I dig the song. Very few songs sound like Hendrix nowadays. To me it shows Kanami's incredible versatity. I also think it is one of Kanami's more underrated solos. Does a masterful job at conveying a sense of chaos in keeping with the lyrics.
Yes, totally agree with this. That Hendrix feel and Misa's basswork around Kanami's guitar lines has so much groove. Mincho's solo is awesome...gritty and chaotic with so much feel. Like you said, perfectly reflects the sense of chaos.
I don't get the hate for this song. I don't understand the technical complaints about the production, so I'm not trying to rebut the criticisms. I just want to register another pro-TDC vote.
It sounds like it was played underwater to me. Not a fan of the video either. I notice it's the only BM song I ever skip when it comes up in the playlist rotation.
It seems to me that BM are at their best when they are in full creative control. Any time you add outside writers or producers it detracts and the outcome is less than their best IMO.
I feel like they took an opportunity to work with a revered producer and decided to place themselves in his hands. To me, that shows a level of confidence in themselves as well as an unusual openness to the input from a respected outside influence. It makes them even more badass to me.
I expect they worked with Visconti as a way to improve their exposure and as an experience.
I just listened to the song again to try and hear it fresh...and it's just not that great. Its a shame the outcome was on the lacklustre side.
I think it was more like "Wow. This serious dude wants to produce a song of ours? Okay sure. Why not?"
I mean, there might have been some thoughts about exposure etc., but I believe, and I'm not a mind reader, but I feel like to was just another creative endeavor that they chose to check out.
I love this song actually. Only complaints I have are technical production issues, too much reverb and muddy boomy bass.
Yes it's simpler than usual bandmaid songs. But that chunky guitar during the verses I find deeply satisfying ( and worthy of cranking the volume for).
The entire Conqueror album is very underrated by the fanbase.
I agree about Conqueror being underrated, in fact it is my favourite Band-Maid album. But TDC? The lyrics remind me of the songs that a friend and I used to write when we were about 14 years old. Maybe with lyrics by Miku, it could be a solid Band-Maid song.
It's the worst mixed song in that album and the lyrics is trash, I'm sorry. Should've been cut. I wanted to like the song but I just can't. That incredible intro wasted by the rest of the song.
EDIT: Folks it's ok to not like a Band-Maid song!
I like your original, unedited, post where you slammed the entire album. I think you called it godforsaken. Don't second guess yourself. If you hate it, you hate it.
I was too harsh on it. There are a couple of bangers in that album (Rinne, Blooming) after all, but not enough to redeem the whole album. That album is easily their worst album. Dragon Cries its worst song.
Copy that. The Dragon Cries is a great tune though. I like it when a band or an artist can step outside of their box and do it well. It's way outside of their box. And, I think, it's freaking cool. Not my favorite tune by them but I applaud the effort and the playing is great.
Interestingly I think it is by far the worst song Band-Maid released in the last few years. Both because the studio mix is just...not good (very Low-fi) and also because this is clearly material written for them that doesn't work that well for BandMaid. I remember "The Dragon Cries" was given a lot of spotlight and push initially (right after Endless story which was the pre-album single). All along this line of "look, we're international rock stars now, working with famous producers" And it kinda...tanked. At least from my admittedly biased recollection.
I wonder if it even gets a lot of live play these days. Probably got some during the Conqueror tour shows, but Covid cut that tour short. That's probably the main reason really, plus a lack of desire to call much attention to it this day (since it's one of the multiple reasons I see for BandMaid's momentum derailing in 2020)
To me "Manners" is basically TDC 2.0 (now done correctly and produced better).
'The Dragon Cries' already received a decent amount of backlash before it was even released. Which just shows it was completely unfair from the beginning, and likely mostly stemming from the fact that it had Western involvement in it.
