Band-Maid does the songs with no egos and allow everyone to shine and do what is best for the song. That is what makes them special to me! I hope you got to see Band-Maid last year when they were in Nashville!
The "perfectly controlled chaos" in this song reminds me a lot of a few Pearl Jam songs. The individual parts don't seem to go together, yet somehow it works perfectly.
Hey, been a while since you've done a BAND MAID reaction. Great to see you back. Such a great, in depth reaction, thanks. There is soooo much more to see from these guys. I can only imagine the amount of requests you get from your 17k+ subbies, but while you're back, could I suggest from one end of the spectrum, "Warning" MV, to the other, "Daydreaming" MV. Much much more than pretty girls in Maid outfits. New Subby from Aust. P.S. I hope everyone sticks around for the full reaction, as a lot of people/fans have so many thoughts about these guys but you actually put it into words.
What a great expression you made! “Perfectly controlled chaos!” is absolutely expressing their performances of playing this song. Just great you are! Thanks
Beautiful words that pretty much all of us are only too happy to hear and confirm. Thank you and Greetings from Germany! _____________________ 「 _"Our rock never dies ever. Forever!"_ 」 - from *BAND-MAID* - 'Manners' 🎶🕊
So many good thoughts! There is a just released fan made documentary on Saiki. One segment showed the evolution of her voice over the years. Demonstrates exactly what you noticed about her voice getting "thicker". From comments Saiki has made, it appears to be a side benefit of having lot's of time during the COVID hiatus to exercise and practice. I also think it is partly her maturity. Remember she started with the band at 19 years of age. Her birthday is Feb 8, 1994. She just turned 30.
Great reaction, thank you. You're spot on with everything, but especially your comments about Saiki's vocals. I've been following Band-Maid since 2017 having seen them perform live for the first time in 2018 in LA. Even from 2018 to 2019 when I saw them again (5 times) we were commenting about how much stronger and dynamic her vocals had become. There was talk amongst the fan base when they released this song at the tail end of Covid about how much MORE her vocals had developed and that of all the progress made by the band during Covid, and they ALL improved immensely during that period, that Saiki had arguably come out of Covid with the most impressive improvement. Finally getting to see them again live in 2022 (5 times) only reinforced that opinion not only for me but other fans I speak/spoke with. I was at this show in Yokohama for the tour end and you can see me in the video towards the end in a neon green shirt about 6 rows back. I will say that we all had very high expectations for the show and anticipated some surprises and in typical Band-Maid fashion they managed to both FAR EXCEED expectations and blow us completely away with the surprises... Most notably when they rolled out a piano and Saiki performed solo while playing the piano. TL:DR - Band-Maid doing Band-Maid things and we LOVE them for it.
Allowing everyone to "breath" is the reason these girls have been together with the same members for over ten years, and they just keep getting better. Their commitment and love of each other and to their fans are second to none, and this performance is what we are rewarded with from that love. Thanks Eric!
Great and very entertaining reaction to a fantastic song & band. Band-Maid is awesome, love everything they do! Thanks for the reaction, well done sir.
It's my understanding that Saiki had some polyps removed from her vocal cords a while back and her voice has been getting stronger and stronger ever since. It definitely sounds so much more powerful on the newer stuff.
You're in Nashville right? Kinda surprised you didn't catch them live last May when they were there. Should check out the 2fer Dice/Hate from Lollapalooza last Aug. Mind-blowing
Band Maid are a strange band. In That every member in the band many times each member is taking attention away from other members in the structure of many of their songs. Not annoyingly so. It becomes distracting because sometimes my ears and brains aren't used to keeping up with their methods of songwriting. What we are talking about band maid's songwriting and playing, is what I say is band Maid doing Band Maid things. Sieke' vocal delivery in large part is due to Miku's lyrics. She writes many words to get the thought across in their songs. Blooming is a great example of this. Seike spits out more words in Blooming than many bands do in an entire album. Great review breakdown. Cheers.
"I'm loosing my mind" waiting for this concert to be released! In March! I will concur with you on SAIKI's Vocals! - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1z7BVaavLu4.html
Great reaction Eric. This was I think song 5 on the setlist of 33 songs they played at the final of their 10th anniversary tour at the 17,000 capacity Yokohama arena. They played for 3.5+hours and they were tremendous for the whole concert especially Saiki, she was just on fire. The song list was very varied from hard rock bangers, ballads, acoustic (Saiki + Kanami on acoustic) and to everyone’s surprise Saiki on piano and vocals which was so moving You are able to put into words what I feel about this band but don't have the eloquence to explain why I love them so much. I follow quite a few of the Japanese bands with 4, I particularly like - Band-Maid, Lovebites, Nemophila and Gacharic Spin, but Band-Maid are my top favourite. I think they are such a powerful band of 5 individual skilled musicians, where the whole is even greater than the sum of the parts. They are the one band that can consistently affect my mood. If I am sad they cheer me up, they can make me weep with their ballads, and they certainly make me rock out when they rock hard and Kanami is in Mincho mode. I think it is because of all the things you mentioned, their professionalism, their joie de vivre of playing for their fans and with one another. I respect them so much as they have grown in popularity the hard way, constantly touring Japan, USA, Europe etc. Often playing in tiny clubs (one place in Hamburg I think even had a pillar in the centre of the tiny stage. Driving and helping with equipment. I think that's why they are so tight and good now. Its turned them into real professionals and great friends (other band can get driven apart) Woops sorry for the mini essay, my wife is always saying I speak to much.
