LOL, you heard more when you listen to Black Hole for the second time. I've heard it hundreds of times and still hear more every listen. Many of their songs are great, almost all are good. Black Hole is one of a handful that are amazing.
It is not only amazing it is also not easy to digest. Its so much. The first time I listened to it it was mainly chaos and I did not understand it. But now it is one of my favorites. You can never hear everything that is going on.
Second listen's often better than the first anyway -- don't sweat it. Also the sassy vocals with the punchy groove sometimes reminds me of Free Your Mind ua-cam.com/video/i7iQbBbMAFE/v-deo.htmlsi=VU7ITOiCF6BhHYPv&t=137
Great reaction as usual. To give you an idea of Akane's superhuman stamina, at the 10th anniversary tour finale show at Yokohama Arena, Akane did a full-on drum solo which led directly onto Black hole! Mind you, it was the 25th song out of a 33 song setlist. Just crazy! Rock on 🤘
Band Maid is a great combination of highly skilled, technical, instrumentalists, pushing their compositions into progressive territory, mixed in with great female vocals and harmonies. They are like a mix of my favorite bands of all time. Take the jazz-fusion-prog controlled chaos of mid 70’s Yes, add to it the proto-prog-metal sound of late 70’s Rush, and weave into it all, the enchanting vocal harmonies of Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart! I’d pay to see that band… wait, I already did: Band Maid! 🙂
It's so uniquely Band-Maid where Saiki singing without Miku sounds very rock, and Miku joins and it gives the touch of sweetness straight away. Both of them are great on their own but with two of them together sound magical.
Thanks for the reaction and comments. These ladies make me happy without fail. "Manners" conveys their sassy side IMHO. Kanami's compositions are both masterfully layered and dynamic. To fully appreciate their songs, full attention and multiple listens are often required from the listener. No apologies required when stopping the video to make a comment. That's what we're here for. Cheers!
There is an interesting story behind "Black Hole". According to Akane, Kanami asked her how fast she could drum. Akane said around 190 bpm. Then Kanami went off and wrote "Black Hole" that peaks at 220 bpm! So Akane goes and writes the drum patterns for the track. She wrote 7, for the band to choose which one. She labelled them: 1. Easy 2. Comfortable 3. Normal 4. Possible if I work hard 5. Tough 6. Painfull 7. Hell Akane said "Of course, the band chose Hell"!
As I recall, this came about due to an online conversation that Miku and Kanami had with Herman Li of DragonForce. Kanami asked him what their fastest song was.
Great reaction and breakdown. Most Band-Maid songs have so much going on, it's very common to hear something you didn't pick up on through the first listen. Another reason I love their music. Keep on the journey...help spread the word of the Maids and assist them on their quest for world domination! PO! 🕊 🤘😆🤘
You need to attend a live Band-Maid concert because they often do an opening segment to a song you know, that completely surprises you. The opening bass/drum segment on this live video of "Manners" is a good example of that. One of my favorite Band-Maid song "Daydreaming" has had a few incredible opening solos. One opening was a piano solo by Kanami, but the one that moved me to tears was the opening guitar solo by Kanami at their 10the Anniversary Tour finale. It was such a beautiful solo that the entire audience did not know what song she was introducing.
Covfefe! ❤ Po! 🕊️ 🇺🇸 🤘🏽 Band Maid puts changes that don’t have to be there. They include vocal parts that could’ve been left out. The details they all contribute take good songs and make them creatively interesting and even inspiring. Ironically, it’s often the little “throwaway” parts, like Miku’s little one note bends or her “Yeah, yeah, yeahs!” that become the most memorable and indispensable parts of their artistic work
That happens to a lot of us with Saiki. Appreciate her at first but don't fully realize how great she is until later. Enjoyed the reaction. Don't apologize for pausing
Musically, this is the odd track on the Unseen World album, with most of the tracks being more straight rock to metal tinged rock. There is no title track on the album, but this song is the only one that mentions the Unseen World. In Black Hole, when Saiki looks at the camera from under her eye brows, and with the colour of the lighting, she has a real demonic look on her face. Scary!