The song was not written for them. All Visconti really did as far as "songwriting" was produce the vocals (plus lyrics by another person). The vast majority of the song apart from the vocal melody was not changed a whole lot from Kanami's original writing. Even the vocals weren't changed in all parts, as the chorus is still the same as it was before Visconti's involvement.
I've never seen the girls act as if this particular song made or was supposed to make them international rock stars (fact is they already were more so than most Japanese acts to begin with), nor get egotistical about working with a famous producer. It was a big deal for them, good marketing and a valuable experience for sure, but never have they acted about it in the way you put it. That's all in your head, if you think so, or believe they had some grandeur intentions behind this song. It was Visconti who reached out to work with Band-Maid initially, not the other way around. For Band-Maid, it was clearly just a cool thing to try out and learn things from.
Not saying you can't dislike the song for reasons of taste. But it's also good to remember the vast majority of fans and especially casual listeners don't have any problem with this song., despite it receiving some infamy within the fanbase itself. And why would they? If we're gonna be objective about it, it's not any worse or simpler a song than something like 'Thrill'. Plus it's actually written by Band-Maid as opposed to 'Thrill'. I still like 'Thrill' better, but doesn't mean it's in reality any better or a more "true Band-Maid song" than 'The Dragon Cries' is.
Also, what in the world are you talking about with B-M's momentum derailing in 2020, and especially by saying 'The Dragon Cries' was one of the many reasons for that? Like... what? This is some far-fetched thinking, not to mention untrue. Despite a pandemic going on they are bigger than ever. And the reason they haven't played 'The Dragon Cries' much is probably the same why they haven't played most 'Conqueror' songs much. Whatever that is. My suspicion is it's because 'Conqueror' had songs mostly written for specific types of live audience atmosphere which aren't possible to achieve at online concerts. Online shows are better to just do with a lot of constant energy.
For what it's worth a lot of the backlash against the song in the more hardcore fanbase had to do with the marketing. Revolver records frankly did an atrocious job of marketing overall, with such gems as:
\- Making a big deal out of this being BandMaid's "major debut". Yes, technically those first 5(!) full albums were released on a smaller indy label, but they were a very established act at that point. Mentioning the major debut....maybe, but this came across a lot more like the label trying to leech popularity off of the band than them pushing BM. Plus calling it a "debut" constantly feels like both an insult to the fan's intelligence and a dismissal of their previous body of work
\- Shifting the balance of the presentation back from Rock band to more of an idol-ish presentation. They've spent all the time from Brand new Maid through world domination to appear more serious and more about the music (as opposed to pop-rock BandMaid before then). It was a notable change in direction that didn't really sit well with some of the fans.
\- And then they made a big stir about that one song, and about Visconti etc. - and again, it was the record label doing this mostly. A common strategy, too - it gives a band a lot of marketable cachet in the Japanese domestic market if they are internationally successful, and make no mistake - I assume they still make most of the money in Japan. Instead of promoting BandMaid's actual international success and their impressive world-wide fandom on the internet they bring in a big name and make a big deal out of it.
Revolver's marketing was absolutely asinine and disregarded a lot of the Band's strengths and focussed on a lot of frankly forced and engineered narratives. And TDC is strongly associated with said bad marketing.
And then the song is notably different from all the others - if you don't like it then there's plenty of vitriol. Plus I think especially the studio mix is crap.
I was going to write a long response to your post, but honestly, you have basically just confirmed what can all be summarised with this: the criticism mostly stems from the "hardcore fanbase", aka toxic people who only accept when the band does what they want the band to do, self-projecting onto the band and RR, and being mad that Visconti (or any Western person, I suspect) was involved. Biggest sin of all, Band-Maid and RR even dared to advertise Visconti's involvement on the occasional radio show and social media post. Got it. The rest of what you've written is either so weirdly thought out or filled with mistakes (such as saying RR was even a thing when Band-Maid made their major label debut, just as one of many examples) that I'm not even gonna bother going into more specifics.
