OverView: Stereopony Music, Vol. 5

The answer lies on the other side

Last week, we talked about half of Stereopony’s first record album, A Hydrangea Blooms. We discussed its meaning, we looked over the new songs, and a conclusion was reached that the first half sounded great, just like it was promised at the release time. Now, we pick up the review exactly where we left off: at what I can only think was meant to be the interlude; the song right after “Nakanaide”.

Tracklist

(…)
7. effective line
8. Sweet Blue
9. Tokai no Mori
10. Shiawase no Oka de Kurashitai
11. MY MISTAKE
12. Hitohira no Hanabira
13. Aozora Very good days!

I don’t think I made that clear enough before, but I am a fan of YUI’s work. Before discovering and falling in love with Stereopony, I actually listened to most of her albums, watched her PVs, some DVDs too, etc. So it is not hard to imagine how happy I was when I listened to “effective line” for the first time, and then again and again. I had just found out about Stereopony, and they had all these songs out already, but this song in particular reminded me so much of YUI’s “RUIDO” and I had to pay special attention to it. Coincidentally, “RUIDO” was released in 2007, just two years before A Hydrangea Blooms. Anyway, only later I found out Stereopony actually worked with YUI, so everything made sense. All of this, just to say how much I love “effective line”. In retrospect, I think this is the song that had me sold on Stereopony for good.

“effective line” is the second song in the album that actually has a touch of rock about it, the first one being “I do it”. It is fast-paced and lasts longer than YUI’s “RUIDO” – but it is still the shortest Stereopony song – and has a rebellious feel to it. The lyrics are very direct, pointing out in its verses that in order to live fulfilled lives, we have to change constantly and try to make things better for everyone. AIMI’s vocal performance is satisfactory in the album track, but it is during live performances where she reaches her full potential, making it an awesome song to play during concerts. As stated before, this song is easily one of my favorites.

“Sweet Blue” is another song that is up there among my favorites. Born out of a conversation with an adult about living in a big city, “Sweet Blue” does not feel as punk-rocky as the previous song, yet it still carries the rebellious, incisive feeling. Its lyrics express the feelings of a young person who has come in contact with someone who lived in a big city and apparently felt disillusioned about life there, so they came back to a smaller one. Being young, it is normal for us to have that “it won’t happen to me” mentality, so we tend to believe the future will be bright if we work hard enough. That optimism is not explicit in the lyrics, so I really liked how AIMI’s performance gave a determined tone to the song.

So far, we have seen how the songs were organized in order to give a rollercoaster feeling, like a set of energetic songs, followed up by a ballad and then picking up again with another set of energetic songs. That happened with the first half of the album, from “Seishun ni” to “Nakanaide”, and it is happening again with “Tokai no Mori” and “Shiawase no Oka de Kurashitai”. Somehow, I didn’t like it very much this time. Maybe it is because I was really pumped after “effective line” and “Sweet Blue” – enough to think that streak of songs would continue – or maybe it is because “Tokai” and “Shiawase” are really just weak songs amongst a set of really good ones. Either way, one thing is true: they don’t have a place in my Stereopony playlist on iPhone. Lyrics wise, both talk about different stages of sadness coming from the adaptation process to a new reality. I took it to mean that AIMI was expressing all her insecurities and fears through these songs, as she had to move to Tokyo with Stereopony and was probably feeling homesick. No judgment there, because the lyrics are kind of good and AIMI’s voice gives life to them. The reason I don’t like both of these songs is that I feel like they were misplaced there.

If they had followed “Sweet Blue” with “MY MISTAKE”, I would have been singing another tune now. “MY MISTAKE” is one of those songs you fast-forward a few times without even listening to it, but then one day you think “why not?” and then decide to give it a try. You are left amazed and you kind of kick yourself for neglecting it for so long. Its melody is balanced by the strong presences of every instrument. Knowing AIMI had everybody record it twice makes me appreciate the song even more, because the result was really good. The lyrics talk about someone being torn about ending a relationship that is not going well, and even though it has an angst feeling to it, the melody is not dragged out, but fast paced. It is hard to describe, after all. AIMI’s voice is almost acidic, and she gives a great performance. All in all, I recommend everyone to listen to this song at least once.

Coming last on the tracklist, right after “Hitohira” is “Aozora Very good days!”. This song is special for many reasons, one of them being the name of our beloved international community. More than that, this song was used in both DVD concerts to finish their performance, before they went in again for the encore. It is a happy, cheerful song, and its lyrics talk about the enthusiasm behind things going well in your journey towards your dreams. I am pretty sure Stereopony had this song placed last just to end the album on a positive note, and it worked. You are definitely left wanting more.

In the end, it is noticeable that the girls worked hard in the making of A Hydrangea Blooms. Considering it was their first experience recording a full album, I think it went well and the results were great. I can only think of two things that prevented this album from being truly awesome: First, “Tokai no Mori” and “Shiawase”’s placing; and second, the job done on mixing AIMI’s vocals with the rest of the music is great. The first reason was explained above, so I am just going to say that they could have done a better job processing AIMI’s vocals. Her voice is strong and powerful especially if you listen to her live, so I don’t get why they tried to smooth it over the songs. Despite these problems, Hydrangea holds a special place in my heart and I’m sure in every Stereopony fans’ hearts as well.

About the author

wannasalad is a Very Good Days member from Brazil. Her “OverView: Stereopony Music” feature is published every Monday, starting at the beginning of September 2013 and going until the end of December 2013.