As an older headbanger, Band-Maid can give me flashbacks to the 70's heavy metal. I hope you get a chance to react to their song "Moratorium" live, there is a section that sounds like a Black Sabbath riff....great reaction, glad you're enjoying the ladies of Band-Maid.
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks you need to check out Ningen Isu, if you haven’t. Not completely modern, they have been around about 35 years or so. But, they are considered by some to be very Sabbath-y. Heartless Scat is a good place to start.
This live performance was recorded as an on-line concert during the lockdowns. The 2 songs were put together to qualify for a Japanese Government relief program for artists in Japan. Manners was much earlier in the concert, and Black Hole was much later in their 2+ hour performance. Japanese -/= English lots of Japanese and Korean bands will thrown in English words, some of them having no relation to the actual lyrics. Not So With Band-Maid. Yes they do have some English words to help with Pacing in the songs, but most of the English Lyrics they use are related to the Japanese lyrics. But they do from time to time use some English words as fill to pad out a verse, just not as often as other bands. Miku the band founder, second primary vocalist (NOT Backup singer, she is technically a Co-Lead Vocalist, Kanami the Lead Guitarist is a Backing Vocalist {Sometimes}) uses a LOT of metaphor in both Japanese and English, in her lyrics. And many of her lyrics will have multiple meanings depending on the context. She is actually considered to be a very talented poet for her lyrical wordplay in both Japanese and English. And all of the Ladies do provide vocals for their backing track. However Akane, MISA and Kanami at times have issues singing while playing their instruments, due to just how technical some of their playing gets. There have been 2 occasions that I know of where they had computer issues and all of the Ladies sang while performing. According to attendees of those shows, they sounded just as good, just missing some of the background instrument tracks. I am hoping some day to see the Ladies perform with a full horn and string section. And the outro of Manners had a backwards played piano and guitar in the backing track. And Black Hole is their fastest song to date at 220 bpm. About the drums however there is an interesting anecdote from an interview the drummer Akane gave. May 2021 Player Magazine Interview with Akane - This time the last song BLACK HOLE had a great impact. In your previous album, Rinne was awesome, though… Akane: I felt like “Finally this came!” (laughs) - Finally you played this. I wonder what you will do in the future… Akane: I wonder too (laughs). - Was it originally like this in the demo? Akane: Yes. I had to keep kicking (the bass drum) longer, but it had many parts a human can’t play, so I modified it within the range of a human drummer, and it’s still like this. As for the last bass drum pattern, I made seven or eight patterns, and they were like “Names like ‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’ are not easy to get, so name them according to your level”, so I actually named them like “Easy, Comfortable, Normal, Possible if I work hard, Tough, Painful, Hell”, and they chose “Hell” (laughs). It’s the phrase named “Hell”. - (laughs) However, didn’t you expect them to definitely choose “Hell”? Akane: Yes, I expected. I was prepared for it. I was sure they wouldn’t choose “Easy”. These Ladies constantly strive to improve themselves, never resting on their laurels, always to give us their fans their best. And Black Hole has been referred to as Prog Thrash Metal a few times. Another anecdote about the drums. Kanami, the lead guitarist and primary composer, asked Akane what was her maximum bpm for playing. She responded 180, Kanami told her here is this song at 220 bpm. And Kanami has stated that her new target speed is 225 bpm if not 230 bpm, in an interview with Herman Lee from Dragon Force. They currently have 2 acoustic versions of their songs available on the channel right now, however if you can find it, they have a full on-line acoustic concert from Christmas 2021. And I'll let some other answer about the meanings of both songs. My fingers are a little sore form typing.
Great reaction. The band founder is the rhythm guitarist/second vocals RED flower - Miku (small pigeon). She also writes most of the lyrics and chooses the best word (Japanese or English) that fits sonically/rhythmically. She determined at the beginning of the band that her voice didn't have the rock sound that she wanted and that's why she stepped back and added Saiki (blue Flower). The drummer is gorilla (she eats bananas during the concert to recharge) and the princess is Kanami, lead guitarist.
Hallo. Saiki ist the Ice Princess (her last name Atsumi means Princess) and Kanami is Kanamincho ( it means littel Kanami ( Kanami - 158cm (5'2.2") · Miku - 155cm (5'1") )
"Black Hole" uses the perceived notion of falling into a black hole as a metaphor for starting a new relationship. All the uncertainty, chaos, anticipation, and exhilaration.
Yep. I had my speaker on max volume and could barely hear the music video. Heard the reactor's voice fine. That's partly my weak speakers, but there is too much difference in volume levels between reactor and music video.
Yep. I had my speaker on max volume and could barely hear the music video. Heard the reactor's voice fine. That's partly my weak speakers, but there is too much difference in volume levels between reactor and music video.
There is an interesting story behind "Black Hole". According to Akane, Kanami asked her how fast she could drum. Akane said around 190 bpm. Then Kanami went off and wrote "Black Hole" that peaks at 220 bpm! So Akane goes and writes the drum patterns for the track. She wrote 7, for the band to choose which one. She labelled them: 1. Easy 2. Comfortable 3. Normal 4. Possible if I work hard 5. Tough 6. Painfull 7. Hell Akane said "Of course, the band chose Hell"!
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks later, Kanami asks Herman Li what was the fastest Dragonforce song, and says she will write one that is faster. Maybe we will see that soon. There is a video on RUclips of Herman “auditioning” for BAND-MAID where you can see the conversation.
Miku Kobato is a master lyricist who is able to combine Japanese with English in Band-Maid's songs. However, it is not as simple as that as many Japanese words and phrases have little or no English equivalents and vice versa going from English to Japanese. Also, the chosen words of the lyrics must flow within Kanami's song structure, so Miku takes some liberties with the Japanese by shortening some words or using unusual phraseology or dialects that the Japanese audience must unravel for themselves to make sense of the song. Miku keeps a notebook to record unusual English idioms and words she hears that she may want to insert into songs to keep it interesting and relevant for the English speakers. Japanese and English are two very different languages, and it is truly amazing that Miku is able to blend the two without losing the musical intent and meaning of the song.