This back to back Band Maid put together is just perfect. Displaying the music range they have.. 💯 On the second recording thing all good, a second listen is *never* a bad thing 😄 🤘❤🔥🤘
A lot of reactors do the, "Join me for my summation" thing when it's actually just 5 seconds later as they're recording, but it would be cool - especially with really good, complex, layered groups like Band-Maid - if they did the initial reaction and then tag on a, "Here are my thoughts after listening to it 5 times" segment. That said, I'm regularly surprised at how much good reactors pick up on a first listen. It's a skill.
I try to get everything I can out of a first listen, because I really can't work a "here it is after 5 times" type model into my workflow. This is just a fun side project for me--my day job keeps me very busy. Thanks so much for watching!
Everyone and their dogs know the names of MISA and Akane, bass and drums. That is unusual. Normally bass and drums are the last one you learn. Now, Miku, the 810 year old pigeon. Easy to learn. Backing vocal and rhythm guitar and the band founder. Kanami is i bit more difficult. Easy to mix up with Akane. But that's our genial lead guitarist and composer. The last one is the most difficult. I always forget how to spell it, but its Saiki the lead singer.
P.S. My solitary opinion is to pause and chat as much as you want. I’ve heard this song a hundred times and will hear it whenever I want because it’s on my massive Band Maid playlist.
Anyone that gets the quality of Saiki's vocal ability has my attention . Ever since I was kid I have listened to music from asia . Two of my uncles served in WW2 and Korea . Both brought back an assortment of 78 speed records . It was not until Band Maid (Saiki) did I find someone I could enjoy vocally . There are a series of very good documentaries out there that might peek your interest . Saw 2001 in theater when it came out . Ground breaking film subscribed
Thanks for subscribing!! 2001 is definitely a landmark film. Another piece of media that deserves to be revisited! I'm not vocally trained or anything, but I do try to appreciate vocalists' nuances!
The idea of a bass/drum intro is a regular thing of Band Maid. Every concert tour, they will pick 3/4 songs to add extra bits. A very good video is on The Daily Blab youtube page. MISA Highlight Reel.
Band Maid is: MIKU (mee-koo) Rhythm guitar, backing vocals, writes the lyrics. The band’s founder. KANAMI (kah-nah-mee) Lead guitar, writes and arranges the music. “Mincho” MISA (mee-sah) Bass. She’s special and the band knows it, they write songs to show her off. “The Barefoot Assassin” AKANE (ah-kah-neh) Drums. You can set your watch to her consistent beat. “The Gorilla” SAIKI (sigh-kee) Lead vocals. She can command a room. She’s the Team Mom.
YOU are drummer, of course you’ll learn AKANE(it’s take time to learn Foreign Name, so all good 👍).If you not watch your MANNER, you’ll learn Hard way BLACKHOLES😂😂. Nothing wrong 2nd time or even 3rd time. As long as you do it, I definitely be here😊. Thanks for reaction
On the vocals, here is part of yet another text file. Miku the Secondary Lead Vocalist is a Mezzo-Soprano, meaning she can sing lower and higher than Saiki the Primary Lead Vocalist, who is a Contralto/Alto. However Miku doesn't have the same vocal power that Saiki does. I have two different analogies explaining it. The first is audiophile: Miku only has a pre-amp installed, while Saiki has has the pre-amp and amplifier installed. The second is the hose: Take a hose with a screw nozzle, open it up so it covers the largest area, it doesn't spray very far or hard, that is Miku's voice. Tighten up the nozzle and now it can go very far with much more power, but it doesn't cover as wide an area, that is Saiki's voice. And is your audio balance off slightly? I'm hearing more of the right channel than than the left. On the Ladies video, not your vocals. Your vocals sound center channel, but the video sounds like the left channel is slightly lower in volume. I'm using a new to me laptop, my son gave me while my laptop gets repaired, so it may be that. But I checked the settings, unless it's a hardware issue I can't detect, it sounds like your mix is a bit sideways. And Akane, (Yes, you did get it right) and many other female Japanese drummers have what in the US would be called a "Wiry Build", as in they don't look to be as strong as they actually are. Akane has mentioned a few times that she does work out, mostly for cardio and stamina, to help her drumming. There are a few photos that Akane has taken of herself after her practice, and she is visibly soaked.
