Enjoyed your commentary very much. No problem at all with you stopping to talk about what you are hearing being played as that's what I tune in to hear in a reaction video in the first place. After all, it's your channel and you can do whatever you want. Fire away please. Miku Kobato is the band's founder, backing vocals, rhythm guitarist and a very talented lyricist who ingeniously write the words to most of their songs. Band-Maid's great songs are a group effort that demonstrates their great skill in consistently creating excellent songwriting and true masterpieces of music.
It took me far too long to recognize Miku's greatness, but I eventually did. When I first heard Freedom, as I said, I was immediately drawn to Akane's drum prowess and illuminating smile. The next song or two, it was Kanami who captured my wandering gaze with her effortless brilliance. MISA and Saiki were next. I think I didn't fully grasp Miku until I heard the whole story -- now she's my hero. :-)
I'm with you Akane was my first favorite Maid. She put tears as my eyes as well. I especially love that during her solo that Miku and Kanami are hooting and hollering and pumping their fists in the air. I have never seen another band do that for each other. I don't know what it is. There joy is so infectious that it brings tears to my eyes. As a matter of fact the thing that is missing from most bands is emotion. Also after some interviews I fell hard for Kanami. Kanami is my favorite 5 year old guitarist. They are the most adorable musical badasses in the universe. watching other people's love for Band Maid on UA-cam infected me. Sometimes in order for me to love something, I have to see someone else love them.
"the thing that is missing from most bands is emotion" -- Or, one thing that put me off is the NEGATIVE emotion that a lot of bands seemed to exude. Even a couple of my favorites seemed to have emotional problems that bled over into their listeners... Like I tell my wife about sad movies: "I can see sadness in real life, I don't need a movie [or a song] to bring me there." I love that Band-Maid always brings me to a happy place. :-)
The Maids performing one of their (two) most performed songs: Freedom and Real Existence. But the Maids in this MV are pure perfection, aren't they? I mean, what can you fault? And those faces... their attitude... their music... their playing... their story... and their joy! Band-Maid is a world treasure, imo! Thanks Chan, for bringing the world's best hard rock band to your viewers!
If they'd managed to fit a bass solo into "Freedom" live, then it would have everything I love about Band-Maid. :-) Few other songs get this much Band-Maid into a single performance...
@@Chan_Fry There is that break after Kanami's solo with MISA strumming notes against Akane's kick and Saiki's vocals. But keep on their catalog, Chan. You'll find that many songs get the full-on Maid treatment! Check out their three new Yokohama live MV's, especially Hate and Don't You Tell Me where there's extended, fiery solos. ;-)
If you are trying to react to ALL of BAND-MAID related songs, then there are few songs that are not on their official catalog (not released officially), but you may be able to find videos to them in someways: - Bitter Sweet Love (Acoustic live video from 2014 may be available) - Wonder (Collaboration song from 2016 by a Japanese band UNCHAIN, where Saiki sings in duet with UNCHAIN vocals, and lyrics by Miku) - Go Nuts (Unofficial instrumental video from 2019 can be found) - Hard Wash!! (Short instrumental video from 2020 during COVID lockdown) - Want More! (Short instrumental demo from 2020 during COVID lockdown) - ENTREE (Live show opening instrumental music used in 2020 Line Cube Shibuya show) - BAND-MAID Waltz (Also referred to as Opening SE, that they used as show opening instrumental music for shows in old days) - Memories of Wind and Wine (Dawn Winery Theme) (Performance clip from Genshin Concert 2022) Hope this helps😊
Legend. I always forget Wonder has Miku lyrics. And (this is for Chan), another UNCHAIN connection is their guitarist plays in the video for "Peace and Love" from Miku's solo project cluppo. Have you heard cluppo?
Wow, thanks! I've copied your list to a text file and will keep my eyes open for these. Mainly I was focusing on the official catalog, but I certainly won't mind "related" items. :-)
@tinyhato : Yes, I've heard Cluppo. I know my timeline image wasn't very large in this video, but I have the Cluppo releases interspersed with the Band-Maid albums on the timeline graphic... I haven't heard of UNCHAIN (until now), but it's cool that Band-Maid has collaborated with other artists in the past. :-)
There's so much respect and appreciation between these ladies, that move of respect of crouching or sitting to give the full attention to the soloist is baked in. Kanami, being Miku's guitar sensei, always looks at her like a proud mom. Kanami teared up when Miku had her big opening rock star guitar flourish at the Yokohma Arena show. It is so apparent how much these ladies mean to each other and how much playing live means to them. That happy feeling is standard reaction to hearing Band-Maid.