I have described Band-Maid as "Vampires" before. they take in all the energy of the audience, and feed it into their performance, which amps them up to always give all the energy they received multiplied, as if going through their amps. Making their performances so joyous, it seems like you are just hearing the first note, when suddenly the performance is over, and you are wondering why your face muscles hurt so much, and your voice is almost completely gone.
Nice reaction and breakdown. I love Akane's drumming. It does its job of driving the song, but when you focus in on it, there's always something interesting happening, and it's actually like that for each member, so every song has a lot of replay value. That they can produce music with so much depth so consistently is really something special.
Gotta agree there Daaaaave - I always say people have to listen to a BAND MAID song a minimum of 5 times to concentrate on each individual as every one of them has so much happening in every song.
Jeebus how the Maidiacs have missed you sir, best reactions, so well laid out. Yeah this was so fire. And you are right very professional very mature at this point in their careers. Welcome back, hope you can look over some of their tracks you haven't reacted to yet.
If you do another Band-Maid video do the live version of Dice/Hate from Lollapalooza 2023. Otherwise get ready to hear more from Band_maid this year. They have a new album set to drop this summer and rumor has it they are doing collaborations with other artists, many from outside Japan, so this could be the year they break through.
Two of the best ways I've ever heard Band-Maids music described was "obedient chaos" and "a gathering storm". How everything can be on the edge , everyone can be doing the utmost but it all serves the song, which should not work. And then how their songs build tension and rise and fall and then there is a kick in the last third where everything just comes crashing down on you and creates a cacophony that overwhelms you but is never out of control.
Overall my favorite band. I’ve always thought of them as a great band with so much talent. So happy for their success. It dawned on me, they’ve become rockstars.
I was lucky enough to attend this show last year. It was cold and wet outside in front of the arena, and people were lining up early and getting to know other fans. A surprisingly large number of people came in from overseas to see the show; they had a specific window set up for foreign guests to pick up their tickets with the e-mailed purchase receipt. Long show, lots of MC sections, lots of stuff covering the 10-year history of the band, including a surprise showing on the big-screen original videos from the earliest live shows by the band.
Agree! Labels suck! Loved your comment about the only problem being you as the listener trying to keep up. That's why you keep coming back and why their music is so relistenable.
Of course there are plenty of Band-Maid songs that got me hooked on first hearing. But I also lost count on how many of their songs just left me with a big question mark in my head at first and then, after 2nd, 3rd or even 5th hearing I suddenly "got it". Many of them becoming my most favorite songs by them after that. Latest examples "Warning!" or "Shambles". Never happened to me that much with any other band and a part why I adore them so much.
Perfectly controlled chaos, nice one 😄 There are top tier bands and then there are those very rare bands that sit above that tier and that's where B-M comfortably resides. The only things that indicate to me that there is a higher power is the existence of beer and BAND -MAID, what a fcken band Po 👍🍻
I’ve seen them 2x now live. Both times that energy/positivity/vibe whatever you call it is there times a million in person. I walked out of both concerts on the best “high” I’ve ever experienced. It’s hard to put into words unless you’ve seen them live. It’s like getting shot with a happy cannon for 2+ hours. Just so amazing, if you get the chance to see them live, don’t think about it and do it!
Nice thoughts! Sometimes I think of Band-Maid as being the 21st century rock equivalent of Dixieland Jazz. Everybody's going their own way, everybody's doing (seemingly) independent things, and yet they don't step on each other and they unite into a cohesive unit. Like you said, bass players usually pull it back for the guitar solo, because what they do _shouldn't_ work and yet it does. It's not by chance. They do it over and over and over again. The listeners who aren't musicians can bop along with it because it doesn't _seem_ complicated. It's voodoo!
What a great analysis: I've long thought that the joy that Band-Maid creates comes to a large degree from the sense you get of how much they love and enjoy what they are doing.
Band-Maid puts a lot of effort into constructing these songs from start to finish. Every voice fits like accurately cut puzzle pieces into the total but it has Band-Maid's style across the board. As you say, it's not what a casual listener expects. It's very progressive within this 4/4 format. And the live performance is so comfortable and they pull everyone in.
Damn, that bass line throughout the whole song. It's just insane. They did it again that I lost my interest in listening to other rock bands. Hats off to their creativity and uniqueness. Thanks for sharing!
It's exactly like you say. Controlled chaos. The more you listen to any individual song from Band Maid the more it makes sense though. Unleash is another example. Not just that, but a showcase of...punkesque? beats and riffs at certain points. This one felt a little dirty. They borrow a lot, respectively.
I think I’ve finally decided out of all the Japanese bands, that Band-Maid is my favorite closely followed by LoveBites. I’m glad to see they’re doing more songs in English, only because I think it will help them commercially. Also, the subtitles are welcome. Great lyrics too. And seriously, they never disappoint
Band Maid is a quadriga from Ben Hur. All of their horses/instruments are driven in unison gallop. It's a miracle there were no injuries... Thanks for your analysis!
Thank you for this Eric ! As a three year Maidiac I can attest to what you are saying about controlled chaos. Within the last year I've finally had to put Band Maid into my top 3 all time favorite bands. They already were...I just refused to admit it . Akane writes her parts out before she even picks up a stick ! I could go on all day about them... Spread the word brother !
Band-Maid allows every member the creative freedom that they won't get from songs composed for them. They are all part of the rhythm section and dance around each other and together in a very playful way.