The Best! ~Updated Morning Musume。~

[JPope]

[quote="neshcom"]
This close to getting a eurobeat Love Machine. I'm hoping the mix isn't final or that these radio rips are bad because the balance between the vocals and backing tracks is all over the place. I'm also not a big fan of the supplementary parts they kept in like the backing harmonies and ah/wows. I had some of that with the RR21 too. The actual re-arrangement is pretty decent, if a little basic sounding. Hopefully there are more dramatic changes like the I WISH one.
[/quote]
 
You hit literally every point I was going to make, from wishing it was more classic euorbeat to wishing they had eliminated some of the original backing parts, especially the ooohs and aaahs during the bridges. I really love the half-time feel of those bridges, though. This is almost an awesome arrangement. So fucking close.
 
"I Wish" has grown on me with repeated listenings, too.

[Shoujo Q]

Here is a slightly longer version of Love Machine's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... UI4">radio rip.</a>
 
I'm hearing all sorts of little guitar riffs in this (is that what those are called?), compared to the last time I listened to it.

[showraniy]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Shoujo Q" data-cid="162901" data-time="1379174395"><a href="http://youtu.be/sfK0BAibyy4">Here's the radio rip of Love Machine.</a>


The other new instrumentals were just a warm up to this biggest change.


The opening freaked me out at first, but I have to say, I warmed up to the rest of it more quickly then I thought I would.</blockquote>


I like it. Anything to make Love Machine more bearable at concerts is cool with me.

[Pucchi-Mo]

From the backing vocals and overall tone, I'm guessing that the I Wish update was by AKIRA.
 
I'm not very impressed by the LOVE MACHINE remake.  I'm guessing that one was by Okubo. 
Well, I kinda like the breakdown, kinda.
 
I'm excited to hear what they do with Souda! We're Alive, since the original was already allovertheplace.

[sayu1991]

So I'm actually really liking these updates so far. I especially love I Wish even with the slow music. The beginning of Love Machine was a bit weird but I really got into it. I never liked the original Love Machine so I think this one is actually an improvement.

[momoirosaya]

Riho's last line ruined I WISH. But Sakura was amazing.
 
I liked the first cover, I think it was RR21?
 
Love Machine is cool, but I don't see myself listening to it often.

[Shoujo Q]

Next up, <a href="http://youtu.be/ddZUDAP_rhk">The Peace</a>
 
Where my glow sticks at people, WHERE MAH GLOW STICKS!?
 
This got the full dupstep treatment. But I think it needs to drop the bass a little more? xD

[pandapanda]

[quote="Shoujo Q"]
Next up, <a href="http://youtu.be/ddZUDAP_rhk">The Peace</a>
 
Where my glow sticks at people, WHERE MAH GLOW STICKS!?
 
 
[/quote]
 
WOOT WOOT!
 
I love this.  Also, the girls look awesome sauce in that picture.

[aine]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Shoujo Q" data-cid="162938" data-time="1379244059">Next up, <a href="http://youtu.be/ddZUDAP_rhk">The Peace</a></blockquote>
It's getting worse with each new song.

First time I'll be seeing MM concert in Japan and how half the setlist will be songs a) that I hoped never to hear again and b) in awful new arrangements that stripped them of all the charm they originally had before they got overplayed to death.

[Ap2000]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Shoujo Q" data-cid="162938" data-time="1379244059">Next up, <a href="http://youtu.be/ddZUDAP_rhk">The Peace</a></blockquote>
Updated and downgraded.

I'm afraid of clicking on the other songs...

[al kusanagi]

Y'all just can't handle them fat DROPS!

[neshcom]

I was expecting a full dubstep rearrangement, not just another half-time intro. My expectations~ It's not awful, but the WOWOWs are the weakest part. Otherwise, there's a another decent electro song in there. By the second verse, it felt a little directionless. Not exactly a copy-paste job, but very much filling the song to the vocals.

[arcobaleno]

It's not bad, but I agree with aine in the fact that whatever little quirky charm the song originally has is gone. It feels more like they're just singing to sing, not having fun like the original.
 
I like the instrumental, though.

[Pucchi-Mo]

[quote="pandapanda"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Shoujo Q" data-cid="162938" data-time="1379244059">
<div>
Next up, <a href="http://youtu.be/ddZUDAP_rhk">The Peace</a>
 
Where my glow sticks at people, WHERE MAH GLOW STICKS!?
 