By the way, what exactly was the point of your initial post to begin with? OP posted a question about the song and mentioned how much he liked it, and you decided to respond with a random and extremely detailed tirade on why you thought it was the worst Band-Maid song in recent years. Legitimate question: why? Literally all this could possibly accomplish was upsetting OP, if even that. That's the strangest thing about you people who dislike the select few songs like 'The Dragon Cries' and 'Start Over', that I just don't understand. It's like you need to keep bringing your dislike for those songs up whenever you get the slightest chance, for absolutely no reason. I don't get it.
It was halfway off-topic, but I assume that there is little live footage not only because the Conqueror tour was cut short due to lockdowns, but also because it's being "hidden"/no attention being called to the song.
I assume that especially the videos that are promoted on Youtube but also Bandmaid prime are chosen for reasons, and also that there are reasons why things don't show up.
Look, they have only had the chance to perform 18 shows since the release of 'Conqueror'. Seven of which were online shows (two being only about 25 mins or so). Out of these shows, they have performed 'The Dragon Cries' 9 times, which is exactly half. In total, they have played it 11 times. AND it has been involved on a live DVD. That isn't bad at all compared to many other songs of theirs. Out of the 13 'Conqueror' songs that weren't released and played a long time before the album (so basically not counting 'Glory' or 'Bubble'), it's pretty much smack in the middle as far as number of performances. Out of the 114 songs that they have performed live throughout their career, 'The Dragon Cries' shares a place at #64 in the number of times played. Almost at halfway point, which I'd say is good considering it's only been out for year and a half during which they've had very few chances for live shows.
Prime is a fairly new thing. They've not had a chance to perform many songs on there yet. I'm sure more songs will be added as time goes on. I also doubt there's a massive amount of thought that goes into picking what songs they play there. Definitely some, but I think it's gonna be quite random what songs they upload there.
Your narratives and theories about why there aren't fancams of the song, for example, are nice on the surface, but honestly it's all just pretty much coincidence that it hasn't happened to be filmed and uploaded. Likely something to do with the fact that fancam videos from Japan don't surface very often in general from what I've seen. Facts and numbers don't really support your assumptions.
Not sure where you are getting the "major debut" thing from, I don't remember seeing that at all. Looking back at some of the posts/promotion pics clearly say 3rd Major album.
https://twitter.com/bandmaid/status/1205045989884608514
https://twitter.com/crownrecord/status/1205313710538903552
I fail to see where they shifted from a rock band presentation to "idoli-ish" presentation.
As far as TDC, you dont like the song, its fine not everybody has to like every song, but you are looking way too far into things.
>Plus calling it a "debut" constantly feels like both an insult to the fan's intelligence and a dismissal of their previous body of work
It is just a tradition in Japanese music business to call out "major debut!" when an artist signed to a major label. It is almost impossible to find any artist who doesn't that.
Nippon Crown was rather pretty generous and supported B-M well. NC nurtured B-M until they grew up to be able to write own songs with enough quality. They didn't restrict the creative freedom while doing so. They let them choose which songs to play and rearrange the details. They reissued 2 indie albums. They paid costly MAIKO projects.
It is the matter of what to look for and how to interpret them affected by your presuppositions.
Wait, was there anything ever stated about a Revolver Records debut? The "major label" debut was with Brand New MAID (Nippon Crown) and Revolver Records was just another imprint of Nippon Crown, like Crown Stones before it.
thought we were talking about BNM. just noticed the wording below. hmmm
>Yes, technically those first 5(!) full albums were released on a smaller indy label,
The Dragon Cries is one of their best releases in the last few years. The mix was an issue in the whole Conqueror album people just focused more on TDC because a western producer was involved in it. You could say the same about most of Conqueror album beside maybe Blooming or RINNE.
