Stop Raining on my Parade
I was holding this post back for a while but I think the package containing my copy of Parade is stuck in customs somewhere, which means I won’t see it for another week or two *shrug* Posters always make those guys freak out.
Brief thoughts on the album follow.
I had an inkling that Parade would be a slightly different beast compared to Contact by looking at the credits list. Elements Garden’s Kikuta Daisuke’s role has been reduced – he’s involved in just 4/14 songs on Parade compared to 7/12 on Contact, and he’s the guy largely responsible for the fast-paced tunes that gained Minorin a bunch of fans.
The first half of the album is pretty lacklustre – a good few of the songs sound like galge theme rejects (Prism in the name of hope, Lush March!!). I still don’t like Voyager Train, which is basically Shijin no Tabi’s feeble, crippled (missing a leg/arm decent verse & chorus) cousin, while Melty Tale Storage remains a largely unpleasant listening experience.
Fairy Tune and Sono Toki Boku wa Kamikazari o Kau are probably the most likeable out of the first 7 tracks – the former’s laid-back r’n'b mood is more in tune with current chart music, except it’s a bit on the bland side. The latter is actually a very nice ballad, and it sure doesn’t deserve such a hideous song title [At the time, I Bought a Hair Ornament - how insightful].
Aoi Koto kicks off the second half of the album with a bang – deceivingly slow at the start but by the half-minute mark, we’re back on familiar ‘this would make a good anime theme’ ground. At this very moment in time it’s my favourite song on Parade, the one that I’d blast at full volume when I’m driving.
Of the other four new songs, three are composed by Fujisue Miki (who also wrote Mizuki Nana’s Crystal Letter) and I like all of them. Hikari is slightly more downbeat but still very enjoyable. Second best after Aoi Kotou methinks. Hanataba & everlasting… are more typical of Fujisue’s conventional Jpop offerings and I particularly like everlasting…, an earnest ballad that tugs at the heartstrings.
And… they messed up Paradise Lost. Big time.
Graph shows that I enjoyed Parade by some 6.2143 out of 10. Very much a mixed bag – it’s as if Lantis are running around like headless chickens not knowing what direction Minorin’s music should take, throwing in a bit of this and a bit of that and ending up with a whole lot of inconsistency. I guess that’s pretty much what I expected, not having enjoyed any of the singles pre-Parade that much bar Paradise Lost.
Oh well, at least I’ve still got the photobook to look forward to 
Oh… our tastes aren’t that off (minus me liking voyager train and melty tale storage). And you’re right about aoi koto (o yay… romanized names… now I don’t have to blindly try to figure out how to pronounce the song titles…). I was already thinking of moving it up to my “good song” list before stumbling across your post.
*SIGH* danie~ says the posters are sold out at CDJapan… WHAT AM I GOING TO DO NOW??? *CRIES*
woah, scary how our top 2 songs of Parade are the same. I love Aoi Kotou and Hikari too.. the other songs are quite enjoyable, though below my expectation or dare I say Minorin’s standard.. but nothing upset me more than how they raep Paradise Lost. Just wish my Parade comes sooner too, so I can drool at the pics and forget about PL.
@OtaAgg, but the photo book is still available, can’t guarantee how good it is since mine also hasn’t come yet, but according to my fantasies, er, I mean it’s Minorin! ..should be amazing. XD
Ah…I cringe at the thought of the new Minorin album is coming with a poster. Last time I got a Minorin poster it was…nicely damaged by the time it went passed the stupid customs. And I don’t know why but the customs are being extremely anal. Since September, they have this new found hobby of keeping your package for nearly a week. Nowadays all my packages have a ugly tape around it saying “Dibuka untuk pemeriksaan”. I hope they don’t destroy my Minorin poster again (though I ain’t putting high hopes on this considering how “good” our customs are). But in another news, my friend freaked out more than me when I told her the package got stuck in customs because she asked me to bundle up her NEWS album “color” together with the Minorin album. She’s been emo since…two days ago? Lol…the power of fangirl.
I didn’t really know what to expect with this album, so I guess it’s good I wasn’t as excited for this one like I was for her 1st re-start album. I hope they eventually stop pairing her with retarded bubbly galge muisc. Even happy rock music sounds better.
Still waiting for mine in the mail. Darn Americans and their Thanksgiving.
[...] actually came yesterday, but I didn’t know what to talk about since people had already made reviews and I won’t destroy my only photobook. [...]
[...] Average again, but it’s still 0.2 higher than what I scored Parade, which was still an album I eventually grew to love. There’s at least six tracks that [...]