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The new LOVEBITES EP GLORY, GLORY TO THE WORLD represents a step forward in the band’s evolution. The titles tell some of the story – “NO TIME TO HESITATE,” “PARANOIA,” “DYSTOPIA SYMPHONY.” This will be a cold and unforgiving vision of the world. As for the title track, “GLORY TO THE WORLD?” This is no Christmas carol. It is filled with shivering hearts, sleepless nights, haunting shadows and grief that requires purifying. Certain editions of the CD also include a bonus disc with the vocal and off-vocal versions of WINDS OF TRANSYLVANIA, the opening theme of the anime VLAD LOVE.

「1」

The songs themselves are as uncompromising as the titles. midori’s, yes, glorious “GLORY TO THE WORLD” sounds most like previous works, with its instantly memorable pre-chorus and chorus.  The other songs add a layer of brutality that is somewhat new. miyako may have never written anything as chaotic as the impassioned “NO TIME TO HESITATE.”  “PARANOIA,” which is credited to asami as songwriter, is frightening in its intensity. Her torrid performance is perfectly suited to the disturbing lyrics.

asami continues to grow as a lyricist. The occasional flaws in the English are a positive attribute. The at times disjointed flow fits the subject matter. The best rock lyrics are not those that express simple concepts with excruciating clarity, but those that express complex thoughts in a way that requires interpretation.

「2」

asami has never sounded as ferocious as she does on GLORY, GLORY. She surpasses herself on “NO TIME TO HESITATE,” on which she adds an exciting growl to her voice. She sounds like a woman at the absolute end of her rope. asami is truly one of the most magnificent singers in the world. She sings with perfect control while expressing chaos at the same time.

The guitar solos are as spectacular as always. Fans are used to not knowing what wild and disjointed solos midori will unleash. On GLORY, GLORY, miyako, whose solos normally seem more structured, sounds just as unrestrained as midori. These two guitarists truly are special. Drummer haruna and bassist miho are as extraordinary as always, although it requires very close listening to appreciate their contributions, for reasons that will become clear.

「3」

Despite the high quality of the songs and the stellar individual performances, GLORY, GLORY is ultimately a disappointment. The problem is the over-the-top production. Someone in management has decided that the extravagant “orchestral version” of last year’s “Thunder Vengeance” is the template that LOVEBITES should follow. That is a serious miscalculation.

There’s a reason why many fans prefer to listen to LOVEBITES’ live performances rather than the studio releases. In concert, the listener can focus on each of the players. The guitars are sharply defined, the drumming is powerful, the bass is thunderous, and soaring above all of that are asami’s glorious vocals. That has always been more difficult to do on the “wall of sound” studio releases.

「4」

On GLORY, GLORY, the production team of Steve Jacobs, Mikku Karmila, and Mika Jusila have buried the women in an absurdly overstuffed and busy mix. Keyboardist/arranger Mao has further interred the band in an avalanche of unnecessary strings, synthesizers, horns, and choruses. He has also added long and meandering instrumental breaks that are like a road in rural Ireland that goes nowhere.

「5」

An orchestral introduction to an album is fairly common. Mao wrote “Time Of Tribulation,” the orchestral introduction that was so perfect for setting the mood of the Mardelas EP Ground Zero. But the introduction to GLORY GLORY is insipid and unmemorable. It sounds like something you would hear as Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee clamber up the mountains of Mordor in the movie Return of the King.

The EP could have begun on the thrilling guitar riff. Instead, the listener must slog through 50 unnecessary seconds, nervously tapping feet, biding time, while waiting for the real fun to begin. And because the introduction is indexed with “GLORY TO THE WORLD” (unlike on Ground Zero where it is a separate track), it is impossible to skip past it in order to enjoy the adrenaline rush of that fierce opening guitar riff. Even then, a string section overwhelms the opening guitar riff. The cacophony of strings never, ever stops throughout the entire song.

「6」

The massed chorale of “whoa-oh-ohs” towards the end of the song is another excess. “Whoa-oh-ohs” are always a dicey proposition, as U2 proved over and over again, with such abominations as the supremely stupid “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone).” Bands can pull it off, as BAND-MAID does in “NO GOD,” but that is because Saiki’s “whoa-oh-ohs” have a tightly focused role in the chorus and because the ingenious composer of the “whoa-oh-ohs” takes the melody in such unexpected directions. On “GLORY,” the “whoa-oh-ohs” sound half-thought-out. They just kind of meander.

「7」

“PARANOIA” also suffers unnecessary damage from an overlong and melodramatic introduction, complete with military style drums, histrionic strings, and choral multitudes. This is a song whose subject matter calls for a raw, stripped down accompaniment.