Very good commentary. Thank you❤ Miku, our little pigeon, is not only a good singer but also the heart of the band. She is very valuable for the band with her great backing vocals and harmonies. Just listen to "Corallium" (live at Eggman) for example. And yes, she started to learn playing an instrument (rhythm guitar) right after they found Saiki as the lead singer. The lead guitarist Kanami is/was her teacher. She/They decided somehow that her voice did not fit well with their hard rock sound, so they were searching for an additional singer and that was Saiki. Miku did her own little solo thing (Cluppo) and also has some Band Maid songs where she does the lead vocals, "Sayonakidori" and "time" for example. .. which have a very special place in our hearts ❤🕊️
The theme was to please the fans who prefer the "Domination" album rock side of BAND-MAID. To which "Manners" lyrically outlines their progress from where they were, to where they want to go which is to "The Unseen World" an album that's a sorta 2 parter, pre and post BAND-MAID. "Black Hole" is the latter. But the ladies do as they please and we just follow blithely in their wake and are glad to do so.
Nick-Names, Drummer-Gorilla, Bass-Barefoot Assassin, lead guitar-Mincho or Princess, singer-Ice Queen, band founder and rhythm guitar, lyrics, and backing vocals-The Small Pigeon.
To get a good idea of the bands insane creativeness react to the song "Corallium, " live. It's not on their channel, but it's OK to react too. 😏♥️🎙🎸🥁😎🤘
Corallium is the definition of wall-of-sound and fast paced, and Band-Maid still manages make it sound groovy. I stopped counting the number of genres involved half way through.
These songs go together because they don't. The juxtaposition between old and new, groovy and fast. Like kawaii maids and hard rock. The gap in full effect.
Great reaction Dad. Check the video sound. Needs to be turned up a notch or 10. These were together due to their dichotomy. Kanami (lead guitar) provides backing tracks for Live. I'm always impressed by how tight they are. They have a few Awesome instrumentals. FROM NOW ON for a rock/metal/prog masterpiece and ONSET-LIVE which cemented my fandom. Peace. 1.52
My understanding of the use of English is for a few reasons: 1. English is easier to make fit with musical phrases than Japanese because of the nature of Japanese with its characters almost always having two syllables so it gets kind of metronomic. They also end up cutting out syllables in Japanese as well to help with this. 2. They know they have a lot of US fans so English is partly for them. 3. Miku really likes play on words, and sometimes she goes as deep to mean something in English and then *also* sound like a word or phrase in Japanese that means something else. As for the phrases in Manners, this whole song’s title is like the “Manner of doing things” so this song was the theme of their album Unseen World and those words kind of represent the things they will keep doing and the progress they intend to make in the future.
The songs are not conected in any way as far as I know apart from both being off the Unseen World album which was released the previous January. This was during covid and I thought that J-LOD was a government backed program to support artists through that time but in fact it was launched in 2019 and followed an earlier program called J-LOP. J-LOD stands for Japanese Content Localization and Distribution grant, operated by the Japanese government's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and managed by the Visual Industry Promotion Organization (VIPO). I gather it had to be a certain length to qualify so 2 songs were put together and there are a couple of others.
I like *"Manners"* a lot. It's a purpose anthem: This is who we are and what we do. The lyrics suggest you come along "to the unseen world" (the name of the album it's from). Actually another reactor famous in the community, Wave Potter, has done an extensive analyses of the lyrics. The "Unseen World" album has two halves. One is Roots (原点回帰盤) and the other is Progress (現点進化盤), indicating their previous music (returning to their roots) and where they intend to go (progressing from this point). I've heard Japanese say Miku Kobato is a poetic lyricist. In a TV interview last March, she explained her use of _yojijukugo,_ Japanese idioms consisting of four kanji where the meaning can't necessarily be derived from their component words. You can look up an explanation of _yojijukugo_ on Wikipedia, but they have a meaning deeper than the obvious translation. They may reference old myths or folklore, or Buddhist wisdom, or anything in the culture. Maybe an equivalent would be: If you say "slow but steady wins the race" everybody knows you're referring to one of Aesop's fables, and you imply more than what the words actually say. Using _yojijukugo_ is awesome but it always leaves me wondering if I actually understand the implications of the words that were used to translate into English. You have to know their literature and culture.
Good ear hearing the horn track on Manners. Most either miss or don't mention it. I've enjoyed your commentary on the Asterism and now Band-Maid reactions enough to win a subscriber. Thanks for the entertainment! For me, one singer Saiki's vocal tone reminds of is Gwen Stefani from her No Doubt days. There are others but that's probably the most recognizable. Looking forward to more! You have a lot of fun Japanese bands to get to if you keep going in that direction!
You would probably like the instrumental music video "From Now On". Also "Shambles" -- commissioned for an anime show. But everything, really. "Blooming" is good, too.
Because you said you like songs where the lead guitar is constantly playing over the vocals, I'd recommend "Puzzle" official live video to you. There's also a great acoustic version of "Puzzle" out there, so you could do a 2in1. My favorite of their acoustics though is definitely "Smile", so beautiful. Thanks 🤘🏻🙂
I love the groove of Manners. I think the difficulty with Black Hole is the unusual placement of the driving accents of the drums giving a hurried feel to the instrumentation.
Saiki (Sigh-key, or the word psyche) Lead singer Miku (Me-coo) Backing vocalist/rhythm guitar Kanami (Kuh-naw-me) Lead guitar MISA (Meece-uh) Bass Akane (Ah-kaw-nay) Drums
Thank you for your wonderful comments. This group has over 130 original songs, all of which are great. All songs are composed by the lead guitarist (who is said to be a genius in composition), and all lyrics are written by the side guitarist. All members, including the bassist, drummer, and vocalist, are all top-class members from around the world. There have been no member changes in the 10 years since its formation. What's really amazing about these guys is on stage. It is currently gaining popularity all over the world. Please enjoy this stage performance. I think it's amazing. ruclips.net/video/a6gvg9Xg4Ao/видео.html
Thanks, and I agree that it's pretty amazing one person can compose music with so many different styles (and I know I've only scratched the surface). And 10 years with the same members is very admirable these days!. For the link you sent, it looks like it's for Dice and Hate. I've received a lot of requests for Dice (MV) and Hate at Lollapalooza, so what I may do is the Dice MV first and then the double-live video you posted.
You will be impressed if you check out the Live version of Puzzle and then the acoustic version. Same song, two amazing and totally unique perspectives of the lyrical content. Kanami (guitar/composer) is a genius at translating their rock music into beautiful acoustic versions.
