Not Today

 Finished up with the Grand Cross disc and well, it really never got any better. Hyde was not particularly on for any of the songs, even ibara no namida, which he usually nails.  Like I said, that shrill vocal tone was seriously his undoing in some of those older lives.  Just a very lackluster live really.  Then moved onto and watched all of the Awake tour, which holy cow, so much better than the official release, let me count the ways.  I was totally disappointed with that one when it came out.  I don't think I ever watched it again after the first time through.

So this one!  In a smaller venue, for starters, the Liquidroom, so none of the stupid ridiculous visuals and clothing changes, just straight playing.  Did Hyde actually say he doesn't like to wear the same thing twice?  Idk where that got started because if he did, he was obviously trying to be funny or his memory is really bad.  He was wearing the same thing as he was in Asialive, minus the trench coat.  Tetsu was wearing pajamas.  Like, um.  Anyway, for the most part this live was really good, in terms of Hyde, setlist, serious playing, Ken improving like crazy.  As One is fucking terrible though.  Hyde should be ashamed he ever barfed out that song.

On the other hand, Ophelia is not bad live, more interesting than it is recorded for sure.  Ken backing for My Dear was funny though.  He starts out on the right notes but when he gets to the end of the line, it's like he's just yelling and no note to be found lol.  And Hyde is so annoying when he leaves Tetsu hanging with either the uber low notes or super shrill notes in RSG.  LIke, omg that sounds so awkward without the main vocal, don't stop singing Hyde.  Ugh, jerk.

I did like the setlist too, Stay Away and Lost Heaven back to back, two of my favorite songs.  Ahh yeah.

 I procured that aforementioned live and am trying to watch it.  I watched about half of the first day, first disc.  I was really dubious at first because Hyde rather blew In The Air.  And I was like, oh fuck, this is going to suck.  But from there, he got on more of an even keel and didn't try to insert vocal shred on every line.  I am a fan of his vocal shred, you see, just as long as he doesn't overuse it and/or not hit the notes while he's using it.  Kaze no Yukue was, admittedly, pretty awesome, except for a few parts where he got carried away and sounded like a dying whale.  He doesn't do improv all that well.

Music was, of course, great.  Especially Yuki, whom they never even show.  It's like they've totally given up at this point in their career.  Like, ok, we get it, he's the normal one and y'all don't even care about him.  Because while we're talking about normalcy, it would be nice to see him because he's the only one wearing decent clothes.  Ken is doing some hobo-hipster thing with the worst old lady trying to be bling hat on.  Then Tetsu might almost pull off that stupid redcoat thing, but then he pairs it with gold boots?  Really?  It's like a British soldier circa 1776, except with gold moonboots.

Then there's HYDE.  Dear God.  You can't even make out any body parts in that mess. It's just this flailing mass of black fabric and stringy bits, which sometimes get confused for his hair.  I'm really just waiting for him to trip over some of it, whap himself in the face and go down.  That would actually be hilarious.  And the hat!  And the eyeshadow!  And the nailpolish that makes his stubby fingers look even stubbier lmao.  No, seriously Hyde, you're 40+, why haven't you learned to dress properly yet?

I love them doing all these old songs though, I do.

ETA - The second half continued to be good, especially garasu dama.  Hyde continued to be on point, but I don't think he was still quite as good as in 15th L'anni.

 I told you I wasn't sure what was happening here lol.  But I have the DEAD END tribute album to wax on about.  I love DEAD END, first of all.  I have massive listens on a previous profile and I further love Morrie, so any compliments I pay these covers are not just rhetoric.  I won't stand for awfulness.  I suppose I should say what I listen for in covers, I don't really like bands making the song completely their own.  I like when they essentially do the original very well, but with their own sound.  Idk if that makes sense.  I want to be able to hear both the original and the cover sound.

To start though, basically the first song is Hyde on vocals and you know what?  The rest of the album has a high standard to live up to.  Hyde fucking kills it and I'm not even joking.  I couldn't even tell the difference between him and Morrie in parts.  Like, wow, I didn't know you had that in you, Trouble lol.

Next up is Ryuichi, who is also one of my favorite vocalists ever, but I'm not sure he's suited to cover Morrie?  We shall see.  Two different vocal styles.  Yeah, it's a good song in its own right, but does it do Morrie justice?  Not really.

The Godsend by Kiyoharu is next and I really don't like him.  The music works, but his voice, nope nope nope.

Next is the Night Song with Siam Shade's vocalist on.  I should point out that most of the music is on point, but a large part of my love for DEAD END was Morrie, so I'm focusing on vocals lol.  Anyway, 栄喜, he's fine.  A little high, but he's got all the techniques down.

Serafine has the vocalist of Ali Project on, so a female vocalist and this is my favorite song so prepare for harshness lol.  The music is awesome.  Keeps the spirit of the song, with some added mysteriousness.  But yeah, I don't think I can hang with her singing.  Too much vibrato, too much of a generic voice with not a lot of vocal ability.  A member of Kalafina or Kalafina period would be more qualified.  She's got no passion or insistence, eww.   Sugizo was on guitar though and that was literally the only reason the song was decent.  Should have left the vocals out.

So Sweet So Lonely features Yasu from JDA.  I...rarely like his voice and I don't really expect him to touch Morrie.  However, to be honest, he's pretty good here.  This isn't a complicated song, doesn't have a lot of his extra touches and he's at least keeping up with the original, showing he has range, etc.  Yeah, that was good.

Spider in the Brain is Tetsu from Nil.  He's an example of a guy who really has no hope of touching Morrie so he puts his own spin on it.  And frankly, it works.  Morrie did occasionally affect these really harsh, punky vocals and Tetsu is really working that.

Dress Burning is the guy from Aucifer and I really have no opinion.  He doesn't sound a bit like Morrie and I don't think he's even trying.  Music kinda loses too.  Figures though, Hizaki on guitar.

I also don't know who BAKI is on Perfume of Violence.  Music is great though.  And similar to Tetsu of Nil, this guy works the harsh vocals to decent effect.

Cali-gari does Blind Boy Project.  They really don't reference the original song very well either.  Just a Cali-gari song.

Finally we get Aki of Laputa on Sacrifice of the Vision.  I like Aki, but I think his vocal ability is limited.  I like his take, I guess, but it's definitely not at all reminiscent of Morrie.  The overuse of keyboards in this song is also kinda not cool.k

The Boris shoegaze version of Song of Lunatics is also pretty much their song with no real resemblance to the original.

Winners:  Hyde hands down, honorable mentions to Yasu and Tetsu and Sugizo for at least partially saving Serafine
Losers:  the chick from Ali Project for ruining Serafine and Kiyoharu's yodeling or whatever he calls it.

To sum up?  I want to listen to some actual DEAD END now and I want Hyde to do a full tribute album with only him on vocals.   Thank you and good night.