It's almost like a drug at this point, but so far there are no dangerous side-effects. I've lost track of how many times I've ended a day with "Be OK", just to hear Miku tell me "It's gonna be okay", and that it's no big deal because everyone makes mistakes...
Stop, and comment all you want. That’s why I watch you, for your insights and opinions. If I just want to hear a song with no comments, I have all Band Maid CDs and can listen to them all I want, which I do. Just keep doing what you do with your calming DJ voice and continue to ignore the detractors. Thanks Chan!
Thank you, John. I guess I have the benefit that I'm not trying to monetize so I don't have to please anyone but myself here. :-) (I think my wife really enjoys that I'm doing this because I've quit talking to HER so much about Band-Maid, LOL.)
lol - my wife thought I was weird watching the Maids all the time. So I took her to see them live. Now she knows how talented they are and that I’m not perv. 😂
You may have noticed that when anyone does a solo the other members often kneel or crouch in honour of their band mate. Saiki often completely sits on the side of the stage. There is so much honour and respect for each other between the band members. Misa and Kanami often switch sides of the stage so that the audience can see them both close up for a while. There is one video where Akane does the bow of scheme in front of the audience. Her in ear had become disconnected and the rest of the band started the next song without her being ready. Great reaction again- thanks.
I'm starting to notice it, for sure. Another, related thing I noticed (but don't think I've said it yet) is that certain ones look so PROUD of their bandmates after crucial moments, like "you did it!", almost like each one continues to be impressed by the others, despite seeing in action, up close, for 10 years...
What a fun band to follow! Growing up, I quickly became jaded toward "being a fan", because it seemed like every time I got hooked on a band I'd quickly learn something disappointing about them - crimes, addiction, general assholery, etc. I have a feeling that won't happen with Band-Maid.
Same here! A couple of my favorite bands for decades were people I would never actually want to hang out with (and certainly wouldn't want them in my home) -- I just liked their music. And I soured on them the more I learned about anything beyond the music... With Band-Maid it's been the opposite: the more I learn about them, the more impressed I've become, and the more I'm convinced they deserve to dominate the whole world.
When I first saw Freedom live, I missed a bunch of stuff (including the cheer, the kneeling, the re-positioning on stage, etc). It is really fun to spot new details each time I see it again. :-)
Great to follow their development as a band...kind of envy you 😁 I found them around May 2020, bought all their back catalogue and video concerts...so glad I heard and got familiar with everything before they dropped 'Different' and the Unseen World album. Time during covid lockdown spent honing their playing skills, and Kanami writing more complex compositions, pays off big time and they keep progressing superbly IMHO. Here for your journey...HELL YEAH 👍👊❤🔥🤘🤘🤘
Thank you! In 2020, I sure could have used some Band-Maid in my life, so I envy you a bit also. :-) But late 2022 will have to do for me. (I have yet to have invented time travel, so...)
If you ever manage to get the scorebook for their 2021 album "Unseen World" it includes a CD with all the songs played without vocals. Done to help players be able to learn the parts but it would be what you mentioned. Love what you are doing. Thank you. "Choose Me" live is the special song for me and it along with "Play" live were the first two I heard.
That does sound fun. :-) With the way studio tracks are (often) recorded, I think it shouldn't be difficult to produce a sans-vocals version of most songs... But some other band told me "I can't always get what I want", LOL.
I can't remember when I saw Freedom but I had already hoovered up the audio tracks in disbelief at liking every one. I sometimes forget and this track always reminds me how hard these women had to work. Had to struggle with set backs in an industry in Japan that is bigger than most places other than the US. Love how little they seem to have been affected by success. Still work hard and improve and still get all excited when meeting other music stars in overseas concerts. They do make us all feel better. Your next video for Before Yesterday I has seen the MV before I had heard the original track as it was early in my Band Maid journey. Always gets me every time. Thanks again for doing these.
Always love joining you in these reactions. I wish more people would adopt a style like this. You're not alone with feeling that some studio tracks are better than some lives. "Blooming" is one that always quickly comes to mind. This may not be one of my top 70 Band-Maid songs (as always: if this was another band, I'd be excited to check out more) but I love watching this live performance for two incredible things, not even including their awesome interactions and personalities: a drum solo that is fun for non-musicians, and one of the classiest, SSS+++ tier transitions I've ever heard. Incredible. Looking forward to the next one.
