Listen/Review | Band-Maid | 'Turn Me On', 'Carry On Living', 'Anemone', and 'Alive-Or-Dead'

[@hernantapia2180]

Kanami doing backing vocals in Anemone.

[@bbobjs]

Alive or Dead sorta washed over me the first few times I listened through World Domination, but the specific line "Caught in the undertow" really started to haunt me. I ended up digging a bit deeper into what the song is about and lyrically it might be one of their most unique songs maybe only rivaled by Giovanni. Certainly I don't expect to find a better song about crypto-currency in my lifetime. I think people like Anemone acoustic because it really lets you hear just how good Saiki and Kanami are. It's maybe the thing I love most about Band-Maid, the deeper you dig, the more you discover they could probably play anything they wanted to, and when you hear them stripped back like this it really proves that. When I listen to them, I don't just feel like I'm listening to a band that's playing what I want, I get the impression they're playing what they want too. Fortunately this isn't the last time they play Anemone acoustic.

[@Chan_Fry]

Very interesting! (re: lyrics of "Alive-Or-Dead"). And your next-to-last sentence is great too... And I think that's what makes it more interesting/enjoyable -- it's not only that they're playing for my tastes, it's that their tastes coincide with mine, which is a really special bond. :-)

[@froopax1468]

Many thanks for supporting the Maids and bringing their music to your channel. I really like your Listen/Review sessions and your thoughts on their songs!

[@Chan_Fry]

Thank you. I'm glad that some number of the Maidiacs are enjoying this (I understand it's not for everyone). :-)

[@TomClark-Futoura]

"Just Bring It" and "World Domination"... the classic, wonderful period of Maidism! Thx, Chan, for your great comments and observations!

[@Chan_Fry]

Thanks for watching. I'm having so much fun. :-)

[@bandmaidfanATL]

I really wish Kanami sang more. 🥰

[@waynebenedict5785]

The World Domination album really shows all the band members growth, and really shows Kanami exploring her song writing and compositional skills! Miku always has great lyrics, what a amazing strength to have in a band! A musical dream team, for sure!

[@Chan_Fry]

"Dream team" is a great description here. And over the course of the album it's clear that each member did more than her fair share, adding up to well over 100% in total. :-)

[@bghost3636]

It's such a great album. Not only to listen to but to have as a testament of what Band-Maid can do. I think future albums have been experimenting in various ways as they mature into their sound. To the point now that it is unmistakable... but, you want to see a modern band able to make new music that sounds like classic hits? Band-Maid can do it. Really my all time favorite band as a whole package.

[@DAVID-io9nj]

Thanks for another intelligent session.

[@Chan_Fry]

"Intelligent" might be stretching it, but I aim for "at least not brain dead". :-)

[@franciscojavierfernandezmo1974]

Cualquier canción de BAND-MAID podría ser la mejor canción que hayas escuchado en tu vida. Y lo sabes. Tomátelo cómo te de la gana, pero es así. No BAND-MAID, no Life ¡¡¡¡¡ BANDMAIDHEAD !!!!!

[@Chan_Fry]

¡Muy cierto! Creo que es injusto comparar las canciones de Band-Maid con otras canciones de Band-Maid. Todos ellos son increíbles.

[@G-man_810]

This was my first purchase of Band-Maid music. Had watched mostly KZbin videos. I listened to this CD most everyday in my car for 6 months! This album will always be my favorite…too many BM classics. The acoustic version IMO shows the unique connect Saiki and Kanami have. Looking forward to the next video. 🤘🕊️🦍🥷👸🏻👀PO!

[@Chan_Fry]

Thanks! There's so much to love here; I think this would be a perfect entry point for an incoming Maidiac. :-)

[@philcalvino884]

Thanks, Chan! Continuing to enjoy your trip through the catalog and all the commentary. Band-Maid started forking out in even more directions with WD (and so much more to come :). Alive-or-Dead felt a little strange to me at first, but then I started grasping what Kanami was doing. It's full of contrasts that build up tension over the course of the song. Then you get that crazy solo, the gunshot or thunder sounds (or whatever they are), and final chorus with Miku's vocal interjections all over the place. Anemone (studio version especially) is about as chiseled a musical gem as I've ever heard in my life.

[@Chan_Fry]

Thanks for watching... Yes, Alive-Or-Dead takes some getting used to -- I think by the end I was fully on board. :-)

[@chalfo]

Anemone is one of my favorite types of songs of theirs - one that starts slow, soft (maybe even consider it fragile) and just builds in intensity throughout (like Awkward and suppose even Daydreaming takes that approach). One of my favorite solos in Turn Me On - very "Ride the Lightning"-esque.

