Album review: M&W- SID

An album review on SID’s newest album, M&W (if you couldn’t tell by the post title). I absolutely loved this album, and I had to share what I thought of it with everyone. I tried to be impartial, which was damn hard as I am one of SID’s biggest fans. I hope you enjoy, and maybe think about buying the album?

Thank you!

Konagona

Track number 1– an upbeat rock track, and one of my favourites of the album. While I essentially have no idea what the lyrics are about, I’m assuming it’s sad (Google Translate tells me ‘Konagona’ means ‘in small pieces’), the music isn’t. It’s not uber-bouncy, it’s fun and awesome.

You should especially listen to the track with headphones. The bass plays in one ear and the guitar in the other. Really cool. Not so cool if your headphones are fucked like mine, where you can usually only hear one ear at a time.

Ghost Apartment

The thing about this album is, some of the tracks sound kinda… themed. Like Ghost Apartment reminds me of one of those old horror shows, with the vampires that had too much make-up on, and with the great, fake castle backgrounds and bats. No? Just me?

Still, I like it– it’s dramatic and has that jazz sound. I also love what Mao does with his voice in the chorus. It really doesn’t sound like what I’d expected to see in this album– it feels like a Play song.

Fuyu no Bench

One of four singles released before the album. It’s actually my least favourite single, but it’s still a sweet and warm song. Y’know, winter-cuddling warm. From the couple of lines I could understand, the message was really sweet. About how their love is not over and all– basic heart-touching Mao-fare.

I actually love singing along to this song. It just… feels lovely.

Ito

I knew it was going to be a rock ballad the moment I saw the name (‘Ito’ means ‘thread’. I’m pretty sure it’s referring to ‘red thread’ which is supposed to be the connector of fate and destiny).

So, my expectations were high, and the beginning of the song inspired faith. But, somehow, it didn’t sound as good as I expected. It was less rock than I’d wanted, and I’m not the biggest fan of it.

Café de Bossa

(Can I tell you, I was wondering how to make that little line over the ‘e’ in Café, but autocorrect fixed it for me. Yay)

Uwaa, I love this song! It is also kinda themed– it feels like a holiday, beach song. I love listening to it and swaying. Mao keeps his voice light and sweet in it, and I really like it for that. And I’m a sucker for songs with acoustic guitar in it. I love singing along, especially the pre-chorus! Mao’s voice is really sweet there. I think this might be my favourite song in the whole album.

‘S’

Another of SID’s pre-released singles. So not mellow, new-style SID. Fast, hard rock. I love it. I love how Mao sings the chorus, and I especially love the music. This song went to #5 on the Oricon, and it’s obvious to see why. The music is really… original. I don’t know; I really haven’t heard songs like it.

MOM

Okay, you do not get anymore jazz than this. Bright, loud, fun– it’s much louder than Cosmetic, but I can’t say I like it more. I really liked this at the beginning, but it somehow wore out for me. Still, if you liked Smile and Virtual Bansankai, I’m sure you’d want to listen to this more than once.

Itsuka

SID’s first single off the album. Total rock ballad, their forte, and it was really good! It reached #2, and I’m really not surprised. Mao really strengthens his voice, and he sounds good. It does remind me of Rain and Sleep, except in those two beautiful songs, Mao’s voice really hits you with longing. This song affected me less than those.

Dresscode

Themed song? Yup. The ‘parts’ sound like one of those themes that’d be playing in one of those chic clubs, where skinny girls in short, tight dresses would chatter and sip champagne. The chorus, though, is really different, and really good, as well. The third part, also, sounds like it could be from a different song. It’s much more dramatic and rock, and I really like it. That transition from it to the flitty music is really seamless. One of those songs I wasn’t particularly fond of (the flitty-ness pissed me off), but am glad I took the time to listen to more than once.

gossip!!

From the name, I guessed a loud, jazzy song like MOM, and I was really excited. It’s not jazzy. Really, it isn’t. It’s themed, but not jazzy.

The theme (to me, anyway) is some sort of old, high-school rock. Y’know, like those old movies where students get up on tables and start dancing. I was pretty disappointed. It’s not bad, but not really great. I do like the chorus, though.

Nokoriga

My favourite single off M&W, and possibly my favourite song off it too. So quintessential SID. Touching, beautiful, with this melody that makes me heart move with it. It’s not too slow, though. It only got #5 on the Oricon charts– I expected a higher ranking, to be honest.

And now, because I saw this in someone else’s blog review of Deadstock:

Favourite song(s): Café de Bossa, Nokoriga

Least favourite song(s): Ito, gossip!

Overall rating: ●●●●●

Well, I hope you liked reading this review, and if you’re not a SID fan, convinced you to buy the album. Seriously, I will be overjoyed if I did. One of my goals is to try and gather as many fans for SID as possible.

Thank you!