Thank you, tinyhato. I agree that it's not high on my list of Band-Maid favorites (I just checked and I have it at number 37 right now, but that's likely because I've been moving the list around so much as I go through the back catalog. Once I get to "Just Bring It" and "Domination", well... It's anyone's guess what happens to my list...) It's just so much dang FUN, though, that if I'm only ranking *videos*, then "Freedom live" gets a place of honor. :-)
I love both of these versions. On the studio, I love the clean vocals and Saiki's slightly nasally delivery, and I really love the lead guitar harmony at the end of the solo. The live, goes without saying. Really the last of the Miku/Saiki shared lead vocals songs, which I miss. Also, I got to hear this with a full gorilla solo in DC in 2022, but they decided not to play it when I saw them in Atlanta later. But that's ok, they played Blooming and Black Hole in ATL.
I did notice what sounded like a dual guitar at the end of the solo (studio track), but forgot to mention it (I think you see my expression change at that moment). Fingers crossed that they come through central Texas again on their next U.S. tour -- I made the wrong choice in 2023 when I decided not to see them in Austin. :-/
I really dread the day you get caught up to present day BandMaid, and have no new music to review. Maybe, that day will never come. I do really enjoy your intense breakdown.
I think I'm dreading that too, LOL. "What?! No more Band-Maid?" But maybe by then I'll be ready to branch out a bit... :-) This group has blown my mind for more than a year now -- hopefully there's no harsh withdrawal when I run out of new content. :-)
Freedom the live version, was the first song I heard by the Ladies. My second was Onset. And those 2 songs got me hooked. On Saiki's voice, this was recorded before her surgery to remove polyps from her vocal cords. You can hear in her voice a little bit of harshness that you do not hear in the live version, where her voice is much smoother and more mature. Miku's vocal is more of a spoken lyric versus the sung one of the live. And Kanami was trolling Miku by sitting in front of her monitor wedge. My understanding is that at the performance the day before, Miku instead of singing her verse, sung Saiki's verse. So at the beginning of the song, you see Kanami come up to Miku and mouth singing at her, before going to the front of the stage. As Miku's verse approaches, she runs back up stage and sits in front of Miku's monitor, and you can see Miku give Kanami a stink eye. To this day, during Freedom, MISA, Kanami and Saiki will troll Miku by staring at her while she sings her verse. The "Off-Beat" high hats or the disco beat high hats. On MISA's bass at the end, she is filling in where Miku's guitar WOULD be. Miku still wasn't real accomplished on guitar when this was recorded. She has gotten much better, so during the live, MISA didn't need to fill that area. During the Live, MISA's bass IS higher in the mix. The original recording she still played a 4 string bass, in this she is playing a 5 string, and has also added some grit to her signal. And the Ladies are just having so much fun and enjoying themselves. That makes it even better when you see them live. It's too bad MISA only uses that SG style bass in the studio anymore. It's just too neck heavy, even after she had it re-necked. And yes, she was resetting her pedal board. She has a Master Controller, that controls her pedals, and it has 5 presets, plus she can program in settings for a particular song and can scroll through to that setting. At the end of Play and beginning of Domination you can see them all walk back to their pedal boards to reset them.
"On Saiki's voice, this was recorded before her surgery to remove polyps from her vocal cords." If you are talking the "studio version yes, that's correct. "Brand New Maid" was released in 2016 so yeah Saiki was battling chord polyps but she had the removal surgery in 2018, so she was well recovered for the LIVE Shibuya 2020 Feb14th show, which I'm sure you know so that is for the newbies here. BTW- When did MISA go to the five string?