BAND MAID has many styles and different ways of starting a song differently live than keeping it the same as the album. That is what makes BAND MAID so endearing. They keep the songs fresh every time. Listen to the other songs on Spotify - no you tube videos on many of the songs so you won't ruin your reactions. Example: ARCADIA GIRL - FREEZER - AT THE DROP OF A HAT A great review - in the manner of this double song review - would be PUZZLE - both of these are live! Acoustic version - ua-cam.com/video/ayJtzPkgZTc/v-deo.html - Rock version - ua-cam.com/video/zvuqmSQEnaA/v-deo.html
WARNING! (maybe your next B-M song?) It's bad MANNERS to stop listening to Band-Maid because you'll feel starved for musical excellence and joy and fall into a BLACK HOLE of emptiness... probably! 🤔 Thx, Luke!
I’m not much interested in “first time reactions. As you demonstrated here, there is much more to talk about, informed by a deeper understanding of the material, when you’ve heard it two (or many more) times. The choked guitar sound is produced by a technique called palm muting. The heel of the player’s picking hand rests on the bridge, just barely touching and damping the end of the strings.
I occasionally do deeper dives into songs I already know! We use "Let's Listen" in the title to mark those, if you're interested. I allllllmost said palm muting during the video because I have heard the term, but wasn't sure if it was correct. Thanks for the info!
Thanks so much nice reaction!
Always their live performance is better than studio`s.
I hope you`ll enjoy BAND-MAID!
They have a perfect record with me so far! Really, really good stuff. Thanks for being here!
LOL, you heard more when you listen to Black Hole for the second time. I've heard it hundreds of times and still hear more every listen. Many of their songs are great, almost all are good. Black Hole is one of a handful that are amazing.
It is not only amazing it is also not easy to digest. Its so much. The first time I listened to it it was mainly chaos and I did not understand it. But now it is one of my favorites. You can never hear everything that is going on.
Good job!. You'll probably need to listen to Black Hole a dozen times to be able to unravel even a small part of its secrets.
So, Manners is about the manner in which BAND-MAID will achieve World Domination, while Black Hole is about a black hole 😂
Band Maid! 🍺🥴🤘🏻
Second listen's often better than the first anyway -- don't sweat it.
Also the sassy vocals with the punchy groove sometimes reminds me of Free Your Mind ua-cam.com/video/i7iQbBbMAFE/v-deo.htmlsi=VU7ITOiCF6BhHYPv&t=137
Miku was on fire doing the backing vocals on this whole album.
Can't wait to hear more of it!!
Great reaction as usual. To give you an idea of Akane's superhuman stamina, at the 10th anniversary tour finale show at Yokohama Arena, Akane did a full-on drum solo which led directly onto Black hole! Mind you, it was the 25th song out of a 33 song setlist. Just crazy! Rock on 🤘
Band Maid is a great combination of highly skilled, technical, instrumentalists, pushing their compositions into progressive territory, mixed in with great female vocals and harmonies. They are like a mix of my favorite bands of all time.
Take the jazz-fusion-prog controlled chaos of mid 70’s Yes, add to it the proto-prog-metal sound of late 70’s Rush, and weave into it all, the enchanting vocal harmonies of Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart! I’d pay to see that band… wait, I already did: Band Maid! 🙂
It's so uniquely Band-Maid where Saiki singing without Miku sounds very rock, and Miku joins and it gives the touch of sweetness straight away. Both of them are great on their own but with two of them together sound magical.
Thanks for the reaction and comments. These ladies make me happy without fail. "Manners" conveys their sassy side IMHO. Kanami's compositions are both masterfully layered and dynamic. To fully appreciate their songs, full attention and multiple listens are often required from the listener. No apologies required when stopping the video to make a comment. That's what we're here for. Cheers!
There is an interesting story behind "Black Hole". According to Akane, Kanami asked her how fast she could drum. Akane said around 190 bpm. Then Kanami went off and wrote "Black Hole" that peaks at 220 bpm! So Akane goes and writes the drum patterns for the track. She wrote 7, for the band to choose which one. She labelled them:
1. Easy
2. Comfortable
3. Normal
4. Possible if I work hard
5. Tough
6. Painfull
7. Hell
Akane said "Of course, the band chose Hell"!
