General Information
Album Title: Little Braver
Artist: Girls Dead Monster (Singer: LiSA)
Catalog Number: KSLA-0055
Release Date: June 6, 2010
Tracks
- Little Braver
- Shine Days
- Answer Song
General Thoughts
If you haven’t heard enough of the rather mediocre music from Girls Dead Monster, there is more! A few weeks back, there was a promotional video on Little Braver, but I didn’t take a look at it because I don’t want to go and spoil it. Several weeks later, the single is released. Have LiSA improved her rather mediocre and rather forgetful performance of the “Thousand Enemies” single? It’s only slightly better, but I am still not convinced if it’s good enough. LiSA seems to sound good on the lower notes, but she still goes slightly out of tune in some areas. Not as bad as Thousand Enemies, but that is saying too much about it. The songs are still pretty forgettable and made me wish that they had better singers singing these songs…
Little Braver is the song that was shown in the promotional video. It starts off with a calm intro and when LiSA enters. This is where the good composition gets drown out by the mediocre vocals. It does sound slightly better than Thousand Enemies, but it’s slowly goes downhill from there. The songs feel pretty dull and the higher pitches like with the previous album sounds slightly ever out of tune. Not only that, Little Braver is pretty forgettable several minutes after. Little Braver is an okay song, but it doesn’t try to go beyond the mediocrity of Girls Dead Monster.
The intro of Shine Days sounds pretty well like the intro to Alchemy and it’s a pretty upbeat song. This is probably the best song out of the whole single, but it’s hardly perfect. It still have several flaws like the slightly out of tune pitches on the higher octaves and it’s slightly dull. It’s an okay song, but still forgettable like the rest of the songs LiSA has sung. It’s worth mentioning that at 4:30, her vocals are barely audible…
Lastly, we have Answer Song, which is probably the most disappointing song out of the whole album. The performance of the song felt a bit messy and somewhat dull. I don’t feel any energy in this song, except mediocre singing that could put me to sleep. Probably the worst song I heard from LiSA.
I don’t know what they are getting at by not letting the seiyuu sing! I’m pretty sure Eri Kitamura and Miyuki Sawashiro are fully capable of singing, but no! Lets pick two amateur singers that doesn’t necessarily represent Japanese Indie scene and fuck up all 9 songs! Thats how I feel about the whole Girls Dead Monster thing and it’s a big disgrace. Jun Maeda does a wonderful job in composing these songs and these singers go out and ruin the work he worked hard for. It’s just like making a good game with good game play, story and graphics and the orchestra go and fuck the music up. Like I mentioned in my rant in the last paragraph of my Pure Pure Heart single review, they choose singers that can’t sing properly and resulted in the mediocre and disappointing performance of these songs. Girls Dead Monster will never reach the appeal of Houkago Tea Time because their songs continue to have flaws with the vocals, which make them rather forgettable. Houkago Tea Time is simply more polished, sounds better and the vocals don’t go out of tune so many times that it makes me cringe.
Not only that, there is more Girls Dead Monster singles that is coming out and what can you expect out of them after hearing the first 9 songs? More disappointment. They are making a mockery out of Girls Dead Monster and milking it what its worth from the hype. Believe me, My Soul, Your Beats!/Brave Song sounds like heaven compared to the mediocrity of all the Girls Dead Monsters songs combined.
Verdict
7.0/10
Coming to a karaoke bar near you!!
Out of pitch tones is not necessarily a bad thing btw. Atonal can be highly addictive/catchy if done right, it gives certain melodies character.
In a Karaoke Bar, yes, but not a song in a album! They suppose to sound professional, not a karaoke singer that can barely sing…
Also, more bad news… There is no instrumental tracks of the song, so if you want to sing it better than them, you are out of luck. K-ON! singles had non-vocal tracks, why not these?
How do you say something like this, “I’m pretty sure Eri Kitamura and Miyuki Sawashiro are fully capable of singing, but no! Lets pick two amateur singers that doesn’t necessarily represent Japanese Indie scene and fuck up all 9 songs! Thats how I feel about the whole Girls Dead Monster thing and it’s a big disgrace.” Yet still rate a 7.65….does not compute.