 
[/quote]
 
WOOT WOOT!
 
I love this.  Also, the girls look awesome sauce in that picture.
 
</div>
</blockquote>
 
I agree about the picture. It's the closest thing I've seen to the style of their Platinum 9 DISCO poster-sized photobook when they came to L.A.
 
It's funny how they basically just made The Peace UPDATE into less brassy Ai no Gundan. Especially because my first impression of Ai no Gundan was that it reminded me of a more electronic version of The Peace, with a goofy brass sound and a sort of military feel.
 
I'm calling it now! On their new tour, there will be a transition where Peace becomes Gundan. (or other way around)
I'm also calling it that The Manpower will be one of the best updates on this. 

[Shoujo Q]

That'll be amazing if The Manpower delivers, because it's one of my least favorite songs. Of course it all hinges on what they do with the Hitomi/Takahashi lines. My gut says Sakura and Riho, but my heart wants either Zukki or Mizuki to try and take a swing at them with either Riho or Sakura (I really want Zukki though.). After her performance in Wagamama, I know Mizuki has it in her to belt out a line or two. 

[star]

That LM makes me love that song even more. 
 

[JPope]

[quote="Pucchi mo"]I'm also calling it that The Manpower will be one of the best updates on this. 
 
[/quote]
 

Well that's just because it has the most room for growth.

 
Re "The Peace": I wish they had backed off and simplified the arrangement on the choruses, because they sound really messy as they are. "Very much filling the song to the vocals" is a great way to put it, and I think LM suffers from the same problem at points. It's such a waste, too, since the parts they seem so intent on preserving are less important to the songs in general than to the original arrangements. So in a way, they have gone out of their way to tether these songs to the very arrangements that they set out to break them free from.

[strawberryjam]

This album is all sorts of lame.
 
I wouldn't mind if it was just a throw away album... But if they start appearing on shows again.. like Music Station and perform these updated versions, that will be a big embarrassment.

[yuzuriha]

OK, still hate RR21.  I WISH I was excited about Sakura getting the kago line but basically what everyone else said, Riho getting Maki ruined it and it was TOO SLOW.
 
I actually like the Love Machine one.
 
I think I would like this THE PEACE if they didn't have the dub step drops DURING the chant.  I just felt it didn't go.
 
I am also getting very impatient for The Manpower.

[Mugi]

Anything other than Sakura and Kanon for the Manpower is wrong!  Maybe Kudu lol.

[Elpis]

^It's probably going to be Riho again. She's the only one who can ruin songs the best.

[arcobaleno]

I hope it's Sakura and Kanon too, but we all know Riho is there, so it's most likely Riho and Sakura. Kuduu would be good, but her voice is a little bit shaky still; once it matures, it'll be really really good.

[JPope]

The worst thing about the update of "I WIsh" is not Riho -- who quite frankly sounds just fine. I have no idea what everyone is so upset about -- but the phoned-in instrumental break after the 2nd chorus. They had eight bars to do something interesting and they apparently decided to just do lines of blow off the control board instead. The best thing about the update of "I WIsh" is no "Yo, yo, here we go!"
 

[MejraThea]

I kind of have to agree, I loved the last line in I WISH, but I am, of course, biased. I loved it all, though, so.

[Anderei]

[quote="Pucchi mo"]
From the backing vocals and overall tone, I'm guessing that the I Wish update was by AKIRA.
 
I'm not very impressed by the LOVE MACHINE remake.  I'm guessing that one was by Okubo. 
Well, I kinda like the breakdown, kinda.
 
I'm excited to hear what they do with Souda! We're Alive, since the original was already allovertheplace.
[/quote]
 
It's like you're psychic:
1.LOVE Machine (updated)

Dance☆Man -> updated by Shoichiro Hirata


2.I WISH (updated)　

Kono Shin -> updated by AKIRA


3.Renai Revolution 21 (updated)

Dance☆Man -> updated by Okubo Kaoru


4.The☆Peace! (updated)

Dance☆Man -> updated by Okubo Kaoru


5.Souda! We're ALIVE (updated)

Dance☆Man -> updated by Shoichiro Hirata


6.THE Manpower!!! (updated)

