#102: MUCC - 新葬ラ謳 (Shin Homura Uta)

[qotka 433]

 

 

Tracklist

 

Disc 1: Shin Homura Uta

 

1. ホムラウタ (Homura Uta)

2. 絶望 (Zetsubou)

3. 幸せの終着 (Shiawase no Shuuchaku)

4. 君に幸あれ (Kimi ni Sachiare)

5. 僕が本当の僕に耐えきれず造った本当の僕 (Boku ga Hontou no Boku ni Taekirezu Tsukutta Hontou no Boku)

6. ママ (Mama)

7. 暗闇に咲く花 (Kurayami ni Saku Hana)

8. 嘘で歪む心臓 (Uso de Yugamu Shinzou)

9. およげ!たいやきくん (Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun)

10. 前へ-In its true light- (Mae e -In its true light-)

11. 黒煙 (Kokuen)

12. スイミン (Suimin)

13. 帰らぬ人 (Kaeranu Hito)

14. ズタズタ (Zutazuta)

15. 水槽 (Suisou)

16. 大嫌い2006 (Daikirai 2006)

 

Disc 2: Homura Uta ~Remaster~

 

01. ホムラウタ (Homura Uta)

02. 絶望 (Zetsubou)

03. 幸せの終着 (Shiawase no Shuuchaku)

04. 君に幸あれ (Kimi ni Sachiare)

05. 僕が本当の僕に耐えきれず造った本当の僕 (Boku ga Hontou no Boku ni Taekirezu Tsukutta Hontou no Boku)

06. ママ (Mama)

07. 暗闇に咲く花 (Kurayami ni Saku Hana)

08. 嘘で歪む心臓 (Uso de Yugamu Shinzou)

09. およげ！たいやきくん (Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun)

10. 前へ (Mae e)

11. 黒煙 (Kokuen)

12. スイミン (Suimin)

13. 帰らぬ人 (Kaeranu Hito)

14. ズタズタ (Zutazuta)

15. 水槽 Sg ver (Suisou Sg ver)

 

| Classics are made to be tempered with

 

Here's one band that hasn't been getting a lot of rest in 2017. 新葬ラ謳 (Shin Homura Uta) includes two versions of MUCC's 葬ラ謳 (Homura Uta) - a remastered one and a shiny, new re-recorded one. It was released along with 新痛絶 (Shin Tsuuzetsu) as part of the band's 20 year anniversary extravaganza, its announcement coming in contiguity with their '哀愁とアンティークと痛みも葬る (Aishuu to Antique to Itami mo Homoru)' summer tour, in which they exclusively performed materials from their first two EPs and first two full length studio albums. There isn't much to say about the remastered version, so this review will focus on the new recording.

 

This release is not just about paying a nostalgic tribute to their past or reliving it. Revised 葬ラ謳 is as vibrant and relevant as the original was 15 years ago; not much has changed on the surface, yet everything sounds different. It's a great example for an album that has evolved in a similar way language does, with its tracks going through years of being performed live, re-recorded, and remixed; the result is something anyone who speaks visual-kei can understand, but with noticeable changes.

 

葬ラ謳 was a fairly commercially successful album. It was first released in September 2002 as a limited edition that sold out quickly; a regular edition came the next month, and a reissue of the limited edition came in 2004. This album had a story to tell - a story of distilled anguish, pain, sorrow, loss and all those other heart-wrenching emotions and experiences that have been driving people to create art throughout history. In that sense, they never offered anything revolutionary; they were just good storytellers who used heaps of murky sound and raw energy to create something people could relate to. It is also clear that grunge, alternative rock and even nu metal were among their many interests at that point, and they were learning them carefully and experimenting with them as best as they could.

 

In 2017, the same album tells a completely different story. The muddy sound is replaced with a polished presentation, which might strike some v-kei veterans as 'lacking depth' or even 'less than genuine'. It’s true that nothing can replace those pain-driven shrieks in the original “絶望 (Zetsubou)” or “ズタズタ (Zutazuta)” that sound like someone’s soul being run over by an 18-wheeler. But this is just where the potency of the new recording lies; it doesn’t try to recreate the original, it uses it as a foundation to create something new. It doesn’t only show the experience the band has gained in the past 15 years, developing both in terms of musical skills and delivery, which can clearly be heard in Tatsuro’s crisp vocals and Satochi’s precise drumming. 新葬ラ謳 is a story that couldn’t have been told the way it is without the band’s (sometimes questionable) musical endeavors over the years and could be seen as a journey journal of sorts - one that doesn't leave out even newfound quirks, like in “前へ (Mae e)", which now includes an auto-tuned reggae moment brought to you by music nerd Miya. “前へ” was re-recorded in 2014 for the “ENDER ENDER” single, and it shows that nothing is sacred in the name of nostalgia - everything can be torn, mixed, glued on, and tempered with for the sake of trying out new things. Many of the other changes are smaller and rather conservative, like a new verse in “帰らぬ人 (Kaeranu Hito)” and an altered enunciation of the lyrics on many of the tracks, but they're enough to turn 新葬ラ謳 into something worth listening to in an of itself, even for those familiar with the original release. People who have been listening to this album for years will have a lot of fun playing ‘spot the difference’ while listening to this.  

