Thursday, August 19, 2010

夏: SCANDAL - TEMPTATION BOX

Temptation Box, SCANDAL's 2nd full-length album to date, was released just last week on 11/8 and needless to say after a week of listening to it I had to do a review.

In case you didn't know, SCANDAL are a 4-girl pop/rock band from Osaka, formed in 2006. They debuted in 2008 under indie label Kitty Records, went on a US tour, played at anime conventions in France and Hong Kong, before getting a major debut under Epic Records. They released their debut album "BEST SCANDAL" in 2009.

SCANDAL are Haruna (guitar), Tomomi (bass), Mami (guitar) and Rina (drums).


At first listen it doesn't impress as much as their first album, "Best Scandal". I would say this album leans a bit too much to the pop-ish side compared to what I was used to, but then again "Best Scandal" was all out rock. I'd say its a more balanced album that may appeal to the mainstream pop listeners - many of the new songs are definitely radio material.

Tracklist:

1) EVERYBODY SAY YEAH
2) Taiyou to Kimi ga Egaku STORY
3) Shunkan Sentimental
4) Houkago 1H
5) Namida no Regret
6) Hi-Hi-Hi
7) Shoujo M
8) GIRLism
9) Playboy Part II
10) Hello! Hello!
11) Aitai
12) Sayonara My Friend

Notable tracks (as usual, I'll intro the newer songs):
Note: All links are provided to give you a preview, please refrain from downloading and buy the album instead

1) EVERYBODY SAY YEAH
I liked this song the first time I listened to it. It makes for a perfect opening song with its upbeat techno-rock feel, and the chorus is downright addictive. Its quite obvious that they wrote this song for live performances - its hard to not bounce along to the beat and scream "yeah!" every time the chorus comes along. The bass octaves and the guitar wahs interspersed throughout the song contribute to the overall "hell yeah lets dance!" feel. Definitely the best song on the album.

5) Namida no Regret
Its their latest single before the album was released, and probably their saddest song so far. The song itself is simple, straightforward and impactful, with the strings thrown in for the ballad-ish effect. Rather, its Haruna's vocals that shine on this track, expressing the poignant emotions directed by the lyrics, which tells of breakups and moving on. Its no coincidence that the title is translated as "Tears of Regret". The ending "lalala" part may be slightly cheesy to some, but it ends the song pretty well.

6) Hi-Hi-Hi
I'd like to imagine the girls were high on Red Bull and caffeine when they were composing this song. This is probably one of their more technically challenging songs, and I'm not just referring to the instruments - if they sang any faster during the verses I think they'd bite their tongues. Strange title, random "Hi Hi Hi"s and the overusage of synth aside, its one of those in-your-face rock out songs. Heck, Tomomi even does a mean slap bass solo midway through after Mami's done with hers \m/

9) Playboy Part II
Unlike the original Playboy, Part II discards the synth and techno-esque feel (thankfully) and goes back to old-school rock. And when I mean old-school, I really mean it. The verses sound as if they came out of retro Chinese (more likely Japanese, for them) records with the upbeat (as opposed to downbeat) guitar riffs and the super old-school basslines. Luckily, it also retains the catchy-ness of the original. I love this song just because of its retro-ness.

11) Aitai
Another straightforward and simple song. Like Namida no Regret, Aitai also brings out the best in Haruna's singing. The title "Aitai" means "I want to meet you" and you can really feel that in her voice. The vocals do get a bit overwhelmed by the instruments during the verses though, but as the song goes into the chorus the rest of the band chimes in to support. Its songs like these that make you wonder if the girls are moving towards a softer sound in their songs, and I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way. This is definitely one of their more mature works.

And now the rest of the tracks:

2) Taiyou to Kimi ga Egaku STORY
This single was released sometime in June which explains the summer-feel to the whole song. Very cheerful and upbeat, and if you've watched the PV you'd agree with me. Its that sort of feel good song that brings a smile to your face.

3) Shunkan Sentimental
This was probably the single that propelled them to their current popularity (after Shoujo S), which was chosen as the ending song for the crazily popular FullMetal Alchemist. The song oozes power rock from start to end, and probably ranks among one of their most kickass rock songs.

4) Houkago 1H
Tomomi does the singing on this track, and while her high pitched vocals matches nicely with Haruna's lower and huskier singing on other songs, I don't think its suited for a full song, especially not when she piles on the extra kawaii by emulating Hirasawa Yui from K-ON! Still, its bearable and if you look past the squeaky vocals its actually a pretty cute song with cute lyrics.

7) Shoujo M
I thought it'll be a sequel to "Shoujo S", but apparently the "M" stands for Mami, who does the vocals in this track. A rather average track, with Mami's unique voice given a leading role (she usually does harmonies). Too much synth if you ask me (sounds like those robot catching machines), but definitely a catchy song (pun intended) with a nice chorus.

8) GIRLism
This song reminds me of another song by MICA 3 CHU - "I Don't Know". Like "I Don't Know", GIRLism sounds pretty much like a badass girl-power punk song. Definitely headbanging stuff, if not for the questionable lyrics "Yes is no! No is yes!" (?!?!)

10) Hello! Hello!
Nothing special to me, just another typical SCANDAL pop/rock number. Easy on the ear, very radio-friendly, upbeat and cheerful.

12) Sayonara My Friend
I expected this to be a ballad, and it did turn out to be a ballad, albeit a slightly more cheerful one. From the title its probably meant to be a goodbye song, built along the same lines as "Sakura Goodbye" from their first album. The inclusion of the accoustic guitar is a nice touch, and this time the "la la la" parts do sound a tad too cheesy. Still, the lyrics are certainly very meaningful.


Overall I'd say the album is quite well-balanced with a good mix of fast, punchy songs, cheerful upbeat songs as well as slower melodic ballads. In terms of quality "Temptation Box" definitely sounds more polished compared to the raw sound of "Best Scandal", but somehow the songs don't resonate as well with me. For first time listeners to SCANDAL this album might seem a little underwhelming, and for that reason I'd recommend a listen to "Best Scandal". But of course fans of the band wouldn't want to give "Temptation Box" a miss.

"Temptation Box" is now on sale in Japan, Hong Kong and online stores. Singaporean fans, the overseas version has yet to hit our shores, so I guess we'll have to wait a little longer, or order online (I already did :P)

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Just a little update, Quis will be performing as part of the YOG celebrations at *Scape, next to Orchard Cineleisure, this Sunday 22 August, from 4.30p.m onwards. Come down and enjoy the music!


3 comments:

  1. EugeneAng10:16 PM

    I'd prefer BEST SCANDAL to Temptation Box too,songs like Hitotsu Dake and Maboroshi night,especially Maboroshi Night,always gets me.That said,i like TempBox too,some songs were average but the rest were,i'll say,business as usual for SCANDAL.

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  2. Anonymous10:27 PM

    I'm just a bit annoyed how you review these songs without even knowing what they're singing about. If you can't understand the language, please look at a translation before you put out such a big review.

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  3. I did look at the translations so I'm not sure what you're referring to exactly... anyhow, my opinions are largely based on the musical aspect and since I'm not a native Japanese speaker I don't go deep into lyrics...

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