D'oh! Where can I get Duff? Miku Kobato, the little pigeon, did form the band. She was a Japanese idol winner, but the group she was in never broke through to be successful, but she was under a management contract. She worked in a Maid Cafe in Kumamoto, her hometown and latter in a maid cafe in Tokyo. She pitched the idea of young women, wearing maid costumes, but playing hard rock, to the company. They let her start the band with that concept. If you go to a live Band Maid concert, you will definitely get to know Miku. She has her own Miku's Omajanai time during the concert that gives the audience an understanding of the maid cafe concept. Let's imagine Miku, being a young American female. She would have been the head cheerleader, class president, and, possibly, class valedictorian. She does write the great majority of the amazing lyrics. (Moe, moe, kyun,kyun!!!!!).
Band-Maid has a VERY wide range of songs.... and so they pretty much are genre-less. The have mid-tempo ballads.... classic rock bangers.... prog rock.... punk... metal.... you name it. Hell, even the song "PAGE" feels like it came out of Nashville. Somewhere in their 130+ songs is at least a dozen that anyone will like.
I think they put these songs together to kind of show off the range of their music… manners is a more strait forward jam while black hole is more of a controlled chaos almost flexing their musical talent and such… either way great songs and great reaction!
Just go one at a time with the names. When you get one down , go to the next, 🤣🤣🤣. The barefoot assassin is MISA.😁🎸,her bass is my favorite part of their music. One of their first songs is "Thrill", that music video you can see the rhythm player, Miku, barely touching the guitar, didn't really know how to play then. If you want another double live video, check out "Dice/Hate?" from 2023 Lollapalooza.
There was a Japanese government program that would subsidize artists making videos, however they had to be over 6 minutes long. So Band-Maid combined two songs that were done from one of their online, Covid era, concerts. They did another one also, Dice/Different and that too had two rather different songs. You have good ears. Much better than mine. Thank you for pointing out things I'd never really heard. I'll suggest a couple of older ones from them. Real Existence -Live version and secret MY lips - MV.
I consider Miku as 2nd vocal rather than backup. She sings lead in some songs and in their best songs, she has a part that interweaves with the lead rather than harmonizing or backing it up. By the way, the lead guitar is a keyboard player and creates the non-vocal parts of the backing tracks. She's also songwriter and pre-studio engineer. She sends programmed bass and drum parts to the players who rewrite them and send the data back. Miku writes the lyrics and works with the lead vocal on the vocal arrangement which they send to the lead guitar who puts all together into a final demo. Check out the Blooming MV or the live recording of Corallium at Shibuya Eggman.
You are absorbing various parts of the history and lore of the band--great job after only one song. I think you'll find that they have a kind of charisma reminiscent of the Beatles, where fans love obsessing over the different personalities and quirks of the individual band-members. If you want a wonderful crash course on the band, check out and react to this interview from early in their careers as a band: ruclips.net/video/R4PofsQYwn4/видео.html It is both informative and hilarious, and you'll never struggle to remember the details again. There is also a Part 2 of the interview--the link will pop up when you do part 1.
Just livestreamed watching both parts of the interview and learned a ton, both from the interviews as well as the awesome people in the chat! Thanks again for the recommendation :-)
Another great song of BandMaidr is the amazing Pop/punk song Blooming. Some of Kanami's most enjoyable and longest guitar lead work. In Blooming,Sieki hardly takes a breath and spits out more lyrics in 20 seconds than most bands do in three songs.
There are a lot of "technically" advanced and talented musicians out there, but none of them sound as unique and creative as they do. Groovy, heavy, chunky, funky and aggressive all at the same time. I don't know of any other band in history that had a guitar and a bass playing solo together, not back and forth. Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton? Jeff Beck and Tim Bogert maybe?
WARNING! (maybe your next song?) It's bad MANNERS to stop listening to Band-Maid because you'll feel starved for musical excellence and joy and fall into a BLACK HOLE of emptiness... probably! 😵 Thx, Dad!
Yes, 3 songs, 3 different feels. Band Maid is very diverse. For an example of a live rocking performance try HATE from their 2023 Lollapalooza gig. For an example of Miku as lead vocals try Sayonakidori. There is an electric and an acoustic version, with differing interpretation.
In almost ALL their songs, there is some english. Two of their songs are entirely in english. On average, I would say about 20-30% of their lyrics are in english.
MISA MISA MISA!!!!! MISA MISA MISA!!!!!! Sai-chan hasn't been called Ice Queen since about 2019 and Kanami is usually referred to as Mincho by both the fans and the band NOT Princess (not sure who told you that) and the " Founder" is called the 810 year old Pigeon (calls herself mainly) or Karrupo for short most just call her mad erm Miku the other two are MISA the Bare foot Assassin (you actually got that one right) and the Drummer is Gorilla (used to be "The Beast" )because she is always eating Bananas at Okyu-ji's (Live Shows)
I like your style. You have a good ear. For controlled chaos Different MV is really good (MV better than the live). Very unusual riff. From Now On instrumental is a fantastic compositional piece. Secret My Lips has more shredding through the chorus. Really enjoy your reaction.
Anyone who speaks two languages will tell you that each language contain words which are powerful and that are difficult to express in the other language. That’s one explanation for BAND-MAID using English. Another is that dropping random English words into a song sounds “cool” to a Japanese audience. But I think the main reason is that English words give non-Japanese listeners something to latch on to. Finally, it opens new possibilities for lyrical phrasing. I love the line, “Moto utate (sing more), take over the world … Never ending dreamer.” It just wouldn’t work in all Japanese or all English.
KANAMINCHO is the Queen of Chromatastism. She employs it frequently in their later work. If you want to hear something different, listen to DIFFERENT (OMV). And to SENSE (OMV). Her compositions have definitely become more complex and Prog-oriented, with songs that reveal more upon each listen. Save acoustic songs for later. You still have so much more to hear first. The MANNERS, BLACK HOLE video is just an excerpt from a Covid-era streaming concert.
Great job. If I were you, I'd check their latest songs first (for every reactor usually start the same way 😑😑I tend to find it boring) as they've developped incerdible skills, maturity and incredible songwriting since the first years) I wouldn't hesitate and listen /react to their E.P "UNLEASH!!!!!" as I think it does a better job at portraying this band for what it is. "From now on" is a hell of a song, for its guitars easily replace the singing, as for example. But hey, who am I to tell you what to do ? Thanks !