[@Chan_Fry]

I didn't do a side-by-side comparison, but my feeling is that "Anemone" stayed slower and softer than "Daydreaming"; maybe because the solo wasn't quite as eruptive as the latter's. Either way, yes, I've always had a soft spot for a slower, yet slightly building ballad -- as long as it's an exception rather than the rule. :-) Those two, side by side on this album, are freakishly good.

[@chalfo]

@@Chan_Fry I think Daydreaming the build up is somewhat implied by the changes in Drum/Bass patterns before exploding in Kanami's Solo. Anemone (studio), the instumentation is constantly added in building in density and even the vocals get stronger and stronger throughout - how it begins and how it ends are completely different. See you for Dice 😃

[@Pigeonholed-Po]

🤘Band-Maid🤘

[@AndersonConnors]

Anemone is hauntingly beautiful, maybe even more so than the slow version of puzzle. I also enjoy the "... it's a long way to go"" portion of "Carry On Living".

[@Chan_Fry]

So much to love here. :-)

[@waynebenedict5785]

Maybe it's just me, but I feel a lot of Band-Maiko in "Anemone", so beautiful!

[@Chan_Fry]

There is a hint of it, to be sure. It's just a really pleasant song. :-)

[@_JimS]

World Domination is a killer Album......they all are really. Kanami singing back up is quite special. Akane's machine-gun kick in half time is awesome in "Alive-Or-Dead", she's so cool! There's a LIVE version from the 2018 show on YT, it has a filter but not too bad to watch. Also "Carry On Living" has a great LIVE video kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqTadqywl7qbndUsi=EP-qZ_huSTRV6w34

[@Chan_Fry]

Oh, wow! Thanks for that link. I think I know what my next video is, then. (Dice will have to wait one more time...) :-)

[@_JimS]

@@Chan_Fry You're very welcome.

[@waynebenedict5785]

The Zep acoustic portion also included "Puzzle", and it's gorgeous too!

[@Chan_Fry]

I definitely included an acoustic version of in my "Puzzle" video. I think it's from that same show. :-)

[@johalareewi]

@@Chan_Fry Yes, Puzzle was immediately before Anemone. There was a little bit of talking between the 2 songs.

[@daft73games]

@30:26 #ChanFry During their Yokohama 2023 show they did this as well.. It was very nice 🙂🙂 Great review 😄 🤘❤‍🔥🤘

[@Chan_Fry]

Cool! Maybe I'll catch a glimpse of that eventually. :-)

[@polskabob359]

I've never come across a band that 1 doesn't have a bad song, I honestly think there not capable of it , 2 have so many awesome songs that u forget some of them , these 4 aren't really on my radar but their awesome songs

[@Chan_Fry]

I agree -- every other band I can think of, there are forgettable songs on most or all their albums. Band-Maid has a few that aren't quite as strong as the rest, but I'm having a hard time finding one I don't like. (Maybe that should be my goal, going forward. "I will find ONE Band-Maid song that I don't like, that doesn't make me smile, that doesn't improve my day in some way.) :-)

[@polskabob359]

@Chan_Fry don't bother I went on a quest to find a bad band maid song after hearing every single song , 170+ songs I failed epically in my quest , I don't think they can write a bad 1 even if they tired, I'm convinced if they don't it's good they just don't put it out

[@jsellitto]

@@Chan_Fry LOL, Good luck with that!

[@jonathanaraos9409]

I.folking.love.this.band!

[@UserPqr11449]

An enjoyable review of these excellent tracks. Thanks. Two comments to make. Your comment about the pronunciation of Anenome. For my whole life I also pronounced it incorrectly as anemone. Or is it the other way round? It was only when I watched the Maids video of the song that I realised...after decades. Habits of a lifetime are hard to change. My other comment is about your favourites from these tracks. You prefer the standard bangers and were confused by the best track. I know it is all subjective but....Alive Or Dead is a brilliant track and in my Top 10. Why? It is a hypnotic, swirling, masterpiece that sucks the listener in and demands to be listened to again and again. Recently, I found Bestie and Protect You can also be listened to on repeat play because they start and finish with the same riffs. Alive Or Dead, though, is different. It is a track I can put on repeat play and listen to for an hour because it just sucks me in with the hypnotic rhythm and words. I can listen to the line ' I feel it coming, I feel it coming, caught in the undertow' over and over again. It is just a mesmerising lyric and melody. I think if you listen to it a few times, you might feel the same.

