BABYMETAL in 2019

[bluegate]

Who would have guessed that BABYMETAL would still be a thing in 2019, with tours [https://www.babymetal.com/en/tour/] throughout the first half of 2020?

I sure wouldn't have guessed it, but here we are, they even released a new album [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0yZS48SeGGuWkkScbrd1FP] this year.

For a look into our past, here is a 2014 topic about them;
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.843497-Poll-Babymetal

Some samples of their new album;

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Whelp that's enough internet for the day

 

[happyninja42]

I've never understood the confusion about Baby Metal. I mean, heavy metal is rife with really flashy, showy, high pitched singers, in front of crazy elaborate set pieces, singing songs while insane guitar licks play in the back. Judas Priest, Quiet Riot, Queensryche just to name a few. So the idea that a woman who can sing in the same range, is somehow strange or bizarre to Heavy metal is just....I mean, have you SEEN some of the stage performances of some of the bands out there?! xD

I'm not a huge fan of Babymetal personally (though I fucking love the song Karate), but I'm not a huge metal fan either, so that's about par for the course. But I am not at all surprised at the idea that they are popular on a large scale. Not surprised one bit.

 

[BrawlMan]

I nearly forgot they existed. Not an fan, but glad they have a huge audince that loves them.

 

[SckizoBoy]

I'll be honest, I only like one song from them: Megitsune, so I'm pretty meh about them in general (though having just listened to Karate on the strength of the comment above where mentioned, it's quite catchy).

They do that quintessentially contemporary Japanese thing to heavy metal that is no worse or better than what has been done to damn near everything else. *shrug*

EDIT - That said... WTF, they went to Glastonbury this year?!

 

[Baffle]

EDIT - That said... WTF, they went to Glastonbury this year?!

They're playing Download 2020 as well. Which I'm going to.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

I think they're a fun band. I generally like bands that bring something different to metal, for example by mixing in elements from non-metal styles of music. They're coming to GMM next year, and I'm sort of tempted to go, perhaps also catch The Hu and Faith No More.

Also, the band backing Babymetal is fucking legit.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I always thought that was a genre term, not a band name. Oh well! Learning is fun! Though writing this is giving me serious dejavu, so maybe this was learned before but I couldn't care enough to retain it. Maybe learning wasn't so fun.

 

[happyninja42]

I think they're a fun band. I generally like bands that bring something different to metal, for example by mixing in elements from non-metal styles of music. They're coming to GMM next year, and I'm sort of tempted to go, perhaps also catch The Hu and Faith No More.

Also, the band backing Babymetal is fucking legit.

Ah man, I'd love to go see Faith No More in concert. So many memories of that band growing up. I used to fall asleep listening to Angel Dust.

 

[happyninja42]

I'll be honest, I only like one song from them: Megitsune, so I'm pretty meh about them in general (though having just listened to Karate on the strength of the comment above where mentioned, it's quite catchy).

They do that quintessentially contemporary Japanese thing to heavy metal that is no worse or better than what has been done to damn near everything else. *shrug*

EDIT - That said... WTF, they went to Glastonbury this year?!

I'm curious what the "Japanese thing" they did to heavy metal. Not criticizing your comment, just curious what you mean they've changed. That's what I find kind of ironic about Babymetal, or at least most criticisms I've seen about them. Like, most comments I see about them sort of orbit around the "I can't believe they are doing these crazy, elaborate stage performances, with crazy lightshows and pyrotechnics and lifting platforms and stuff, etc etc." And I just think to how most of the classic metal bands, and how crazy over the top they were with their stage stuff. It doesn't feel like it's really any different to me.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

I'm curious what the "Japanese thing" they did to heavy metal. Not criticizing your comment, just curious what you mean they've changed.

Not sure either.

My guess it's because Babymetal is at its heart a Japanese idol pop group. 3 cute Japanese girls in cute gothic lolita dresses doing cute pop-y dance routines while singing about pretty saccharine pop-y stuff, all fairly typical stuff for idol j-pop groups, which is then juxtaposed with the actual music behind it, which is often pretty good metal (as said before, their band is legit talented people).

Like, most comments I see about them sort of orbit around the "I can't believe they are doing these crazy, elaborate stage performances, with crazy lightshows and pyrotechnics and lifting platforms and stuff, etc etc." And I just think to how most of the classic metal bands, and how crazy over the top they were with their stage stuff. It doesn't feel like it's really any different to me.

Never mind classic metal bands, those people must've never seen a Rammstein show. Or Ghost, if you want a band that gained its popularity this decade.

 

[McElroy]

This kawaii-shit was garbage then and it's garbage now.

 

[Catfood220]

EDIT - That said... WTF, they went to Glastonbury this year?!

They're playing Download 2020 as well. Which I'm going to.

Lets hope the weather is better next year, walking in all that mud this year was exhausting. The people I camp with, who are usually up all night were all in bed by about 2am. For a music festival in June, it sure gets its fair share of shit weather. The annoying thing is that it can be beautiful in the weeks leading up to the festival and then the week before it starts raining mud from the sky. Still, not as bad as 2012 where we caught the tail end of a hurricane, that was fun.

As for Baby Metal, they put on a good show. I've seen them a few times and they are genuinely entertaining and as someone else has pointed out, the musicians behind them are a talented bunch.

 

[SckizoBoy]

I'm curious what the "Japanese thing" they did to heavy metal.

Not sure either.