From my understanding, there is some subtlety missing from one of your statements. They did not get Saiki because Miku was a weak singer, but because of her higher timbre. She didn't think her voice was suited for heavy rock. They also like the contrast between the two vocalists. Miku is less considered a backup singer and more as the second vocalist. You asked for an acoustic song. Try Sayonakidori acoustic version from the Christmas concert (ruclips.net/video/sGzAQigaL14/видео.html) this is one of a handful of songs where Miku sings lead.
Some Japanese bands, old and new. Take your pick: BAND-MAID [All their songs... really!], LOVEBITES [Break the Wall, Raise some Hell, and all the other songs], BABYMETAL [All their songs, because they are all different], MAXIMUM THE HORMONE [Yoshu Fukushu], DEXCORE [Earthworm], CROSSFAITH [Catastrophe], SiM [Killing Me], NINGEN ISU [Heartless Scat], ADO [Unravel (LIVE)], UNLUCKY MORPHEUS [Black Pentagram], YOUSEI TEIKOKU [Astral Dogma, Patriot Anthem (Live)] and their other band: DenKare [Detonator], COLDRAIN [Die Tomorrow], CRYSTAL LAKE [The Circle], GIVEN BY THE FLAMES [Ronove], LONESOME_BLUE [Face the Fear], ANGRY FROG REBIRTH [2Step Syndrome], SILENTLY SHOOTING TRAITORS [Manipulate], ALDIOUS [Dominator], TRiDENT [Ambivalent, Spoopy], KOKESHI [Fetal Sea], BRIDEAR [Light in the Dark, Ignite], CINQ ELEMENT [Destiny], MARY'S BLOOD [Marionette], GRAUPEL [Bereavement], DOLL$BOXX [Take my Chance], SOKONINARU [Tenohira De Odoru], HELLO SLEEPWALKERS [Flying Saucer], TELECiDE [Tied up Memories], NEKO [Ghost on a Record], MARDELAS [G-Metal], MERGINGMOON [Greyen], ROTTENGRAFFTY [Hallelujah], JILUKA [Mephisto, Overkill], BROKEN BY THE SCREAM [Emotion Cross-Counter], FATE GEAR [Unbreakable Wings], LYNCH [Devil], GACHARIC SPIN [Mindset], DIR EN GREY [Ningen wo Kaburu], X JAPAN [Kurenai], DAZZLE VISION [Second], DEVILOOF [Torture] _(Deathcore Band),_ JUPITER [My Enemy], NOKUTO [Life of Desire], GALNERYUS [Angel of Salvation], SAISEIGA [Ride On], BLOOD STAIN CHILD [Del-Sol], NEMOPHILA [Rise, Hypnosis], DADAROMA [Lucid Dream], PaleNeØ [aLiVE], Takayoshi Ohmura [THE CATACLYSM], JILUKA [Overkill, Lluvia, or Venom] _(Electro Gothic Metal Band),_ HANABIE [We Love Sweets, Be the GAL], ZEILE [Deathside], A CROWD OF REBELLION [Re:Create of the Re:d], PALEDUSK [Area PD], POLKADOT STINGRAY [any song], MUTANT MONSTERS [Abnormal], BLACKLAB [Insanity], ASTERISM [Fiction, Rising Moon, Unravel, or Church], NOISEMAKER [Hunter or Prey], BiSH [The Night When Stars Twinkle], SCANDAL [A.M.D.K.J.], DEEP GIRL [I kill], Mrs. GREEN APPLE [Inferno], BRATS [Doudatte Yokatta], THE ORAL CIGARETTES [Frenzy Hey Kids!!], GIRUGAMESH [Drain], LiLiHoLi [From Darkness to Light], THE DEVIL’S KILLING MERRY-GO-ROUND [Diabolos], OTOBOKE BEAVER [Don't Light My Fire, Love is Short], and many many more...
![Stromae, Pomme - “Ma Meilleure Ennemie” (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Visualizer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1F3OGIFnW1k/mqdefault.jpg)
"Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah YEAH!" - Miku Kobato
Precisely.
As an older headbanger, Band-Maid can give me flashbacks to the 70's heavy metal. I hope you get a chance to react to their song "Moratorium" live, there is a section that sounds like a Black Sabbath riff....great reaction, glad you're enjoying the ladies of Band-Maid.
Alright, it's added to the list. I'm really stoked to hear a modern band play something Sabbath-y
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks you need to check out Ningen Isu, if you haven’t. Not completely modern, they have been around about 35 years or so. But, they are considered by some to be very Sabbath-y. Heartless Scat is a good place to start.
Thanks - I'll check them out when I can. It's funny how "35 years" seems old, and then I think that was in the late 80s. And then I realize I'm old.
@mbolden1 in a way, they're like the Japanese Black Sabbath
It's just what fits better melodically between English and japanese
This live performance was recorded as an on-line concert during the lockdowns. The 2 songs were put together to qualify for a Japanese Government relief program for artists in Japan. Manners was much earlier in the concert, and Black Hole was much later in their 2+ hour performance.
Japanese -/= English lots of Japanese and Korean bands will thrown in English words, some of them having no relation to the actual lyrics. Not So With Band-Maid. Yes they do have some English words to help with Pacing in the songs, but most of the English Lyrics they use are related to the Japanese lyrics. But they do from time to time use some English words as fill to pad out a verse, just not as often as other bands. Miku the band founder, second primary vocalist (NOT Backup singer, she is technically a Co-Lead Vocalist, Kanami the Lead Guitarist is a Backing Vocalist {Sometimes}) uses a LOT of metaphor in both Japanese and English, in her lyrics. And many of her lyrics will have multiple meanings depending on the context. She is actually considered to be a very talented poet for her lyrical wordplay in both Japanese and English.
And all of the Ladies do provide vocals for their backing track. However Akane, MISA and Kanami at times have issues singing while playing their instruments, due to just how technical some of their playing gets. There have been 2 occasions that I know of where they had computer issues and all of the Ladies sang while performing. According to attendees of those shows, they sounded just as good, just missing some of the background instrument tracks.
I am hoping some day to see the Ladies perform with a full horn and string section. And the outro of Manners had a backwards played piano and guitar in the backing track.