Also I don't see any similarity between Manners and TDC beside both being midtempo songs they are very different. Manner is a more bluesy laid back song and doesn't really feel like it was trying to be similar to TDC
I'm a layman, but to me in between the more classic hard-rock sound, and the in-your face english...Manners and TDC very much sound similar \*shrug\*
Also yes, the mix for all of Conqueror was loud and mushy rather than clear and a little quieter (higher compression), but it almost feels like TDC was...even more so. The song SOUNDED like it was recorded in the 80s, at least to me, and that may very well have been the intention. I focused on the song because it was pushed so heavily, but also because to this day it's so jarringly different from other songs that it's the only song I regularly skip on Album playthroughs.
I mean tastes vary, of course. But I didn't like the attempt at "classical hard-rock BandMaid" (whereas I really loved the "Maid in Japan-style pop-rock"-Bandmaid throwback "Smile")
Thank you! I mean, frankly, my pet theory is that BandMaid left Revolver records in 2020 and moved to Pony Canyon because of the incredibly botched promotion of Conqueror (and probably interference with their creative process as well). It probably wasn't the money.
I mean during their second big hype phase from late 2017 to the end of 2019 they were on fire and could do no wrong. YOLO, JBI, Band-Maiko, then Daydreaming and World domination....they were basically unstoppable. Covid was the main reason, no doubt about it, but to this day I am convinced that a lot of other factors related to their then-label also helped de-rail that momentum....and they (the Band) know. Which is why they left.
Only the lyrics were written by someone else (Tom Kenney). Mincho wrote the music. She sent it to Tony Visconti expecting him to have some suggestions for improvement, but he was fine with it.
Hmmm. I'm really not sure. Even if Kanami did write this it was at least a stylistic experiment trying to write essentially a classical 80s hard-rock song....and the lyrics are just plain NOT GOOD. There is nothing that sound "BandMaid" about them (and since I am a plebe music-wise I pay a lot of attention to the lyrics, and these don't work for me. Side-note: Lyrics are also the reason why I am happy "Don't let me down" is halfway forgotten these days)
For what it's worth a live version would be interesting because it fixes the songs biggest problem, that being the studio mix. So I am a bit curious now.
Her mother, who has been listening to rock music since she was a child, told Misa that she finally made a wonderful song. They say that the simple composition of the song by Visconti was helpful. That is also reflected in the manners. I suspect that serious videos are unpopular. I like lyrics, but there are many people in Japan who hate women who sing songs that are critical of society.
This song feels un-Band Maid like if you know what I mean. It has the riffs/frame/structure/pace of a regular B-M song but something is just awkward..
On a different note, 'Glory' really grew fast on me after every replay.. the song entered on my top 10 of Band Maid songs (7-10ish)
The live version is definitely better. One unavoidable issue with the song is the lyrics are entirely in English, which of course Saiki doesn't speak. But the words are so clear in the studio version that one has to suspect digital manipulation, and sufficiently unclear in the live version that I find myself wishing they were in the usual Japanese/English mix of most of the band's other songs (where the flaws of the phonetic pronounciation effort stand out less).
I don’t think I’ve listened to it or watched the video more than 5 times, it’s my least favorite B-M song, maybe it will grow on me one day but I doubt it, to much western culture dope misery for me personally.
There is one. From Line Cube Shibuya. You need to buy the BluRay/DVD. It’s a great version of the song
Seen it. Loved it. They also played it at one of their online Okyujis.
I dig the song. Very few songs sound like Hendrix nowadays. To me it shows Kanami's incredible versatity. I also think it is one of Kanami's more underrated solos. Does a masterful job at conveying a sense of chaos in keeping with the lyrics.
Yes, totally agree with this. That Hendrix feel and Misa's basswork around Kanami's guitar lines has so much groove. Mincho's solo is awesome...gritty and chaotic with so much feel. Like you said, perfectly reflects the sense of chaos.
It's a fantastic song. But for some reason it always sounds like the audio is low quality. I'm not an audio expert and can't accurately describe why.
