‪@BANDMAID‬

[@Chan_Fry]

Thanks for all the comments, everyone. I removed a couple that turned overtly political -- because I'm here to enjoy Band-Maid, not to argue politics with strangers on the internet. :-) I think we can all agree that it's a good thing when artists enjoy increased freedom of expression. (If we can't agree on that, this might not be the channel for you.) Thanks again.

[@trfatman]

"Shake That" is one of my favorite early Band Maid songs.

[@Chan_Fry]

I can easily understand that - it's fun to listen to, sing along with, etc. :-)

[@mermaidmelodies1492]

Shake That!! is such a cool song and the Instrumental version is so good you can listen to it without missing the lyrics, and the official version WITH lyrics is very good too. Almost two separate songs.

[@Chan_Fry]

Oh, I didn't know there was an instrumental version of Shake That!!

[@elliott8339]

I recall Akane stating during an interview that she knows the lyrics to all their songs.

[@airlinesecret6725]

Playing 'Dont let me down' and 'Start Over' during their online covid concerts were the true highlights for me PO!

[@Chan_Fry]

I wish I had heard of them by then, but better late than never. :-)

[@Davey-Boyd]

The male backing vocals in "Don't Let Me Down" was the band staff/studio staff if I recall correctly. They did the same sort of thing on "Moratorium" too on the crowd vocal portion. "The Police" thing on MISA's bass wasn't a sticker, it was a spare pick. MISA sometimes uses her mic. Especially in the US for her beer 'opening time'!

[@miqoto]

Could be the writer or the manager at the time. This one was written by a popular bassist in the 90-00s

[@bandmaidfanATL]

Davey, there is also another pick behind the Police pick, which looks to be an RAF insignia so, if it is a band pick, it's either The Who or The Jam. In either case, 2 great bassists.

[@Chan_Fry]

Since you mentioned it, I went to look again -- you're right, it's a pick, with another one behind it. Thanks for pointing it out. :-)

[@Davey-Boyd]

@@bandmaidfanATL Yes it's what we in the UK call a "Mod target" (as in the youth movement - Mods). So The Who or The Jam both would fit, but knowing MISA more likely The Who I reckon! Both awesome bands and bassists yeah!

[@bandmaidfanATL]

Also, you will (finally) get to hear MISA sing into her microphone Christmas 2021, when you get there. 🙂

[@DAVID-io9nj]

They have all improved technically over the years. Yet the consensus among the fellow band members is that "MISA was always MISA". They all say she had "it" right from the start. Kanami does help out on choruses on several songs. She has a sweet tone, as you will hear once you get to the acoustic version of Puzzle, and Anemone. Looking forward to Brand New Maid. It is the start of what I call the classic Band Maid sound.

[@Chan_Fry]

"MISA was always MISA" is the impression I get too. In most of the others, I can see improvement over the years, but MISA was championship material from the beginning. :-)

[@johalareewi]

FYI Band Maid did 4 streaming Okyu-Ji during COVID. July, August and December2020 and February 2021. They also uploaded some videos to KZbin including Hand Wash, and the Summer Sonic 2020 set they recorded in the studio (when the festival was cancelled). These have since vanished from their KZbin channel. :(

[@Chan_Fry]

I knew they'd done a couple of online concerts but didn't realize there were *four* of them. Wow. And I think I saw the Hand Wash video on someone else's channel. It's mysterious to me why the band (or company) would upload some videos and then later take them down... But then again, I don't run a successful band or artist management company. :-)

[@johalareewi]

@@Chan_Fry They did prune a lot of old content from their YT channel. :( I did find some of it on their members club web pages and i have read that there is more on their prime pages (not joined that so can't say for sure).

