11/15/2002- new album review! – by terra
my first impression of this album was that it had a different sound- it’s a bit edgier, a bit more experimental, but with the same pillows energy and strange engrish lyrics one would expect. i think they used a lot more bass this time around. the overall sound has been refreshed, but the underlying fundamentals that give the pillows their charm are still there. if you are already a pillows fan, this is definitely worth importing. if you’re just getting into the pillows… i’d say fool on the planet might be a better place to start if you’re going to actually buy anything.
anyway, here we go, track by track. :] four stars- awesome! my favorite. three stars- really good, but not quite a favorite. two stars- pretty good, but i wouldn’t put it on my mp3 player all the time. one stars- bleh! only really old pillows songs where sawao doesn’t know how to sing yet would get this rating, though. :]
rain brain. 
at first this sounds a little harder than they usually do. the most interesting thing is the electronic chirping in the background, a new theme which pops up repeatedly throughout the album. it’s not present throughout the entire song, however, and isn’t terribly noticeable, so i’m not going to complain about it. it’s just something new and interesting, and not so overdone that it ruins the overall sound.
biscuit hammer. this sounds rather punkish (not that real hardcore punk stuff, the more radio-friendly sort of thing). but good, nonetheless. the only engrish is biscuit hammer. what a biscuit hammer is, we don’t know, but since random engrish is a trademark of pillows’ songs anyway, who cares? it sounds good.
babiron tenshi no shi. (babylon verses of angel) this is pretty upbeat and a little funky, you kind of want to bounce along with it. or at least tap your foot.
my beautiful sun (irene). disco beat! i’m serious… this is the only song like this on the album, it’s definitely a bit of a departure… still pretty good, but not one of my favorites on the album, that’s the only reason i give it two stars. it’s just a bizarre hybrid of guitar and a dance beat… plus that touch of electronic sound.
come on, ghost. this has a strong guitar, and the electronic chirping is back… but again, not too noticeable. also a good foot-tapping song. :)
ROBOTMAN. this opens with a robot voice, appropriately enough… very driving guitar, again, strangely harder sounding than their older songs, but a fun, cute song nonetheless. he even sings somewhat robot-like for parts of the song (staying on the same note for a long string of syllables).
ritalin 202. decent song, not really anything distinguishing about it. fairly upbeat, a little more bass than usual. a lot of untintelligible engrish. :]
shiroi natsu to midori na jitensha, akai kami to kuroi gitaa. (white summer and green bicycle, red hair and black guitar) the most laid-back, warm song on the entire album. like ‘monster c.c.’ but with a little more accompaniment. very nice song. :)
winona. probably the song closest to their older stuff. good, but nothing new.
thank you, my twilight. the electronic experimentation is most prominent here (but don’t fear, the pillows are NOT going electronic! it’s not that extreme :) ). the song is accompanied at several points by what amounts to a melody of electronic beeps. and it sounds good, yes, it actually does. otherwise it’s another excellent balladish thing, something like ‘hybrid rainbow’, or ‘one life’, but a bit slower and simpler. actually, it’s a LOT like ‘fool on the planet’, but better. :D ‘baby, doko made demo!’
rookie jet. i still have trouble on occasion telling when he’s speaking english in this song, but in any case, it’s ridiculously upbeat and energetic. so i like it a lot. it’s kind of like ‘waiting at the bus stop’, with that frenetic non-stop energy.