Thanks again for the detailed comment! I almost mentioned Saiki's voice (the difference between the two versions), but while I was recording, I suddenly doubted my memory of the dates... It DID sound more "hoarse" in the studio track and cleaner in the live version, but I didn't want to sound ignorant if I mentioned her surgery (which I've heard of but couldn't remember if it was 2017 for sure...) I guess I could have phrased it as a question ("was this before her surgery?") and that would have been okay. :-) Besides the drum solo, the Miku verse is my favorite part of this song -- not only because of Kanami's "trolling", but because of the very cute and fun contrast to Saiki's more serious verse. This live performance (even though the song itself isn't high on my favorites list) contains *almost* everything I love about Band-Maid -- missing only a magnificent bass solo. :-)
@@Chan_Fry I was the same with regards to being luke warm with the song itself but, the more I got to know the Maids and their personalities and listened to the song, the more it grew on me to where it's awesome now. Actually there's quite a few songs that had to grow on me, mostly from the "Unseen World" and Unleash" albums. They were hitting their manic/progressive stage of writing and some songs just shocked me at first. But for me the more I listened the more the manic nature of those songs slowed down and revealed Kanami's writing brilliance. That made me go back and listen more to their older song, though they didn't write some, they still played them.
Oh man, I can't wait to be here as you catch up to them finally in the here and now. It's a hell of a treat in store. Enjoying this trip down memory lane for me as well with you. I started with Just Bring It when someone randomly handed me a CD and said I'd like it. Having worn out my ear drums, I went straight back through their earlier stuff in a back to front manner so this track on BNM was an early stand out.
I'm looking forward to it. Though I HAVE heard most of their later stuff, I'm keeping myself from listening to it until I catch up. Which makes me want to do these faster... :-) ("Just Bring It" arrived a few days ago, so I'll get to it once I've finished BNM.)
I think this was my third ever Band-Maid song. "Thrill", LIVE "Domination" were the first two in that order. I LOVED, and still do, "Thrill" because you "never forget your first". "Domination LIVE hooked me past the barb and I'm still stuck after four years. I just can't shake them because they are Family to me now. They are a true "All for One and One for ALL" Sisterhood. Thanks Chan-san
I think Domination (live) was fourth for me... Though I should have kept a list, LOL. (0) 2 songs from "Kate" (0) snippet from "Peacekeeper" For the above, I didn't know who Band-Maid was... (1) Dice MV (in Tank the Tech reaction video) (2/3) Freedom live (2/3) Play live (4) Domination live (5) Domination MV (I think)
@@Chan_Fry I still subscribe to Tank the Tech, haven't watched him in a while though. He's in to some way heavier than I like but he's still a good guy.
Ha! Yes, I forgot to change into a Band-Maid T-shirt for my last couple of videos... My family loves Buc-ee's and I think I have three of their T-shirts now. :-) (We have been known to re-route road trips to make sure we get to a Buc-ee's around lunch time for a gas fillup and some BBQ sandwiches...)
Freedom was the first Band Maid song i saw about 3 years ago. after this song i was a Band Maid fan, why you ask? well, when MISA and Saiki were on the drum platform laughing at Akane, if you look real close you will see Akane stick her tongue out at them. Great musicians and vocalist and great friends, what's not to love! Peace!!
Yes, the tongue-sticking-out was a nice touch, LOL. The whole vibe is so relaxed and fun, while at the same time being close to perfect musically, that it's almost magical to witness. :-)
A couple of, to me, interesting aspects for this song. The drum solo was added on for that season's tour, and not done again until 2022. I have seen another concert from that year and the drum solo was different! And different again in 2022. They always seem to have a lot of fun doing this song. Look for the version from the 2018 Zepp Tokyo concert. And during one of the COVID era livestreams, the maids wandered all over the studio during the song.
Thanks for the suggestion... The only Zepp Tokyo 2018 I found for this song has lyrics printed over the screen, as well as a strong texture overlay (probably trying to avoid AI copyright detection?) that made it difficult to watch... I'll keep my eyes open -- that seems to have been one of their very best live shows...
@@Chan_Fry The Zepp performance is interesting not for any special audio, but for all the stage shenanigans. Saiki and Kanami laughing at Miku going full rock star mode in the first verse. Kanami lost in Mincho land, while Miku stands behind her waiting for a planned face off. Saiki going into the crowd in the final third of the song. Miku winds up singing the last verse alone as Saiki is stuck in the audience. Band Maid doing Band Maid things.You may have seen the official live of Real Existence. That was the next song and probably got an extra jolt of energy from all the stuff in Freedom.
Enjoyed your commentary very much. No problem at all with you stopping to talk about what you are hearing being played as that's what I tune in to hear in a reaction video in the first place. After all, it's your channel and you can do whatever you want. Fire away please. Miku Kobato is the band's founder, backing vocals, rhythm guitarist and a very talented lyricist who ingeniously write the words to most of their songs. Band-Maid's great songs are a group effort that demonstrates their great skill in consistently creating excellent songwriting and true masterpieces of music.