And Black Hole is their fastest song to date at 220 bpm. About the drums however there is an interesting anecdote from an interview the drummer Akane gave.
May 2021 Player Magazine Interview with Akane
- This time the last song BLACK HOLE had a great impact. In your previous album, Rinne was awesome, though…
Akane: I felt like “Finally this came!” (laughs)
- Finally you played this. I wonder what you will do in the future…
Akane: I wonder too (laughs).
- Was it originally like this in the demo?
Akane: Yes. I had to keep kicking (the bass drum) longer, but it had many parts a human can’t play, so I modified it within the range of a human drummer, and it’s still like this. As for the last bass drum pattern, I made seven or eight patterns, and they were like “Names like ‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’ are not easy to get, so name them according to your level”, so I actually named them like “Easy, Comfortable, Normal, Possible if I work hard, Tough, Painful, Hell”, and they chose “Hell” (laughs). It’s the phrase named “Hell”.
- (laughs) However, didn’t you expect them to definitely choose “Hell”?
Akane: Yes, I expected. I was prepared for it. I was sure they wouldn’t choose “Easy”.
These Ladies constantly strive to improve themselves, never resting on their laurels, always to give us their fans their best.
And Black Hole has been referred to as Prog Thrash Metal a few times. Another anecdote about the drums. Kanami, the lead guitarist and primary composer, asked Akane what was her maximum bpm for playing. She responded 180, Kanami told her here is this song at 220 bpm. And Kanami has stated that her new target speed is 225 bpm if not 230 bpm, in an interview with Herman Lee from Dragon Force.
They currently have 2 acoustic versions of their songs available on the channel right now, however if you can find it, they have a full on-line acoustic concert from Christmas 2021.
And I'll let some other answer about the meanings of both songs. My fingers are a little sore form typing.
Great reaction. The band founder is the rhythm guitarist/second vocals RED flower - Miku (small pigeon). She also writes most of the lyrics and chooses the best word (Japanese or English) that fits sonically/rhythmically. She determined at the beginning of the band that her voice didn't have the rock sound that she wanted and that's why she stepped back and added Saiki (blue Flower). The drummer is gorilla (she eats bananas during the concert to recharge) and the princess is Kanami, lead guitarist.
Hallo. Saiki ist the Ice Princess (her last name Atsumi means Princess) and Kanami is Kanamincho ( it means littel Kanami ( Kanami - 158cm (5'2.2") · Miku - 155cm (5'1") )
@@bender4415who said the nick names had to make sense (to us). 😏. It is what it is.
"Black Hole" uses the perceived notion of falling into a black hole as a metaphor for starting a new relationship. All the uncertainty, chaos, anticipation, and exhilaration.
ps. Your volume for the songs is VERY low. Turn it up, dude!
Thanks - that's strange. I'll take a look
Yep. I had my speaker on max volume and could barely hear the music video. Heard the reactor's voice fine. That's partly my weak speakers, but there is too much difference in volume levels between reactor and music video.
Yep. I had my speaker on max volume and could barely hear the music video. Heard the reactor's voice fine. That's partly my weak speakers, but there is too much difference in volume levels between reactor and music video.
There is an interesting story behind "Black Hole". According to Akane, Kanami asked her how fast she could drum. Akane said around 190 bpm. Then Kanami went off and wrote "Black Hole" that peaks at 220 bpm! So Akane goes and writes the drum patterns for the track. She wrote 7, for the band to choose which one. She labelled them:
1. Easy
2. Comfortable
3. Normal
4. Possible if I work hard
5. Tough
6. Painfull
7. Hell
Akane said "Of course, the band chose Hell"!
Hahaha, that's really cool
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks later, Kanami asks Herman Li what was the fastest Dragonforce song, and says she will write one that is faster. Maybe we will see that soon. There is a video on RUclips of Herman “auditioning” for BAND-MAID where you can see the conversation.
Miku Kobato is a master lyricist who is able to combine Japanese with English in Band-Maid's songs. However, it is not as simple as that as many Japanese words and phrases have little or no English equivalents and vice versa going from English to Japanese. Also, the chosen words of the lyrics must flow within Kanami's song structure, so Miku takes some liberties with the Japanese by shortening some words or using unusual phraseology or dialects that the Japanese audience must unravel for themselves to make sense of the song. Miku keeps a notebook to record unusual English idioms and words she hears that she may want to insert into songs to keep it interesting and relevant for the English speakers. Japanese and English are two very different languages, and it is truly amazing that Miku is able to blend the two without losing the musical intent and meaning of the song.
Very good commentary. Thank you❤
Miku, our little pigeon, is not only a good singer but also the heart of the band. She is very valuable for the band with her great backing vocals and harmonies. Just listen to "Corallium" (live at Eggman) for example.
And yes, she started to learn playing an instrument (rhythm guitar) right after they found Saiki as the lead singer. The lead guitarist Kanami is/was her teacher.
She/They decided somehow that her voice did not fit well with their hard rock sound, so they were searching for an additional singer and that was Saiki.
Miku did her own little solo thing (Cluppo) and also has some Band Maid songs where she does the lead vocals, "Sayonakidori" and "time" for example. .. which have a very special place in our hearts ❤🕊️
Cool stuff, thanks!
.....and apart from all that.........Miku is just fabulously and magically influenced by...........MIKU !!!!!!!!!!!
@@wave8359 Kuruppo!!!!
The theme was to please the fans who prefer the "Domination" album rock side of BAND-MAID. To which "Manners" lyrically outlines their progress from where they were, to where they want to go which is to "The Unseen World" an album that's a sorta 2 parter, pre and post BAND-MAID. "Black Hole" is the latter. But the ladies do as they please and we just follow blithely in their wake and are glad to do so.
Nick-Names, Drummer-Gorilla, Bass-Barefoot Assassin, lead guitar-Mincho or Princess, singer-Ice Queen, band founder and rhythm guitar, lyrics, and backing vocals-The Small Pigeon.
To get a good idea of the bands insane creativeness react
to the song "Corallium, " live. It's not on their channel, but it's OK to react too.
😏♥️🎙🎸🥁😎🤘
Corallium is the definition of wall-of-sound and fast paced, and Band-Maid still manages make it sound groovy. I stopped counting the number of genres involved half way through.
