Touhou Discussion Thread - Page 20

Obviously, as I said before, the main "twist" of this album is that it's CC's first with vocals. The result sort of strays from what one might know CC's style to be, but what it offers is incredibly refreshing and all-around excellent.

Track Listing:

• 1. Septette for the Dead Princess
  
• 2. Oriental Memory of Forgathering Dream
  
• 3. Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion
  
• 4. Gensokyo, Past and Present ~ Flower Land
  
• 5. Septette for the Dead Princess (Acoustic)
  
• 6. Touhou Judgment in the Sixtieth Year ~ Fate of Sixty Years
  
• 7. Oriental Memory of Forgathering Dream (Acoustic)

All of the songs are INCREDIBLY well done. The two vocalists, Show Ikeda and Meramipop, are simply perfect; something about their voices just fits with CC so well. I dunno where CC found them, but if I ever meet them, I'll have to treat them to dinner or something. It's just that amazing.

Anyway. Septette and Oriental Memory both have acoustic versions that are much slower and calmer than their metal incarnations, and honestly, I like the acoustic ones better. They're so calming, it's like they're medicinal. The metal versions are of course excellent (Septette more so than Oriental Memory), but I really do prefer the slower stuff.

Nuclear Fusion is FAR AND AWAY the best track on the album. The high notes are hit JUST right, and it's all so awesome. The only problem is a major one, unfortunately: The track is so short! It's only two and a half minutes! I was so dearly hoping for a four- or five-minute aural orgasm, but alas, it did not happen. Nevertheless, it's so fucking awesome that you have to listen to it, even if you don't like metal: + Show Spoiler [Nuclear Fusion] +
Now, Flower Land and Fate of Sixty Years are perhaps my least favorites. They're not bad by any means, but the other tracks are just better. Flower Land tops Sixty Years, though. Something about the latter track just rubs me the wrong way somehow. I don't really know why... maybe it's because I'm not a fan of the song in general. Shiki is awesome, but her theme song... not so much.

All in all, the variety that From the Bottom of the Heart gives really helps to ease the repetition that CC albums sometimes expound. Definitely one of my favorite vocal albums.

Oh, and Yuuka looks fucking awesome on the album cover. Something about women in suits...

Track Listing:

• 1. Bad Apple!!
  
• 2. Tomboyish Girl in Love
  
• 3. Voyage 1969
  
• 4. Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
  
• 5. Faith is for the Transient People
  
• 6. Septette for the Dead Princess

Let's start with Bad Apple!!, possibly the most recognized Touhou song, if that stop-motion thing all over YouTube is any indication. This one surprised me, because the vocals are pretty much all English (wtf?). Unfortunately, while Senya's English is excellent, and clearly not the broken language that some of the doujin circles love to spout out every now and then, something just seems off about this song. The shortest track on the album is also the one with the worst transitional beat. I can't really describe what I mean, but if you listen to it, you'll know what part I mean.

Tomboyish Girl in Love, on the other hand, is very good, and definitely representative of why I like YS's music. Back to Japanese, which I find far more natural, and Senya's voice is definitely more appealing that way, at least for me. Not much else to say, other than Icheon lends his guitar for some bitchin' solos here. A solid track, and fairly even-paced. Not too fast, not too slow.

That's not the case with Voyage 1969, though. This track places a lot more emphasis on what I suppose would be called "club beats", the sort of thing you'd hear in a dance club or something. I don't like this one too much, for a few reasons. First off, I don't like Voyage 1969, but that's just me. Secondly, Senya tries a heavier style of vocals that I can't say I care for. Since Senya is the "make it or break it" member of Yuuhei Satellite, that kinda kills it. If I was to remove one song on the album, this one would be it.

I thought it would be the same way for Immortal Smoke, another piece I don't like in general. It's a lot better than the Voyage 1969 arrangement, though, and I was pleasantly surprised by how I found myself unconsciously tapping my foot to the (admittedly) catchy beat. No unnatural voice inflection here; this is Autobahn's best instrumental of the album, and Senya is again on the ball.

Faith is for the Transient People is an odd one. It's probably the fastest song on the album, and I really like the beat and vocals here... but I don't really hear Transient People in it at all. Maybe I'm retarded, but I've tried to find it in there, and I just can't. Still nice, though.

Septette is the album winner for me. I don't like the metal (or at least guitar heavy) variants of Septette that CROW'SCLAW or Dark PHOENiX like to do, so I love it when a slow-paced version is very well done. YS does this splendidly, with a slow piano intro and calm vocals leading into a slightly more energetic trance line, while still blessing the listener with soothing vocals form Senya. My favorite track on the album.

Overall, I found Koakuma Ringo to be worth downloading. There are a few hiccups and awkward song portions (Bad Apple!! and Voyage 1969 in particular), but Tomboyish Girl, Transient People and Septette make up for those shortcomings.