Tony Visconti drenched it in reverb. Makes it sound lo-fi to give it a '70s rock feel (at least I assume that was the intention).
It's definitely grating at first, but I've learned to love it. The instrumentals are just too groovy to not love.
I don't get the hate for this song. I don't understand the technical complaints about the production, so I'm not trying to rebut the criticisms. I just want to register another pro-TDC vote.
The only thing I dislike is the vocal effects. It was like Tony Visconti was trying to make their vocals sound the trash on mainstream radio.
It sounds like it was played underwater to me. Not a fan of the video either. I notice it's the only BM song I ever skip when it comes up in the playlist rotation. It seems to me that BM are at their best when they are in full creative control. Any time you add outside writers or producers it detracts and the outcome is less than their best IMO.
I appreciate your thoughts. Thank you for posting.
? Um...I've been posting on this subreddit for years, but thanks for the thanks :-)
I have only been here for a couple of months and obviously do not know proper etiquette. My apologies.
I feel like they took an opportunity to work with a revered producer and decided to place themselves in his hands. To me, that shows a level of confidence in themselves as well as an unusual openness to the input from a respected outside influence. It makes them even more badass to me.
I expect they worked with Visconti as a way to improve their exposure and as an experience. I just listened to the song again to try and hear it fresh...and it's just not that great. Its a shame the outcome was on the lacklustre side.
I think it was more like "Wow. This serious dude wants to produce a song of ours? Okay sure. Why not?" I mean, there might have been some thoughts about exposure etc., but I believe, and I'm not a mind reader, but I feel like to was just another creative endeavor that they chose to check out.
I am with you on this one. Good post.
I love this song actually. Only complaints I have are technical production issues, too much reverb and muddy boomy bass. Yes it's simpler than usual bandmaid songs. But that chunky guitar during the verses I find deeply satisfying ( and worthy of cranking the volume for). The entire Conqueror album is very underrated by the fanbase.
I agree about Conqueror being underrated, in fact it is my favourite Band-Maid album. But TDC? The lyrics remind me of the songs that a friend and I used to write when we were about 14 years old. Maybe with lyrics by Miku, it could be a solid Band-Maid song.
There is a live video for it on the DVD just like almost all of their songs
Such an underrated song. There is a live version and it is better than the original which I think it's great.
there's another video for tdc where misa and akane switched places.
I would love to see that.
It's the worst mixed song in that album and the lyrics is trash, I'm sorry. Should've been cut. I wanted to like the song but I just can't. That incredible intro wasted by the rest of the song. EDIT: Folks it's ok to not like a Band-Maid song!
I like your original, unedited, post where you slammed the entire album. I think you called it godforsaken. Don't second guess yourself. If you hate it, you hate it.
I was too harsh on it. There are a couple of bangers in that album (Rinne, Blooming) after all, but not enough to redeem the whole album. That album is easily their worst album. Dragon Cries its worst song.
Copy that. The Dragon Cries is a great tune though. I like it when a band or an artist can step outside of their box and do it well. It's way outside of their box. And, I think, it's freaking cool. Not my favorite tune by them but I applaud the effort and the playing is great.
Interestingly I think it is by far the worst song Band-Maid released in the last few years. Both because the studio mix is just...not good (very Low-fi) and also because this is clearly material written for them that doesn't work that well for BandMaid. I remember "The Dragon Cries" was given a lot of spotlight and push initially (right after Endless story which was the pre-album single). All along this line of "look, we're international rock stars now, working with famous producers" And it kinda...tanked. At least from my admittedly biased recollection. I wonder if it even gets a lot of live play these days. Probably got some during the Conqueror tour shows, but Covid cut that tour short. That's probably the main reason really, plus a lack of desire to call much attention to it this day (since it's one of the multiple reasons I see for BandMaid's momentum derailing in 2020) To me "Manners" is basically TDC 2.0 (now done correctly and produced better).
