12012…I implore you. Shove this album at the bottom of a bog…NOW!
No? Alright, your call. *cracks neck* Let’s get down to business then…
12012. Rock band. Took a beating with the suck stick ever since it took the leap to major. Last three singles have bombed harder than a nuclear explosion. Personally haven’t heard any of them. Don’t have expectations for this album.
Commence the torture.
| 01 | THE WORLD | |
| 02 | DNA | |
| 03 | As | |
| 04 | Smile Again | スマイルアゲイン |
| 05 | MERRY GO WORLD | |
| 06 | PSYCHO VIRUS | |
| 07 | Aitai kara… | 逢いたいから…. |
| 08 | SYSTEM [0] DOWN | |
| 09 | Taiyou | 太陽 |
| 10 | GENERATION | |
| 11 | I DEAL | |
| 12 | Hallelujah -Album Ver.- | |
| 13 | Negai | 願 |
Nightmare just might sue for copyright infringement. THE WORLD starts out with a huge dose of WTF, and it’s not the good kind. It’s a lot of na-na’s and la-la’s and overly poppy guitar riffs, and from a fanbase that wants harder, rockier music and had their faith shaken by the last three singles, this isn’t the best way to try to take them back to the 12012 side. On it’s own, I guess it’s an OK song, but it’s not my style OR my speed. The na-na’s are annoying to say the least. I’m so glad this song only runs for 2:26.
DNA comes next and it’s definitely a harder number. Yay? It’s more of my speed but I still see a softer side under those layers. Meh, I shouldn’t be so picky. There’s nothing actually wrong with this song, and if I gave it a few more listens I think I could grow to like DNA. I do feel the chorus to be a bit lazy and lacking emotion, but that might be me (or it might be the TRACK). For all intents and purposes though, I’m glad this isn’t the stuff I’m made out of. The first track should have been skipped and the album should have started out with this.
Oh, and before I give a final rating, this song is typical in construction. Hard(er) verses, soft(er) chorus, quiet section after solo before it breaks into the chorus which typically has more emotion than before. Nothing new, but it surely works. With that I give DNA a 7.
As was a single that was released before hand. For a FRACTION OF A SECOND I thought it might be harder but it betrays early and turns into an upbeat pop song. Keep in mind I haven’t heard older 12012 when I say that I hear some dark parts in there along with the lighter parts, but the dark parts aren’t as dark as they are rather pallid grey. Do you understand what I’m saying at all?
Compare As to a new-age D’espairsRay single. It’s overly poppy with nice guitar riffs and grey parts that are supposed to be “hard” but really aren’t. The solo in this song also deserves a mention because it actually is “hard” for all intents and purposes, but if the rest of the song had some ATTITUDE I would like it.
Oh, and before I give a final rating, this song is typical in construction. Hard(er) verses, soft(er) chorus, quiet section after solo before it breaks into the chorus which typically has more emotion than before. Nothing new, but it surely works. With that I give As a 7.
Just note I haven’t headbanged once yet.
SMILE AGAIN starts out with the gayest intro ever, which makes it sound like the opening to a commercial. It’s a softer song, and me saying this on a hard rock album that hasn’t been hard rock is actually saying something. It’s yet another poppy song >(-.-)<>
Oh, and before I give a final rating, this song is typical in construction. Hard(er) verses, soft(er) chorus, quiet section after solo before it breaks into the chorus which typically has more emotion than before. Nothing new, but it surely works. With that I give SMILE AGAIN a 6.5.
Just for the record, I’m putting as much effort into this review as 12012 put into this album, which is to say not that much.
Now I can understand why 12012 fans lament the old….WHERE IS THE ATTITUDE? With a title such as MERRY GO WORLD I was expecting another overly poppy song a la SMILE AGAIN but it’s not that bad. The attitude is carried in the guitars somewhere in the verses but the chorus is poppy once again. The guitars have an angsty twang but it’s nullified by the overall attitude of the song. :\
This is really not pleasing me, and contrary to anything you might have gotten beforehand I’ve approached this with an open mind. It’s the only reason why I’m still here. Unlike the last three songs, I’m not getting ANYTHING from this song, or this album really. Three seconds here and there of guitar work until the solo almost three minutes in isn’t a good sign. I was mildly interested in the guitar solo until it ENDED, and I’m still tempted to CAP that paragraph from above because it does follow the same pattern (to a lesser degree though) once again. And with 48 seconds to go, I give MERRY GO WORLD a 5.75.
First time you’ve ever seen me use .75 before, eh?
PSYCHO VIRUS BETTER BE HARDKOAR…
YES!
It starts out with a scream, which is a proverbial kick in the ass to the former songs on the album. So far, this is the song I’m liking the most, but it’s not all that much. The chorus of neneohohlalala or whatever that crap is is annoying as fudge bombs. The guitar part near the two minute mark before it goes into the chorus is the most interesting part of this album, and after he exits it once and goes back into it again he does a little Zan-like cackling. This is probably the most risky they’ve gotten all album.
If anything, it’s the best song so far on this album, tied with DNA. Seven.
I’ve heard bad things about Aitai Kara. I can best describe this as a ballad among a rather soft album. Experimenting with a softer side is definite in this song, but it’s just meh-ish. I don’t utterly despise this song, but I’m not feeling a vibe that it might grow on me. I personally see nothing wrong with a band trying a ballad. Hell, they’re gonna stumble a bit before they hit their magic formula, and I think Aitai Kara might be that little stumble. Or rather, rather medium-sized stumble. This album has just been falling over itself one track after another and has barely managed to get a footing, and Aitai Kara isn’t helping any.
This entire album doesn’t feel right. Aitai Kara gets a five, because it goes on for damn near six minutes and doesn’t grow, expand, become more epic throughout. Nothing. More instruments come in near the end but the song isn’t evolving at all. Someone must have told this band ballads = boring, which they most definitely don’t. You can still inject emotion and raw angst into a song boys, even if it is soft.
With a name like SYSTEM [O] DOWN, I’m expecting something hard and rough. I was sorely disappointed. SORELY DISSAPOINTED. For fractions of a second I’m thinking it might pull a 180 but it doesn’t. It sounds like the Jonas Brothers trying to be harder and still keep a soft edge. The boys here are trying to mesh two genres that don’t mesh. Have they sold out? I don’t know and I’ll leave that to the experts, but in my humble opinion they have. Five.
I’ll be damn honest…I didn’t finish this album. I didn’t listen to songs past SYSTEM [O] DOWN in it’s entirety because I’ve gotten disgusted. There is absolutely NO experimentation on this album and every song seems to follow some sort of pattern that is tried, used, and discarded. Am I disappointed?
How about we just deny the existence of this album?
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