’s ad libbing during the chorus line at the end. He’s never been the kind of singer to do that, so it’s refreshing and new to hear it from him. Such a beautiful song.
NOT ALONE キミは一人じゃない」［.eu］
This is a good song. Well done YOU (again). The production, however, is awful (IMO). I really don’t like the type of beat they use in this song as I’m a huge fan of being able to hear proper, acoustic drums (to be honest, GACKT’s over reliance of programming drum lines into a drum machine instead of using actual acoustic drums has always been a slight annoyance. Drums aren’t supposed to be perfect, where every beat is hit at the same strength!). It’s also really annoying that there are two very good singers here who can both convey emotion with their vocals easily (and at least one of them is probably a lot better than just “very good”) and by running their voices through this awful filter, it takes out that skill and emotion. It suits the style of the song, but maaaaaaan, this song could have been so much better if it had been recorded as a straight ballad instead of a BIG BANG B-side. They have to do this live, and they have to do it properly - with the band (get the acoustic guitars out if necessary) and with straight, unaffected vocals.
Overall
I have a few criticisms that I’ve mentioned throughout, but there is one that I haven’t really touched on. YFCz has twin vocals… yet so much of the time it’s GACKT who is dominating it all. GACKT definitely gets the lion’s share of the vocals, and when they’re singing together it’s usually GACKT’s voice that is higher in the mix, I think. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind listening to GACKT - I’d rather listen to him sing than anyone else (yeah, I love you to pieces Jon but you’re always going to lose that contest, as is every other singer in the world). But, I’m a firm believer that if you’re going to do something, then you do it and go all the way. No half measures.
But overall, I’m a very happy and impressed fangirl. I don’t think I ever expected YFCz to come up with this album when that press conference first happened. I know I criticised YFCz for not having enough Jon on the songs in the last paragraph, but I’m still really shocked at how much of a band effort this has been. I never expected GACKT to step back as much as he has and to allow others to come forward and it’s resulted in probably the most fun album, tour and year he’s ever going to have in his career. And he’s looked like he’s enjoyed every second of it.
It’s been wonderful watching this all come together, hasn’t it? Meeting the other members of the band and falling in love with them all because they’re all just so freaking adorable and cute.
AND TAKUMI. GOD DAMMIT, WHEN YFCz IS FINALLY COMPLETELY OVER IF YOU DON’T GET A PROPER BAND BEHIND YOU AND BE THE SUPERSTAR THAT YOU ARE THEN THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS WORLD. He should not be a support guitarist, or a song writer for rent. He’s far, far too good for that and deserves to be fronting a proper band. Hopefully YFCz still have several months before it’s all over (TOURS PLEASE) and GACKT goes back solo full time (or being dramatic on stage again) but I feel I need to say this now.
I don’t think Takumi gets enough credit for what he’s done for YFCz, and it was so heart warming and awesome to see GACKT tweet him the other day to tell him how exactly amazing he is. I think Takumi is YFCz and I just want to pet his self promoting, adorkable, aniki loving, pretty head and say thanks for being so fabulous.
I can’t describe how much love I have for this band. Going to Europe to see them and the experiences there, coming back to Japan and seeing how they've developed… it’s like watching your children grow up into sexy adults (only less incestuous).
I’m going to be so conflicted when YFCz is finally over and GACKT goes back fully solo. I'll mourn the loss of YFCz, and celebrate the return of GACKT. Either way, I guess I'll be crying, hahahaha