[@Chan_Fry]

Certainly, my "favorite" songs depend on my mood and energy levels... Maybe even time of day. At this point, certainly I wanted to be BLASTED, and the first two tracks here did that for me. :-) But don't worry, I'll hear "Alive-Or-Dead" again. And again... As with all Band-Maid songs, it's on my playlist and I assume they will all stay there. :-)

[@sandcrab3706]

Hey Chan, these are 4 great songs from WD. "Carry On Living" and "Alive-Or-Dead" are the hidden gems though. Both are a hodge-podge of musical styles that somehow blend together really well. Also some fun facts: -"Turn Me On" was written with Kentaro Akutsu (he wrote a number of earlier songs including "Thrill") -"Carry On Living" was used as an ending (ED) song for the anime, "Quiz Tokiko-san" -"Anemone" was MISA's favorite song (she used to listen to it 5 times a day at one point) -"Alive-Or-Dead" was inspired by Miku's experiences with crypto-currency Looking forward to "DICE"! Take care🤘

[@Chan_Fry]

Nice facts! "Carry On Living" could be the theme song for ANY show, in my opinion. :-) (I haven't heard of very many anime, except the few my son watches, but every time someone says "this song was in [show]", it turns out to not be in the version of the show I have access to. I guess it's common to switch out theme songs when a show is exported?)

[@sandcrab3706]

Lol, sadly "Carry On Living" doesn't get the love it deserves. Maybe in time. Different songs resonate with different people on initial listen, but might appeal to some after a few more listens. From what I can gather (I've only seen a few anime myself), the songs chosen for anime had been selected for a specific season. Also, I think most of their anime songs were ED (ending songs), versus OP (opening songs). Maybe I'll see if I can catch one of those songs in an anime. We'll call it "research" 😆

[@grahamreed8774]

Glad you reminded me of this album. Unseen World has dominated me since it came out, but this is the most beautiful and musically perfect composition wise- Kanami as a guitar genius is confirmed again. Starting to find that some of the more recent songs are a bit too similar- Sense, Shambles, protect you etc- a real lack of good melody. Anemone- The genius that is Saiki- "The Voice". The acoustic version is to die for. 2018- the best year.

[@Chan_Fry]

I can't wait to get to Unseen World (and everything else that came after this), but right now I'm really and truly loving the edge on Kanami's guitar sound in this album, and I think this is just perfection. There isn't a weak link here. I'm looking at the track list in front of my as I type this, and there are 15 hits on this disc. I hope to never have to choose, but if I did have to, and could only pick one Band-Maid album for all time, right now I'd say this one.

[@Hogan-melb]

Chan, thanks for a great series . u mentioned 2 female vocalists in one band but couldn't think of any on the spot - let me throw in few examples from top of my head (there are no doubt many more, especially in soul and r n b bands from sixties?) - mama cass and michelle philips in mamas and papas; stevie nicks and christine mcvie in fleetwood mac; the wilson sisters in heart; cindy wilson and kate pierson in b-52s and a few all female bands in the 90s like sleater kinney etc. ? but u r right - miku and saiki are very special. i particularly love the way miku often sings counterpart lines that intensify and complicate the rhythms of the song and she often does it in english too.

[@Chan_Fry]

I think Heart was one of the ones floating in the back of my head -- but I was also thinking of male singers too... Queen might be the most memorable example (at least to me) of men singing very well together in massive rock songs. It stands out in our minds because it's so rare in rock. :-)

[@RandomChessPerson]

(This is still Chan!) My wife played a couple of En Vogue songs for me just now, with very nice vocal harmonies, but we couldn't think of ROCK groups with female co-vocalists, other than Band-Maid and a few others in the current Japanese rock/metal movement....

[@waynebenedict5785]

Hi Chan, love your journey of Band-Maid! "Turn Me On" is one of the songs that always hovers at the top of my Band-Maid favorites! Here is a link to a live version of it, kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqKYo3uXjtd-qJo Enjoy!

[@bandmaidfanATL]

Seconded. This is one of my top 10 Band-Maid lives, and I have seen probably 400 by now. MISA, Mincho and Akane are masterful in this.

[@Chan_Fry]

Thanks for the link! I love the intro to that.