It took me far too long to recognize Miku's greatness, but I eventually did. When I first heard Freedom, as I said, I was immediately drawn to Akane's drum prowess and illuminating smile. The next song or two, it was Kanami who captured my wandering gaze with her effortless brilliance. MISA and Saiki were next. I think I didn't fully grasp Miku until I heard the whole story -- now she's my hero. :-)
@@Chan_Fry Mine too!
I'm with you Akane
was my first favorite Maid. She put tears as my eyes as well. I especially love that during her solo that Miku and Kanami are hooting and hollering and pumping their fists in the air. I have never seen another band do that for each other. I don't know what it is. There joy is so infectious that it brings tears to my eyes. As a matter of fact the thing that is missing from most bands is emotion. Also after some interviews I fell hard for Kanami. Kanami is my favorite 5 year old guitarist. They are the most adorable musical badasses in the universe. watching other people's love for Band Maid on UA-cam infected me. Sometimes in order for me to love something, I have to see someone else love them.
"the thing that is missing from most bands is emotion" -- Or, one thing that put me off is the NEGATIVE emotion that a lot of bands seemed to exude. Even a couple of my favorites seemed to have emotional problems that bled over into their listeners...
Like I tell my wife about sad movies: "I can see sadness in real life, I don't need a movie [or a song] to bring me there." I love that Band-Maid always brings me to a happy place. :-)
The Maids performing one of their (two) most performed songs: Freedom and Real Existence. But the Maids in this MV are pure perfection, aren't they? I mean, what can you fault? And those faces... their attitude... their music... their playing... their story... and their joy! Band-Maid is a world treasure, imo! Thanks Chan, for bringing the world's best hard rock band to your viewers!
If they'd managed to fit a bass solo into "Freedom" live, then it would have everything I love about Band-Maid. :-) Few other songs get this much Band-Maid into a single performance...
@@Chan_Fry There is that break after Kanami's solo with MISA strumming notes against Akane's kick and Saiki's vocals. But keep on their catalog, Chan. You'll find that many songs get the full-on Maid treatment! Check out their three new Yokohama live MV's, especially Hate and Don't You Tell Me where there's extended, fiery solos. ;-)
If you are trying to react to ALL of BAND-MAID related songs, then there are few songs that are not on their official catalog (not released officially), but you may be able to find videos to them in someways:
- Bitter Sweet Love (Acoustic live video from 2014 may be available)
- Wonder (Collaboration song from 2016 by a Japanese band UNCHAIN, where Saiki sings in duet with UNCHAIN vocals, and lyrics by Miku)
- Go Nuts (Unofficial instrumental video from 2019 can be found)
- Hard Wash!! (Short instrumental video from 2020 during COVID lockdown)
- Want More! (Short instrumental demo from 2020 during COVID lockdown)
- ENTREE (Live show opening instrumental music used in 2020 Line Cube Shibuya show)
- BAND-MAID Waltz (Also referred to as Opening SE, that they used as show opening instrumental music for shows in old days)
- Memories of Wind and Wine (Dawn Winery Theme) (Performance clip from Genshin Concert 2022)
Hope this helps😊
Legend. I always forget Wonder has Miku lyrics.
And (this is for Chan), another UNCHAIN connection is their guitarist plays in the video for "Peace and Love" from Miku's solo project cluppo. Have you heard cluppo?
Wow, thanks! I've copied your list to a text file and will keep my eyes open for these. Mainly I was focusing on the official catalog, but I certainly won't mind "related" items. :-)
@tinyhato : Yes, I've heard Cluppo. I know my timeline image wasn't very large in this video, but I have the Cluppo releases interspersed with the Band-Maid albums on the timeline graphic... I haven't heard of UNCHAIN (until now), but it's cool that Band-Maid has collaborated with other artists in the past. :-)
There's so much respect and appreciation between these ladies, that move of respect of crouching or sitting to give the full attention to the soloist is baked in. Kanami, being Miku's guitar sensei, always looks at her like a proud mom. Kanami teared up when Miku had her big opening rock star guitar flourish at the Yokohma Arena show. It is so apparent how much these ladies mean to each other and how much playing live means to them. That happy feeling is standard reaction to hearing Band-Maid.
