Geddy's Soul Patch

Everyone already knows this

In their defense, it's not Rush's fault. The war is over, albums will be loud and overly compressed until the end of time.

It could probably sneak into my top 15,000 songs of all time

I only voted New World Man for weakest song. It's a quality tune, but to me it just never had the depth that the rest of the songs did.

Well, the truth is that it IS a cheap, gimmick act. The 3 girls were taken from another IDOL group called Sakura Gakuen ((Cherry Blossom academy/school)). Baby Metal was to be a sub group of that larger one. Sub-groups...a typical thing especially when it comes to Japanese idol groups. Additionally, none of the Baby Metal members even knew what metal was before they were created. I mean...sure it has that gimmicky quality, and it was started as a sub-unit of another group, but the man behind it all certainly has a very specific artistic vision that he is trying to achieve. It's not at all devoid of artistic value, and I don't think it's so easy to boil it down to simply a gimmick. BabyMetal was created by Amuse Inc., an entertainment company that's into all sorts of stuff: pro wrestling, movies, gravure models, musicians, music software, etc. Amuse is all about entertainment. McDonald's is about fast food. Both have served billions. Millions eat it up daily. I don't like that food. Or that brand of music that seems more about style than anything else. Come on, BabyMetal is credited with popularizing and creating Kawaii Metal. KAWAII metal? "Cute" metal?! CUTE. Those little girls were 10-12 years old when they started BabyMetal. Clearly, they were chosen for...being cute. This kind of phenomenon could only start and survive long enough to flourish in Japan where there IS the kawaii culture of anime, manga, and idol groups to begin with. Artistic value? I disagree. Capitalizing on what's popular and smart business...yeah I'd totally agree. Most of your information is correct, apart from the bit about them being created by Amuse, Amuse is their management company, they were created by Kei Kobayashi. Obviously they make a lot of money off of them, as that is how the world works (every band/artist/product is out to make money). As far as your bit about it surviving in the culture of Japan...any phenomenon can only exist if it reflects the values of the target demographic's culture, so I don't really see your point there. You don't have to see artistic value in it, but capitalizing on what's popular/doing smart business and creating art are not mutually exclusive. That's true about Kobayashi. But Kobayashi is a person within Amuse...who, according to the article, started in "media promotion." The business aspect of what I was saying earlier is in this article. Some of the creative aspects of what you're talking about are there too. But most of this reads like promotion and sales and promotion and promotion were more important than music as art. http://babymetal.net...hind-babymetal/ Explaining the cultural part (that part where you said don't really see my point) isn't an easy thing to do. So many things here in Japan are based on HOW it looks. NOT what's inside. Presentation. I'm not saying this as a negative criticism of Japan. Not at all. I'm saying it as a fact. http://jpninfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/wayoftea.jpg http://images.parenting.mdpcdn.com/sites/parenting.com/files/styles/facebook_og_image/public/Bentos_Tiger_4_P_new.jpg?itok=0NwtDRUE Without fail, when someone sees those snacks in the top pic or bento in the 2nd pic, they don't say "oiishi-so" (delicious), they say "kawaii" (cute) because presentation and what the item looks like are crucial. Image. It's not the same or even remotely comparable to anything in the west. The levels cannot be compared. Here are two gift melons priced at over $400. The presentation of the box and what the melons look like are what you're paying for. http://qjphotos.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/melons.jpg I've digressed a bit . But not really. I AM sincerely trying to explain the cultural angle of what I was saying earlier. If you haven't fallen asleep yet... :P This comedian's song has been one of the most popular tunes in ALL of J-music over the past year or so. He's everywhere. It's been so popular that he'll be performing at Summer Sonic, a big summer music festival (headlined by The Foo Fighters this year) this August in Tokyo & Osaka. Here's his song which has exploded in popularity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuX1gwJWpc&sns=em Anyway, if you see artistic value in them and those kinds of entertainers, that's fine. Millions do. I don't. :cheers: P.S. If you disagree with everything I've said, that's fine. Just look at the rice ball cat with seaweed facial features and snips of boiled egg for his ears and say "kawaii". ;) Alright, your point about Japan makes much more sense now, and is certainly valid; you went into extensive detail there lol. However, considering how much BabyMetal has caught on in the UK and the US (among other places), clearly there is *something* more to them than meets the eye; otherwise one would figure they never would have expanded outside Japan. Again, a gimmick. They seem adventurous to those who know nothing of Japanese sub culture. I'm by no means an expert on "Japanese sub culture", but they are quite popular in Japan. I can only assume that actual Japanese people would at least know something of "Japanese sub culture." Whether or not they "seem adventurous" is besides the point, I don't personally care why people enjoy the art that they do.

