Overview
Hey again
readers! It’s time for another of my album reviews! Now that we’re done with
the Kagerou Project material, I want to step over to a recent favorite producer
of mine: Suzumu/スズム. Suzumu’s been active on the scene for a
while, and he operates within the KEMU VOXX circle as a music producer. His
stuff is quite good; recently he made a big splash with へたくそユートピア政策/Unskilled Utopia Policy. This song featured Rin and had a stunningly gorgeous PV.
That being said, Kebyou Ningen/ケビョウニンゲン
is Suzumu’s first solo album, and his fans are all quite happy to see him put
it out. The album wasn’t a very expensive purchase either – it only ran me
about $15 dollars from Amazon.jp, which is rather low for a Vocaloid album. But
was it worth the value?
Music
1) Myth: As many skilled Vocaloid composers are
choosing to do these days, Suzumu opens the album with this nifty instrumental
piece. It’s a cool way of hyping up the rest of the album. “Myth” treats us to
some of Suzumu’s excellent piano playing over grungy guitar riffs in the
background. The synthesizer also makes its due appearance, and the combination
of these elements leads to a vivid and exciting intro. The drums are certainly
quite nice as well, and they tie everything else together.
2) 独りの君と一人の僕に/To the Lonely You and Lone Me: This song’s sung by Miku, and she’s tuned
quite well. Her vocals have an interesting touch of sass in them at certain
parts of the song, and they compliment the song’s story well. The guitar makes
a pretty good show in this song, though the other instruments don’t really
stand out that much. It’s an enjoyable song overall, though nothing remarkable.
Check out the PV here.
3) ハロウィン遅刻パーテイ/Halloween Chikoku Party: The twins make their spectacular entrance!
“Halloween Chikoku Party” is exciting, upbeat, and fun to listen to. Suzumu’s
spectacular keyboard work propels the tune forward, and the twins are tuned
very well. Halloween-esque sound effects are used to great musical benefit as
well, and the piece is super fun to listen to. The drums are also quite lovely,
though we see little of the guitar/bass that crop up in some of his other work.
4) レベル100のイケメンにありがちなこと/Level 100 no Ikemen Niarigachi na Koto: It’s rather rare to see Len exclusives these days, but Suzumu gives us
one here. It’s very peppy and addictive to listen to; Len’s voice has a sort of
staccato quality that sticks out nicely. It’s a rock song, so naturally the
drums and guitar are the most powerful instrumental elements of the song.
They’re not particularly special, but they compliment Len’s voice well. The
most interesting section of the song comes at about 2:30, when Suzumu drops the
bass and gets a little dubsteppy. I must say that while I’m no dubstep
aficionado, the style’s been growing on me in certain cases recently, and I
think it’s used well here. This song proves that dubstep-type sounds can be
used as companion effects to other songs and sound pretty good.
5) Eden: “Eden” is an instrumental piece played out
primarily through synthesizer effects and the piano. It’s quite nice, and has a
very ethereal quality to it that matches its namesake quite well. It does get a
tad repetitive, especially given its short length, but it’s still a nice
interlude for this section of the album.
6) 世界寿命と最後の一日 (Album ver.)/Sekai Jumyou to Saigo no
Ichinichi (Album ver.): This
is one of Suzumu’s most famous songs reworked for this album release. It
features GUMI’s vocals, which are awesome. Her voice explodes in the chorus in
that magical GUMI-esque way that just ropes you in and gets you hooked. The
song starts off with a piano riff that tricks you into thinking it’s going to
be soft, and then it explodes into an upbeat rock song with vigor and energy.
The guitar and drums beat as the heart of the song, filling the lyrics and
soundscape with life. The synthesizer and keyboard take it from there, jolting
the piece into movement as GUMI’s voice resonates with the listener. It fun,
it’s cool, and it’s very well composed. My only complaint might be that the
elements are all so strong that it might be hard to notice any particular one
without repeated listening. The PV is quite cool too, and you should watch it.
(Note that this is the PV
of the original version, which is presumably slightly different from the album
version, though I can’t really see any differences to be honest).
7) ケビョウニンゲン/Kebyou Ningen: The
titular track of the album is another instrumental piece. This time, it’s
another rock song with a bit of aggression in there. The guitar riffs bite hard
through a thick layer of distortion and bare their fangs against your ears.
Almost as if it’s a battle, the synthesizer and keyboard work stand strong and
bright against this grunginess, and the two switch back and forth for sonic
dominance. Perhaps it’s meant to show an allegory between the battle between
illness and wellness. The drums underscore the whole piece like a referee,
present but not prominent. The piece is a full-length song too, which is an
interesting touch. It makes for a nice halfway point to the album.