The miscellaneous swooping in of strings, synthesizers and ghostly choruses mar all of the songs of GLORY, GLORY. Mao is credited with keyboards and programming, so he apparently is responsible for the weird, ghostly “whoa-oh” that appears at least three times during the introduction and instrumental breaks of “NO TIME TO HESITATE.” Each time the “whoa-oh” appears, it is repeated a second time, but doubled on synthesizer, so it becomes even more annoying. It sounds goofy.

「8」

The closing track, “DYSTOPIAN SYMPHONY,” is the most overwrought. The presence of “symphony” in the title is an indicator that the song is intended to be a breathtaking climax. But it is overblown to the point of absurdity. Midway through the song, a drum break begins. No sooner does the listener say “All right! I’m going to get to get to hear haruno on her own!” than a truly ridiculous-sounding violin accent takes over. The violin phrase is supposed to be dramatic, but it sounds more silly than awe-inspiring. In concert, LOVEBITES should definitely consider omitting that ludicrous violin phrase.

“DYSTOPIA SYMPHONY” is also marred by the unnecessary interpolation of a well-known classical music phrase. This trick has been done dozens of times by dozens of bands. There is no need for LOVEBITES to do it. We are all truly excited to watch miyako play an abbreviated version of Chopin’s “Revolutionary Etude” on stage. But we don’t want to hear a theme from the third movement of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor (“Moonlight”) dropped into “DYSTOPIA SYMPHONY,” not once, but twice. Why would you do that? Is it a fatuous attempt to appear sophisticated? And, if you must use a classical theme, why not pick something less hackneyed than the Moonlight Sonata? Perhaps a theme from Paul Hindemith’s passionate opera Mathis der Maler? A phrase from one of Alexander Glazunov’s swooningly romantic piano sonatas? But the Moonlight Sonata? Seriously?

「9」

The Moonlight Sonata also detracts from the coherence of “DYSTOPIA’s” structure. Structure is pretty critical to a four- to six-minute rock song. Interesting, surprising, but tight structures have been one of the hallmarks of LOVEBITES compositions. The structure of “DYSTOPIA,” which is seven-minutes long, is pretty much a mess. Mao’s keyboards interrupt the promising opening guitar salvo and proceed to dominate the introduction for over thirty seconds. The discursive instrumental break that brackets the guitar solos – which are some of the most exciting and chaotic that miyako and midori have ever played – has the forementioned silly violin phrase and the Moonlight Sonata. This instrumental break is far too long and far too uninteresting, despite the “tension increasing” key change. It is biding time music.

There are so many other things the producers could have let the band do – just simply let midori and miyako work their wizardry! Or give miho and haruna a solo spotlight! Or bring it all to an unexpectedly hard stop to let asami sing a slow, emotional change of pace!

「10」

LOVEBITES’ concertgoers will likely have to contend with these distractions as well. Management of Japanese bands appear to believe that when the bands play live, they must recreate the studio recordings down to the last synthesizer. This practice leads to the widespread use of backing tapes. In addition to introducing doubt into one’s mind regarding the integrity and purity of a live performance, the backing tapes often go awry.

For example, during the most recent BAND-MAID “okyu-ji” live-stream, the band had to abort its first attempt at “Choose Me” when the backing track was not synced properly. The second time around, the backing track was still out of sync, but this time the band soldiered on. There was a similar goof-up during SCANDAL’s 2016 10^th Anniversary Concert when drummer Rina was thrown off by the taped “Here We Go!” that begins “LOVE ME DO.” Surely, Rina, Mami, Tomomi and Haruna could easily manage an absolutely charming harmonized live version.

「11」

The worst aspect of the wall-of-sound arrangements and production of GLORY, GLORY is the fact that the vocals of asami and the solos of miyako and midori do not occupy a prominent enough place in the mix. All those orchestrations and choruses take up valuable space on the mixing board. asami raises her game several notches, but it requires very attentive listening to appreciate the full glory of her snarling, aggressive performance. miyako and midori just get better and better. It is just difficult to hear them amid the cacophony.

The continued presence of Mao as co-author of the music on many songs is a bit concerning. That, along with his ubiquitous presence as arranger, keyboardist and programmer, makes one wonder whether he is more responsible for the band’s greatness than the band members themselves.

Mao does not just write the orchestral parts. He receives sole music credit for several songs in the catalog, including “Under The Red Sky,” one of the greatest LOVEBITES songs. This is a selfish complaint; one simply does not want anything to diminish from the credit that the band members receive for their achievements. (See the updated spreadsheet of songwriting credits below).

「12」

LOVEBITES is a commercial enterprise, and a pretty successful one. The band has achieved more acclaim outside of Japan than most bands could ever hope for. Are the overelaborate arrangements critical to the band’s success? That is doubtful. It is reasonable to think that the band could drop those over-embellished arrangements – and its all-white fairy princess costumes – and be just as successful.