Well, the truth is that it IS a cheap, gimmick act. The 3 girls were taken from another IDOL group called Sakura Gakuen ((Cherry Blossom academy/school)). Baby Metal was to be a sub group of that larger one. Sub-groups...a typical thing especially when it comes to Japanese idol groups. Additionally, none of the Baby Metal members even knew what metal was before they were created. I mean...sure it has that gimmicky quality, and it was started as a sub-unit of another group, but the man behind it all certainly has a very specific artistic vision that he is trying to achieve. It's not at all devoid of artistic value, and I don't think it's so easy to boil it down to simply a gimmick. BabyMetal was created by Amuse Inc., an entertainment company that's into all sorts of stuff: pro wrestling, movies, gravure models, musicians, music software, etc. Amuse is all about entertainment. McDonald's is about fast food. Both have served billions. Millions eat it up daily. I don't like that food. Or that brand of music that seems more about style than anything else. Come on, BabyMetal is credited with popularizing and creating Kawaii Metal. KAWAII metal? "Cute" metal?! CUTE. Those little girls were 10-12 years old when they started BabyMetal. Clearly, they were chosen for...being cute. This kind of phenomenon could only start and survive long enough to flourish in Japan where there IS the kawaii culture of anime, manga, and idol groups to begin with. Artistic value? I disagree. Capitalizing on what's popular and smart business...yeah I'd totally agree. Most of your information is correct, apart from the bit about them being created by Amuse, Amuse is their management company, they were created by Kei Kobayashi. Obviously they make a lot of money off of them, as that is how the world works (every band/artist/product is out to make money). As far as your bit about it surviving in the culture of Japan...any phenomenon can only exist if it reflects the values of the target demographic's culture, so I don't really see your point there. You don't have to see artistic value in it, but capitalizing on what's popular/doing smart business and creating art are not mutually exclusive. That's true about Kobayashi. But Kobayashi is a person within Amuse...who, according to the article, started in "media promotion." The business aspect of what I was saying earlier is in this article. Some of the creative aspects of what you're talking about are there too. But most of this reads like promotion and sales and promotion and promotion were more important than music as art. http://babymetal.net...hind-babymetal/ Explaining the cultural part (that part where you said don't really see my point) isn't an easy thing to do. So many things here in Japan are based on HOW it looks. NOT what's inside. Presentation. I'm not saying this as a negative criticism of Japan. Not at all. I'm saying it as a fact. http://jpninfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/wayoftea.jpg http://images.parenting.mdpcdn.com/sites/parenting.com/files/styles/facebook_og_image/public/Bentos_Tiger_4_P_new.jpg?itok=0NwtDRUE Without fail, when someone sees those snacks in the top pic or bento in the 2nd pic, they don't say "oiishi-so" (delicious), they say "kawaii" (cute) because presentation and what the item looks like are crucial. Image. It's not the same or even remotely comparable to anything in the west. The levels cannot be compared. Here are two gift melons priced at over $400. The presentation of the box and what the melons look like are what you're paying for. http://qjphotos.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/melons.jpg I've digressed a bit . But not really. I AM sincerely trying to explain the cultural angle of what I was saying earlier. If you haven't fallen asleep yet... :P This comedian's song has been one of the most popular tunes in ALL of J-music over the past year or so. He's everywhere. It's been so popular that he'll be performing at Summer Sonic, a big summer music festival (headlined by The Foo Fighters this year) this August in Tokyo & Osaka. Here's his song which has exploded in popularity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuX1gwJWpc&sns=em Anyway, if you see artistic value in them and those kinds of entertainers, that's fine. Millions do. I don't. :cheers: P.S. If you disagree with everything I've said, that's fine. Just look at the rice ball cat with seaweed facial features and snips of boiled egg for his ears and say "kawaii". ;) Alright, your point about Japan makes much more sense now, and is certainly valid; you went into extensive detail there lol. However, considering how much BabyMetal has caught on in the UK and the US (among other places), clearly there is *something* more to them than meets the eye; otherwise one would figure they never would have expanded outside Japan.

