{"id":44,"date":"2007-01-04T00:33:12","date_gmt":"2007-01-03T21:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kakko-ii.com\/?p=44"},"modified":"2017-09-15T12:21:11","modified_gmt":"2017-09-15T09:21:11","slug":"i%e2%80%99ve-been-attacked-all-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kakko-ii.com\/?p=44","title":{"rendered":"I’ve been attacked, all around"},"content":{"rendered":"

Please forgive the dreadful pun, I just couldn\u2019t help myself. Arriving a week late is my blog on the eight-piece outfit AAA<\/strong> (Attack all around).<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s release of \u2013Black and White\u2019<\/strong> just three weeks before Christmas didn\u2019t move me in any way whatsoever. I was always overly proud to admit I thought AAA were pretty average; the corners of the jpop world I had been treading saw a lot of AAA love, and feeling differently about the issue was always gratifying.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Black and White<\/strong><\/p>\n

Black and White is one of those records that decides its good enough to be a double A-side. On the strength of both songs, I\u2019d say it was a mistake. \u2013Samurai Heart\u2019<\/strong> is utter crapness, I\u2019m sorry but it truly is. AAA are too clean cut to pull the song off with success\u2013 just imagine your dad buying a flashy red sports car \u2013\u00a0it feels like a bad midlife crisis and I don\u2019t wanna be spotted listening to it. If you want to tackle guitar pop with success then at least put some effort into the sum of its parts, the music itself. Surely it\u2019s a basic requirement as a musician or artist. Compare Samurai Heart to Nanase Aikawa\u2019s \u2013Unlimited\u2019<\/strong> and you\u2019ll instantly see the gulf in class.<\/p>\n

\"AAA\"<\/p>\n

The other single on the record \u2013Winter Lander!!\u2019<\/strong> is something else entirely. You know, I really wanted to hate this song when I listened to it. I was still getting high and mighty off branding these guys run of the mill. Looks like I\u2019ll be changing my tune, well, for this release.<\/p>\n

Before listening to Winter Lander!! I\u2019d seen the PV first. Balaclava drawn, a carton of eggs ready to be thrown at the screen, I was anticipating something pretty dire. Those eggs will have to be used for another day, frankly, I was hypnotised by it. The type of eyes glued to the screen that BK\u2019s \u2013Munasawagi Scarlet\u2019<\/strong> drew out of me. I tell you, the beginning choreography to that song was terrifyingly good.<\/p>\n

Winter Lander!! PV<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be honest with you, although I had listened to enough of AAA\u2019s music to pass my judgement on them; I knew nothing about the group and its members. So forgive me when I don\u2019t call them by their names, I have a different system which relies solely on aesthetics. You could call it lazy, I do, but I think it\u2019ll work out better for the blog this way.<\/p>\n

The PV treats us with \u2013the three pretty ladies\u2019 doing a pre-emptive dance and\u00a0its rather good. Both the pretty ladies and the dance moves hold up well, very well. It\u2019s the type of cool that will make you utterly jealous. I\u2019m not sure which I\u2019d rather have, those moves or those ladies, wait, that\u2019s a rather stupid comment. They\u2019re dressed a little too urban for me though, not a look I really buy into. Still, their midriffs look healthy enough so I can\u2019t complain.<\/p>\n

Give it 10 seconds and the \u2013guy with the unbelievably pretty face\u2019 decides to walk into frame and share his vocals with us. He has the swagger of someone who knows he\u2019s the world\u2019s prettiest man, smug bastard. Later on in the song he\u2019s able to stop and shatter objects with that face of his, takes some doing. When making a sandwich later on in the night I gave it a go with a block of cheese, no success sadly.<\/p>\n

Next it\u2019s the turn of the main male vocalist who, all things considered, does have a good voice. Not as pretty as most of the others but he\u2019s got the lungs to make up for it. I\u2019m sure the girls love him either way so we\u2019ll just call him \u201clead male vocalist who\u2019s good looking, but not as much so as some of the others\u201d for now. As he wonders back off into the crowd with that stupid hat of his we\u2019re building up to the chorus. The strength of the song is surprisingly good, I\u2019m a sucker for anthems and the bridge and chorus certainly project the same kind of powerful feeling I fall for. It\u2019s not quite power pop, if we\u2019re being honest a lot of recent power pop records have been on the wrong side of cheesy and musically, waste of space no-brainers. Winter Lander!! Sits neatly in between. It\u2019s rarely groundbreaking but it beats the right way, hits all the right buttons. I\u2019m glad the Christmas theme wasn\u2019t over advertised on the single both musically and visually. Though dressing them in Santa suits would have been pretty entertaining in a very cynical kind of way.<\/p>\n

The camera drives in and out, up and down, a real interrogation of AAA as they all try and act cool (I hate to admit it, but they pull it off easily here) dancing to a rather brilliant piece of choreography. The camera will randomly cut to some of the members individually when it feels like it. We see \u201cSpike\u201d named because he looks like he\u2019s been taken straight from the anime \u2013Cowboy bebop\u2019, \u201cGuy with braded hair and goatee, the odd-ball, probably used sparingly as a vocalist, more for aesthetic diversity\u201d and finally \u201cMr dark and handsome\u201d nothing much to say about him, he looks good in that white vest and well, he\u2019s just another good looking guy in a group of good looking people. Stick him in another group and I\u2019m sure he\u2019d make the main heartthrob. Oh and more shots of \u201cthe three pretty ladies\u201d is always welcome. \u201cSpike\u201d looks a bit retro in that white suit of his, a little rebellious with his rolled up sleeves and bushy indie hair. He also seems to be a bloody good dancer to. I\u2019d like a producer to give him a solo career, something less certain and more adventurous. I think he\u2019s wasted in the comforts of AAA.<\/p>\n