It's almost like a drug at this point, but so far there are no dangerous side-effects. I've lost track of how many times I've ended a day with "Be OK", just to hear Miku tell me "It's gonna be okay", and that it's no big deal because everyone makes mistakes...
Stop, and comment all you want. That’s why I watch you, for your insights and opinions. If I just want to hear a song with no comments, I have all Band Maid CDs and can listen to them all I want, which I do. Just keep doing what you do with your calming DJ voice and continue to ignore the detractors. Thanks Chan!
Thank you, John. I guess I have the benefit that I'm not trying to monetize so I don't have to please anyone but myself here. :-)
(I think my wife really enjoys that I'm doing this because I've quit talking to HER so much about Band-Maid, LOL.)
lol - my wife thought I was weird watching the Maids all the time. So I took her to see them live. Now she knows how talented they are and that I’m not perv. 😂
You may have noticed that when anyone does a solo the other members often kneel or crouch in honour of their band mate. Saiki often completely sits on the side of the stage. There is so much honour and respect for each other between the band members. Misa and Kanami often switch sides of the stage so that the audience can see them both close up for a while. There is one video where Akane does the bow of scheme in front of the audience. Her in ear had become disconnected and the rest of the band started the next song without her being ready. Great reaction again- thanks.
I'm starting to notice it, for sure. Another, related thing I noticed (but don't think I've said it yet) is that certain ones look so PROUD of their bandmates after crucial moments, like "you did it!", almost like each one continues to be impressed by the others, despite seeing in action, up close, for 10 years...
What a fun band to follow! Growing up, I quickly became jaded toward "being a fan", because it seemed like every time I got hooked on a band I'd quickly learn something disappointing about them - crimes, addiction, general assholery, etc. I have a feeling that won't happen with Band-Maid.
Same here! A couple of my favorite bands for decades were people I would never actually want to hang out with (and certainly wouldn't want them in my home) -- I just liked their music. And I soured on them the more I learned about anything beyond the music... With Band-Maid it's been the opposite: the more I learn about them, the more impressed I've become, and the more I'm convinced they deserve to dominate the whole world.
Loving this journey with you, so happy you pointed out the Miku cheer PO!
When I first saw Freedom live, I missed a bunch of stuff (including the cheer, the kneeling, the re-positioning on stage, etc). It is really fun to spot new details each time I see it again. :-)
Great to follow their development as a band...kind of envy you 😁 I found them around May 2020, bought all their back catalogue and video concerts...so glad I heard and got familiar with everything before they dropped 'Different' and the Unseen World album. Time during covid lockdown spent honing their playing skills, and Kanami writing more complex compositions, pays off big time and they keep progressing superbly IMHO. Here for your journey...HELL YEAH 👍👊❤🔥🤘🤘🤘
Thank you! In 2020, I sure could have used some Band-Maid in my life, so I envy you a bit also. :-) But late 2022 will have to do for me.
(I have yet to have invented time travel, so...)
If you ever manage to get the scorebook for their 2021 album "Unseen World" it includes a CD with all the songs played without vocals. Done to help players be able to learn the parts but it would be what you mentioned. Love what you are doing. Thank you. "Choose Me" live is the special song for me and it along with "Play" live were the first two I heard.
That does sound fun. :-)
With the way studio tracks are (often) recorded, I think it shouldn't be difficult to produce a sans-vocals version of most songs... But some other band told me "I can't always get what I want", LOL.
But if you try sometime...@@Chan_Fry
I can't remember when I saw Freedom but I had already hoovered up the audio tracks in disbelief at liking every one. I sometimes forget and this track always reminds me how hard these women had to work. Had to struggle with set backs in an industry in Japan that is bigger than most places other than the US. Love how little they seem to have been affected by success. Still work hard and improve and still get all excited when meeting other music stars in overseas concerts. They do make us all feel better. Your next video for Before Yesterday I has seen the MV before I had heard the original track as it was early in my Band Maid journey. Always gets me every time. Thanks again for doing these.
Thank you for watching. :-) I'm sure I've heard "Before Yesterday" before, but can't recall if I've seen the video. I hope to get to it soon. :-)
Always love joining you in these reactions. I wish more people would adopt a style like this.
You're not alone with feeling that some studio tracks are better than some lives. "Blooming" is one that always quickly comes to mind.
This may not be one of my top 70 Band-Maid songs (as always: if this was another band, I'd be excited to check out more) but I love watching this live performance for two incredible things, not even including their awesome interactions and personalities: a drum solo that is fun for non-musicians, and one of the classiest, SSS+++ tier transitions I've ever heard. Incredible.
