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Tracklist |
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01 - カオスダイバー (Chaos Diver)
02 - アポトーシス (Apoptosis)
03 - 証明 (Shoumei)
04 - ホワイトノイズ (White Noise)
05 - 世界の果てで (Sekai no Hate de)
06 - 天気予報 (Tenki Yohou)
07 - ファイティングマンブルース (Fighting Man Blues)
08 - ブラックホールバースデイ＜Album Version＞ (Black Hole Birthday)
09 - 浮世の波 (Ukiyo no Nami)
10 - ゆりかご (Yurikago)
11 - 初めての呼吸で＜Album Mix Version＞ (Hajimete no Kokyuu de) |
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Review |
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During a moment of catharsis following a headliner by The Back Horn, I once wrote that "this is still a very, very hungry band." In the intervening months before the release of Taiyou no Naka no Seikatsu, that hunger must have taken on a new target. The Back Horn wasn't going to push forward with their histrionic, engaging hard rock but was instead developing an appetite for television drama theme songs and big performances where throngs of fans could hold up their lighters in unison. All those years as a mid-major gaining semi-recognition must have worn them out, as the band sounds ready to pander and cash in.
It should be no surprise that the new direction does not play towards The Back Horn's strengths. With few exceptions, the rug has been pulled out from under the music for the entirety of the album: the more developed melodies are without grit, and conversely the aggressive cuts suffer from halfhearted songwriting. While "Chaos Diver" builds up to a loud chorus in typical fashion, it's all but lacking the spontaneous energy that used to be the band's forte. "Apoptosis" shares the same fate; the songs are just too plain. "Sekai no Hate de" and "Ukiyo no Nami" are the ready-for-prime time smooth rockers, but are overpolished, frigid and tiresome compared to earlier "soft" songs like the masterful "Natsukusa no Yureru Oka" (from 2002's Shinzou Orchestra). The band seems unable to channel any emotion unless they crank up the volume.
The Back Horn used to charge up what might have been a predictable hard-rock song with off-kilter riffing or a rhythm from another musical genre, a practice which has fallen by the wayside. Instead of scattering these inflections throughout the album to freshen the arrangements, the band elected to obtusely clump their leftover ideas to form two stricken chimeras in the middle of the album. The reggaeton-inspired "Tenki Yohou" is a bizarre choice for The Back Horn, but has nothing but its own oddity to stand on. "Fighting Man Blues" and its repetitive strut conjures up the similarly stale take on swing ("Pappara") from the band's previous outing.
The recording isn't a total wash, as a couple of numbers shine through the production. "Shoumei" is the one song that builds up to a veritable climax and wrenches some real emotion from Yamada Masashi's otherwise withholding vocals. "Black Hole Birthday" and its madcap anthemic chorus works well, though the single that once sounded like a surprising throwback now feels calculated within the context of the album.
For nearly four years now The Back Horn has been slowly sliding towards the middle, but with every album they've managed to keep the flames burning. But by the time Taiyou no Naka no Seikatsu hit, the flame had been reduced to a few smoldering cinders. Yamada's voice and Okamine Koushu's rollicking basslines (if there's a star on this album, it's him) ensure this album is better than other MOR rock, but this is The Back Horn, and comparisons to middling radio pap shouldn't have to be a qualifier. |
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