Not Today

It's been freezing for what feels like weeks now lmao. I think it's only days, but it feels like weeks whew. Lately, I'm not sure if i want 12012 to come back or if I just want Wataru to do his own thing. I was always discussing the levels of good singing or lack thereof in VK back then, but I honestly didn't give Wataru enough credit. And he only got stronger as a singer too. I found his YT channel the other day and saw that he'd posted a cover of Mother by LUNA SEA. Now, if you know me, you know I was always a huge fan of Ryuichi's voice, like he was an insanely good singer, presumably still is lol. Anyway, wow Wataru's cover was super good. In some parts, he actually sounded almost exactly like Ryuichi. I was super impressed.

I should listen to whatever else he has up since they're all only a few years old. The thing is too, he's shown himself capable of singing in a variety of different styles. I didn't appreciate his Kyo copying, but I'll say that he was better at it than Kyo lmao. Meanwhile, tryna get the rest of 12012's DVD collection through proxy shopping. I wasn't gonna bother with their last live, mostly bc i thought it would be filled with crap from the self-titled and those EPs, but actually, it only has the songs from XII, which was actually good compared to the other two EPs that i can't really remember the names of but they were terrible. Icb those are the only albums on Spotify. Total fail.

Anyway, was bored the other day and decided to rank their albums, which is my main reason for posting hahah.

1. Diamond - like fucking omg this album is just heads and tails above every other album. There are really no skips, and almost every song is just perfect. I literally fave'd most of the album on Last FM. Mr. Liar, The Moon, Shine, 24HOURS, Cyclone, Dispute, Secret Festival, it's ridiculous. Wataru finds the perfect balance of singing, screaming, and his various awesome vocal effects. Production is clear and compositions are clean.

2. Play Dolls - kind of a hard chocie between this and Not Obtain, but it's a little less rough since it's mostly all new songs and not a compilation of earlier singles. Highlights include Cheeky Doll, Hermit, Icy Cold City, The Swim, My Room Agony. But there's really no skips on this one either. Contains some of my all time faves.

3. Mar Maroon - had the most annoying production quality, but there are some seriously cool songs on here that i have to put it in their top three. Generation, System 0 Down, DNA, I Deal, As, and mostly Psycho Virus except for Wataru's kinda fail scatting. The rest of the songs are admittedly pretty poppy, but it's still an enjoyable listen for anyone who likes Wataru's singing lmao me obviously.

4. Not Obtain - so this is just mostly their indies stuff gathered in one album, but presumably they thought it was their best stuff from then so... Incur, Swallow, Sick, Knife, Shower are all pretty good tracks. I don't find that compared to a lot of VK bands, 12012 was particularly rough early on.

5. Seven - the beginning of the end lol. This was their first album after the departure of the cool guitarist who maybe had a big say in their sound??? This album is an obvious transition in sounds. So it has some good stuff like Usobeni to Ame, One Step, Tattoo, and the super long song name that translates to "Play the cards you're dealt, whatever that means" lol. But there's also a lot of forgettable shouty sludgy songs.

6. 12012 - and this one made everything worse. There's a disc 2 with reprises of some of their most famous early songs like Vomit, My Room Agony, and 6 Party, but the main album is forgettable as fuck. There is honestly not a single good song. Not to say that they're /bad/ but they're not good either. I'm glad i never bought it lmao.

With regards to their EPs, Only XII is worth mentioning bc the other two are more of the same suckitude from teh self-titiled. XII was actually very good. Only The Red was a bit dodgy, but the rest nicely showcased Wataru's strong vocals and the music wasn't bad either.