Looking forward to the next one.
Thank you, tinyhato. I agree that it's not high on my list of Band-Maid favorites (I just checked and I have it at number 37 right now, but that's likely because I've been moving the list around so much as I go through the back catalog. Once I get to "Just Bring It" and "Domination", well... It's anyone's guess what happens to my list...)
It's just so much dang FUN, though, that if I'm only ranking *videos*, then "Freedom live" gets a place of honor. :-)
I love both of these versions. On the studio, I love the clean vocals and Saiki's slightly nasally delivery, and I really love the lead guitar harmony at the end of the solo. The live, goes without saying. Really the last of the Miku/Saiki shared lead vocals songs, which I miss. Also, I got to hear this with a full gorilla solo in DC in 2022, but they decided not to play it when I saw them in Atlanta later. But that's ok, they played Blooming and Black Hole in ATL.
I did notice what sounded like a dual guitar at the end of the solo (studio track), but forgot to mention it (I think you see my expression change at that moment). Fingers crossed that they come through central Texas again on their next U.S. tour -- I made the wrong choice in 2023 when I decided not to see them in Austin. :-/
I really dread the day you get caught up to present day BandMaid, and have no new music to review. Maybe, that day will never come. I do really enjoy your intense breakdown.
I think I'm dreading that too, LOL. "What?! No more Band-Maid?" But maybe by then I'll be ready to branch out a bit... :-)
This group has blown my mind for more than a year now -- hopefully there's no harsh withdrawal when I run out of new content. :-)
Freedom the live version, was the first song I heard by the Ladies. My second was Onset. And those 2 songs got me hooked.
On Saiki's voice, this was recorded before her surgery to remove polyps from her vocal cords. You can hear in her voice a little bit of harshness that you do not hear in the live version, where her voice is much smoother and more mature. Miku's vocal is more of a spoken lyric versus the sung one of the live.
And Kanami was trolling Miku by sitting in front of her monitor wedge. My understanding is that at the performance the day before, Miku instead of singing her verse, sung Saiki's verse. So at the beginning of the song, you see Kanami come up to Miku and mouth singing at her, before going to the front of the stage. As Miku's verse approaches, she runs back up stage and sits in front of Miku's monitor, and you can see Miku give Kanami a stink eye. To this day, during Freedom, MISA, Kanami and Saiki will troll Miku by staring at her while she sings her verse.
The "Off-Beat" high hats or the disco beat high hats.
On MISA's bass at the end, she is filling in where Miku's guitar WOULD be. Miku still wasn't real accomplished on guitar when this was recorded. She has gotten much better, so during the live, MISA didn't need to fill that area.
During the Live, MISA's bass IS higher in the mix. The original recording she still played a 4 string bass, in this she is playing a 5 string, and has also added some grit to her signal.
And the Ladies are just having so much fun and enjoying themselves. That makes it even better when you see them live.
It's too bad MISA only uses that SG style bass in the studio anymore. It's just too neck heavy, even after she had it re-necked.
And yes, she was resetting her pedal board. She has a Master Controller, that controls her pedals, and it has 5 presets, plus she can program in settings for a particular song and can scroll through to that setting. At the end of Play and beginning of Domination you can see them all walk back to their pedal boards to reset them.
"On Saiki's voice, this was recorded before her surgery to remove polyps from her vocal cords." If you are talking the "studio version yes, that's correct. "Brand New Maid" was released in 2016 so yeah Saiki was battling chord polyps but she had the removal surgery in 2018, so she was well recovered for the LIVE Shibuya 2020 Feb14th show, which I'm sure you know so that is for the newbies here.
BTW- When did MISA go to the five string?
Thanks again for the detailed comment! I almost mentioned Saiki's voice (the difference between the two versions), but while I was recording, I suddenly doubted my memory of the dates... It DID sound more "hoarse" in the studio track and cleaner in the live version, but I didn't want to sound ignorant if I mentioned her surgery (which I've heard of but couldn't remember if it was 2017 for sure...)