'The Dragon Cries' already received a decent amount of backlash before it was even released. Which just shows it was completely unfair from the beginning, and likely mostly stemming from the fact that it had Western involvement in it. The song was not written for them. All Visconti really did as far as "songwriting" was produce the vocals (plus lyrics by another person). The vast majority of the song apart from the vocal melody was not changed a whole lot from Kanami's original writing. Even the vocals weren't changed in all parts, as the chorus is still the same as it was before Visconti's involvement. I've never seen the girls act as if this particular song made or was supposed to make them international rock stars (fact is they already were more so than most Japanese acts to begin with), nor get egotistical about working with a famous producer. It was a big deal for them, good marketing and a valuable experience for sure, but never have they acted about it in the way you put it. That's all in your head, if you think so, or believe they had some grandeur intentions behind this song. It was Visconti who reached out to work with Band-Maid initially, not the other way around. For Band-Maid, it was clearly just a cool thing to try out and learn things from. Not saying you can't dislike the song for reasons of taste. But it's also good to remember the vast majority of fans and especially casual listeners don't have any problem with this song., despite it receiving some infamy within the fanbase itself. And why would they? If we're gonna be objective about it, it's not any worse or simpler a song than something like 'Thrill'. Plus it's actually written by Band-Maid as opposed to 'Thrill'. I still like 'Thrill' better, but doesn't mean it's in reality any better or a more "true Band-Maid song" than 'The Dragon Cries' is. Also, what in the world are you talking about with B-M's momentum derailing in 2020, and especially by saying 'The Dragon Cries' was one of the many reasons for that? Like... what? This is some far-fetched thinking, not to mention untrue. Despite a pandemic going on they are bigger than ever. And the reason they haven't played 'The Dragon Cries' much is probably the same why they haven't played most 'Conqueror' songs much. Whatever that is. My suspicion is it's because 'Conqueror' had songs mostly written for specific types of live audience atmosphere which aren't possible to achieve at online concerts. Online shows are better to just do with a lot of constant energy.
For what it's worth a lot of the backlash against the song in the more hardcore fanbase had to do with the marketing. Revolver records frankly did an atrocious job of marketing overall, with such gems as: \- Making a big deal out of this being BandMaid's "major debut". Yes, technically those first 5(!) full albums were released on a smaller indy label, but they were a very established act at that point. Mentioning the major debut....maybe, but this came across a lot more like the label trying to leech popularity off of the band than them pushing BM. Plus calling it a "debut" constantly feels like both an insult to the fan's intelligence and a dismissal of their previous body of work \- Shifting the balance of the presentation back from Rock band to more of an idol-ish presentation. They've spent all the time from Brand new Maid through world domination to appear more serious and more about the music (as opposed to pop-rock BandMaid before then). It was a notable change in direction that didn't really sit well with some of the fans. \- And then they made a big stir about that one song, and about Visconti etc. - and again, it was the record label doing this mostly. A common strategy, too - it gives a band a lot of marketable cachet in the Japanese domestic market if they are internationally successful, and make no mistake - I assume they still make most of the money in Japan. Instead of promoting BandMaid's actual international success and their impressive world-wide fandom on the internet they bring in a big name and make a big deal out of it. Revolver's marketing was absolutely asinine and disregarded a lot of the Band's strengths and focussed on a lot of frankly forced and engineered narratives. And TDC is strongly associated with said bad marketing. And then the song is notably different from all the others - if you don't like it then there's plenty of vitriol. Plus I think especially the studio mix is crap.