Sadly the song goes a bit wayward for ten seconds. Mr \u201cGuy with braded hair and goatee, the odd-ball, probably used sparingly as a vocalist, more for aesthetic diversity\u201d decides to lay down some bad ass rap. It\u2019s neither bad ass or, for the life of me, rap. I\u2019d get more talent from staring at a block of cheese all day, and I\u2019ve tried it. I\u2019m not having a go at this guy, in fact I feel a little sorry for him. The group can sing a harmony well. They all compliment each other vocally and although one or two are stronger than others they\u2019re all pretty capable. But I guess if you\u2019re going for the diversity angle, you\u2019re gonna get stuck with the bits and pieces no one wants to do, like those crappy rap interlude parts. When the teacher asks if you\u2019re comfortable playing the horse\u2019s ass in the Christmas pageant you simply lie through your teeth \u201cNope, I usually play bigger parts\u201d similarly, when a record producer asks what you can do, don\u2019t try and be different \u201cI can rap a bit\u201d otherwise you\u2019ll be badly exploited on it. The song also contains a rather annoying solo Saxophone which fails to really digress into the type of coolness that AAA show on screen. Thankfully it only pops up near the end. If it plagued the whole record I think we\u2019d have something of a pantomime on our hands.<\/p>\n

Impressive <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m in love with the AAA that showed up to record this effort. I guess it comes down to whether you want to buy into it or not. I really want to hate these guys \u2013 they\u2019re too clean cut, too perfect, too mainstream with a whiff of that manufactured green making machine I hate so much – but this is the pop industry, making money is top priority (it\u2019s a business after all). When I think about the rather forgettable past efforts of AAA I\u2019m reminded how powerful \u2013Image\u2019 really is.<\/p>\n

\"Misako\"<\/p>\n

Winter Lander!! certainly has everything in the right places, all the pieces have come together beautifully and when AAA can do this, I really think they\u2019re invincible. I hope this type of thing is here to stay, when the image fits the quality of the songs (rare for AAA in my opinion) the group elevate to a higher enterprise. They\u2019re a great advert (you decide if it\u2019s a good or bad thing) in that, they could sell pretty much anything when they\u2019re on this form. The only thing missing from the PV\u00a0was some iPods.<\/p>\n

Pretty faces<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve already said it, AAA are some of the prettiest people I\u2019ve ever seen together as a group. The girls are good looking and the boys even more so. If one of the guys asked me out, I\u2019d be stupid if I didn\u2019t at least think about it. Now as a straight male, this is pretty scary stuff. But I\u2019m a comfortable enough guy to admit when I see a good looking person, male or female. If you\u2019ve got it, flaunt it, that\u2019s what AAA have always done well. Only on this record have I finally seen some substance behind those pretty faces, and I admit I quite enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

All eight, ok, six and a half of them make for perfect poster idols. I think that\u2019s a pretty important attribute to have, and they\u2019ve got it to spare. for god sake!!! I hope they keep their hairstyles seen on Winter Lander!! well, everyone accept the guy batting for diversity. AAA have seen some dodgey hairstyles in the past, they got it\u00a0mostly right on this one.<\/p>\n

Can they keep it up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s like all the planets in the solar system came into line for Winter Lander!!, something as special as that but also as fleeting. I expect this type of grand gesture to be a one off. When you\u2019re already the finished article it\u2019s really hard to see where the ambition is coming from. How do you motivate AAA and the people behind them to better this record? I have a suspicion it won\u2019t be. The song doesn\u2019t break any new boundaries which comes as no surprise. As much as I love the jpop scene, it\u2019s a tired and limited quota. But the song is perfect for its intentions, to draw us in and grab our wallets. It\u2019s not all lost on profit margins however, I still see the thought being put into the song. Being less cynical, it\u2019s a very good single. What I\u2019m most impressed with is the coming together of all the pieces-the music, the visual image of the group and the individuals themselves.<\/p>\n

\"AAA\"<\/p>\n

Will AAA be a group worth talking about in 2007? We’ll see how it goes. Personally, I think they’ll\u00a0slip back into old habbits-having their fingers in lots of different pies, trying to take on all the sub-genres but sadly failing to produce anything above bland. I can’t really\u00a0add\u00a0their just realesed second\u00a0album to the equation, most of it consists of singles released in 2006.<\/p>\n

Alright, I think it\u2019s time for me to go down the pub and have a manly beer and buy a magazine where women and clothes don\u2019t get on. Too much talk about good looking guys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Please forgive the dreadful pun, I just couldn\u2019t help myself. Arriving a week late is my blog on the eight-piece outfit AAA (Attack all around). The...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wu-sans-mix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kakko-ii.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kakko-ii.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kakko-ii.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kakko-ii.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kakko-ii.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kakko-ii.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1775,"href":"https:\/\/www.kakko-ii.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/1775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kakko-ii.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kakko-ii.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kakko-ii.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}