Well, the truth is that it IS a cheap, gimmick act. The 3 girls were taken from another IDOL group called Sakura Gakuen ((Cherry Blossom academy/school)). Baby Metal was to be a sub group of that larger one. Sub-groups...a typical thing especially when it comes to Japanese idol groups. Additionally, none of the Baby Metal members even knew what metal was before they were created. I mean...sure it has that gimmicky quality, and it was started as a sub-unit of another group, but the man behind it all certainly has a very specific artistic vision that he is trying to achieve. It's not at all devoid of artistic value, and I don't think it's so easy to boil it down to simply a gimmick. BabyMetal was created by Amuse Inc., an entertainment company that's into all sorts of stuff: pro wrestling, movies, gravure models, musicians, music software, etc. Amuse is all about entertainment. McDonald's is about fast food. Both have served billions. Millions eat it up daily. I don't like that food. Or that brand of music that seems more about style than anything else. Come on, BabyMetal is credited with popularizing and creating Kawaii Metal. KAWAII metal? "Cute" metal?! CUTE. Those little girls were 10-12 years old when they started BabyMetal. Clearly, they were chosen for...being cute. This kind of phenomenon could only start and survive long enough to flourish in Japan where there IS the kawaii culture of anime, manga, and idol groups to begin with. Artistic value? I disagree. Capitalizing on what's popular and smart business...yeah I'd totally agree. Most of your information is correct, apart from the bit about them being created by Amuse, Amuse is their management company, they were created by Kei Kobayashi. Obviously they make a lot of money off of them, as that is how the world works (every band/artist/product is out to make money). As far as your bit about it surviving in the culture of Japan...any phenomenon can only exist if it reflects the values of the target demographic's culture, so I don't really see your point there. You don't have to see artistic value in it, but capitalizing on what's popular/doing smart business and creating art are not mutually exclusive.

Well, the truth is that it IS a cheap, gimmick act. The 3 girls were taken from another IDOL group called Sakura Gakuen ((Cherry Blossom academy/school)). Baby Metal was to be a sub group of that larger one. Sub-groups...a typical thing especially when it comes to Japanese idol groups. Additionally, none of the Baby Metal members even knew what metal was before they were created. I mean...sure it has that gimmicky quality, and it was started as a sub-unit of another group, but the man behind it all certainly has a very specific artistic vision that he is trying to achieve. It's not at all devoid of artistic value, and I don't think it's so easy to boil it down to simply a gimmick.

Quite late to this thread, but BabyMetal are my current favorite band, I simply cannot get enough of their music! Going to see them this June, and it can't come soon enough!

I would assume those guys were just trying to enjoy their time at the concert, being big fans. You're definitely making some logical leaps.

Very unique moments from Alex in this song, with a rippin' bassline. 9/10

Anyone into this?

The correct answer is Witchcraft and black magic

The Prince has spoken!! As always....contributing only the most necessary of information.

3 part harmonies in a Rush song?? You joking?