It depends on how much you identify moefication/kawaii-ness with being an inherent aspect of contemporary Japanese pop culture given it's present to varying degrees around the world. That 'Japanese thing' I refer to has no particular identity or composition other than the mash up of western styles (aesthetic/audio/general stylisations) with native borderline stereotypes (the opening to Megitsune is a prime example of this) and making it their own. They did it to whiskey, they did it to C18th/19th pastiche fantasy escapism (a thoroughly convoluted way of saying 'meido/shitsuji-bunka'), they did it to baking and patisseries (well, damn near all cooking as it goes), they did it to story-driven RPG's, they did it to orchestral soundtrack music and Babymetal are an example of them doing it to metal music (to be sure, just a statement, not a judgement). *shrug*

 

[Baffle]

Lets hope the weather is better next year, walking in all that mud this year was exhausting. The people I camp with, who are usually up all night were all in bed by about 2am. For a music festival in June, it sure gets its fair share of shit weather. The annoying thing is that it can be beautiful in the weeks leading up to the festival and then the week before it starts raining mud from the sky. Still, not as bad as 2012 where we caught the tail end of a hurricane, that was fun.

Like fuck am I camping, I'm nearly 40. I'll be in a sweet sweet hotel. With a shower and a toilet.

Looking forward to seeing the bands from my good music years. It's a really good line-up for people who stopped listening to new music in about 2005.

 

[happyninja42]

I'm curious what the "Japanese thing" they did to heavy metal.

Not sure either.

It depends on how much you identify moefication/kawaii-ness with being an inherent aspect of contemporary Japanese pop culture given it's present to varying degrees around the world. That 'Japanese thing' I refer to has no particular identity or composition other than the mash up of western styles (aesthetic/audio/general stylisations) with native borderline stereotypes (the opening to Megitsune is a prime example of this) and making it their own. They did it to whiskey, they did it to C18th/19th pastiche fantasy escapism (a thoroughly convoluted way of saying 'meido/shitsuji-bunka'), they did it to baking and patisseries (well, damn near all cooking as it goes), they did it to story-driven RPG's, they did it to orchestral soundtrack music and Babymetal are an example of them doing it to metal music (to be sure, just a statement, not a judgement). *shrug*

Just wanted clarification, because most criticism I've seen of them has seemed sort of contradictory, given the already established over-the-top campiness and absurdity that a lot of metal bands have had for decades. I mean when you have stuff as absurd as Alice Cooper's stage shows, and Rob Halford coming out on stage riding a motorcycle, clad in a leather outfit befitting the stereotypical "gay leather boy" asthetic, singing "I'm your Turbo Lover". The plethora of metal hair bands from the 80s and their performances and outfits....is a couple of girls in dresses doing a little dance before crazy metal riffs plaster the auditorium, amidst a massive light show while she belts out crazy vocals, REALLY all that different in tone and theme? xD

That' what's always made me scratch my head. It's like "It sucks because it's crazy and silly and over the top!" and I'm just like "yeah..but...that's metal. Like, from the start, that's metal."

 

[bluegate]

Just wanted clarification, because most criticism I've seen of them has seemed sort of contradictory, given the already established over-the-top campiness and absurdity that a lot of metal bands have had for decades. I mean when you have stuff as absurd as Alice Cooper's stage shows, and Rob Halford coming out on stage riding a motorcycle, clad in a leather outfit befitting the stereotypical "gay leather boy" asthetic, singing "I'm your Turbo Lover". The plethora of metal hair bands from the 80s and their performances and outfits....is a couple of girls in dresses doing a little dance before crazy metal riffs plaster the auditorium, amidst a massive light show while she belts out crazy vocals, REALLY all that different in tone and theme? xD

That' what's always made me scratch my head. It's like "It sucks because it's crazy and silly and over the top!" and I'm just like "yeah..but...that's metal. Like, from the start, that's metal."

Incidentally;


On topic, I think some people also have a problem with BABYMETAL being a produced band rather than one that formed "naturally".
The girls were part of a pop idol group and were put together to dance and perform by a producer, they didn't form because they wanted to make metal music, they perform the songs and dance routines created by other people.

 

[Catfood220]

Like fuck am I camping, I'm nearly 40. I'll be in a sweet sweet hotel. With a shower and a toilet.

Looking forward to seeing the bands from my good music years. It's a really good line-up for people who stopped listening to new music in about 2005.

Pfft, youngsters. I turned 40 this year and I'll be turning up next year with my tent that I hope makes it through one more festival, sleeping on my airbed, not showering and braving the terrible toilets. Aching bones and total exhaustion after 5 days of living in a field be damned, its all part of the experience. I may have to rethink things the closer I get to 50, but for now, its fine.

I just hope that they invent a quieter jet engine before next June, getting woken up by planes taking off first thing in the morning is the only part I don't like.

And yeah, I hadn't noticed how early 2000s the line up is so far, I think I'll go and see Bush to hear them play songs from "16 Stone" and hopefully not much else.

 

[Baffle]

And yeah, I hadn't noticed how early 2000s the line up is so far, I think I'll go and see Bush to hear them play songs from "16 Stone" and hopefully not much else.

I saw Bush (supported by 3 Colours Red, who I was actually there to see) at Cambridge Corn Exchange in 1997. That's ages ago! Someone threw something at Gavin Rossdale and they left the stage for a bit IIRC.

I'm mostly going for the Deftones/System of a Down/Korn side of things, but looking forward to the Wildhearts and Lit too. Not over-fussed by the other two headliners, but I'll watch them since I doubt I'll get another chance.