[@tinyhato]

I think the problem that people have with "Don't Let Me Down" is that it wasn't written by them, they were young, didn't speak English, and so it feels to some people like they were being exploited or taken advantage of. This feeling is compounded by the fact that, while they do allude to the same kind of content in some songs that they've written, it has never been so explicit. If that was a road they wanted to go down, they could have done so as they took control of their writing. The fact that they haven't says something about the song and its place in their history. Also, the song is not only explicit, it's juvenile. Literally grade-school. Compare it to Liz Phair's "Exile in Guyville" album from 1993. Specifically the songs "Fuck and Run" and "Flower". Some say the album is a track-by-track response to the Rolling Stone's "Exile on Main Street" album. I don't know about that but I do know it's an indie-rock masterpiece. Back to "Don't Let Me Down", I think if this song had been written by them and come out yesterday, the vast majority of fans would be like, "Holy crap! I was not expecting this from them! Anyway, cool song." In this scenario, people might say they hope that the band doesn't feel pressured to use this kind of writing to expand their fanbase. But I think very few would object in the way you referenced in your #oldmanspeech. As an aside: I think it's crazy that many of the people who think it's terrible that all that stuff happened are simultaneously the very same ones currently arguing for the same but different restrictions in the modern day. Cool that you found the video from the online okyuji! I was shocked when the riff started. They hadn't played that song for a long time at that point (and they haven't played it since). Did you hear Misa's old setup with the tobacco-stain-coloured bass? Thunderous! Her new setup sounds a lot more clinical to me. Compare her bass sound from the Tokyo Garden Theater to the roar that this one gave off. That live performance was part of a themed section where they played songs from the past: on a screen behind them there were graphics of clocks going backwards, then they'd play a couple old songs. That kind of thing. My point being: Maybe that was them acknowledging the song and taking ownership of it after they'd come so far. But who knows? Maybe they just said, "wanna do this one, that'll surprise 'em LOL" They seem like normal, well-adjusted people (the kind you don't hear from on the internet) who would take the song for what it is -- a song -- and move on without overthinking what its existence represents for society. Anyway that's a lot of words for a song I think is pretty below average *for Band-Maid* haha. I think the whole song from the riff, to the verse *and* chorus melodies, to the "hey hey hey"'s is repetitive; there's too many vocal effects, I don't like the guitar tone, the second verse is same as the first or nearly so which makes it feel even more repetitive, gah! But the bridge is nice, and how it leads into the last chorus. Of course, if it were another band I'd be adding the track to my Japanese rock playlist..... Could your issue with the sound quality on Spotify have something to do with the production on the song? It's very "scratchy" sounding. "Shake That!" is great! Just missed a spot in my "Top 10" Band-Maid song list (which has 59 songs in it right now). Brand New Maid next! Looking forward to what you have to say, particularly about the songs with no MV.

[@Chan_Fry]

"juvenile" - Probably not to any more degree than many men-sung rock songs on similar topics (AC/DC's "Big Balls" comes to mind, LOL). "young, didn't speak English" - That's very much a concern, I'm sure. Though I've been told they had at least *some* volition when choosing songs. I think you're right about fans' possible reaction if it had come out *now*. I personally would be surprised, given the direction of most of their content since then. "aside" - it does seem like many people are hypocrites on various social/political views. :-) But in the specific case of the "people I know", they've been pretty consistently anti-free expression the whole time. I didn't notice the bass model, but it did sound different. :-) I agree it's not among their best songs, though I keep coming back to the whole "Oh, I'm comparing it to other Band-Maid songs" problem. Comparing it to other rock songs, it's right up there for me.

[@jwoodjapan]

I'm enjoying sharing your journey through the Maids' catalog. I was especially happy to see that you're not prudish about the lyrics of "Don't let me down," even though I don't really like them very much. Having lived in Japan for many years, I get "young guy's sexy manga" vibes from them, like having girls do whatever he wants, including singing dirty words. This can also be done much more easily in English than in Japanese. English sort of "doesn't count" here in Japan, much as saying nasty Japanese words wouldn't mean much to most Americans (no, I won't teach you any!). Keep up the good commentaries!

[@Chan_Fry]

True! (about the language mattering less). Someone could say all kinds of nasty things to me in, let's say, Farsi, and as long as they were smiling, I'd never have a clue. :-) As for the song, I think it's another case of: "not among Band-Maid's best tracks, but would be some other band's top hit".