These songs go together because they don't. The juxtaposition between old and new, groovy and fast. Like kawaii maids and hard rock. The gap in full effect.
EXACTLY what I was thinking. The gap, squared.
Great reaction Dad. Check the video sound. Needs to be turned up a notch or 10. These were together due to their dichotomy. Kanami (lead guitar) provides backing tracks for Live. I'm always impressed by how tight they are. They have a few Awesome instrumentals. FROM NOW ON for a rock/metal/prog masterpiece and ONSET-LIVE which cemented my fandom. Peace. 1.52
Thanks! (and I'll look into that)
My understanding of the use of English is for a few reasons: 1. English is easier to make fit with musical phrases than Japanese because of the nature of Japanese with its characters almost always having two syllables so it gets kind of metronomic. They also end up cutting out syllables in Japanese as well to help with this. 2. They know they have a lot of US fans so English is partly for them. 3. Miku really likes play on words, and sometimes she goes as deep to mean something in English and then *also* sound like a word or phrase in Japanese that means something else.
As for the phrases in Manners, this whole song’s title is like the “Manner of doing things” so this song was the theme of their album Unseen World and those words kind of represent the things they will keep doing and the progress they intend to make in the future.
Thanks for the great info!
The songs are not conected in any way as far as I know apart from both being off the Unseen World album which was released the previous January. This was during covid and I thought that J-LOD was a government backed program to support artists through that time but in fact it was launched in 2019 and followed an earlier program called J-LOP. J-LOD stands for Japanese Content Localization and Distribution grant, operated by the Japanese government's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and managed by the Visual Industry Promotion Organization (VIPO). I gather it had to be a certain length to qualify so 2 songs were put together and there are a couple of others.
I like *"Manners"* a lot. It's a purpose anthem: This is who we are and what we do. The lyrics suggest you come along "to the unseen world" (the name of the album it's from). Actually another reactor famous in the community, Wave Potter, has done an extensive analyses of the lyrics. The "Unseen World" album has two halves. One is Roots (原点回帰盤) and the other is Progress (現点進化盤), indicating their previous music (returning to their roots) and where they intend to go (progressing from this point).
I've heard Japanese say Miku Kobato is a poetic lyricist. In a TV interview last March, she explained her use of _yojijukugo,_ Japanese idioms consisting of four kanji where the meaning can't necessarily be derived from their component words. You can look up an explanation of _yojijukugo_ on Wikipedia, but they have a meaning deeper than the obvious translation. They may reference old myths or folklore, or Buddhist wisdom, or anything in the culture. Maybe an equivalent would be: If you say "slow but steady wins the race" everybody knows you're referring to one of Aesop's fables, and you imply more than what the words actually say. Using _yojijukugo_ is awesome but it always leaves me wondering if I actually understand the implications of the words that were used to translate into English. You have to know their literature and culture.
That's really interesting. I hate that I might not get the idioms, but with music so good I think I'm ok with that :-)
Good ear hearing the horn track on Manners. Most either miss or don't mention it. I've enjoyed your commentary on the Asterism and now Band-Maid reactions enough to win a subscriber. Thanks for the entertainment! For me, one singer Saiki's vocal tone reminds of is Gwen Stefani from her No Doubt days. There are others but that's probably the most recognizable. Looking forward to more! You have a lot of fun Japanese bands to get to if you keep going in that direction!
Sorry if this is a double response (I swear I responded already), but thanks for the sub, and I think for sure it was Gwen Stefani - thanks!
The video audio is almost inaudible... 😵💫
Sorry - will look into that!
Please crank it up, Dad. Band-Maid ain't no dinner music! 🤘😂
Haha, yeah, sorry. One of my settings got turned down by accident. Won't happen again!
You would probably like the instrumental music video "From Now On". Also "Shambles" -- commissioned for an anime show. But everything, really. "Blooming" is good, too.
Thanks for the recs!
Because you said you like songs where the lead guitar is constantly playing over the vocals, I'd recommend "Puzzle" official live video to you. There's also a great acoustic version of "Puzzle" out there, so you could do a 2in1.
My favorite of their acoustics though is definitely "Smile", so beautiful.
Thanks 🤘🏻🙂
Thanks! I actually already planned a double reaction of the two Puzzle versions. :-)
I love the groove of Manners.
I think the difficulty with Black Hole is the unusual placement of the driving accents of the drums giving a hurried feel to the instrumentation.
Yes, that could be!
MISA always has a can of local beer on her amp. It used to be a bottle of whiskey.
I can see maybe needed to tone it down a bit with music of that complexity :-)
Saiki (Sigh-key, or the word psyche) Lead singer
Miku (Me-coo) Backing vocalist/rhythm guitar
Kanami (Kuh-naw-me) Lead guitar
MISA (Meece-uh) Bass
Akane (Ah-kaw-nay) Drums
Thanks - those are some of the best pronunciation helpers I've seen yet :-)
Thank you for your wonderful comments. This group has over 130 original songs, all of which are great. All songs are composed by the lead guitarist (who is said to be a genius in composition), and all lyrics are written by the side guitarist. All members, including the bassist, drummer, and vocalist, are all top-class members from around the world. There have been no member changes in the 10 years since its formation. What's really amazing about these guys is on stage. It is currently gaining popularity all over the world. Please enjoy this stage performance. I think it's amazing.
ruclips.net/video/a6gvg9Xg4Ao/видео.html
Thanks, and I agree that it's pretty amazing one person can compose music with so many different styles (and I know I've only scratched the surface). And 10 years with the same members is very admirable these days!. For the link you sent, it looks like it's for Dice and Hate. I've received a lot of requests for Dice (MV) and Hate at Lollapalooza, so what I may do is the Dice MV first and then the double-live video you posted.
band maid. acoustic song
BAND MAID/サヨナキドリ”sayonakidori”
Acoustic Ver.(Official Live Video)
It takes an acquired test to like Black hole, I love it 😂
You will be impressed if you check out the Live version of Puzzle and then the acoustic version. Same song, two amazing and totally unique perspectives of the lyrical content. Kanami (guitar/composer) is a genius at translating their rock music into beautiful acoustic versions.
Others have said the same thing about doing both versions. I will likely do that reasonably soon.