8) へたくそユートピア政策 (Refine)/Hetakuso Utopia Seisaku (Refine): Suzumu’s popular his has been remastered for
the album. Rin’s voice helms the vocal section of this song, and the keyboard
and drums are the primary instrumental accompaniment. The instrumentals are as
lovely as Suzumu’s work always is, and they carry the hopeful tone that Suzumu
seeks to imbue into the tune. A chiming bell in the background helps out at
certain points as well. Unfortunately, however, the reworking of Rin’s vocals
is a mixed bag. At certain points it just sounds like Suzumu is trying too hard
to make it sound different, and it comes across of overdone and melodramatic to
the point of being silly. Rin’s voice fluctuates a little too much; you can
hear it in the opening verse as her voice shifts up and down like Yoko Ono having a seizure.
There are some nice touches applied to the chorus and the buildup toward the
end, but ultimately I like Rin’s original vocals more. It’s far from a bad
song, but I wonder if this song really needed such a refining, and my gut is
telling me no. The wonderful original PV is here, and I recommend
you watch it and compare it to this remastering. Let me know what you think, as
I’m very interested in hearing other people’s opinions on this one!
9) 続・へたくそユートピア政策/Zoku – Hetakuso Utopia Seisaku: This is some sort of interesting continuation
to the previous song which utilizes both of the twins. It’s a slow and ethereal
tune that borrows musical elements from its predecessor. This doesn’t come
across as lazy as all; it’s skillfully done and serves to link this with its
parent song in the listeners mind even if they don’t know the lyrics. The sound
is “conclusive,” and it feels like Suzumu is ending whatever saga the previous
song began. I assume it’s the aftermath of the story that unfolded for the girl
in Hetakuso Utopia Seisaku’s PV. Interestingly, 150P helped Suzumu arrange this
piece, and they did good work together.
The ending outro is a long section of “la la la’s,” which remind me a
lot of “Hey Jude.” There’s also a little train sound at the end, and I’m
curious as to what that was supposed to mean.
10) Avarice: A jazzy and upbeat piece, this song is written
in ¾ time, making it fun to tap your feet to. It’s got a darker piano component
that is less ominous and more intriguing, which makes for a nice ride. The
song’s a bit short, clocking in at under 90 seconds, but it’s really cool.
11) 過食性:アイドル症候群 (Album ver.)/Kashokusei: Idol Shoukougun (Album ver.): This is another one of Suzumu’s big hits, and
it’s a fast-paced romp that warns of the dangers of becoming arrogant as an
idol. It’s a rare combo of GUMI and MAYU for the vocals, and the most prominent
instruments are the synthesizer and drums. The vocals carry an element of swing
to them, especially during the chorus, which get the body grooving. Steady
drums help this greatly, and by the end of the song it’s hard not to at least
tap your feet. The guitar helps out with some riffs that fill out the
soundscape, making the song feel quite rich. Perhaps it might be a little too rich, as it can be a tad
overwhelming if you’re not in the mood for it. However, it’s still a great
song, and the PV is worth a
watch.
12) 桜色タイムカプセル/Sakura Iro Time Capsule: This piece reminds me a lot of good 90’s rock.
“Sakura Iro Time Capsule” is a song sung by GUMI that stats off slow and
pretty, but becomes and uplifting and pretty rock piece. The guitar and drums are
the most prominent, but the keyboard’s got nice little background riffs that
should not be forgotten. GUMI’s vocals are up-tempo and proud, and they have a
sense of optimism that carries the mood of the song. Suzumu uses those bells in
the background again to create this uplifting feeling as well, and the elements
come together nicely. The bridge of the song stands out as being the best
prechorus on the album.
13) 嘘つきピーターパン/Usotsuki Peter Pan: This is a Vocaloid album by a Japanese
producer, so we couldn’t have it be ALL upbeat; we had to get our quota of
sadness in there somewhere. And boy is it pretty. Miku performs the lyrics, and
accordingly they are very gentle and comforting. Miku’s voice has a certain
magic quality that wraps the listeners in a security blanket for them to
quietly cry in when used right, and it’s used damn well here. The drums, piano,
and guitar all work together to create a calm and mournful atmosphere, but not
one devoid of energy. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a Vocaloid song
that does this good of a job at being emotional. The PV is beautiful as well,
and you’d be doing yourself a disservice not to watch it.
14) Lost: This is the end of the album, and it carries
a certain sadness to it as we say goodbye to Suzumu for now. It’s short – not
even a minute – and it’s a piano instrumental. It’s dark and comforting, and it
does a good job of signing off.
Final Thoughts
For a
first album release, this is great. As expected of Suzumu, the instrumentals
and song compositions are great, and the album is an interesting ride from
start to finish. Several different styles are showcased from soft ballad to
hard rock, and they’re all well executed. My only gripe with the album is that
certain “remasterings,” such as Hetakuso Uptopia Seisaku weren’t needed or
particularly great. Other than that though, it’s worth it.
8/10
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