jchertudi's cd collection.

MONSTER MUSIC is not only ZIGZO's debut, but also, without question, their quintessential album. So many classic live staples came from this album: the punky and overly infectious himawari, the thundering stomper ZIGZO anthem Wonderful day, the double time chi to ase..., the raucous hadaka PISUTORU, and perhaps ZIGZO's finest slow song, sleep. One thing that stands out about this album is that many of the songs feature keyboards from Yoshida Tooru. It definitely feels different from their following releases and adds an interesting layer to their songs. An album not to be missed.

I don't quite like this album as much. ZIGZO mostly drops the keyboards, resulting in a more straightforward rock band sound. There are still a number of typical great ZIGZO rockers on here, like 3days in a well, I am a slider, and warau tsuki. The slow tunes, nani kara nani made, which features an insanely cool shuffle rhythm, and a line to exit, a slow 6/8 ballad that builds to a heavy climax, are both good, but don't have the power of their previous slow tunes. In some of the other songs, I think ZIGZO goes a little crazy: RUSH!!! features a lot of screaming and shouting, which is fun live, but kind of boring on a record. Humbug Song seems overly goofy, and hullaballoo room is just crazy. The album also loses steam after the great tonight, I will fall, as the last 3 songs aren't as great. A decent addition for ZIGZO fans, but I wouldn't recommend starting with add9 suicide.

ZIGZO's glorious return! They wanted to come back with a tough rock album, and so this one does not disappoint. Right away, the opener, Day By Day, absolutely shouts that ZIGZO is a back in a huge way. I love the powerful rock of this song. It continues throughout the album until the very end: there's only 1 slow song, TOROIMERAI, which still has a heavy rock sound. At first the volume is a little overwhelming and the songs blend together, but after a few listens, the songs on this one will endear themselves to you. It's also mostly pretty serious, unlike the previous album, which could get a little carried away. Only on the final track, MADA MADA, do we see a little bit of ZIGZO's goofiness, and it's done superbly. A great closer to a fine album.

Unfortunately, TRUE IMPULSE mostly sounds like a collection of songs that didn't make the cut for THE BATTLE OF LOVE. The opener, shoudou, is ZIGZO at its finest, but the rest is... eh. BPM365 and STOP! are really boring and don't have memorable or catchy melodies. Dancing in the Chains is more interesting, having a unique rhythm and acoustic guitar strumming. To Get Her is almost a cute, medium tempo, mellow song. It stood out to me most when hearing the album for the first time. The closer, zankyou, is just a decent but unmemorable rock tune. This was a disappointing release from ZIGZO.

TRUE IMPULSE ever so slightly hinted at what was to come: FOREVER YOUNG is a totally new ZIGZO, other than maybe the title track, one of the catchiest, upbeat rock songs they've ever done. But the rest? Serious, reflective, mellow, and even a little sparse. There aren't really any loud songs on here. Songs like uzu and shounen no ashiato are upbeat, but they don't rock like, say, warau tsuki. But this is fine, because ZIGZO is a little more mature now, and they have embraced it. It really works well, and it's nice to see a new side of the band. Most every song is great, aside from My Sweet Shame, which is a little slow and boring, and the new himawari. himawari is meant to be a young and fresh tune, and ZIGZO just sounds a little old here. Other than that though, a tremendous album.