D'oh! Where can I get Duff? Miku Kobato, the little pigeon, did form the band. She was a Japanese idol winner, but the group she was in never broke through to be successful, but she was under a management contract. She worked in a Maid Cafe in Kumamoto, her hometown and latter in a maid cafe in Tokyo. She pitched the idea of young women, wearing maid costumes, but playing hard rock, to the company. They let her start the band with that concept. If you go to a live Band Maid concert, you will definitely get to know Miku. She has her own Miku's Omajanai time during the concert that gives the audience an understanding of the maid cafe concept. Let's imagine Miku, being a young American female. She would have been the head cheerleader, class president, and, possibly, class valedictorian. She does write the great majority of the amazing lyrics. (Moe, moe, kyun,kyun!!!!!).
Thanks, that's good info!
Band-Maid has a VERY wide range of songs.... and so they pretty much are genre-less.
The have mid-tempo ballads.... classic rock bangers.... prog rock.... punk... metal.... you name it. Hell, even the song "PAGE" feels like it came out of Nashville.
Somewhere in their 130+ songs is at least a dozen that anyone will like.
I think they put these songs together to kind of show off the range of their music… manners is a more strait forward jam while black hole is more of a controlled chaos almost flexing their musical talent and such… either way great songs and great reaction!
Thx!
Just go one at a time with the names. When you get one down , go to the next, 🤣🤣🤣. The barefoot assassin is MISA.😁🎸,her bass is my favorite part of their music.
One of their first songs is "Thrill", that music video you can see the rhythm player, Miku, barely touching the guitar, didn't really know how to play then.
If you want another double live video, check out "Dice/Hate?" from 2023 Lollapalooza.
There was a Japanese government program that would subsidize artists making videos, however they had to be over 6 minutes long. So Band-Maid combined two songs that were done from one of their online, Covid era, concerts. They did another one also, Dice/Different and that too had two rather different songs. You have good ears. Much better than mine. Thank you for pointing out things I'd never really heard.
I'll suggest a couple of older ones from them. Real Existence -Live version and secret MY lips - MV.
Thank you, and thanks for the recommendations :-)
Saiki has the power, Miku the range PO !
I consider Miku as 2nd vocal rather than backup. She sings lead in some songs and in their best songs, she has a part that interweaves with the lead rather than harmonizing or backing it up. By the way, the lead guitar is a keyboard player and creates the non-vocal parts of the backing tracks. She's also songwriter and pre-studio engineer. She sends programmed bass and drum parts to the players who rewrite them and send the data back. Miku writes the lyrics and works with the lead vocal on the vocal arrangement which they send to the lead guitar who puts all together into a final demo. Check out the Blooming MV or the live recording of Corallium at Shibuya Eggman.
Thanks for the info and the links. Really cool about Miku's extra activities!
Song volume is ver low. Good reaction.
Thanks - sorry about the sound. Fixed it for the next ones
You are absorbing various parts of the history and lore of the band--great job after only one song. I think you'll find that they have a kind of charisma reminiscent of the Beatles, where fans love obsessing over the different personalities and quirks of the individual band-members. If you want a wonderful crash course on the band, check out and react to this interview from early in their careers as a band: ruclips.net/video/R4PofsQYwn4/видео.html It is both informative and hilarious, and you'll never struggle to remember the details again. There is also a Part 2 of the interview--the link will pop up when you do part 1.
Thanks for that link - I'll definitely take a look at that!
Just livestreamed watching both parts of the interview and learned a ton, both from the interviews as well as the awesome people in the chat! Thanks again for the recommendation :-)
@@DadDaughtersandDrinks what time zone are you in???
Central
Very astute observations finding the uniqueness of BM.Try "From Now On" OMV. Rock at its finest 🤟
Thanks, it's on the list!
Another great song of BandMaidr is the amazing Pop/punk song Blooming. Some of Kanami's most enjoyable and longest guitar lead work. In Blooming,Sieki hardly takes a breath and spits out more lyrics in 20 seconds than most bands do in three songs.
Black Hole is progrock on Speed
There are a lot of "technically" advanced and talented musicians out there, but none of them sound as unique and creative as they do. Groovy, heavy, chunky, funky and aggressive all at the same time. I don't know of any other band in history that had a guitar and a bass playing solo together, not back and forth. Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton? Jeff Beck and Tim Bogert maybe?
You react to the best videos, I’ve been looking for more reactions to this so you’re just on time
And I got my food 🍕
Ha, I'm not used to being dinner theater! (pizza would indeed be my choice though)
WARNING! (maybe your next song?) It's bad MANNERS to stop listening to Band-Maid because you'll feel starved for musical excellence and joy and fall into a BLACK HOLE of emptiness... probably! 😵 Thx, Dad!
Ha, I see what you did there.
Yes, 3 songs, 3 different feels. Band Maid is very diverse. For an example of a live rocking performance try HATE from their 2023 Lollapalooza gig. For an example of Miku as lead vocals try Sayonakidori. There is an electric and an acoustic version, with differing interpretation.
Thanks for the recommendations. I have HATE and Sayonakidori (acoustic) already on the list, but I'll add the electric version as well.
In almost ALL their songs, there is some english. Two of their songs are entirely in english.
On average, I would say about 20-30% of their lyrics are in english.
MISA MISA MISA!!!!! MISA MISA MISA!!!!!! Sai-chan hasn't been called Ice Queen since about 2019 and Kanami is usually referred to as Mincho by both the fans and the band NOT Princess (not sure who told you that) and the " Founder" is called the 810 year old Pigeon (calls herself mainly) or Karrupo for short most just call her mad erm Miku the other two are MISA the Bare foot Assassin (you actually got that one right) and the Drummer is Gorilla (used to be "The Beast" )because she is always eating Bananas at Okyu-ji's (Live Shows)
I like your style. You have a good ear. For controlled chaos Different MV is really good (MV better than the live). Very unusual riff. From Now On instrumental is a fantastic compositional piece. Secret My Lips has more shredding through the chorus.
Really enjoy your reaction.
Thank you very much! And also for the recs. From Now On is at or near the top of the list; the others I didn't have (but do now :-) )
Anyone who speaks two languages will tell you that each language contain words which are powerful and that are difficult to express in the other language. That’s one explanation for BAND-MAID using English. Another is that dropping random English words into a song sounds “cool” to a Japanese audience. But I think the main reason is that English words give non-Japanese listeners something to latch on to. Finally, it opens new possibilities for lyrical phrasing.