[@BM4-Life]

Oh no! You got to restart your journey and check out *Puzzle Acoustic* 😁 The *Zepp Tokyo 2018 World Domination Tour* has a lot of those live memorable tracks that you had gone over. I basically took the Zepp and Studio Coast videos and converted them into MP3 and added them to my Iphone can never get to much of *BAND-MAID* 😊

[@Chan_Fry]

I did get the Puzzle acoustic! :-) Here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoLHhYSMe61qisksi=Dlky5EkjyhDimOt7&t=796 I try not to do every possible video of every song, but that one had a huge reputation, so... :-)

[@BM4-Life]

@@Chan_Fry Oh yea I forgot 🤪

[@EliseAutoXr]

Great review/reactions of great songs, by a great band (did I use great enough? hehe). I am enjoying your series, thanks!

[@Chan_Fry]

Thank you for the comment. It was great! (See what I did there?) My biggest worry with this series is that the standard for greatness has now been set too high... It's more and more difficult to be impressed with the next song, because the last one was SO great. :-)

[@EliseAutoXr]

@@Chan_Fry ita a great paradox to have :)

[@tinyhato]

Always a good day when you're back with one of these :) "Turn Me On" is pretty straightforward for them, but elevated by their...Band-Maid-ness. I thought your comments on "Carry On Living" were interesting. I think it would be nice to have some more variety in the subject of the lyrics. I know that Miku lives "keep going" but how many songs on the same theme can there be? With "Influencer" for example, how refreshing was it to have another subject tackled? Your comments about Akane were spot on. According to the band (in the "Unseen World" Score Book) Akane struggled the most at the start. Now she's become the perfect drummer. For me, the first half of the chorus of "Carry On Living" kind of comes out of nowhere. I think it doesn't really fit the rest of the song. The second half and everything else though is great. I LOVE the part after the solo. So cool! "Anemone" for me is their most beautiful song. It's perfect! The solos, everything. The drums in the second verse are a perfect demonstration of how Akane would improve almost any song. Who else would choose that drum pattern? But it elevates everything! The whole song is a masterpiece. I like the acousitc, and Kanami's voice is like having ambrosia poured into my ears, but I think the album version is superior. I might be wrong but you seemed not the most impressed with "Anemone" maybe because of the day you had, maybe you were looking to just get epic Band-Maid-ed, or maybe you're just not one for slow songs. But I think on a re-listen you might come away more impressed. BTW I relate completely to your pronuciation comments. Anemone is a bizarre word. Similarly, I remember reading "Penelope" as "Pen-elope" when I was a kid. Speaking of songs about something other than "keep trying", "Alive or Dead" is about when Miku lost a bunch of money in cryptocurrency. A lot of people share your sentiments; I've heard this called the closest thing Band-Maid has to a "filler song". I don't know about that, but I think if you were doing a "name all Band-Maid songs" contest, this one would be fogotten pretty freqently. "Dice" was my first song as well. Looking forward to it. Have a great day!

[@Chan_Fry]

Again, thank you for the detailed comment. "another subject" -- Yes, it is always refreshing when they attempt a new vein of lyrical content; certainly "Influencer" was a clear departure, subject-wise and it was refreshing. (I haven't heard it in a while, but it's unforgettable.) "not the most impressed with Anemone" -- I definitely felt peaceful and at ease with that song, but maybe because that's a calmer, less visible emotion, I failed to express it clearly. :-) (Overt excitement is so much easier to convey on video than "I feel fine"...) "pronunciation" -- I think I did the "pen elope" thing too, LOL. The one that sticks out in my memory is "debris", which I pronounced aloud "DEH briss", and I remember my mother trying not to laugh while she corrected me. :-) "lost a bunch of money in cryptocurrency" -- Well, maybe I should have read the lyrics then. :-) Though in my experience, everyone but a very small handful loses money in speculative ventures...

[@keithmeyer9558]

DICE was my 1st Band Maid song.

[@Chan_Fry]

Awesome! :-)

[@nomennescio4604]

Well, the anemone is a funeral flower. The song is a lament. Kobato apparently wrote the lyrics for someone deceased. (Her gran maybe?) It's sort of on the theme of only being able to meet again in dreams iirc.

[@Chan_Fry]

Ah. It's a beautiful song; thanks for the background info.

[@neilyamashita4348]

There is a turn me on live video and a dice music video! Little more digging please!

[@Chan_Fry]

I can't find a live "Turn Me On" (unless you mean the heavily edited one, which I simply can't watch). And I'm pretty sure I mentioned in *this* video that "Dice" is next. :-) (I'm editing my "Dice" video as I type this...)