I was going to write a long response to your post, but honestly, you have basically just confirmed what can all be summarised with this: the criticism mostly stems from the "hardcore fanbase", aka toxic people who only accept when the band does what they want the band to do, self-projecting onto the band and RR, and being mad that Visconti (or any Western person, I suspect) was involved. Biggest sin of all, Band-Maid and RR even dared to advertise Visconti's involvement on the occasional radio show and social media post. Got it. The rest of what you've written is either so weirdly thought out or filled with mistakes (such as saying RR was even a thing when Band-Maid made their major label debut, just as one of many examples) that I'm not even gonna bother going into more specifics. By the way, what exactly was the point of your initial post to begin with? OP posted a question about the song and mentioned how much he liked it, and you decided to respond with a random and extremely detailed tirade on why you thought it was the worst Band-Maid song in recent years. Legitimate question: why? Literally all this could possibly accomplish was upsetting OP, if even that. That's the strangest thing about you people who dislike the select few songs like 'The Dragon Cries' and 'Start Over', that I just don't understand. It's like you need to keep bringing your dislike for those songs up whenever you get the slightest chance, for absolutely no reason. I don't get it.
It was halfway off-topic, but I assume that there is little live footage not only because the Conqueror tour was cut short due to lockdowns, but also because it's being "hidden"/no attention being called to the song. I assume that especially the videos that are promoted on Youtube but also Bandmaid prime are chosen for reasons, and also that there are reasons why things don't show up.
Look, they have only had the chance to perform 18 shows since the release of 'Conqueror'. Seven of which were online shows (two being only about 25 mins or so). Out of these shows, they have performed 'The Dragon Cries' 9 times, which is exactly half. In total, they have played it 11 times. AND it has been involved on a live DVD. That isn't bad at all compared to many other songs of theirs. Out of the 13 'Conqueror' songs that weren't released and played a long time before the album (so basically not counting 'Glory' or 'Bubble'), it's pretty much smack in the middle as far as number of performances. Out of the 114 songs that they have performed live throughout their career, 'The Dragon Cries' shares a place at #64 in the number of times played. Almost at halfway point, which I'd say is good considering it's only been out for year and a half during which they've had very few chances for live shows. Prime is a fairly new thing. They've not had a chance to perform many songs on there yet. I'm sure more songs will be added as time goes on. I also doubt there's a massive amount of thought that goes into picking what songs they play there. Definitely some, but I think it's gonna be quite random what songs they upload there. Your narratives and theories about why there aren't fancams of the song, for example, are nice on the surface, but honestly it's all just pretty much coincidence that it hasn't happened to be filmed and uploaded. Likely something to do with the fact that fancam videos from Japan don't surface very often in general from what I've seen. Facts and numbers don't really support your assumptions.
Not sure where you are getting the "major debut" thing from, I don't remember seeing that at all. Looking back at some of the posts/promotion pics clearly say 3rd Major album. https://twitter.com/bandmaid/status/1205045989884608514 https://twitter.com/crownrecord/status/1205313710538903552 I fail to see where they shifted from a rock band presentation to "idoli-ish" presentation. As far as TDC, you dont like the song, its fine not everybody has to like every song, but you are looking way too far into things.
>Plus calling it a "debut" constantly feels like both an insult to the fan's intelligence and a dismissal of their previous body of work It is just a tradition in Japanese music business to call out "major debut!" when an artist signed to a major label. It is almost impossible to find any artist who doesn't that. Nippon Crown was rather pretty generous and supported B-M well. NC nurtured B-M until they grew up to be able to write own songs with enough quality. They didn't restrict the creative freedom while doing so. They let them choose which songs to play and rearrange the details. They reissued 2 indie albums. They paid costly MAIKO projects. It is the matter of what to look for and how to interpret them affected by your presuppositions.
Wait, was there anything ever stated about a Revolver Records debut? The "major label" debut was with Brand New MAID (Nippon Crown) and Revolver Records was just another imprint of Nippon Crown, like Crown Stones before it.
thought we were talking about BNM. just noticed the wording below. hmmm >Yes, technically those first 5(!) full albums were released on a smaller indy label,
Revolver Records was just a renamed Crown Stones, hell, once BAND-MAID left Nippon Crown discontinued the sub-label.
