01. XYZThere is no B-side but that's unneeded since XYZ is viciously hard. It starts with those heavy guitars reminiscent of Anti-Nobunaga work and Yusuke's singing fucking works it's wonders all over the track. A few of Haikara's latest songs had solos that were not very memorable or just weren't there and that pissed me off to some degree. This song gladly has a solo. The solo comes a minute in, rocks hard, and moves back to the rest of the track flawlessly.
Halca's voice rocks so there is no need for insecurity. She works for the band better than Maki. The band has improved vastly as a unit. I am pleased. Get this single.
Now, for all the people out there that are dead-set on saying Maki is better, I've got some words for you: sales don't drop unless something is going wrong. Let's grab a nice chart:
Singles
"Pride"
| 347,830 |
| "Pride Remix" | 18,527 |
| "Over" | 52,989 |
| "Run Run Run" | 27,340 |
| "Days" | 10,253 |
"Style ~Get Glory in This Hand~"
| 12,774 |
| "Ichirin no Hana" 一輪の花
| 184,562 |
| "Dive into Yourself" | 16,433 |
| "Enrai ~Tooku ni Aru Akari~" 遠雷~遠くにある明かり
| 23,742 |
| "Tadoritsuku Basho" / "Oxalis" 辿り着く場所 / オキザリス
| 11,422 |
| "Dreams" | 8,000 |
"Amazing"
| 8,427 |
| "Flashback / Komorebi no Uta" フラッシュバック / 木漏レビノ歌
| 3,583 |
| "HOT LIMIT" | 11,738 |
Remember
| 4,270 |
Albums
G∞VER
| 67,088 |
| Gou on Progressive 傲音プログレッシヴ | 41,447 |
| San 参
| 15,264 |
| ROCK PIT | 12,563 |
I've got a theory and I don't really care if anyone else supports it or not (though it would be nice): I believed they were moving towards lighter music because Maki's voice either didn't fit heavier tracks or it would begin to sound the same. I still have yet to sit through the Gouon Progressive album because by track four I'm sick of the repetitiveness. Maki had a nice voice and the band realized it fits pop-rock better than their style, so the ex-Metallica coverband goes on to do fucking pop-rock. The San period put the bullet in the casket and if no one's paying attention anymore what good does ROCK PIT do (and sadly, that was their best offering so far)? Most of their latest singles have been atrocious and their two best selling songs after San are a T.M.Revolution cover and a Luna Sea cover of ROSIER that I can't sit through.
Maki leaving is possibly the best thing that could have happened, since this band needed a new injection of life. They didn't know if they wanted to be pop or rock, and their songs showed. Their albums also were bipolar, and there wasn't any feel of unity. It was one dose of watered down rock, one dose of pop, one dose of "what the fuck is this?"?
I quite possibly am of the minority that thinks Halca's voice is better suited to this band because they're lower and don't sound as abstract in the soundscapes, but whatever because I personally adore this new singer. She doesn't hold back like Maki began to do and she projects her voice all over the track whenever she gets to sing. Yusuke's vocal improvement also has to be noted because he used to sound downright atrocious before and now he's listenable. The balance between the two singers is also pretty even. Before I used to feel like Maki did all the singing and Yusuke was just backup (not that this was bad, I acutally preferred not to hear Yusuke sing). Now I can say there are definitely two vocalists, and they're both pretty good.
Even the instrumentation has improved, because I think the band learned to count to three and realize two guitars playing the same progression sounds like it was recorded in stereo. They play different notes in each ear and it sounds professional. There are actually lines to follow that make the song great, and the solo in this song erases the crapfest that was Mekimeki's solo. Overall, this instrumentation beats out anything I've really ever heard them do.
Here's me looking forward to swamp man, which might put this band back on the radar. A jump from mediocre to listenable grants XYZ a 10.
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