As I recall, this came about due to an online conversation that Miku and Kanami had with Herman Li of DragonForce. Kanami asked him what their fastest song was.
Great reaction and breakdown. Most Band-Maid songs have so much going on, it's very common to hear something you didn't pick up on through the first listen. Another reason I love their music. Keep on the journey...help spread the word of the Maids and assist them on their quest for world domination! PO! 🕊 🤘😆🤘
I'll keep revisiting them after my initial ones. Very good stuff and they definitely deserve a spot in my rotation. :D
You need to attend a live Band-Maid concert because they often do an opening segment to a song you know, that completely surprises you. The opening bass/drum segment on this live video of "Manners" is a good example of that. One of my favorite Band-Maid song "Daydreaming" has had a few incredible opening solos. One opening was a piano solo by Kanami, but the one that moved me to tears was the opening guitar solo by Kanami at their 10the Anniversary Tour finale. It was such a beautiful solo that the entire audience did not know what song she was introducing.
Misa, mistress of the moving bass-line.
Covfefe! ❤ Po! 🕊️ 🇺🇸 🤘🏽
Band Maid puts changes that don’t have to be there. They include vocal parts that could’ve been left out.
The details they all contribute take good songs and make them creatively interesting and even inspiring.
Ironically, it’s often the little “throwaway” parts, like Miku’s little one note bends or her “Yeah, yeah, yeahs!” that become the most memorable and indispensable parts of their artistic work
And just imagine all the ideas that get left on the cutting room floor 😮
Hey I love stuff like that though! It's very distinct and helps separate them from other bands even more!
That happens to a lot of us with Saiki. Appreciate her at first but don't fully realize how great she is until later. Enjoyed the reaction. Don't apologize for pausing
Thank you. Great reaction.
Thank you!! Glad you enjoyed it!!
Musically, this is the odd track on the Unseen World album, with most of the tracks being more straight rock to metal tinged rock. There is no title track on the album, but this song is the only one that mentions the Unseen World. In Black Hole, when Saiki looks at the camera from under her eye brows, and with the colour of the lighting, she has a real demonic look on her face. Scary!
For a wonderfully odd track try "Giovanni."
This back to back Band Maid put together is just perfect.
Displaying the music range they have.. 💯
On the second recording thing all good, a second listen is *never* a bad thing 😄
🤘❤🔥🤘
A lot of reactors do the, "Join me for my summation" thing when it's actually just 5 seconds later as they're recording, but it would be cool - especially with really good, complex, layered groups like Band-Maid - if they did the initial reaction and then tag on a, "Here are my thoughts after listening to it 5 times" segment. That said, I'm regularly surprised at how much good reactors pick up on a first listen. It's a skill.
I try to get everything I can out of a first listen, because I really can't work a "here it is after 5 times" type model into my workflow. This is just a fun side project for me--my day job keeps me very busy. Thanks so much for watching!
Everyone and their dogs know the names of MISA and Akane, bass and drums. That is unusual. Normally bass and drums are the last one you learn. Now, Miku, the 810 year old pigeon. Easy to learn. Backing vocal and rhythm guitar and the band founder. Kanami is i bit more difficult. Easy to mix up with Akane. But that's our genial lead guitarist and composer. The last one is the most difficult. I always forget how to spell it, but its Saiki the lead singer.
P.S. My solitary opinion is to pause and chat as much as you want. I’ve heard this song a hundred times and will hear it whenever I want because it’s on my massive Band Maid playlist.
Same here. I want to hear his opinion on what he is hearing. If I want to hear the song, I can open up my music player on my computer or my phone.
Dang... I'm all out of coffee. Beer will have to do! 😎🍺🤘
the slower the song.. the more space does the singer have to play with. to me Sai-chan's highlight track is "Wonderland"
Anyone that gets the quality of Saiki's vocal ability has my attention . Ever since I was kid I have listened to music from asia . Two of my uncles served in WW2 and Korea . Both brought back an assortment of 78 speed records . It was not until Band Maid (Saiki) did I find someone I could enjoy vocally .
There are a series of very good documentaries out there that might peek your interest .