Track Listing:

• 1. The Mystery in Your Town (Yuki)
  
• 2. Year-Round Absorbed Curiosity (Yuki)
  
• 3. The Doll Maker of Bucuresti (ucchi)
  
• 4. Extend Ash ~ Hourai Victim (ucchi)
  
• 5. Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17 / Shanghai Teahouse ~ Chinese Tea (Yuki)
  
• 6. Because Princess Inada is Scolding Me (ucchi)
  
• 7. The Last Judgment (Yuki)
  
• 8. Interdimensional Voyage of a Ghostly Passenger Ship

One of the standout things about this album is that the majority of the songs, at least for me, are fairly unknown to me. I'm not too familiar with pieces like The Doll Maker of Bucuresti and The Mystery in Your Town, so at least that part was refreshing.

Speaking of Mystery... I dunno. It's Yuki singing, so it definitely has that "cutesy" feel to it. But... it's just all the same! Almost everything Yuki does is pretty damn similar. I enjoy her music, but c'mon. At least she had variety in Fate of Blood and ESCALATION. Ah, well. To be honest, this track is unremarkable.

Fortunately, Yuki mixes shit up in YRAC. Maybe it's because I loved the track in Great Fairy Wars, but the rhythm is quite catchy in this incarnation. Yellow Zebra needs more guitar once in a while, and this song delivers it. My second favorite song.

Then we have ucchi's debut in this album with Doll Maker. Again, this is another fairly unremarkable track. I love ucchi's slower and more suspenseful works, and this is not one of them. The pop-ish stuff is best left to Yuki.

Which is why I enjoy Hourai Victim so much. This song is where ucchi shines. I don't even like Hourai Victim (actually, it's probably more accurate to say I don't like Fujiwara no Mokou), but goddamnit, they made it work here. This sort of mellow, string-filled piece is ideal for me here. Soft piano intro that segues into strings. ucchi kinda butchers some high notes, but other than that, very good. Nice... and slow... and calm... and then you reach the middle of the song.

And nothing changes, because ucchi is awesome.

Now, Shangai Alice/Tea is a weird one. I've NEVER heard either of these songs done so slowly, so it was quite interesting. Unfortunately, Yuki steps in for this one, and like I said, I feel ucchi is better suited for that. Despite that, Yuki does a great job, especially at hitting the high notes.

And now we have the crown jewel, Princess Inada. ucchi does this, and although it's fast paced, I make an exception here. The song starts out sort of subdued and uninteresting, but around the one-minute mark, the chorus hits, and I FUCKING LOVE THAT CHORUS. It's so friggin' excellent. Definitely a must-listen if you like Yellow Zebra.

I can't really comment on The Last Judgment, because I've never heard of it before this album... it's probably a PC-98 thing, but I'm too lazy to check. Anyway, Yuki stays pretty much the same. As usual. Something about the chorus turns me off; maybe it's the way Yuki handles the high notes, but I don't like it. Not really the best track in the world, but meh.

And finally, Ghostly Passenger Ship. I HATE THIS SONG in UFO, I really do. I can't stand it. But, in traditional ucchi fashion, slowing it down and adding some strings and stuff makes it quite nice. It's a pretty long song, at seven and a half minutes, and all of it is just awesome. The synth work in particular is very well done.

All in all, Point and Eternity is sort of hit and miss with the tracks. It's the sort of album I would listen to if offered, but I wouldn't buy it instantly. It might be because I'm spoiled from growing indoctrinated to ESCALATION (their best album, imo). I dunno.

Track Listing:

• 1. Catastrophe in Bhava-Agra ~ Wonderful Heaven
  
• 2. Shanghai Teahouse ~ Chinese Tea
  
• 3. Ghostly Band ~ Phantom Ensemble
  
• 4. Plain Asia
  
• 5. Deaf to All but the Song
  
• 6. Oriental Memory of Forgathering Dream

Like I said before, the main selling point of Liz Triangle is their astounding variety. Some of their albums have every song sound COMPLETELY different, and you wouldn't know that they all came from the same circle if Lily-ann wasn't singing in nearly all of them. I love that refreshing mix-up, and I was not disappointed with S4U, which remains secure in that ever-changing style.

(As a side note, some of Liz Triangle's album names tend to be abbreviations; their two best albums, which focus on boss themes from post-PC98 games, are appropriately named B1 and B2 {Boss 1 and Boss 2}. This one, S4U, is short for "A Song for You". I just thought that was interesting.)

On to the first track, Wonderful Heaven. This one is fairly obscure for a Touhou theme, coming as it did from Scarlet Weather Rhapsody's Tenshi Hinanai. Right away, the mood and energy in this song are at a fever pitch; the drum and bass meld with the panpipes and synth, and subsequently make way for Lily-ann and the guitar line. Fast-paced and upbeat, the vocals are off to a great start in the first song of the album. Overall, an excellent piece.

Shanghai Teahouse. This one was WEIRD. The first fifteen seconds are completely unrecognizable as China's stage theme, until the horns kick in with the familiar chorus, and continue throughout the piece. The tempo changes drastically throughout the entire four minutes of the track, and Lily-ann displays her impressive voice inflection abilities. I'm not exactly enthralled by the tone she used here, but I'm not opposed to it, either. Otherwise, I'm not sure whether I really like this one, because while I did say I loved the variety Liz Triangle displays, this version of Shanghai Teahouse is so out of the element I've associated with the tune that it seems almost jarring. Maybe I'm wrong, and you'll enjoy it, but it's not my favorite track.