LOVEBITES is one of the, I don’t know, let’s say two or three top bands in the world today, based on the quality songwriting, the virtuoso performances and the sheer frequency of releases. Therefore, it is disappointing to not love this release unreservedly.

「13」

If this review comes across as a pan, it is not because of the songs. It is not because of the performances. It is because the production team of Steve Jacobs, Mikku Karmila, Mika Jusila and Mao apparently have decided that their contributions, not the work of the band itself, should be the focal point.

Not every successful band is the tightly controlled product of a marketing team. Many bands control their own artistic direction, with thrilling results, even if they occasionally fail. If nothing else, it would be nice to hear LOVEBITES produced by someone who puts the focus on the five of them.

「14」

It really is a shame. The songwriting has evolved. There is a sharper edge to the melodies and riffs. The compositions of miyako continue to be outstanding. It is wonderful to hear new music from asami and midori. haruna and miho are a great rhythm section. The guitar work of miyako and midori remains spectacular, but with a great leap forward in creativity. The emotional vocals of asami are as powerful as ever, but even more varied and gripping in their intensity.

It would just be nice to be able to actually hear those things – and to never again be distracted by that ghastly “whoa-oh” in “NO TIME TO HESITATE.” The bottom line is that GLORY, GLORY TO THE WORLD is an exciting addition to the LOVEBITES catalog. It is just not that enjoyable to listen to because of the constant intrusions of the arrangements and production. Sometimes less is more. Simplicity can indeed be a virtue.

ページトップの「日本語」をクリックすると、本記事の日本語版を閲覧できます。

For the Japanese version of this article, please click on “日本語 at the top of the page.

 

The Lovebites EP		Lyrics	Music	Time
1	Don’t Bite The Dust	miho	miho/Mao	4:13
2	The Apocalypse	miho	miho/Mao	5:00
3	Scream For Me	Dr. U	miyako	5:46
4	Bravehearted	haruna	haruna	6:10
Awakening From Abyss
1	The Awakening		miyako	2:05
2	The Hammer Of Wrath	miho	miho/Mao	4:41
3	Warning Shot	asami	miyako	4:03
4	Shadowmaker	asami	miyako	5:42
5	Scream For Me	Dr. U	miyako	6:12
6	Liar	Dr. U	miyako	6:03
7	Burden of Time	miho	miho/Mao	4:46
8	The Apocalypse	miho	miho/Mao	6:12
9	Inspire	asami	araken	5:20
10	Don’t Bite The Dust	miho	miho/Mao	4:13
11	Edge Of The World	asami	mao	6:44
12	Bravehearted	asami/haruna	haruna	6:11
Battle Against Damnation
1	The Crusade	miho	miyako	4:51
2	Break The Wall	miho	miho/miyako	5:25
3	Above The Black Sea	asami	miyako	5:05
4	Under The Red Sky	asami	mao	5:50
Clockwork Immortality
1	Addicted	asami	miyako	5:25
2	Pledge Of The Saviour	asami	miyako	5:18
3	Rising	asami	miyako	5:45
4	Empty Daydream	asami	miyako	5:16
5	Mastermind 01	asami	miyako	4:19
6	M.D.O.	miho	miho/Mao	4:16
7	Journey To The Otherside	miho	miho/Mao	4:47
8	The Final Collision	miho	miho/Mao	5:45
9	We The United	asami	mao	5:29
10	Epilogue	asami	asami/Mao	7:07
Electric Pentagram
1	Thunder Vengeance	miho	miho/Mao	5:33
2	Holy War	Lovebites	Mao	5:57
3	Golden Destination	miho	miho/Mao	6:03
4	Raise Some Hell	asami	miyako	5:21
5	Today Is The Day	asami	miyako	5:51
6	When Destinies Align	asami	miyako	6:06
7	A Frozen Serenade	asami	asami/Mao	6:48
8	Dancing With The Devil	asami/midori	midori/Mao	5:09
9	Signs Of Deliverance	asami	miyako	5:09
10	Set The World On Fire	asami	miyako	5:47
11	The Unbroken	miho	miho/Mao	6:31
12	Swan Song	asami	miyako	6:27
Golden Destination
1	Golden Destination	miho	miho/Mao	6:04
2	Spellbound	asami	Mao	5:02
3	Puppet on Strings	asami	miyako	4:37
4	Thunder Vengeance	miho	miho/Mao	6:52
GLORY, GLORY TO THE WORLD
1	GLORY, GLORY TO THE WORLD	asami	midori/Mao	6:24
2	NO TIME TO HESITATE	asami	miyako	4:12
3	PARANOIA	asami	asami/Mao	5:35
4	DYSTOPIA SYMPHONY	asami	miyako	6:42
WINDS OF TRANSYLVANIA
	WINDS OF TRANSYLVANIA	asami	asami/Mao	5:17