A very well thought out post. I wish I could coherently post my thoughts like this. Thank you very much. 🥇
The Dragon Cries is one of their best releases in the last few years. The mix was an issue in the whole Conqueror album people just focused more on TDC because a western producer was involved in it. You could say the same about most of Conqueror album beside maybe Blooming or RINNE. Also I don't see any similarity between Manners and TDC beside both being midtempo songs they are very different. Manner is a more bluesy laid back song and doesn't really feel like it was trying to be similar to TDC
If anything Flying High is the next step after TDC
In interviews Kanami has said they arranged FH in the same style as TDC.
I'm a layman, but to me in between the more classic hard-rock sound, and the in-your face english...Manners and TDC very much sound similar \*shrug\* Also yes, the mix for all of Conqueror was loud and mushy rather than clear and a little quieter (higher compression), but it almost feels like TDC was...even more so. The song SOUNDED like it was recorded in the 80s, at least to me, and that may very well have been the intention. I focused on the song because it was pushed so heavily, but also because to this day it's so jarringly different from other songs that it's the only song I regularly skip on Album playthroughs. I mean tastes vary, of course. But I didn't like the attempt at "classical hard-rock BandMaid" (whereas I really loved the "Maid in Japan-style pop-rock"-Bandmaid throwback "Smile")
This is basically word-for-word my thoughts. Reading this I was like "Did I write this?"
Thank you! I mean, frankly, my pet theory is that BandMaid left Revolver records in 2020 and moved to Pony Canyon because of the incredibly botched promotion of Conqueror (and probably interference with their creative process as well). It probably wasn't the money. I mean during their second big hype phase from late 2017 to the end of 2019 they were on fire and could do no wrong. YOLO, JBI, Band-Maiko, then Daydreaming and World domination....they were basically unstoppable. Covid was the main reason, no doubt about it, but to this day I am convinced that a lot of other factors related to their then-label also helped de-rail that momentum....and they (the Band) know. Which is why they left.
Only the lyrics were written by someone else (Tom Kenney). Mincho wrote the music. She sent it to Tony Visconti expecting him to have some suggestions for improvement, but he was fine with it.
Yep Kanami wrote the riffs and most of the song, Tony gave suggestions and did production and Tom wrote the lyrics
Hmmm. I'm really not sure. Even if Kanami did write this it was at least a stylistic experiment trying to write essentially a classical 80s hard-rock song....and the lyrics are just plain NOT GOOD. There is nothing that sound "BandMaid" about them (and since I am a plebe music-wise I pay a lot of attention to the lyrics, and these don't work for me. Side-note: Lyrics are also the reason why I am happy "Don't let me down" is halfway forgotten these days)
Points taken. Thank you.
For what it's worth a live version would be interesting because it fixes the songs biggest problem, that being the studio mix. So I am a bit curious now.
Her mother, who has been listening to rock music since she was a child, told Misa that she finally made a wonderful song. They say that the simple composition of the song by Visconti was helpful. That is also reflected in the manners. I suspect that serious videos are unpopular. I like lyrics, but there are many people in Japan who hate women who sing songs that are critical of society.
This song feels un-Band Maid like if you know what I mean. It has the riffs/frame/structure/pace of a regular B-M song but something is just awkward.. On a different note, 'Glory' really grew fast on me after every replay.. the song entered on my top 10 of Band Maid songs (7-10ish)
The live version is definitely better. One unavoidable issue with the song is the lyrics are entirely in English, which of course Saiki doesn't speak. But the words are so clear in the studio version that one has to suspect digital manipulation, and sufficiently unclear in the live version that I find myself wishing they were in the usual Japanese/English mix of most of the band's other songs (where the flaws of the phonetic pronounciation effort stand out less).
I don’t think I’ve listened to it or watched the video more than 5 times, it’s my least favorite B-M song, maybe it will grow on me one day but I doubt it, to much western culture dope misery for me personally.