I guess I could have phrased it as a question ("was this before her surgery?") and that would have been okay. :-)
Besides the drum solo, the Miku verse is my favorite part of this song -- not only because of Kanami's "trolling", but because of the very cute and fun contrast to Saiki's more serious verse. This live performance (even though the song itself isn't high on my favorites list) contains *almost* everything I love about Band-Maid -- missing only a magnificent bass solo. :-)
@@Chan_Fry I was the same with regards to being luke warm with the song itself but, the more I got to know the Maids and their personalities and listened to the song, the more it grew on me to where it's awesome now. Actually there's quite a few songs that had to grow on me, mostly from the "Unseen World" and Unleash" albums. They were hitting their manic/progressive stage of writing and some songs just shocked me at first. But for me the more I listened the more the manic nature of those songs slowed down and revealed Kanami's writing brilliance. That made me go back and listen more to their older song, though they didn't write some, they still played them.
Oh man, I can't wait to be here as you catch up to them finally in the here and now. It's a hell of a treat in store. Enjoying this trip down memory lane for me as well with you.
I started with Just Bring It when someone randomly handed me a CD and said I'd like it. Having worn out my ear drums, I went straight back through their earlier stuff in a back to front manner so this track on BNM was an early stand out.
I'm looking forward to it. Though I HAVE heard most of their later stuff, I'm keeping myself from listening to it until I catch up. Which makes me want to do these faster... :-)
("Just Bring It" arrived a few days ago, so I'll get to it once I've finished BNM.)
I think this was my third ever Band-Maid song. "Thrill", LIVE "Domination" were the first two in that order. I LOVED, and still do, "Thrill" because you "never forget your first". "Domination LIVE hooked me past the barb and I'm still stuck after four years. I just can't shake them because they are Family to me now. They are a true "All for One and One for ALL" Sisterhood. Thanks Chan-san
I think Domination (live) was fourth for me... Though I should have kept a list, LOL.
(0) 2 songs from "Kate"
(0) snippet from "Peacekeeper"
For the above, I didn't know who Band-Maid was...
(1) Dice MV (in Tank the Tech reaction video)
(2/3) Freedom live
(2/3) Play live
(4) Domination live
(5) Domination MV (I think)
@@Chan_Fry I still subscribe to Tank the Tech, haven't watched him in a while though. He's in to some way heavier than I like but he's still a good guy.
MISA MISA MISA!!!!!
❤
She seems to take a bit of a backseat in this song (compared to some other songs anyway), but is still so crucial to the way it sounds. :-)
Is that a *Buc-ees* t-shirt? I drive past Buc-ees on I-30 on the way to Oklahoma on a project I'm working on 👍
Ha! Yes, I forgot to change into a Band-Maid T-shirt for my last couple of videos... My family loves Buc-ee's and I think I have three of their T-shirts now. :-)
(We have been known to re-route road trips to make sure we get to a Buc-ee's around lunch time for a gas fillup and some BBQ sandwiches...)
Freedom was the first Band Maid song i saw about 3 years ago. after this song i was a Band Maid fan, why you ask? well, when MISA and Saiki were on the drum platform laughing at Akane, if you look real close you will see Akane stick her tongue out at them. Great musicians and vocalist and great friends, what's not to love! Peace!!
Yes, the tongue-sticking-out was a nice touch, LOL. The whole vibe is so relaxed and fun, while at the same time being close to perfect musically, that it's almost magical to witness. :-)
A couple of, to me, interesting aspects for this song. The drum solo was added on for that season's tour, and not done again until 2022. I have seen another concert from that year and the drum solo was different! And different again in 2022. They always seem to have a lot of fun doing this song. Look for the version from the 2018 Zepp Tokyo concert. And during one of the COVID era livestreams, the maids wandered all over the studio during the song.
Thanks for the suggestion... The only Zepp Tokyo 2018 I found for this song has lyrics printed over the screen, as well as a strong texture overlay (probably trying to avoid AI copyright detection?) that made it difficult to watch... I'll keep my eyes open -- that seems to have been one of their very best live shows...
@@Chan_Fry The Zepp performance is interesting not for any special audio, but for all the stage shenanigans. Saiki and Kanami laughing at Miku going full rock star mode in the first verse. Kanami lost in Mincho land, while Miku stands behind her waiting for a planned face off. Saiki going into the crowd in the final third of the song. Miku winds up singing the last verse alone as Saiki is stuck in the audience. Band Maid doing Band Maid things.You may have seen the official live of Real Existence. That was the next song and probably got an extra jolt of energy from all the stuff in Freedom.
Akane in the live video - snare drum = atomic clock