Koda Wed Aug 04, 2010 2:28 am
Alright. My album analysis for "Atomic Winter" is complete. Detailed review below; summary below that.
A couple things before you begin: Number one, these are all my own opinions and you shouldn't let them affect your own judgment of the music. Number two, I made no attempt to analyze (or even look up) the Japanese lyrics. To me, this is an analysis of the music.
- Spoiler:
_Android Life Cycle_
1. Emerging from the Source Code
- Not much I can critique; I'm guessing it should sound experimental.
- Some of the sections sound like they strain to fit the lyrics, which are too formal to fit well into a memorable melody.
- A few sections of the back-up singing is dissonant where it doesn't sound good.
- Feels like it ran a verse or two too long and lost my attention.
- For the first song in a set, it doesn't feel like it leads anywhere.
2. Initialize
- I liked this one.
- Could use a more solid background line in parts.
- Nice Sytrus Demo, lol. ^^
- Melody could be better. Doesn't seem to flow anywhere.
- Would have ended perfectly at 2:53, but it kept going on.
3. Life
- Melody mostly isn't memorable (with the exception of a few parts). Too many jumps; too little resolution.
- The melody reminds me a of Moonlit Bear by akuno-P/mothy-P.
- This one didn't run too long. Good job judging when the song is done. ^^
4. Shutdown
- Melody is everywhere. Can I at least get a repeated theme to sing to? xD
- Could use more movement, but this one has more than the other three in this set.
- Ran a bit long.
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_Atomic Winter - 100meteru_
- Hey, this one's kinda groovy.
- Echoy drums can only take you so far; I think this one would sound nicer with normal drums.
- Melody is for the most part, once again, everywhere and not very memorable.
- At about 2:30, I get the feeling of "Oh goody, it goes on like this for another 3 minutes".
- Intro and Outro both feel like separate ideas entirely from the main song. If they fit the lyrics, then why not work on blending them in better?
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_Hollow_
- Argh. Started out pretty, but now it sounds cluttered with voices. Like a Middle School choir right before a performance. This kind of clears up later in the song, though.
- Finally! Almost a singable melody. There were definitely parts in there where I wnted to join in.
- This one felt like it finally led somewhere.
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_Kitsunenosekizou_
- Good intro! Singable. Drags on, kinda.
- OH GOD! It's over!? Wow that was short.
- I guess that means this was a good song, so long as it lasted.
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_Mixolithic_
- Awesome. Intro. And. Outro.
- Almost a memorable melody.
- Lyrics kind of beg for rhyme, but don't deliver.
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_Ragnarok 30 Minutes_
- W00t. Real Japanese.
- Good building up in the beginning; doesn't deliver what it promises.
- Nice feel, but the chord progression could use definition. As of now, it feels like singing on one chord.
- I actually appreciated the end on this one. Very resolute; very fitting.
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_River of Tears_
- Erhu is Erhu. ^^
- Hey! You sing well.
- I'd say this melody is the best on the album. Singable. Memorable after a few runs through.
- I think this song runs about a minute too long.
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_Sakunen no Natsu_
- The "la" syllable could use a little variation in attack.
- Woah. That synth that comes in is so unfitting.
- This song runs about a minute and a half too long for my attention span. It would help to move the music somewhere.
- Ending seems like it came out of desperation. Did you think it was running too long too? ^^
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_Voices in my Head_
- Intro is well done.
- Wow! Trippy...but you made it the right kind of trippy.
- Far too long for normal humans to handle without getting bored at about 2:00. Even though there's fun stuff after that point, I would have left the video at 2:00.
- Best song on the album. You went for trippy/creepy and nailed it. I know I'll be adding this to my normal music rotation.
Summary:
While I enjoyed many parts of the songs in this album, I couldn't shake the feeling that a few of the songs were rushed and not given their proper care. The general feel of the music was exactly as you would expect from a title like "Atomic Winter": brooding and mildly electronic-sounding.
A few issues found themselves constantly repeated throughout the album; mainly a lack of memorable, singable melodies, as well as a tendency for the songs to drone on...and on...without any real movement or statement.
Aside from those matters, I was impressed by the fairly advanced handle Kentai-P has on Sytrus and the other synth instruments found in the music. I wasn't expecting anything very complicated technically, and I was pleasantly surprised. ^^
As my final statement:
"If you're looking for VOCALOID music that makes great BGM for any occasion, then you should definitely download this album! If you love high reverb and lots of delay-effect on voices, then you might just cream yourself! xD"