I haven’t listened yet, but I’ve given up on GirlsDeMo at this point. It’s not bad to choose amateur singers as a vehicle for up and coming artists, ya know, to give them a “break out” hit. But I think this was an oops.
I also don’t mind a little out of tuneness myself, it’s better than the pseudo-perfection that mild use of auto-tune gets you.
Sometimes, ratings don’t sync with what I say, but then again, what I said is more important than the grade I gave it… I’m a bit too lenient sometimes… so yeah.
It wouldn’t be a problem if they chose singers that had talent and can sing good. If they had talent, it wouldn’t sound nearly as bad as it normally would. These songs deserve better singers, not just random singers that can’t sing properly… that is not good talent…
It’s a good thing you didn’t listen too much of GDM… you would be disappointed, but then again, people have different opinions, so yeah. Also, they could of use more vocal modifications with the help of technology to make it sound better, but then again it could backfire… :p
“These songs deserve better singers, not just random singers that can’t sing properly… that is not good talent… ” What you said here is very important. My wife has been working to make the opera industry for years, and she is continually ignored for people that are less talented. We’ve thought about why this is for some time, and can’t figure out this exact problem.
Coming from a recording background the whole GirlDeMo thing just is a disappointment.
That Aya Hirano and Aki Toyosaki are still making music is a good indication of that.
I imagine that there are tons of artists out there who aren’t well-known, but could deliver a solid effort. It makes me wonder why Maeda didn’t put more time into auditioning the right singer for the job since LiSA and whatsherface for Crow Song are obviously not good in the singing department.
Ah well, I haven’t listened to the album yet, but I’m not expecting a whole lot.
With Hirano and Toyosaki, their singing is a mix bag, but they are better at voice acting.. But I would rather listen to them over GDM…
I agree with you with the auditions. I think they rush through without getting the right talent for the role. If they knew that the roles were important, they should took the time looking, or even use the seiyuu since if they can do voice acting good, they can probably sing decently.
And so, a fellow neighbour drops by and say a hello to another NotCliche! subhost owner. /high-fives
Unfortunately, most casual fans/normalfags/hardcore otaku (in general, people who don’t have good tastes in music) are simple-minded: shove them My Song, Your Beats! and instantly every media articles related to Angel Beats! becomes good, actual quality notwithstanding. If Wikipedia calls Angel Beats “a media franchise,” who am I to question about its marketability?
Probably the only redeeming factor for these GDM releases are the instruments, and… why do I need to hear instruments in my iPod/iPhone/DAP? You have a good point about the quality of the vocals, but nowadays, there has been some observations about people rather listening to instruments (hey, who am I to judge?).
It’s funny how your other review has no comments, in contrast to this. I guess people expect higher from Angel Beats!, and the “franchise” is starting to falter.
I’m a critic, so I have to be harsh if something is wrong. Also, I have a music background since I played piano and clarinet so I know what doesn’t sound right. The instrumentals are the only good thing on the track, but it’s pretty sad that they don’t have any off vocal tracks so I can listen to them without listening to the not so good vocals.
Even I am a fan of Key, I will not give any show a free ride since I am pretty rational. Hype is dangerous and people should know that.
Although you sorta have a point, the comment overall is pretty elitist.
I actually kind of like the instrumentals of GDM. To say the least, I don’t get into vocal details as much as chikorita157 does because I live with a professional vocalist. Vocal criticism in my household is a staple. What I’ve learned over time and my like of J-pop is that the vocals carry a melody, and at most times are passable to do just that.
I’m not as disappointed as some are in these insert singles, I’m just past the point of caring. Yes, they could have picked a better vocalist, but it’s not that important, IMO.
My point in my previous comments was more to illustrate that what some people think is talent, is going to be crap for someone else at some point. I mean, watch an episode or two of American Idol during the auditions, it amazes me that some people “think” they’re good….what dumbfounds me more is that someone encouraged them to try out because they also thought they had talent.