[@TomClark-Futoura]

The male voice is Saiki's suitor she's singing to who's in the throes of "not being let down." 🤘😂

[@Chan_Fry]

He does seem at a loss for words. ;-)

[@DavidMISAMISAMISACook]

MISA MISA MISA!!!!! Love these play alongs with commentary enjoy what you have to say and appreciate the time and effort you put in. edit: Shake that has been played live 60 times = 27 most played song last played October 20th 2023 after a 5 year gap

[@Pandafaust11]

Love it when musicians impart wisdom in these "reactions".

[@Chan_Fry]

I do love the Maidiacs who are also encyclopedias. :-) (Or at least spreadsheets...)

[@HaroMatsuRestarted]

The paper window / door is障子 (Shoji). You are correct that crossing is the famous Shibuya Crossing. The street with shops with kanji are by the Akihabara train station.

[@Chan_Fry]

Ah, shoji, yes! (I have a memory of getting into serious trouble at about age five, when I punctured a couple of them in my house...) As for the Shibuya crossing, thanks for confirming. I didn't want to sound stupid by saying it was, if it wasn't. :-) (I come from small towns and suburbs, so sometimes all those big city intersections look the same to me...)

[@TomClark-Futoura]

The only time Band-Maid Let Me Down was when they stopped playing after a 2-hour plus burnin'🔥hot concert. I guess it was a good thing because everyone was "Shake'd out," sweaty (wet? ;-), and spent (spent? ;-)... except the Maids. 😅 Thx, Chan!

[@Chan_Fry]

LOL. I don't know that they've ever let me down yet -- except maybe the difficult time I've had understanding/navigating their website (but I think we can blame that on me, not on them...)

[@TomClark-Futoura]

@@Chan_Fry No, I think their website definitely needs some work... and updating! I've message them a number of times about it. ;-)

[@danmolnar402]

Shake That!! has one of Band-Maid's faster moving chorus progressions and both songs have pretty short, more repeating choruses. Definitely simpler than later stuff but still great, catchy rock songs. I think Kanami's guitar work on this early stuff is really good - great tone and riffs that are nostalgic, as you mentioned.

[@Chan_Fry]

"Simpler than later stuff" -- very true! Yet, as I go back through my pre-Band-Maid favorites, I find that many of them are just as a simple, musically, if not more so. (I'm thinking specifically of many AC/DC songs that used to dance around in my top 10 -- nowadays they sound incredibly formulaic and simple.)

[@russellpotter7294]

As they have played Don't Let Me Down since. I have little doubt they were aware of the content in the original MV. What impresses me is that in the video accident prone Miku runs so well in those heels. The live version is just more playful. A sort of British seaside postcard version. Kanami does do backing in some songs and we know she has a nice voice. As does MISA and Akane as they showed in the later acoustic concert. But apparently they are not that keen on singing live. Love the frame by frame that picked up one or two things I never noticed before. Happy about that nostalgic feel of parts of Shake That. Which for me has a lot to do with my love of the music the band produces. Thanks again for these reviews.

[@Chan_Fry]

Yes, I think the nostalgic 70s/80s/90s rock shout-outs they include in many songs is what drew me in from day one. I kept hearing echoes of riffs and songs and rhythms I'd loved years ago -- of course combined in new ways and attached to different melodies, etc. It wouldn't surprise me if these ladies (especially Kanami) are more familiar with some of my old favorites than I am. (Which reminds me, if they ever do an album of covers, I have a few suggestions...) :-)

[@greylocke100]