Saw 2001 in theater when it came out . Ground breaking film
subscribed
Thanks for subscribing!! 2001 is definitely a landmark film. Another piece of media that deserves to be revisited!
I'm not vocally trained or anything, but I do try to appreciate vocalists' nuances!
The idea of a bass/drum intro is a regular thing of Band Maid. Every concert tour, they will pick 3/4 songs to add extra bits. A very good video is on The Daily Blab youtube page. MISA Highlight Reel.
Band Maid is:
MIKU (mee-koo)
Rhythm guitar, backing vocals, writes the lyrics. The band’s founder.
KANAMI (kah-nah-mee)
Lead guitar, writes and arranges the music. “Mincho”
MISA (mee-sah)
Bass. She’s special and the band knows it, they write songs to show her off. “The Barefoot Assassin”
AKANE (ah-kah-neh)
Drums. You can set your watch to her consistent beat.
“The Gorilla”
SAIKI (sigh-kee)
Lead vocals. She can command a room.
She’s the Team Mom.
YOU are drummer, of course you’ll learn AKANE(it’s take time to learn Foreign Name, so all good 👍).If you not watch your MANNER, you’ll learn Hard way BLACKHOLES😂😂. Nothing wrong 2nd time or even 3rd time. As long as you do it, I definitely be here😊. Thanks for reaction
On the vocals, here is part of yet another text file.
Miku the Secondary Lead Vocalist is a Mezzo-Soprano, meaning she can sing lower and higher than Saiki the Primary Lead Vocalist, who is a Contralto/Alto. However Miku doesn't have the same vocal power that Saiki does. I have two different analogies explaining it. The first is audiophile: Miku only has a pre-amp installed, while Saiki has has the pre-amp and amplifier installed. The second is the hose: Take a hose with a screw nozzle, open it up so it covers the largest area, it doesn't spray very far or hard, that is Miku's voice. Tighten up the nozzle and now it can go very far with much more power, but it doesn't cover as wide an area, that is Saiki's voice.
And is your audio balance off slightly? I'm hearing more of the right channel than than the left. On the Ladies video, not your vocals. Your vocals sound center channel, but the video sounds like the left channel is slightly lower in volume.
I'm using a new to me laptop, my son gave me while my laptop gets repaired, so it may be that. But I checked the settings, unless it's a hardware issue I can't detect, it sounds like your mix is a bit sideways.
And Akane, (Yes, you did get it right) and many other female Japanese drummers have what in the US would be called a "Wiry Build", as in they don't look to be as strong as they actually are. Akane has mentioned a few times that she does work out, mostly for cardio and stamina, to help her drumming. There are a few photos that Akane has taken of herself after her practice, and she is visibly soaked.
BAND MAID has many styles and different ways of starting a song differently live than keeping it the same as the album. That is what makes BAND MAID so endearing. They keep the songs fresh every time. Listen to the other songs on Spotify - no you tube videos on many of the songs so you won't ruin your reactions. Example: ARCADIA GIRL - FREEZER - AT THE DROP OF A HAT
A great review - in the manner of this double song review - would be PUZZLE - both of these are live!
Acoustic version - ua-cam.com/video/ayJtzPkgZTc/v-deo.html -
Rock version - ua-cam.com/video/zvuqmSQEnaA/v-deo.html
She has a very high metabolism and all the band members kid her . She eats a lot for a little Japanese women.
WARNING! (maybe your next B-M song?) It's bad MANNERS to stop listening to Band-Maid because you'll feel starved for musical excellence and joy and fall into a BLACK HOLE of emptiness... probably! 🤔 Thx, Luke!
Hahaha I do love some good dad jokes. Thanks for being here!!
I’m not much interested in “first time reactions. As you demonstrated here, there is much more to talk about, informed by a deeper understanding of the material, when you’ve heard it two (or many more) times.
The choked guitar sound is produced by a technique called palm muting. The heel of the player’s picking hand rests on the bridge, just barely touching and damping the end of the strings.
I occasionally do deeper dives into songs I already know! We use "Let's Listen" in the title to mark those, if you're interested.
I allllllmost said palm muting during the video because I have heard the term, but wasn't sure if it was correct. Thanks for the info!