Before this album, I hadn't heard a version of Phantom Ensemble that I didn't like. Too bad Liz Triangle came along and kinda butchered it. Perhaps the most "cutesy pop" of the six songs, I admit the chorus was a bit catchy. I honestly cannot say it was amazing, though, or even decent; it sounded like some theme for a children's TV show. Points for effort, though.

I LOVE Plain Asia. That theme doesn't get enough press time, so I get excited when I see it on the album listing. Lily-ann shines here, in my opinion, really belting out those notes so well. However, some may despise this song. Why? Because Peko, the resident rapper of S4U, makes his debut here. He's capable of AMAZING things, as shown in this delightful work of art, and while I feel he handles the slow pace of Plain Asia marvelously, others might disagree. In any case, I really loved this one, and Plain Asia has yet to fail me. One of the two highlights of S4U.

There are good remixes of Deaf, and there are bad ones. I've heard plenty of bad ones, but the only two that I've so far enjoyed immensely have been that of Dark PHOENiX and this one. Dark PHOENiX's is very quick and synth-rock based... but this one is something else. Lily-ann puts on the performance of a lifetime here (exaggeration, but meh), delivering some of the BEST vocals I've ever heard. The soft piano melody is so serene and beautiful; you'll definitely savor every minute of this one. The other highlight of S4U.

And finally, we have Oriental Memory. THIS ONE IS SO FUCKING WEIRD, AND YET SO AWESOME. We start with a sitar-like instrument leading into another piano melody to serve as a backdrop for Lily-ann. For about thirty seconds.

And then all hell breaks loose.

I cannot describe what happens after those thirty seconds, but it is brilliant. You need to hear this for yourself to get what I mean. Maybe I'm hyping this up a bit too much, but oh my god, it was different.

I'm pleased with this one. Phantom Ensemble was the major gaffe in S4U, but the rest of the tracks are so awesome and diverse that I give my seal of approval. This and B2 are the cream of the crop for Liz Triangle.

1 - Magus Light
2 - Nostalgic Blood of the East ~ Old World
3 - Love-Coloured Master Spark
4 - Candid Friend
5 - Mystic Oriental Dream ~ Ancient Temple
6 - Lunatic Eyes ~ Invisible Full Moon
7 - Higan Retour ~ Riverside View
8 - Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle



So the first song is from 12.8, Magus Light. The song starts with nice electric guitar intro, which leads into the vocals. With a nice rock feel, I really like this song. I love the vocalist and she fits really well into the style of the song. My second favorite song out of this album

Again Old World starts with an electric guitar intro. Hm... I don't think there is anything too special about this track. It's not bad, but definitely not something I extremely like. I like the build up to the chorus, but at it, I don't really like how the vocalist renders the chorus. She kind of hold and abruptly ends notes if you can kind of get what I am trying to say. It does have a pretty nice electric guitar solo though.

Love Coloured Master Spark, done slowly. Soft piano intro for the first 15 seconds into a lovely violin into. Which then ends to allow the vocalist to take stage. With acoustic guitar and violin orchestra support, she sings the theme beautifully. Then enters the timpani and cymbals to create epic segues. Highlight of this entire CD, I can't describe how awesome this song is.
Truly breathtaking.

Again have the violins from TAMUSIC. This arrangement of Candid Friend was nicely done. I always like songs with acoustic guitars. Add violins and sounds wonderful. The vocals were great too. Can't neglect her

Ancient Temple is probably one of the songs that best matches the gameflow when playing the actual stage. In the original song, has nice soft start, which leads, into an epic build up to chorus where Youmu enters with a screen shaking earthquake and rapes you. Anyways, I enjoyed her vocals here. She has a lighter tone which was a refreshing change from the first three vocalists who had more deeper tones.

This is the one song of the entire album that I didn't really want to listen too. I don't have anything against the song Lunatic Eyes, but I disliked the vocalist. She sounded amateurish.

Your in Grip of Deats. lol ok so maybe her English wasn't the best, but it wasn't terrible. Anyways, so this is more of a trance/techno rendition of Higan Retour but with definitely more emphasis on the vocalist. Her vocals is one of those uh more "powerful" or so to say. Again nothing stands out too much in this song, but its good.
Oh and the SFX in the beginning couple seconds I think is pretty much of the same thing as the intro SFX in Maiden Capriccio Dream Battle in Imperishable Night

Ah the last song, its special in that it features a male vocal. So apparently the vocalist is from MintJam, and I know only one song by that band and I really like it. You can find it here
I really like all of Reimu's Themes and I love Dream Battle.
I have mixed feelings from this song though. I like it on one hand, but on the other, I feel like the song wasn't exactly portrayed as I wanted. But nevertheless, the last half of this song I thought was really really good, and thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the guitar solo.

Overall I really liked this album. Minus that one song I disliked, all the songs were good
My two favorites were Master Spark and Magus Light