Between Kanami's riffs and Akane's beats this song just checks all the boxes for "Classic Rock". I believe the scream was Saiki. I vaguely remember a fancam from I think Italy of this song, and Saiki did the scream. And the Ladies have used their crew for certain background vocals. I am remembering a throw away comment about having some of the people at the recording studio recording gang vocals. And I really wish Miku and Saiki would do dual vocals like this again. Their voice are point and counterpoint to each other so well, they sound like they were specifically created for that. And Kanami used to sing along as she played, as she used to do much more backing vocals. As their music progressed, it became harder for her to sing and play at the same time, so her backing vocals were added to the backing track. The Shibuya Scramble. Yes. Yes, Miku did run through the streets of Tokyo in high heels. And yes MISA did put the pick in her mouth. That was before she perfected her pick/flip. She also had a The Who guitar pick and a Jimi Hendrix sticker on her bass. At the end, Miku running towards the Tokyo tower. No metaphor there. And Kanami switched from her AddicTone to her PRS. And her PRS has custom hand wound pickups, with coil splitting and a treble bleed modification. My understanding is that during the lockdowns, all of the Ladies were getting instruction for English. From what I've read Kanami "Guilted" them into it. As Kanami was studying English, Mandarin/Cantonese and I've read either Korean or Malaysian. I can't remember which Chinese dialect she was studying. And yes, during the online performances, Kanami was singing backing vocals. There have been a few times such as Summer Sonic 2022 where the sound engineer (Not Band-Maid's sound guy but Summer Sonic's engineer) where her mic gain was turned down, and Kanami can be seen glaring at control booth. I have given up on Spotify due to their codec. I've compared Spotfy's audio vs my CD's, and Spotify isn't even reaching CD quality on streams. If you can find it, check out PinD's photo Collage for Shake That. It's rather funny. Akane and MISA both attended the Tokyo School of Music together and worked several jobs together. Technically, they have more regular music instruction that Kanami. Kanami however has been playing a piano since shortly before her 4th birthday, and started playing guitar when she was 17. Akane played Piano for a few years, then went to trombone in middle and high school, but picked up drums in her junior year of high school. After she graduated she went to TSM. MISA played piano for a few years, then switched to Alto Horn, then Trumpet, then Guitar. In High School a friend who had a band, needed a bass player, and asked MISA. MISA borrowed a bass from a classmate and started learning it. She enjoyed it and soon bought her own. After graduating, she was still playing in a band (Prototype) and decided to go to Tokyo School of Music. Her first year she was studying sound engineering, but switched to the bass program for her second year. So technically Akane and MISA both have Associates Degrees in Music. Kanami has a Bachelors Degree in Economics and minored in Management. But all 3 of them have something many other musicians don't. DRIVE. They all have the drive to succeed, and put forth their best effort.

[@Chan_Fry]

Thanks for straightening me out on a few facts. Either way, I think this band has (since this 2nd album) done a better job than most at highlighting all five members. (I can't think of many rock bands from the '80s that gave their bass player such a platform on a *studio* track.) As for Spotify, it's weird that I get what seems like high-quality audio on my phone (it sounds great in my earbuds, whether I'm mowing, cycling, or working in the garage). But on this PC, it doesn't hold up. Next time I do straight audio, if I can't find it on KZbin, I'll just play it off my CD. :-)

[@waynebenedict5785]

To me, "Shake That" is as good of driving song as Deep Purple's "Highway Star", just feel compelled to drive faster while it's playing! Kanami is on fire!

[@Chan_Fry]

It definitely moves me. :-) (Which is difficult to show while I'm sitting in a chair...)

[@waynebenedict5785]

@@Chan_Fry I can relate to that.

[@jsellitto]

Thanks for your Band-maid reactions, Chan. I really enjoy your style of listening to and exploring each song and video.

[@Chan_Fry]

Thanks! (In hindsight, I feel like I paused too much in this one, and complained too much about the audio. I'll try to use this self-criticism to improve future videos.)

[@starocean62]

Kanami were in a band together for a short time I think but akane knew misa before bandmaid as well as minchozilla so either it was misa and akane or akane and mincho that played together I know this song rocks I'm 62 and I love this band since 2014

[@Chan_Fry]

Ah, yes, I think I heard about "mochi to cheeze" ...

[@grahamreed8774]

I think that this maybe the first song to have a spoken word section in it. The other of course is Sayonakidori (Nightingale), which has a quote from Romeo and Juliet, which references Nightingale. kanami can often be seen singing on stage away from any mic. The two english words on Misa's guitar look like they are on two picks pushed under the scratch plate. Technically speaking and from their label, these first 3 CDs are considered mini albums, as they have less than 30 minutes of music on them.

[@Chan_Fry]

Ah! I didn't know the exact distinction between "full album" and "mini-album"... :-)

[@Greg-om2hb]

I think MISA’s voice is heard in only one song, SECRET MAIKO LIPS, by BAND-MAIKO. I think Lars mixed the studio version of Don’t Let Me Down.

