The GazettE – Stacked Rubbish
Release Date: July 04, 2007
Song List
Personal Favorites in italics
- Art Drawn by Vomit
- Agony
- Hyena
- Burial Applicant
- Ganges ni akai bara
- Regret
- Calm Envy
- Swallowtail on the Death Valley
- Mob 136 Bars
- Gentle Lie
- Filth in the Beauty
- Circle of Swindler
- Chizuru
- People Error
This is The GazettE’s third full-length album. It features more background vocals than usual, mostly from a female voice (this works well for some songs, others, not so much). On first listen, I honestly didn’t like many of the new songs– all the ones that had been released as singles (Filth in the Beauty, Chizuru, Hyena, and Regret) were good, but the rest of the songs seemed to fall flat, with the exception of People Error. After deciding to do a review of it, though, I began listening to it again and giving it a second chance. Slowly, the rest of the songs all (mostly) seemed to grow on me. There’s only two songs out of 14 that I’ll hit Skip for, now that I’ve come to enjoy the album.
Calm Envy was one of the softer, slower songs of the album. I really loved Ruki’s vocals throughout– anytime Ruki’s really singing in that low, soft voice, I love it. There’s a nice beat to the song, and I think the female vocals in it complement nicely with the feel of the song. One of my favorites of the album.
Swallowtail on the Death Valley was one of the few songs I just flat out didn’t like. The intro made me go ‘what the hell’, there seemed to be way too much of the female vocals (I know, I just praised them in the last song, but in this one, just no). Ruki’s solo partway through sounds like something you play patty-cake to. On the upside, I really did like Ruki’s vocals throughout the slow parts, and I liked the start of the choruses.
Mob 136 Bars was next. This song sounded so much like a song off of Dir en grey’s album The Marrow of a Bone that I had to find my CD to flip through and figure out what song. It was The Fatal Believer, I discovered. Not much to say about this song other than that, except that it’s definitely a headbanging song, I liked the rhythm. Other than that, I think Dir did the sound better.
One of my favorite songs from the album: Filth in the Beauty. I loved the female vocals in this one– it just goes to show you, some songs work with it, some just don’t. It has a great rhythm (a definite headbanger, especially if you’ve seen the PV, which is absolutely great), one that makes you want to move. I love Ruki’s vocals in this song, too. This seems like a song that you’d shout along to, live.
Circle of Swindler was next. I really don’t like this song. It’s not a bad song, just not to my taste. It’s a bit too speedmetal-y for me. I did like the chorus and the bass solo though. Honestly though, my favorite thing about it was that it ended :/
Almost done. Now we have Chizuru, which is another ballad on the album. I love this song, too. It’s right up with Filth in the Beauty for my favorite song. It’s soft, got a good rhythm and bass, and like I said, anytime Ruki’s crooning like that, I adore it. It sounds to me like a song from the bit of drama right after the final battle of an RPG. It also got put into a movie called Apartment. This is a very sad sounding song, but I love it.
Overall, I think it’s a worthwhile album. Different from their old sound, but not in a bad way. Most of it has a very unique sound, something I enjoyed on re-listen. Most of the songs have got a good rhythm, and it makes you want to move– something I think everyone will enjoy.
Stacked Rubbish is one of the albums you’re shocked by on the first listening but grow accustomed to after several listening. This album is better than your average Visual kei albums, but it can’t beat the brilliancy of NIL.
The one thing I miss the most on this album are the songs that have “depth”. Like Taion, D.L.N., Nausea & Shudder kind of song. Chizuru has it but I don’t count it in, because it has been released before.
I like it, I own it, I listen to it, but it still leaves a bitter aftertaste…
I was disappointed when this album came out. I hadn’t been into Gazette for very long (since about the release of Filth in the Beauty) and was expecting a whole album worth of awesome like the singles they’d released beforehand. I think they overdid the anticipation based on those singles though– the best parts of the album were already released. Bad strategy, IMO. By time it finally had come out, I already had those singles and NIL- what do I need the rest of the not particularly good or bad songs for?
I can understand where that aftertaste comes from, that was how I was from expecting more.