Matsubara Ken -> updated by Egami Kotaro


7.Aruiteru (updated)

Suzuki Daichi Hideyuki -> updated by Okubo Kaoru


8.Renai Hunter (updated)

arranged by Shoichiro Hirata


9.One･Two･Three (updated)

arranged by Okubo Kaoru


10.Wakuteka Take a chance (updated)

arranged by Okubo Kaoru


11.Help me!! (updated)

arranged by Okubo Kaoru


12.Brainstorming (updated)

arranged by Okubo Kaoru


13.Kimi Sae (updated)

arranged by Shoichiro Hirata


14.Wagamama Kinomama Ai no Joke

arranged by Okubo Kaoru


15.Wolf Boy (new song)

arranged by Okubo Kaoru

[arcobaleno]

I sense an electric Aruiteru coming up.

[Anderei]

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/best! ... en">iTunes previews.</a>

[yuzuriha]

I am not buying this album, that is official.  But if US iTunes lets you buy individual tracks I will be buying Reinaless Renai Hunter and Wolf Boy.

[JPope]

"Souda!..." seems to be a bit more focused, but not for the better. I generally don't like arrangements that feel like several songs pasted together, but the original "Souda!..." is an exception. It just works for me. The prominent funky rhythm section -- especially the bass -- is the glue that holds everything together. I can't imagine how the update will handle the Russian part. Hopefully they ditched it altogether.
 
It appears as if "The Manpower" has been somewhat salvaged this time around, but it still sucks, and they're still doing that guttural delivery on the vocal fills which is just embarrassing. Still, this is the only one that has improved on the original, IMO.
 
"Aruiteru" is a hot, stinky mess. Lite eurobeat with random Roland 808 sounds tossed in -- or is it 909? Who cares, why the fuck are they there? This would have been a good time to just rip off Yasutaka Nakata's electro-pop Perfume sound, I think, because this is just dreadful.
 
Overall, the updated versions of the classics are hit and miss. It's not nearly as bad as it could have been -- or as I was expecting. The irony for me is that the fair amount of isolated goodness here illustrates what might have been, and thus disappoints me more than had it just sucked completely. I honestly believe what kept most of these updates from being truly good in their own right was the inability -- or outright refusal -- to completely let go of the original arrangements, and what's truly frustrating is that most of the things they clung to were not of primary importance to the songs: backing vocals, vocal fills, instrumental parts, etc. I guess I understand the reticence to strip classic songs of everything recognizable, but leaving too much just seems to render the entire project meaningless.
 
Which brings me to this question: what exactly was the purpose of this project? Was it to transform the classic songs in a way that would capture a new, younger audience, or was it to capture that new audience while still appealing to their older audience? Unfortunately, I think it was the latter, which is what ultimately held them back, and ultimately why this album is mostly a failure. Half measures are rarely successful.

[Shoujo Q]

<div><blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Anderei" data-cid="163081" data-time="1379436068">
<div>iTunes previews.</div>
</blockquote></div>
 
 
Souda We're Alive sounds promising. 
 
Aruiteru wasn't as much of a train wreck as I thought it would be for a Sayumi solo. It still upsets me that it's a Sayumi solo, and I love me some Sayu. Just not in large doses. 
 
As I suspected the Taka/Hitomi lines seem to have gone to Sakura and Riho. Sakura, despite her being in the group for only a year, doesn't do a bad job on them. This song is probably going to crash and burn live though. Riho, love her but she misses more times than she hits and Sakura, she's still a newbie but I do have faith in her stamina more than Riho's. (Not her fault she's got so many damn lines to deal with.)
 
Renai Hunter; I hate to say it but I miss Risa in this. She owned that song so much, especially live.
 
I like the end of the preview for Take a Chance, I don't know who it was, but I don't remember that sass from the original. xD 
 
Wolf Boy is fun sounding, I'm sure it'll have an amazing dance. It would have been a great opening song to an album I think. It does have a bit of a Moonlight Night feel to it. I want more but it's only a preview. :<
 
 
<div>It's a shame that some of these updates have crappy instrumentals because as a group I think the girls did an amazing job on the singing. I don't know if I could listen to this album all the time. It's just too much of the same. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Seeing the arrangements, there's way too much Kaoru. I kinda wish they let some other people into the circle to play with the older songs. </div>