[@saikisfang9339]

And justice for MISA. That would be another reason to be annoyed with Lars🤣

[@miqoto]

Correct same one as Alice in Borderlands. Shibuya Crossing(also in Fast and Furious etc as well) Brand New Maid has a non plastic case version with 3music videos on it as well

[@Chan_Fry]

Ah, I didn't know about the multiple versions. Each time when I've bought these CDs online, the descriptions are SORELY lacking; I never know exactly what I'll get until it shows up in the mail. :-)

[@miqoto]

@@Chan_Fry oh for sure. I had to dig up all the information myself 😂 so now close to completion on the different versions. Also messaged you on FB as well didnt know which you checked faster

[@K.H.D710]

15:40 The kanji sign said "Welcome Chinese customers" in Chinese. 16:09 I think Akane's cross is just a fashion item. Many young Japanese people use it as a fashion item. 19:01 Saiki said "Aren't you waiting for this song?"😂 29:52 The Japanese word just before "naked" in the lyrics is "感情" (one's emotion), so it means "expose your emotion"...probably😏

[@Chan_Fry]

Ah! Thanks. So far, I've only learned kanji for numbers, and a handful of words like 日本，中山，and 東京。:-)

[@K.H.D710]

@@Chan_Fry 中山? Why?🤔 Your friend's name?🙄

[@Chan_Fry]

@@K.H.D710 It's just one of the names that Duolingo has been teaching... Tanaka, Yamaguchi, and Nakayama are the three I've got so far. And the three cities are Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. (I'm really disappointed in Duolingo's Japanese lessons, by the way, so I'm supplementing with other sources.)

[@bbobjs]

The cross on Akane's outfit is almost certainly just decorative. It's fairly common in Japan to adopt western iconography without concern for the meaning, similar to how it's common for people to get tattoos of kanji. I think it's particularly applicable in hardrock/metal where distorted variants Christian iconography are used natively and then in Band-Maid's case, compounded upon by the motif of the maid being rooted in Christian European culture. That said, judging by the lyrics of No God, it wouldn't shock me if Miku had some understanding of Christianity. I guess I'll just have to wait for you to get to the Unseen World album for your opinions on the matter though.

[@Chan_Fry]

That makes sense. (For that matter, we see plenty of U.S. folks wearing various religious symbolism without having much of a clue about it, right?) :-)

[@ALAN_COX]

The spoken lyrics are... "I don't wanna waste my time" "I don't wanna waste my time" "I just gotta say" "I gotta say" "I gotta say" "SCREAM"

[@Chan_Fry]

Just a little later in the video, I heard the words more clearly (in the live), and found them in the lyrics sheet. :-)

[@stimproid]

Regarding explicit lyrics… we now live in a time that WAP is a number one hit and “Baby it’s cold outside” is “problematic.”

[@Chan_Fry]

As I said, I'm glad to be living in a time where artists (at least to a great extent) are allowed to express themselves without fear of legal repercussions. The fact that "WAP" was so well publicized and no one went to jail means we've broken a lot of barriers. I'm all for it. (As for the other one, I never did like the creepy vibes of that song, but others do like it, so it was on the radio constantly a couple of months ago.)

[@waynebenedict5785]

I still think that no official music video of "Shake That" is a crime against humanity! "Don't Let Me Down" is referred to as the naughty song, and was not written by the band, these ladies are not children but young adults, even back then. No harm, No foul.

[@Greg-om2hb]

In Japan a crucifix is most likely a fashion accessory. Nothing more. It might be so in this video.

[@agdtec]

There are some Christian in Japan my cousin lived there for about 10 or so years he married a Japanese Christian woman

[@bandmaidfanATL]

Miku's vocals are a little louder than Saiki's in Shake That. Not sure if it was production, or they recorded at the same levels and Miku is just a bit more piercier. I'm going with the latter, Po, and it seems to give the track a call and response feel for me. Shades of the quick vocal trading in Freezer earlier as well.