 

This solid and clean rendition of a classic wasn’t only a chance to play around the border of nostalgia, self-cover, and re-imagine, but also a great way to introduce old material to new fans. MUCC have always been open to adapt to trends, experiment, and evolve, which means they’ve gained new listeners with every release (and probably lost some along the way). A crowd that’s been around since カルマ (Karma), SHANGRI-LA, or THE END OF THE WORLD will not necessarily bother checking out their older releases unless they keep them alive and relevant, which is something they’ve succeeded in by re-recording both 痛絶 and 葬ラ謳 and taking them on tour. This 2-CD package will probably be the first thing I’ll recommend to anyone interested in listening to the band for the first time or exploring their older materials, as well as to more old-school listeners who have been out of the loop for the past couple of years and have been wondering what they’re up to nowadays.

 

 

Support your jrawk poets: the [limited] and [regular] editions are available to order!

Edited August 14, 2017 by qotka

[Spectralion 394]

I don't know but I've been repeatedly blasting MAMA for the past three weeks.

[yakihiko 1480]

Thank you for the review.

Such a wonderful release, I already was a fan from MUCC since Shangri-la era but never had opportunity to check their very first years albums, so I got excited to have the chance on hearing this one and 新痛絶.

After adding the songs on my music player, I had a 6-7 hours in a row listening to 新葬ラ謳 and 葬ラ謳 remastered, I even skip my sleep just to check its beats more properly in the night silence. It's a fine mix of raw and refined music quality.

 

I would say that 絶望, 君に幸あれ, ズタズタ, 幸せの終着, 僕が本当の僕に耐えきれず造った本当の僕, ママ and 暗闇に咲く花 are my favorite, mainly because they worked very well on both album versions. 黒煙 had his up on 葬ラ謳 remastered.

[qotka 433]

39 minutes ago, yakihiko said:

After adding the songs on my music player, I had a 6-7 hours in a row listening to 新葬ラ謳 and 葬ラ謳 remastered, I even skip my sleep just to check its beats more properly in the night silence.

This is so exciting to hear! I've had that experience when I first listened to Homura Uta - hours and hours of listening to every single track. It must be a lot nicer with the remastered version.

[emmny 4139]

amazing review! incredibly well written

i will get into mucc one day...when my HD has storage....eventually as i've been saying for the past 2 years

[Kirito 69]

I read in another forum some people said they lost their more "underground" vibes with those remakes. And Tatsuro voice became more nasal, less emotional...

 

I think Of course they can',t reproduce the same emotion because it was long Time ago. Sometimes i don't understand what fans expect 

[qotka 433]

6 hours ago, emmny said:

i will get into mucc one day...when my HD has storage....eventually

I know the situation. It took me about 8 years to actually get into them - I'm very slow with these things. :x 

 

4 hours ago, Kirito said:

And Tatsuro voice became more nasal, less emotional...

I think his voice has developed a lot in the past 20 years. In the past he relied a lot on emotion/acting (which he still does, theatricality has always been a huge part of his presentation), and what notes he couldn't reach he made up for by screaming/shrieking, which was rough and amazing. Now he sounds more professional and polished, sometimes sounding more like a jazz/pop vocalist than what he used to sound like. I find it very soothing but I can totally see how it's not everyone's cup of tea.

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

On 2017-08-13 at 10:10 PM, emmny said:

amazing review! incredibly well written

i will get into mucc one day...when my HD has storage....eventually as i've been saying for the past 2 years

Most of their stuff is on Spotify as well (with romaji tags though). Antique is not there though which kinda sucks :v

[qotka 433]

6 hours ago, Takadanobabaalien said:

Most of their stuff is on Spotify as well

This is really valuable information (I've only ever used Spotify in Japan and sadly they're not there at all)! Thanks, it'll be a lot easier to force, er, recommend them that way.

[Seimeisen 4406]

14 hours ago, Takadanobabaalien said:

Most of their stuff is on Spotify as well (with romaji tags though). Antique is not there though which kinda sucks :v

哀愁のアンティーク (Aishuu no Antique) not being a part of their digital catalogue is criminal! Anyone interested in MUCC should listen to that album.

[Kirito 69]

On 14/08/2017 at 5:37 AM, qotka said:

I know the situation. It took me about 8 years to actually get into them - I'm very slow with these things. :x 

 

I think his voice has developed a lot in the past 20 years. In the past he relied a lot on emotion/acting (which he still does, theatricality has always been a huge part of his presentation), and what notes he couldn't reach he made up for by screaming/shrieking, which was rough and amazing. Now he sounds more professional and polished, sometimes sounding more like a jazz/pop vocalist than what he used to sound like. I find it very soothing but I can totally see how it's not everyone's cup of tea.

Yes exactly, in the past it was like he was screaming all his pain.  

I remember an interview they said they wanted to have more fun now and not being stuck with depressive songs X) 

 

Anyway i'm happy they don't deny their past like some others bands