I love the line, “Moto utate (sing more), take over the world … Never ending dreamer.” It just wouldn’t work in all Japanese or all English.
I think that's a very solid explanation. And of course, none of those reasons are mutually exclusive.
Its common thing to use both japanese and english in a song. Actually its quite common in east asia.
KANAMINCHO is the Queen of Chromatastism. She employs it frequently in their later work.
If you want to hear something different, listen to DIFFERENT (OMV). And to SENSE (OMV). Her compositions have definitely become more complex and Prog-oriented, with songs that reveal more upon each listen.
Save acoustic songs for later. You still have so much more to hear first.
The MANNERS, BLACK HOLE video is just an excerpt from a Covid-era streaming concert.
Great job. If I were you, I'd check their latest songs first (for every reactor usually start the same way 😑😑I tend to find it boring) as they've developped incerdible skills, maturity and incredible songwriting since the first years) I wouldn't hesitate and listen /react to their E.P "UNLEASH!!!!!" as I think it does a better job at portraying this band for what it is. "From now on" is a hell of a song, for its guitars easily replace the singing, as for example. But hey, who am I to tell you what to do ? Thanks !
Hey, I appreciate the alternate view!
Kazari eigo = Decoration English
Great reaction - but sadly you might have been the only one that heard the music - your video volume was SUPER low 🤷♂
Sorry about that. Fixed for next time.
Others may actually know about the Japanese/English thing, but it may have something to do with bar lengths when composing.
What happened to the sound??---extremely muted/muffled at my end....................................
Yeah, sorry. I did figure out only after the fact that there was a bad setting. Sorry!
Thanks for responding !---and best wishes,@@DadDaughtersandDrinks
Are you sporting The Duran cap? Great channel.
I'm not sure what Duran is; my hat is the symbol for the rebels in Star Wars. Thanks!
From my understanding, there is some subtlety missing from one of your statements. They did not get Saiki because Miku was a weak singer, but because of her higher timbre. She didn't think her voice was suited for heavy rock. They also like the contrast between the two vocalists. Miku is less considered a backup singer and more as the second vocalist. You asked for an acoustic song. Try Sayonakidori acoustic version from the Christmas concert (ruclips.net/video/sGzAQigaL14/видео.html) this is one of a handful of songs where Miku sings lead.
Thanks for the link and the correction :)
Some Japanese bands, old and new. Take your pick: BAND-MAID [All their songs... really!], LOVEBITES [Break the Wall, Raise some Hell, and all the other songs], BABYMETAL [All their songs, because they are all different], MAXIMUM THE HORMONE [Yoshu Fukushu], DEXCORE [Earthworm], CROSSFAITH [Catastrophe], SiM [Killing Me], NINGEN ISU [Heartless Scat], ADO [Unravel (LIVE)], UNLUCKY MORPHEUS [Black Pentagram], YOUSEI TEIKOKU [Astral Dogma, Patriot Anthem (Live)] and their other band: DenKare [Detonator], COLDRAIN [Die Tomorrow], CRYSTAL LAKE [The Circle], GIVEN BY THE FLAMES [Ronove], LONESOME_BLUE [Face the Fear], ANGRY FROG REBIRTH [2Step Syndrome], SILENTLY SHOOTING TRAITORS [Manipulate], ALDIOUS [Dominator], TRiDENT [Ambivalent, Spoopy], KOKESHI [Fetal Sea], BRIDEAR [Light in the Dark, Ignite], CINQ ELEMENT [Destiny], MARY'S BLOOD [Marionette], GRAUPEL [Bereavement], DOLL$BOXX [Take my Chance], SOKONINARU [Tenohira De Odoru], HELLO SLEEPWALKERS [Flying Saucer], TELECiDE [Tied up Memories], NEKO [Ghost on a Record], MARDELAS [G-Metal], MERGINGMOON [Greyen], ROTTENGRAFFTY [Hallelujah], JILUKA [Mephisto, Overkill], BROKEN BY THE SCREAM [Emotion Cross-Counter], FATE GEAR [Unbreakable Wings], LYNCH [Devil], GACHARIC SPIN [Mindset], DIR EN GREY [Ningen wo Kaburu], X JAPAN [Kurenai], DAZZLE VISION [Second], DEVILOOF [Torture] _(Deathcore Band),_ JUPITER [My Enemy], NOKUTO [Life of Desire], GALNERYUS [Angel of Salvation], SAISEIGA [Ride On], BLOOD STAIN CHILD [Del-Sol], NEMOPHILA [Rise, Hypnosis], DADAROMA [Lucid Dream], PaleNeØ [aLiVE], Takayoshi Ohmura [THE CATACLYSM], JILUKA [Overkill, Lluvia, or Venom] _(Electro Gothic Metal Band),_ HANABIE [We Love Sweets, Be the GAL], ZEILE [Deathside], A CROWD OF REBELLION [Re:Create of the Re:d], PALEDUSK [Area PD], POLKADOT STINGRAY [any song], MUTANT MONSTERS [Abnormal], BLACKLAB [Insanity], ASTERISM [Fiction, Rising Moon, Unravel, or Church], NOISEMAKER [Hunter or Prey], BiSH [The Night When Stars Twinkle], SCANDAL [A.M.D.K.J.], DEEP GIRL [I kill], Mrs. GREEN APPLE [Inferno], BRATS [Doudatte Yokatta], THE ORAL CIGARETTES [Frenzy Hey Kids!!], GIRUGAMESH [Drain], LiLiHoLi [From Darkness to Light], THE DEVIL’S KILLING MERRY-GO-ROUND [Diabolos], OTOBOKE BEAVER [Don't Light My Fire, Love is Short], and many many more...
That's all you've got? hahaha
Japanese Math Metal Band : SOKONINARU [Tenohira De Odoru]
Dude ....keep an eye on volume !!!!! can barely hear
Sorry about that. Won't happen again.
Nope. Mostly wrong. But it'll come with time.
There was some kind of knocking sound during blackhole that was off beat....too bad
Heh, I think he was tapping his foot or slapping his thigh.
@@HuginMunin If he had the volume turned up where it should be, we wouldn't have heard that.
Sorry, not sure what happened there. Will look into it
I agree with the statement by @Dean_MIDI.
Sound?
Figured it out. Won't happen again.