[@Chan_Fry]

It was weird that during editing I didn't hear the louder part I mentioned in the video. It was only in the headphones during recording. But I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to all these audio things (as Miku said, "No, nothing can help", LOL).

[@armynurseboy]

Ahhh.... the "Naughty Song"......😉😉😊😊

[@cygnetseven]

Shake That is my favorite track, not written by the Maids. It's punchy and fun. I think I would like Don't Let Me better if it didn't have the stigmata behind it. It reminds me of a Motorhead track. As far as Kanami singing, she was the backup singer on the first few albums as the band was more of a twin vocal band. Around the third album Saiki asserted her dominance as the lead singer and Miku became more of a support singer. There was an early song which had Akane singing on it, I cannot remember which. Our first time hearing MISA was the two Maiko songs.

[@Chan_Fry]

It's nice to have multiple qualified vocalists on tap, just in case. :-)

[@_JimS]

Both these songs are huge favorites of mine. With regards to "Don't Let Me Down" I'm not a prude but I look at things like this and could be why they only played it on a LIVE stream, I feel this is the reason. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGjVgnVplLR2oLs Makes me happy too they started writing their own music/lyrics. They use the mic for MISA and Kanami mainly for Miku's "Magic Spell Time" MC. I think Miku missed a Don't let me down in the LIVE version. Shocked "Shake That" only has 573k hits on Spotify. This is deserves way more.....but unfortunately there's no music video for it so there's that. What a BANGER!!! Still relevant today. LOVE that chromatic climb and decent after the solo. They should play this more LIVE. The paper dividers in Japan are called shoji screens.

[@Chan_Fry]

It's up to 574k now. :-) Yeah, I get what you're saying about kids in the audience. On the other hand, I played this for my kids a couple of times (I think my daughter understood but my son isn't quite there yet). I'm much less likely to play a song for them if it has an f-bomb or the n-word in it... They hear both on the bus, but I don't want them to hear them from me. :-)

[@me262a1]

Then again, this is from the show at Nickelodeon theme park in the mall. LOL kzbin.info_RrFqijUD_E

[@_JimS]

@@Chan_Fry I hear ya there.

[@zer0tzer0]

They didn't write it, and there's been some speculation that, it being entirely in English, that they may not have quite know exactly what they were singing. Several labels later they have yet to repeat lyrics as risque as these since they began writing their own songs.

[@Chan_Fry]

Of course I have no idea, but I get the *impression* that a couple of (if not all of) these women, even back in their early 20s, were at least *aware* of the subject matter. From the bands that they've mentioned they listen to, I don't think the subject matter would be that shocking to them. (Another thought: if most of their audience in 2015 was Japanese, it might explain why the entire song is in English.)

[@waynebenedict5785]

@@Chan_Fry "Don't let me Down" was written by Japanese male contributors, so maybe they were doing it tongue in cheek to mess with the girls. A few of Band-Maid's later song, written by them with Miku doing the lyrics are pretty spicy, just not to this extreme. Still, it's all in fun!

[@mightydegu]

Spotify really has terrible audio quality. On paper, they have a higher maximum bitrate than KZbin music, but bitrate isn't the whole story with streaming music.

[@Chan_Fry]

You're right about that... I've been playing with it for a week since recording this video, and simply can't get it to sound good on this PC. (Not as good as KZbin, I mean.) The really strange thing is that Spotify sounds great in my tiny $20 Jlab earbuds, paired with my tablet or phone. But not in these high-quality headphones or speakers on my PC... Maybe it's optimized for earbuds? LOL. Thanks for watching!

[@topographic1973ify]

I've never had a problem with Don't Let Me Down simply because male bands have been putting out sexual content songs for years, even in the good old days singing about jelly rolls and lemons and somebody getting on their knees. There's no reason a group of women can't do it from that perspective. Lastly, Akihito Tokunaga wrote this song, trapped by the bosses until they were able to gain control of their own stuff.

[@Chan_Fry]

Exactly! (I was thinking rather of "Big Balls", or more explicitly, GNR's "Anything Goes", but same idea.)

[@topographic1973ify]

And all those classics by KISS.@@Chan_Fry