REVIEW: the GazettE - PLEDGE

PLEDGE by The GazettE will release this Wednesday, the 15th of December, 2010;

You can pre-order the Limited Edition Type A, Type B, or the Regular Edition.

Before we begin, let me clarify. People, the correct order is

1) wash the conditioner off yourself

2) take pictures

Do not imitate the models on GazettE covers. They're getting crazier. Seriously.

There seems to be a set pattern that the bands I like seem to be following. Last year, Girugamesh released two whatever singles and then suddenly released Crying Rain; an absolutely wonderful ballad-ish song about breaking up.

And voila! This year it's the GazettE's turn. I have to say that they had me fooled for a while; I thought that the Gaze boys had finally given in to commercialism. That killed me because this band happens to be my first J-rock love. Thankfully, this song tells me louder than any fan could ever scream that Gazerock is not dead.

I don't know who the band gets to do the violins and piano in their songs, but Oh my Gackt, those guys are good. There's this harmony that exists between them and the band's instruments, which allows all to stand out separately as well as meld together beautifully.

If I have one complaint in this department, it's that you really have to strain to listen to Reita. Obviously you can tell the bass is there because of the complete sound, but I can almost never pick him out as an individual musician. Maybe it's just my ears, but maybe a few seconds in the limelight for our lovely bassist wouldn't have hurt.

Aoi and Uruha are as well co-ordinated as ever, and this time, their guitars have a very similar sound, even [I'm pretty sure that Aoi is using Uruha's old guitar]. The part where they use the acoustic guitar is ever so slightly catchy and very easy to listen to; a bit like the one in Without a Trace.The guitar solo is controlled in its approach and simply takes the song forward instead of breaking the mood; I like how they do what's needed instead of showing off about how fast they can play.

Kai has always been one of my favorite J-rock drummers. He has this way of using sound in a way that creates tension one instant and lets it go the next. His parts in this song are, again, fairly simple, but hit at all the right moments. Personally, one of my favorite moments of this song is one of his rolls towards the end, where his playing and Ruki are pretty much the only audible things.

Speaking of our vocalist, I am so glad that there is no English in this song.

Not that I have a problem with anybody speaking English; It's probably because I'm a foreigner, but Ruki to me is much more convincing and powerful in Japanese. Plus his voice goes slightly nasal in English which annoys me slightly because he's got one hell of a voice and it's not fun hearing it wasted. His performance in this song reminds me very much of him in Guren, which happens to be one of my favorite GazettE songs. Good job on the low crooning and yes, I noticed the random 'aah' in the middle. Ruki is finally back in the band, and I couldn't be more ecstatic.

The GazettE's lyrics seem to be shifting more and more from controversial and taboo issues to everyday ones, though. Since Ruki is the main songwriter, I'm going to assume he's had a girlfriend recently, and does anybody else notice what he's wearing on the ring finger of his left hand? Maybe the focus of the camera was a mirror. Oh, well. J-rockers and their secrecy.

Coming to the video element of it, though, I have to say that I'm a little disappointed.

Not really by the guys. They look great; their new look combines the same old craziness with a newfound sophistication. The way the band keeps their distinctiveness while introducing new elements into their music is part of what makes me love them so much-and I daresay I've missed that dearly ever since the release of Shiver.

The minute I realized that the video was in black and white, I almost clapped with joy. If it's b&w, I want to love it. Unfortunately, this automatically means I set a higher standard for it than I do for other videos.

When you photograph people in colour you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in B&W, you photograph their souls. ~Ted Grant

And truer words have not been spoken. Unfortunately, I can't tell what kind of soul PSC is trying to sell to me here. The woman they hired seems to be a decently competent actress, but the scene in the car irks me immensely because not only does she noiselessly scream to the audience that she cries only because of glycerin, she is obviously looking at the cameraman or director at the side of the camera. It's supposed to be seen from the eyes of the boyfriend she's breaking up with, but she's looking in some random direction instead of at me, and that doesn't help with the convincingness at all. The GazettE is probably PSC's biggest act with the departure of Miyavi; the least they could do is have another take so that the intended emotion is actually sparked, especially because this scene lasts for so long.

Not to mention, I really don't understand the parts where she's running away with her hair splashing all over the place; it reminds me an episode of South Park I once saw, and I don't think that's right.

Another thing I dislike is the half-bakedness of the video. Either have only the band playing, or only the story of the girl, and if you can do it, a good blend of both. The shoddiness with which they shift from the real story to Ruki is confusing and in a word, unacceptable. Another thing; where on earth did the other members go? The woman gets more film time that our four non-vocalists put together, and if there's one thing that annoys me, it's when cameramen favour one member. While I can deal with this at live concerts where there's generally one or two cameras, in a PV it's really horrible, because you're basically rubbishing the hard work that these people put into their music.

Plus, any GazettE fan will tell you that the boys are prettier than the woman anyway.

The video does have it's moments, though. I liked the use of rain, and I adore the part in the guitar solo where Aoi stands in front of a mirror in which you can see Uruha. Smart move. The empty room looks really good and any still from one of those scenes is a right photograph on its own [although I would have liked it better if they hadn't randomly placed Ruki there during the bridge]. The beginning is very well done, creating adequate interest and the sight of the woman leaves you slightly confused for a millisecond as to whether she's crying or laughing when it's blurred, and once you realize that she's crying, it's a wonderful, bittersweet contrast with the peaceful piano music and Ruki's soft voice in the background.

To sum it up, the song is great on its own, and definitely re-ignites my interest in the band. A must-listen for fans who have been disappointed by their work so far this year and miss songs like Chizuru. The band seems to be working on a more universal appeal, which is completely understandable, but at least they aren't totally selling out.

The video starts off in the right place, but fails in its execution. I would blame it on a miscommunication somewhere along the line. It's like The Charge of the Light Brigade all over again.

For God's sake, people, learn from history.

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